The Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has decided there are grounds to believe war crimes have been committed in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. and has requested from the Court assurance of its jurisdiction. If the ICC is able to investigate and consider the alleged war crimes it will finally provide some legal protection for the human rights of Palestinians as well as other oppressed groups of the region.
United Kingdom: Boris Johnson's thorough Conservative victory in the General Election December 12th is likely to encourage a rise of hatred historically expressed in the country's prejudices against Romany and Travelling peoples. Pre-election Conservative policies included Priti Patel's (the Home Secretary's) proposal to confiscate the rig or caravan of anyone suspected of "trespassing" with the intention to stay (reside) there. For Romany in Britain this could mean for parking. As the object of such a proposed law Romany fear losing their homes. A Roma spokesman complains that generally they're treated as badly as immigrants. The Tory success is due in part to scorning "Gypsies" and to estranging Muslims - a pattern familiar to countries sliding into fascism. Under the Tories and the accompanying nationalist surge, any policies aimed at minorities should be vetted within a perspective of international law.
Partial sources online: "Britain’s Conservatives Pledge to Target Roma" Kitty Wenham-Ross, Dec. 12, 2019, Foreign Policy; "More than 120 examples of Tory Islamophobia handed to Equality and Human Rights Commission," Lamiat Sabin, Dec. 11, 2019, Morning Star; "Priti Patel’s demonisation of Gypsies is an attack on the vulnerable for political gain," George Monbiot, Nov. 13, 2019, The Guardian; "Tories accused of ‘fanning flames of racism’ against Gypsy/Travellers ahead of UK election," Adam Ramsay, Dec. 10, 2019, openDemocracy.
December 27, 2019
Cameroon: On an ugliness scale of one to ten, if the U.S. Guantanamo prison is 7, the French military in Algeria 8, Pinochet's controls of Chile 9, and the Inquisition 10, the severity, scale and number of Cameroon military human rights violations is possibly 4 and a half. Still, is the suffering of any victim ever forgotten... (Continue reading "Anglophone vs Francophone in Cameroon," by John Bart Gerald).
December 16, 2019
U.S.A.: a measure to recognize the Turkish genocide of Armenians was passed at the end of October by the House of Representatives. The current Government of Turkey takes offense at governments declaring the Ottoman Empire's attempt to liquidate Armenians in 1915, a genocide, and Turkey currently has fifty B61 nuclear bombs under NATO deployment. Senate passage of a similar measure of recognition was impeded by the President's need to please Turkey, and was blocked successively by Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator David Perdue of Georgia, and Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. North Dakota's own House, Senate and Governor, recognized the Genocide of Armenians in 2007 (Resolution 3003). However Congressional gold medal recipient Aung San Suu Kyi , is currently at the Hague attempting to defend Myanmar against allegations of genocide, which extend to her own role and responsibility for the measures to obliterate the Rohingya in Myanmar. During the atrocities and persecution of the Rohingya she has remained publicly silent. Her argument in defense is tuned to the ruthless military power which rules Myanmar and underwrites the rule of major powers closely tied to economic expansion and corporate profits. In terms of law it is a thin defense, and as genocide denial possibly an offense to common sense which leaves the U.S. Senate exposed for its role in genocides generally, its slowness in objecting to genocide, and its promotion or allowance of genocide as a tactic to deal with their less wealthy brothers and sisters around the world as well as in the Senators' home states. Aung San Suu Kyi vulnerability to eventual prosecution may have served as a wake-up call to Congress and encouraged the Senate to reverse its positions on the "Armenian genocide," find its way around the objections placed in its way, and on December 12, 2019, to officially recognize the genocide of Armenians which USA Today describes as "the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923."
Partial sources online: "Senate recognizes Armenian genocide over objections of Trump and Turkish government,"
Deirdre Shesgreen, Dec. 12, 2019, USA Today; "US Senate adopts resolution recognising 'Armenian genocide'," Dec. 12, 2019, Al Jazeera; "Sen. Cramer Defies ND Motion on Armenian Genocide," HPR Staff, Dec. 11, 2019, High Plains Reader; "GOP senator, at White House's request, blocks Armenian genocide resolution," Dareh Gregorian and Julie Tsirkin, Dec. 5, 2019, NBC News; "Turkey hints it could bar US from using key air bases," The Associated Press, Dec. 11, 2019, abc news; "Why Does the U.S. Have Nukes in Turkey, Anyway?" Fred Kaplan, Oct. 22, 2019, Slate.
December 3, 2019
I started this poem in Ottawa about eight years ago recently completed here in Montreal - "an ottawa dawn".
December 2, 2019 U.S. political prisoner updates.
Brunswick Georgia: (previous) on November 24th the defendants of the Kings Bay Plowshares were found guilty of "Conspiracy," "Trespass on Naval Property," "Depredation of Government Property," "Destruction of Property on a Naval Installation." Their religious rights were ignored. The seven, Martha Hennessy, Clare Grady, Elizabeth McAlister, Patrick O’Neill, Carmen Trotta, Mark Colville and Fr. Steve Kelly are awaiting sentencing. Reporting on the trial appears in The Nuclear Resister, The New Yorker which markets to the wealthy, Democracy Now! among others. The seven were originally arrested on April 4, 2018. Political prisoners from Plowshares actions have been noted on Night's Lantern since 2005. See background. Due to the infringement of their religious rights, the years of their community services, the ages of the defendants, their attempting to counter the terminally destructive madness of nuclear weaponry, and toward the interests of peace, Gerald and Maas makes a plea that their sentences be limited to time served. Partial sources online: See "Kings Bay Plowshares Found Guilty on All Charges – A summary of the trial," Nov. 2, 2019, The Nuclear Resister; "The Pope and Catholic Radicals Come Together Against Nuclear Weapons," Paul Elie, Nov. 19, 2019, The New Yorker; "Kings Bay Plowshares 7 Found Guilty of Conspiracy at Naval Base Housing Nuclear Arsenal," Oct. 25, 2019, Democracy Now!; "Kings Bay Plowshares 7: Trial Begins for Liz McAlister & Others for Breaking Into Nuke Sub Base," Oct. 21, 2019, Democracy Now!; "Explainer: Who are the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, the Catholics convicted of protesting nuclear weapons?," Ellen K. Boegel, Nov. 20, 2019, America the Jesuit Review.
Tucson Arizona: facing ten years in prison, on November 20th Scott Warren was found innocent on two charges of harboring undocumented immigrants. The charge of conspiring to harbor and transport was dropped after his previous trial ended in a deadlocked jury. An anonymous source turned him in to Border Patrol on suspicion of harboring immigrants and he was arrested Jan. 17, 2018. Warren worked for groups including No More Deaths (a Tucson Unitarian Universalist Church ministry) attempting to save the lives of migrants crossing the desert under extreme conditions, leaving water, trying to orient them. Government cases are increasingly trying to criminalize humanitarian aid. Warren's lawyers claimed the arrest was in retribution for a No More Deaths video published Jan. 17, 2019 which featured Border Patrol officers destroying water supplies the group left in the desert. In separate actions the government also charged Warren for littering ("abandonment of property") ie. waterjugs, which Warren claimed was a result of his non-sectarian religious beliefs. The judge affirmed Warren's right to the free exercise of his religious beliefs, substantiating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which was not respected as a defense in the recent Georgia trial of the Kings Bay Plowshares. The judge did find Warren guilty of “operating a motor vehicle in a wilderness area”(HuffPost) in a wildlife refuge, as access to leaving water in the desert, with sentencing February. Partial sources online: "US border activist found not guilty of harbouring immigrants," Nov. 20, 2019, Al Jazeera; "Humanitarian Scott Warren Found Not Guilty After Retrial for Helping Migrants at Mexican Border," Jasmine Augilera, Nov. 21, 2019, Time Magazine; "Jury Acquits Aid Worker Accused Of Helping Border-Crossing Migrants In Arizona," Bobby Allyn, Nov. 21, 2019, npr; "Judge's Ruling Shows Religious Freedom Isn’t Just For The Christian Right," Carol Kuruvilla, Nov. 27, 2019, HuffPost.
Nebraska: Republican Governor John Peter Ricketts is urged to commute the sentence of Edward Poindexter, a Black Panther and once a target of the FBI's COINTELPRO. Convicted in 1971 Poindexter serves a life sentence for the murder of a policeman. Poindexter's co-defendant (together they were the "Omaha 2") was a Black Panther and anti-fascist protester who died in prison in 2016. Both men continued to claim their innocence and the legal case against them was / is deeply flawed, weak, and in an objective court would probably be impossible to prove beyond reasonable doubt; Night's Lantern is listing Poindexter as a political prisoner. Portions of the FBI records on the case remain unavailable to the public. Edward Poindexter is a Vietnam veteran, over the years acquired a B.A. degree in prison, completed courses for an M.A. with the Goddard Graduate Program in Montpelier, and became a writer and small press/media socially concerned publisher. According to Prison Solidarity he has diabetes, survived triple bypass heart surgery, uses a wheelchair, suffers an eye cataract. The daughter of the officer who was lost lives in Florida and doesn't forgive those convicted of his death. Although Governor Rickets has strongly supported Nebraska's affinity with capital punishment as supported by his understanding of Church teachings he now has an exceptional chance to update as well as consider whether the provable injustices of COINTELPRO removed Poindexter from society only because of his race and politics. Partial sources online: "Will Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts honor his oath of office and examine the case of Black Panther Edward Poindexter or will his death penalty advocacy get in the way?" Michael Richardson, Nov. 25, 2019, Richardson Reports; "Edward Poindexter," current Dec. 1, 2019, Prisoner Solidarity; "New release of Black Panther file reveals FBI rigged investigation of murdered policeman," Michael Richardson, feb, 26, 2017, San Franciso BayView; "Daughter of police officer killed in 1970 bombing: No closure or forgiveness after her father's killer dies," Paul Hammel, March 17, 2016, Omaha World-Herald; "If prosecutor Don Kleine wants new evidence in Black Panther case let him uncover what is still hiding in Mondo’s redacted FBI file," Michael Richardson, Aug. 21, 2019, Richardson Reports.
USP Tucson, Arizona: (previous) Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin is a religious man serving a life-in-prison sentence for a crime that was likely committed by someone else (among other evidence for this is that another man confessed). The injustices in the case against him damage the U.S. legal system and suggest that he was singled out for persecution due to his eloquence and the substance of his faith. I find news sources in this area sparse, confusing and inadequate but without objective assurances of justice. With increasing evidence of patterns of injustice in the imprisonment of Black and native community leadership subjected to COINTELPRO, and with the difficulty of U.S. courts in self-correcting, the case of Muslim political prisoners such as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin and Aafia Sidiqui, and Rafil Dhafir among other long term political prisoners, are outrageous and should seek and gain international intervention and world court jurisdiction. The case of Mumia Abu Jamal provides some exception: under international awareness he gained life-sustaining medical treatment by court actions and the challenges to the injustices of his conviction seem to be proceeding. On the other hand Leonard Peltier, convicted in 1977, eligible for parole in 1993, denied clemency by former President Obama, spent another Thanksgiving without realistic access to freedom or justice.
November 25, 2019
Canada: an essay, "On State Contravention of the Genocide Convention," by John Bart Gerald.
November 22, 2019
Bolivia: the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, was forced from office by Bolivia's armed forces and police and has escaped to Mexico. His "resignation" on November 10th - which was not accepted by Bolivia's Congress, preceded the illegal assumption of power by right-wing Senator Jeanine Añez with military and police support and support of the United States. The non-democratic shift in power is considered a military coup with covert direction, made to appear a peaceful transition of power. Bolivians are predominantly mestizo and Indigenous people. Protests at the replacement of the country's Indigenous leader by a representative of right-wing corporate foreign interests are being met with brutal military and police force which has killed 15 people in two demos alone November 15th and 19th. The legitimate president Morales who has acted without fault in the interests of Bolivia's people, has claimed a threat of genocide in the nature of the illegal takeover, the military and police attacks on his supporters, and the murders of unarmed people. As the situation continues to deteriorate Morales has from Mexico called for international help. A genocide warning for the peoples of Bolivia contributes to the less obvious continual risk endemic to all Aboriginal peoples in North, South, and Central America. The replacement without respect for law - of a president who is the sole Indigenous president in the Americas, the brutal indiscriminate killings of Indigenous and allied mestizo peoples by military and police at the service of wealth, class, privilege, signals an unwelcome interference by both Canada and the U.S. who immediately supported the coup. Amid North American history the U.S. and Canada should be ashamed of participating in and continuing an historical crime of genocide against the land's native peoples, at a point when peace is necessary and possible. The illegal international assault on the rights of the Bolivian peoples and Indigenous people as represented by Bolivia's President Evo Morales are in this case the same and a crime against all peoples of the Americas. it suggests that the American and Canadian historical genocide of Indigenous peoples will continue to its intended end unless charges are brought against leaders and policy makers who further disenfranchise, diminish and endanger native populations. Under the UN Convention on Genocide the crime carries no statute of limitations. Eventually the North American judiciary and legal establishments must find the courage to assert the laws concerning genocide with charges against our own politicians and policy makers.
Partial sources online: "Morales calls for international help to stop Bolivia 'genocide'," Nov. 21, 2019, CNA; "Top Bolivian coup plotters trained by US military’s School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police programs," Jeb Sprague, Nov. 13, 2019, The Gray Zone ; "Media support for the CIA Coup in Bolivia," Stephen Lendman, Nov. 14, 2019, Global Research; "Canada backs coup against Bolivia's president," Yves Engler, Nov. 11, 2019, Canadian Dimension; "Bolivian U.N. Ambassador: “Racist Elite” Engineered Coup to Restore Neoliberalism in Bolivia," Nov. 19, 2019, Democracy Now!; "U.N. commissioner warns that violence in Bolivia could ‘spin out of control’," Patrick J. McDonnell, Nov. 16, 2019, Los Angeles Times; "They're Killing Us Like Dogs: A Massacre in Bolivia and a Plea for Help," Medea Benjamin, Nov. 22, 2019, Mint Press News.
Myanmar / Burma: (see previous) while the International Court of Justice (ICJ) prepares to take on Gambia's request for prosecution of Myanmar / Burma on charges of war crimes and genocide, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has granted Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's request for a full investigation into Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya. Fatou Bensouda's preliminary investigation of 2018 has provided necessary grounds. Although Myanmar has not subscribed to the International Criminal Court, Bangladesh has and Bangladesh has had to care for over 700,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar for their safety. The ICC decision to hold a full investigation renders it unnecessary for the UN Security Council to refer the case to the ICC. "State Counselor" Aung San Suu Kyi is to lead Myanmar's legal defense team to respond to Gambia's charges at the International Court of Justice, beginning December 10th to 12th. Myanmar and Gambia are signatories to the United Nations Convention on Genocide. On November 20th the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) filed a case in Buenos Aires Argentina against Aung San Suu Kyi, the former president of Myanmar Thein Sein, the former president Htin Kyaw, and several military authorities, for their efforts to exterminate the Rohingya. The prosecution would rely on the principle of universal jurisdiction. For background see Night's Lantern's "genocide warnings" for Myanmar.
Partial sources online: "International Criminal Court approves investigation into violence against Myanmar Rohingya," Nov. 14, 2019, CNA; "Aung San Suu Kyi to 'lead team' to Hague to fight Rohingya genocide case," Reuters, Nov. 20,2019, CNA; "Lawsuit: Aung San Suu Kyi 'committed crimes' against Rohingya," Joshua Carroll, Nov. 14, 2019, Al Jazeera News.
November 12, 2019
Myanmar / Burma: The Republic of The Gambia is a predominantly Muslim West African nation, part of the 57 member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the British Commonwealth (as of Feb. 8, 2018), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the U.N., and the African Union. Official language: English. On Nov. 11th the nation filed a case with the International Court of Justice at the Hague (ICJ) on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, charging Myanmar / Burma with genocide among other atrocity crimes. The case alleges, to quote Deutsche Welle, "killing, causing serious bodily and mental harm, inflicting conditions that are calculated to bring about physical destruction, imposing measures to prevent births, and forcible transfers, are genocidal in character because they are intended to destroy the Rohingya group in whole or in part." The grievance supports Night's Lantern's repeated genocide warnings for the Rohingya since 2012. The Gambia has taken on a burden which more powerful countries haven't. Canada's House of Lords attempted Motion 476 asking Canada to take the matter to the International Court of Justice but the Motion was impeded, obstructed and defeated. Canada's House of Commons found Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya a genocide and asked the UN Security Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court for investigation. Yet Canada has not pressed legal action. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has stated Canada's support for the Gambian action. Bangladesh, Nigeria, Turkey, and France have also found Myanmar's actions against the Rohingya a genocide but without follow-up. The inaction of major powers could be traced to arms sales and investment. In 2018 a UN Independent report found that Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya amounted to genocide and the International Criminal Count (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda requested a preliminary investigation.
Partial sources online: "Canada supports genocide case against Myanmar at International Criminal Court," Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press, Nov. 11, 2019, CP24; "Rohingya crisis: The Gambia accuses Myanmar of genocide at top UN court," Nov. 11, 2019, BBC News; "Gambia files Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar at UN court," Owen Bowcott, Nov. 11, 2019, The Guardian; "Myanmar formally accused of genocide in court case filed at The Hague," Nahlah Ayed, Nov. 11, 2019, CBC News; "Gambia files genocide case against Myanmar," Nov. 11, 2019, DW.
U.S.A.: by a vote of 405 to 11, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide of 1915 by the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). The British government has not. The government of Israel has not. The Armenian National Institute considers the following countries to have recognized the Armenian Genocide: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican City, Venezuela, United States, Uruguay.
Partial sources online: "US House Officially Recognizes Armenian Genocide," VOA News, Oct. 29, 2019, Voice of America; "Recognising the Armenian genocide," Ara Darzi, Nov. 6, 2019, The Guardian; "Countries that Recognize the Armenian Genocide," current, Armenian National Institute (Washington DC).
November 10, 2019
Xinjiang, China: hundreds of reports in the Western media require a genocide warning for the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. Due to my lack of alternate sources or verification, this article may lack balance. Uyghurs are considered Turkic Muslims, predominantly residing in Xinjiang province and comprising nearly one percent of China's national population. Uyghurs consider themselves native to the region of Xinjiang; the Chinese government does not. The current government has a strong policy of absorbing the Uyghurs into a population of Han Chinese as a homogeneous people, depriving Uyghur people of their ancient autonomy, traditions, safety and in many cases freedom. The Washington Post reports a cultural genocide in progress with the destruction of thousands of Muslim religious places and over a million people in internment camps; and it claims China is suppressing/repressing any news of the campaign. The information is sourced in the work of Bahran K Sintash, "Demolishing Faith: The Destruction and Desecration of Uyghur Mosques and Shrines.” The destruction of Uyghur religious sites is verified by satellite photographs. PBS reporting has asserted the massive repression of Uyghur in detainment camps as well as general social controls, surveillance, interrogations, the uninvited insertion of Han Chinese officials into Uyghur families (the Uyghur men are often in detainment camps), document checks, DNA collection, media misinformation and propaganda, arbitrary arrests, guard rapes in detention and disappearance of female prisoners. In June 2019 The China Tribunal ("Independent Tribunal Into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China"), a people's tribunal relying essentially on British and American lawyers, released its Final Judgement and Summary Report on the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong and Uyghur detainees in China. The Tribunal is sure it was and is happening, and finds that the extremes and proportions of crimes against the Falun Gong would be considered a genocide if intent were proved (the American perspective on genocide may put more emphasis on the proof of intent than the Convention requires). The Tribunal believes a violation of the Convention may have occurred. The Independent (U.K.) focuses on allegations of forced abortions for Uyghur women, possibly contributing to eventual genocide charges by reporting the state's attempts to limit the Muslim women's reproductive rights. While some refugees now in Kazakhstan have reported forced abortions in Xinjiang, others report forced implantation of contraceptive devices as well as sexual degradation. Attempts to control reproductive rights extend to other minorities (the Falun Gong and Kazaks) but are difficult to verify. I can find no contradictions to the horror stories in the Western media. The U.S. has recently blacklisted organizations and threatened visa restrictions for Chinese officials linked to abuse of the Uyghur so the State Department is aware but considers the crimes... mild? Neither economic nor political measures are being applied to insist on some protection for the Uyghur people or Falun Gong. As with verified instances of genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar, NATO countries are not willing to take definitive steps to stop the genocide when the victim group is Muslim. Within a perspective of the Genocide Convention, this could be policy considering treatment of the Palestinian people by Israel, except a lack of the protection required by the Genocide Convention has also extended to Christian groups such as the Yazidis, Christians in Northern Nigeria, Christians in Israel, so the responsibility for state inaction may simply be economic convenience - unless NATO governments as well are considering use of select large ethnic groups as organ banks. It's illegal for states party to the Convention not to act to impede a recognized genocide. It would be wise of China to provide transparency concerning any policy of organ harvesting and concerning treatment of its minorities, in particular the Uyghur people and Falun Gong, and if against fundamental human rights to adjust its policies.
Partial sources online: "In China, every day is Kristallnacht," Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post; "China Wants the World to Stay Silent on Muslim Camps. It’s Succeeding." Jane Perlez, Sept. 25, 2019. The New York Times; "China calls it re-education, but Uyghur Muslims say it’s ‘unbearable brutality’," Nick Schifrin and Judy Woodruff, Oct. 4, 2019, PBS News Hour; "China accused of genocide over forced abortions of Uyghur Muslim women as escapees reveal widespread sexual torture," Amie Ferris-Rotman, Aigerim Toleukhan, Emily Rauhala, Anna Fifield, Oct. 6, 2019, Independent; Independent Tribunal Into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China, Final Judgement & Summary report -2019," The China Tribunal, June 17, 2019, ChinaTribunal.com; "China is reportedly sending men to sleep in the same beds as Uyghur Muslim women while their husbands are in prison camps," Alexandra Ma, Nov. 4, 2019, Business Insider; "US imposes China visa restrictions over Uighur issue," Oct. 9, 2019, BBC News.
November 8, 2019
United Kingdom: Forbes reports a British Parliament effort to facilitate the country's ability to fulfill its commitment to the Genocide Convention. Lord Alton of Liverpool has tabled the Genocide Determination Bill (HL 2019-2020), which requires preliminary assessments of genocide among other atrocities, to be referred to the International Court of Justice. Requests for adjudication could be brought to the High Court by individuals or groups not necessarily representing government policy. The world's nations have not been able to effectively counter the threat of contemporary genocides (See Night's Lantern Genocide Warnings). In a parallel effort Parliamentarians are encouraging an inclusive Coalition for Genocide Response, supporting the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Genocide Convention. The Coalition accepts international support.
Partial sources online: "As Brexit Continues To Divide Britain, A New Genocide Response Initiative Aims To Unite," Ewelina U. Ochab, Nov. 4, 2019, Forbes; "Genocide Determination Bill [HL] 2019-20," current, www.parliament.uk; "The Statement," current, Coalition for Genocide Response; "David Alton and Luke de Pulford: Britain must lead the world towards tougher action against genocide," Nov. 5, 2019, Coalition for Genocide Response.
"Disappeared" etching w. watercolour, by Julie Maas 1982
November 7, 2019
Guatemala: arrested on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity on October 24th, a former Chief of Military Operations, César Octavio Noguera Argueta is believed implicated in "31 massacres, where 1,128 people died, 23 villages razed, 97 selective deaths, 117 deaths from forced displacement and persecution, 26 cases of sexual violence and 53 cases of forced disappearance" (Association for Justice and Reconciliation, AJR, El Siglo). The arrest is part of a larger criminal complaint ongoing since 2000 and dealing with the massacres and attempts at extermination of Ixil Indians during Guatemala's civil war (1960-96). Also likely to be arrested are Col. Noguera's superior officers, Chief of Military Intelligence Manuel Callejas y Callejas and Army Chief of Staff Benedicto Lucas García, already serving 58 year sentences for crimes against humanity. Since the trials of Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt and his subsequent death the extent of impunity in Guatemala's approach to genocide remains in question while the fact of the extermination programs remains identified as a genocide. The former president of Guatemala was able to close down the UN founded International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) which countered government corruption and strengthened the country's judiciary so it was able to proceed with trials of genocidaires. As clarified during the trials of Rios Montt military units responsible for genocide were trained by U.S. troops and operatives, and supplied with ordnance by Israel, and policies of genocide were encouraged under the Reagan administration. No charges have been brought against alleged genocide inceptors. The attempts to prosecute former incidents of genocide occur within a context of Indigenous peoples still being killed, but currently as land defenders against the corporate mining companies operating in Guatemala. Specifically noted are the Xinca Indians damaged by the Canadian U.S. based Tahoe Resources which was sold recently to Vancouver based Pan American Silver: there is evidence of U.S. and Israeli veterans comprising the security firms called in by the company to counter land defender protests. The corporate hold on Guatemala, encouraged by the Guatemalan government's (taxation) policies is supported in the construction of medical clinics and infrastructure by the U.S. Southern Command deployment of U.S. forces in training exercises. 18 land defenders/campesinos were murdered in 2018, 6 more by June 2019 (The Intercept). An ongoing genocide warning for the Maya in Guatemala.
Partial sources online: "Arrestan a militar guatemalteco por genocidio durante el conflicto armado interno
Por su implicación en las masacres de miles de indígenas Ixil entre 1978 y 1982," EFE,
Oct. 25, 2019, El Siglo de Torreón; "Former Chief of Military Operations Arrested in Maya Ixil Genocide Case," Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada, Oct. 25, 2019, International Justice Monitor. "She Defended Her Land Against a Mine in Guatemala. Then She Fled in Fear for Her Life," Alleen Brown, June 23, 2019, The Intercept; "Washington Trained Guatemala’s Mass Murderers—and the Border Patrol Played a Role," Greg Grandin and Elizabeth Oglesby, Jan. 3, 2019, The Nation.
November 2, 2019
Unist’ot’en Camp: Invasion
[access:< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3R5Uy5O_Ds&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0h-4aX3vrtr366vbrq1yHJpyFlDXg2GZy9lK5_6vkWJJnFVDnOQjyrKl8 >] See Unist’ot’en website. Ongoing genocide warning (violation).
Northern Syria: in response to Turkey's invasion, U.S. withdrawal of troops, and breaking of the terms of ceasefire, Senator Blumenthal Democrat of Connecticut and on the Armed Services Committee has described the situation of the Kurds as "on the cusp of genocide." He has also clarified for the press that the National Security Council has been fully briefed. The Turkish invasion and threat of ethnic cleansing/extermination of the Kurds finds some historical precedent in Turkey's previous extermination of the Armenian people (1914-23). In a further test of international law U.S. President Trump's military takeover of the Syrian oilfields is an overt violation as the crime of agression. Media coverage of the military's effects on Kurdish civilians is lacking. Ongoing genocide warning.
Partial sources online: "Blumenthal: Turkish offensive against Kurds in Syria 'on the cusp of genocide',"
Tom Vanden Brook, Oct. 18, 2019, USA Today; "Trump needs to be brought to UN on charges of genocide," Tim Libretti, Oct. 24, 2019, People's World; "Pentagon: U.S. Will Fight for Control of Oilfields in Syria," Oct. 29, 2019, Democracy Now!; "US military envisions broad defence of Syrian oilfields," Oct. 29, 2019, Al Jazeera.
Colombia: Prensa Latina reports "that 115 Indigenous leaders were assassinated last year in the country" (Colombia).
The announcement followed the murder in Colombia October 17th of Constantino Ramirez. On October 30th the BBC reported the murder of an Indigenous regional governor and four of the unarmed Indigenous roadblock guards at a roadblock, where a 'dissident rebel leader' (not all rebel groups have agreed to peace accords) was said to be in a car. The country's right wing president has deployed 2500 troops; the President and the army blame rebel splinter groups for the murders. However there is no way dissident rebel leaders could reach Indigenous blockades without being allowed through the military's roadblocks.
Partial sources online:
"Over 110 indigenous leaders assassinated last year in Colombia," Oct. 18, 20-19, Prensa Latina; "Colombia violence: Dissident rebels kill indigenous leader," Oct. 30, 2019, BBC News; "Five Indigenous Leaders Massacred in Colombia; New Wave of Violence Feared as 2,500 Troops Deployed," Nov. 1, 2019, Democracy Now!.
Israel/Palestine: a report rising from a symposium of Christian leaders in Johannesburg, "The Holy Land: A Palestinian Christian Perspective," finds a decrease in Palestinian Christians of Bethlehem since the declaration of Israel as a state in 1948, from 86% of the city population to 12%. In April 2019, for the estimated 1100 Christians remaining in Gaza, there was a quota of 200 military permits to attend church services in Bethlehem - but the applicants had to be at least 55 years old and would not be allowed to attend services or visit family in Jerusalem. Only 120 people qualified. In 2018, the quota was 500 permits. In 2017, 700.
Partial sources online: "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinian Christians that nobody is talking about," Ramzy Baroud, Oct. 29, 2019, Middle East Monitor; "Archbishop Auza calls for greater protection of Christians in Middle East," Oct. 29, 2019, Vatican News; "Israel bars hundreds of Palestinian Christians from traveling on Easter," Henriette Chacar, April 19, 2019, +972.
October 8, 2019
Northern Syria: Syrian Kurds are vulnerable to being militarily defeated in this region, which may mean the destruction of entire towns of their people. The Kurds in Syria have contributed to the fight against ISIS and have teamed with U.S. forces. U.S. President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. forces is being effected and is interpreted as the result of Turkey's military buildup of its forces on its Syrian border. Some French Special Forces and Britain's SAS Forces troops remain in Rojava. The U.S. has previously announced its intentions to withdraw military forces from Syria. Night's Lantern specifically warned of the possibility of catastrophe in a continuing genocide warning of April 9, 2018 when the Kurds were previously faced with the threat of an overwhelming invasion from Turkey. A reinforcement of U.S. troops, U.K. troops maintaining position, and the promise of French troops was reported March 31, 2018. Night's Lantern's initial and clear genocide warning for the Kurdish people in this situation appeared March 30, 2018.
Partial sources online: "Turkey sticks with plan for assault on Syria despite U.S. threat," AP, Oct. 8, 2019, CBC; "Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds spurs the drumbeat to end his presidency," Terry Glavin. Oct. 8, 2019, Macleans; "Trump's shock Syria retreat reverberates as Turkish troops mass," Julian Borger, Martin Chulov & Bethan McKernan, Oct. 8, 2019, The Guardian.
September 17, 2019
Africa: these genocide warnings concern current threats to the peoples of Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi. Beyond the primary concern for all the people in national groups, a pattern is emerging globally which could remind North Americans of past and ongoing genocides against native American peoples: the masses of people forced from their homelands, the refugee camps which are meant to both save and contain the displaced, the senseless killing of civilians, the slaughter by hunger, arms and disease which lower the population numbers, and the relentless attack on native cultures to incapacitate the will to resist. The inability to recognize genocides at home limits the ability to understand other contemporary genocides in progress... (continue "Genocide warnings for three African states," by J.B.Gerald)
August 29, 2019
Jammu and Kashmir Matamoros Mexico Rwanda St. Marys Georgia Rome Italy
Jammu and Kashmir: Night's Lantern's first genocide warning for the Kashmiri people appeared February 15, 2015. A second appeared August 7th, 2019. Genocide Watch has issued an alert, placing a "genocide watch" for Kashmir and asserting the endangered group is Kashmiri Muslims. The valid alert does not address the threat to Jammu and Kashmir's attempts at sovereignty and the effects of deprivation of national and cultural identity to all groups in the region. Genocide Watch correctly places a similar alert for Assam, a state of India where the Bengali Muslims are being threatened with deprival of citizenship. India's Home Minister refers to Bengali Muslims as "termites" and Bengali Muslims are increasingly described as "foreigners" in a pattern of discrimination used to effect the genocide of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma. Throughout India Hindu nationalism is placing the over four million Muslims in jeopardy, and as The New York Times points out India's B.J.P. government has already disenfranchised the sole Muslim majority state, Jammu and Kashmir. The B.J.P. is planning to build large concentration camps for those who cannot prove their Indian citizenship. Partial sources online: "Genocide Watch issues alerts for Occupied Kashmir and India’s Assam," Agencies, August 22, 2019, Pakistan Today; "India Plans Big Detention Camps for Migrants. Muslims Are Afraid," Jeffrey Gettleman and Hari Kumar, Aug. 17, 2019, The New York Times.
Matamoros, Mexico: Father José Martín Guzmán Vega was stabbed to death in his parish church, August 22nd, the 27th Mexican Catholic priest murdered in the past 7 years. On August 18th pastor Alfrery Líctor Cruz Canseco was shot in his car after the service in Tlalixtac de Cabrera, Oaxaca. On August 3rd Presbyterian Pastor Aarón Méndez Ruiz director of a migrant shelter in Nuevo Laredo was disappeared ostensibly for protecting Cuban migrants. Partial sources online: "Catholic priest stabbed to death in Mexico border city," Associated Press, Aug 24, 2019, Crux; "Pastor kidnapped for protecting Cuban migrants," Aug. 13, 2019, ; "Mexican priest stabbed to death inside border town parish; 27 priests killed in last 7 years," Samuel Smith, August 27, 2019, CP
Rwanda: Black Agenda Report of August 21rst notes that Victoire Ingabire who has provided a democratic opposition to Rwanda's President Kagame and is the party leader for the United Democratic Forces of Rwanda, is currently released from prison. Among the missing and murdered members of her political party its vice-president Boniface Twagirimana, was last seen over 314 days ago in custody. She says “I am not afraid of being assassinated because I know I will pass away with honor because I served my people.” Partial sources online: "African court rules Rwandan opposition leader’s rights violated," John Aglionby, Dec. 6, 2017, Financial Times; "Opposition members keep going 'missing' in Rwanda. Few expect them to return," Kara Folx. July 27, 2019, CNN; " Rwanda’s Dissidents, Dead and Disappearing," Ann Garrison, Aug. 21, 2019, Black Agenda Report; "Aide to leading Rwandan opposition politician found dead," Aanu Adeoye, March 11, 2019, CNN.
St. Marys Georgia: previous. On appeal, despite the at points eloquent testimony of the Kings Bay Plowshares defendants, Judge Lisa Godbey Wood supported the Southern District Court's decision and on August 26th refused to dismiss the charges. While the judge acknowledged grounds for protest under the the Religious Freedom Restoration Act she found religious commitment to a higher cause and more valid system of ethics of less necessity than base security and set the trial date for October 21rst. The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 are each threatened with 25 years in prison basically for trespassing, but conspiracy and compromising government property as well.... Partial sources online: "Federal judge rules against Kings Bay Plowshares’ motion to dismiss charges under RFRA, October 21 trial date set," Aug. 27, 2019, The Nuclear Resister; "Judge denies nuclear protesters’ religious freedom defense," August 28 2019, Religion News Service.
Rome Italy: Rome's Court of Appeals sentenced 24 government and military officials to life in prison for their roles in "Operation Condor" (previous 1 2). The fascist program supported if not initiated by the United States (previous 1 2) was effected by the governments of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil Peru and Ecuador in the 1970s and 80s, murdering at least 60,000 left wing dissidents, clergy, Aboriginal people, trade unionists, workers, students and intellectuals, including 23 Italian citizens. The convictions of 24 officers from the participating countries, five of which were graduates of the United States School of the Americas which repeatedly figures in the backgrounds of dictators and army units known to have committed atrocities, suggest that U.S. citizens could be held responsible for their roles as advisors, participants, or supplying materiel to those committing war crimes which have no statute of limitation. U.S. liability may be one of the reasons this area of the news was and is strongly suppressed (ie. 1 2.) Partial sources online: "SOA Graduates Sentenced by an Italian Court for their roles in Operation Condor," August 8, 2019, School of the Americas Watch; "Five Men Sentenced to Life for Operation Condor Killings Trained at School of the Americas," Brett Wilkins, July 17, 2019, Common Dreams.
August 13, 2019
Phoenix Arizona: within the current context of cruelty to migrants at the U.S. Mexican border, the stripping of children from their parents, the detention camps, the federal court action attempting to put Scott Warren in prison for over twenty years for helping people in need as they emerged from the desert, appears information of a terrible atrocity in the city of Phoenix, which I'm unable to verify but can't disprove. It's reported by Abraham Weizfeld PhD of Montreal and Nablus Palestine, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMANs3yFq6U under the title “Phoenix Arizona Massacre May 27th 2019," posted on YouTube July 17, 2019. The text accompanying the video is one of the testimonies describing the apparent murder of five members of the Jewish Bundist Diaspora Movement, of which Dr. Weizfeld is the Chairman, and the murder of the entire Jewish congregation of worshippers attending the marriage to a gay Christian of their rabbi, a gay mixed race member of the Jewish Bundist Diaspora Movement. Rabbi Isaiah Kamatstein was noted for his care of the people society neglects, the homeless, LGBT people, children; there were once-homeless people and former prostitutes among his congregation. Corroboration of the crime online outside of Dr. Weizfeld's organization or its members is hard to find. My searches of news media have revealed no mention of this. Among the supporting affidavits and testimonies Dr. Weizfeld can supply is evidence that the skill sets of contemporary domestic black operations include the ability to remove records from government and commercial sources, which could eradicate identities, commercial transactions, a person's existence. This case involves the alleged murder of 27 people including children in an action or operation under the management of people wearing Phoenix-Glendale police uniforms and commanding tow-trucks. Dr. Weizfeld is a cogent, credible human being and source; it would be unwise to ignore his allegations, or a missing entire congregation of a synagogue. If the action occurred and it may have, it would be very unwise to ignore the suppression of all news about it. I ask for further witnessing, verification, substantiation or denial to be supplied Dr. Weizfeld (Dr. Abraham Weizfeld, PhD UQÀM, MA York U., BSc UdeW, saalaha@fokus.name, (514) 284 66 42 Montréal, +790 56 953 8169 Nablus, Palestine; author of The Federation of Palestinian and Hebrew Nations [access:< https://www.academia.edu/38380122/The_Federation_of_Palestinian_and_Hebrew_Nations ]). In the adjacent Phoenix Tucson and border region are at least four huge military bases including U.S. military intelligence headquarters. Yet members of the Jewish Labour Bund were constantly under death threats not dealt with by police, threats described as originating with neo-nazis, with the white supremacist movement and others including fascist Zionists allegedly associated with the Jewish Defense League. The Jewish Labour Bund as a movement was reinitiated in 1988 with the formation of the Jewish People's Liberation Organization (JPLO). Its platform remains strongly anti-Zionist and partisan. Note: if this entry is proven untrue it will be removed. There is some indication that an extra-legal ongoing violent conflict exists in Arizona. Against the far right, racial religious ethnic minorities, alternative culture, LGBT peoples, political Marxist Leninists, immigrant and refugee groups, are attempting to live within a normal fabric of American culture. There are unclear and unverified reports of May 30th with deaths of members of the "Proletarian Revolutionary Front," and on June 8th the deaths of three members of the "Lenin-Mao Communist Union."
August 7, 2019
Jammu and Kashmir: (previous) India's BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked Article 370. Heavily fortified by recent elections, the government is extreme Hindu-nationalist. Jammu and Kashmir has been under India's Presidential rule but with the revocation of Article 370, the special status state is to be divided into two "union territories" of India, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its own constitution and autonomy, attempting to deny it further existence as a state struggling to become its own country, again. A Kashmiri resistance has operated since the 1940s. The BBC notes that under Article 370 Jammu and Kashmir was allowed to make laws, fly its own flag, control fundamental rights and of particular importance control permanent residency and property ownership. This protected the region's heritage, culture and demographics from Indian settlement. The changes of government and administration risk cultural genocide. The two new territories administered by the Indian government would separate the Muslim and Hindu majority into one and the Buddhist majority in the other. India has disrupted the power of the Jammu and Kashmir government for over a year and recently increased the size of its overwhelming military occupation. Now the entire India-administered Kashmir is reportedly in "lockdown" with three government ministers arrested and the internet and phone lines cut off jeopardizing the region's support infrastructure. Surprised angry people suddenly find themselves in a large open jail. Revocation of Article 370 and denial of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, lacking inception with or approval by the disrupted Government of Kashmir, is technically illegal. The Government of Pakistan also considers it illegal and has expelled the Indian ambassador and held back its own. Tensions between Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Indian-administered Kashmir risk escalation again between the two nuclear armed powers which could extend the need for a genocide warning to all in the region.
Partial sources online: "Kashmir Crisis LIVE Updates: Mehbooba Mufti Arrested, Taken To Govt Guest House," Meryl Sebastian, Aug. 5, 2019, Huffpost; "Kashmir in lockdown after autonomy scrapped," Aug. 6, 2019, BBC News; "Article 370: Kashmiris express anger at loss of special status," Aug. 7, 2019, BBC News; "'BJP Murdered Constitution': Opposition On Modi Govt Scrapping Article 370," Newsroom, Aug. 5, 2019, Huffpost; "Article 370: What happened with Kashmir and why it matters," Aug. 6, 2019, BBC News; "As Kashmir Is Erased, Indian Democracy Dies In Silence," Aman Sethi, Aug. 5, 2019, Huffpost; "Kashmir: Why These MPs Are Saying Militancy Will Grow Stronger," Akshay Deshmane, Aug. 7, 2019, Huffpost;
"Arundhati Roy: Modi 'reckless' in Kashmir," UpFront, March 23, 2019, AlJazeera / YouTube; "What's behind the decision to revoke the status of Indian administered Kashmir?" Inside Story, Aug. 5, 2019, AlJazeera / YouTube; "Pakistan downgrades diplomatic relations, suspends trade with India over Kashmir move," Thomson Reuters, Aug. 7, 2019, CBC News.
August 6, 2019
U.S.: HIroshima Day. The bombing of HIroshima desecrated the fabric of American society with an atrocity so horrible that the culture has never been able to cope with it artistically or politically. There's a gaping wound there that hasn't healed, that won't heal, that art and literature haven't even been able to approach with any success, and so compelling that other atrocities fall into it, are made to seem normal because of it: the napalming of Vietnam, the obliteration of Iraq's infra-structure, the take over of other countries, the government's use of torture.
Kelly Family: Rostock 1991: Hiroshima I'm sorry
[access:< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_xhxf8ksrs >].
Atlanta Georgia: in response to (an appeal) primarily addressing procedural points, on July 31rst a three judge panel of the 11th Federal Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of a lower court finding
Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin's Constitutional rights were violated at his trial but that didn't really affect the jury's verdict. The somewhat strange ruling leaves Al-Amin to serve a lifetime sentence without parole convicted in the shooting death of one deputy sheriff, the wounding of another. Another man confessed to the crime. Confined to a supermax prison far from his family and support in Georgia Al-Amin's eloquence and wisdom were denied followers and faithful: he was effectively removed from his community. It's hard to separate his case from evidence that he was continually targeted by law enforcement since the 1960s. While the media played up and encouraged his uses as a verbal purveyor of violence, it helps to remember that H. Rap Brown was for example, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and despite the heated rhetoric SNCC worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Congress of Racial Equality in expressly nonviolent actions such as the march from Selma to Montgomery of 1965 with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Allowed to conference at the White House, H. Rap Brown was apparently judged to be no danger to the U.S. President... His discourses after conversion to Islam in the mid 1970s show moderation, restraint, measure, wisdom and deep spirituality without compromising commitment to his people.
Partial sources online: "Court rules against militant formerly known as H. Rap Brown," Kate Brumback, AP, July 31, 2019, ABC News; "Potential Retrial In Sight For Imam Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown)," Hamzah Raza, May 2, 2019, Muslimmatters.org.
August 2, 2019
U.S.: Thomas William Manning died July 30th, 2019 at Hazelton Prison in West Virginia, having served 33 years of his sentences. It's unclear how he died. He was a Vietnam veteran and a member of the United Freedom Front, Ohio Seven, Sam Melville / Jonathan Jackson Brigade. He was known to have had medical problems in prison that were left too long unattended. They did that to Richard Williams too. They do that.*. To Americans in resistance. There's almost no mention in the media of his passing. A New Jersey website notes his death in prison as the convicted shooter of a New Jersey State Trooper. In 1981 the officer was shot in a fire fight. Pleading self defense both Richard Williams and Tom Manning were convicted. While the United Freedom Front was a rare U.S. anti-racist revolutionary resistance movement, its bombings of government and corporate facilities that contributed to war and enslavement of people were noted for the clear intention not to harm people. During Manning's life every effort was made to contain him, his thoughts, his words, his art, as though his ability to breathe was a threat to any agent of repression. He was an educator with a laborer's tools. What criminals risk their lives and families' lives to free people from ignorance and slavery? The Bureau of Prisons website shows that BOP Register Number 10373-016 is "not in BOP custody." Tom Manning bears a good bit of thinking. Night's Lantern's concern for United Freedom Front / Ohio Seven members began back in September 2003. Few white people in America laid it on the line for Nelson Mandela when he was in prison. When I wrote an essay about Mandela's death it was also about Tom Manning. I don't think he wants to rest in peace and he'll be there when you're out of hope and put your shoulder to the wheel.
July 17, 2019
Democratic Republic of Congo: the World Health Organization has declared an international health emergency in response to the Ebola epidemic, first reported on these pages May 6th ("Ebola and the Resources of Eastern Congo"), noted again June 3rd, and again July 8th. WHO's financial needs become more urgent. No longer limited to the Congo 3 cases of Ebola have appeared in Uganda. The epidemic has spread to Goma, a heavily populated border region city, a crossroads, which may require heavy vaccination. Its population of one or two million exceeds the number of doses reported available to WHO (previous). Unregulated militias, clandestine border crossings, an overwhelming number of displaced persons in the Eastern Congo, might risk an uncontained epidemic. The lack of transparency concerning the biowar programs of first world countries increases mistrust and lack of cooperation with African and U.N. health care efforts. Increasingly, news management by both corporate and public news services provides information packaged to the uses of government policy.
Partial sources online: "Ebola outbreak in Congo declared an international health emergency," Maria Cheng and Jamey Keaten, AP, July 17, 2019, CTV News; "DR Congo Ebola outbreak declared global health emergency," July 17, 2019, BBC News; "Congo priest first Ebola patient to die in eastern main city," Thomson Reuters, July 16, 2019, CBC News.
U.S.: Political prisoner updates:
Judith Alice Clark is freed from prison. Sentenced to 75 years in retribution for the deaths of a security guard and police in the Brinks robbery of October 20, 1981, she didn't fire a weapon but was an accomplice to a resistance action. With evidence of her re-forming her life and priorities New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo granted her clemency in 2016 which allowed her parole; there was considerable protest from police groups; the Governor's mercy was not immediately honored. At her parole hearing of April 2017 parole was denied. At her parole hearing in April 2019 parole was granted and on May 10 she left prison.
David Gilbert remains in prison. Sentenced to life in prison for being part of the Brinks robbery he's eligible for parole in 2056 (Wikipedia). He was found guilty of three counts of felony murder, which is to say he's considered complicit in the deaths of the shootouts though he didn't commit them. The severity of his sentence under mitigating circumstances is understood as 20th Century punishment for the black and white alliance of the action, and his concern for people as opposed to the system. From his court statement on September 13, 1982: The government that dropped napalm in Vietnam, that provides the cluster bombs used against civilians in Lebanon, and that trains torturers in El Salvador calls us 'terrorists.' The rulers who have grown rich on generations of slave labor and slave wages...label us as 'criminals.' The police forces of Amerika who have murdered 2,000 [people of color] over the past five years and who flood the communities with drugs say that we 'have no respect for human lives.' / We are neither terrorists nor criminals. It is precisely because of our love of life, because we revel in the human spirit, that we became freedom fighters against this racist and deadly imperialist system. [David Gilbert. Love and Struggle Oakland: PM Press, 2012].
Sundiata Acoli: (please note previous). Sundiata Acoli became a prisoner in 1973 after surviving a shootout with police which killed an officer and fellow Panther. Sundiata Acoli was charged with their death and convicted. Assata Shakur also survived the shootout and was convicted of killing the same police officer. She subsequently escaped from prison. Sundiata Acoli was eligible for parole in 1992, with court ordered parole in 2014, but the state appealed and in 2017 the appeals board again refused his parole. His next parole hearing date would be 2032. The length of his incarceration and reversals of parole at his age are cruel and unusual punishment. His closeness to Assata Shakur and his recent parole board hearing's focus on extracting information suggest parole is withheld to make him provide information. Dr. Mutulu Shakur, whose convictions include helping Assata Shakur escape, also remains in prison without parole as the government attempts to make him confess to masterminding the escape. His release is similarly denied. Marilyn Buck, whose convictions included aiding Assata Shakur's escape, contracted cancer at FCI Dublin, suddenly, was slow to be treated and died soon after in 2003 (she was allowed to die outside confinement).
Imam Jamil Al-Amin: on May 3rd in Atlanta oral arguments were presented the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals requesting Al-Amin be granted a re-trial. He was convicted of a crime someone else confessed to and where as a suspect he was falsely identified. He was sentenced to life without parole. In the south persecution of COINTELPRO targets deprived victims of any federal protection to balance the systemic racism. News reports of Al-Amin and his condition remain heavily suppressed by U.S. media. A leader of SNCC and the Black Panther Party as H. Rap Brown in the old days, while serving time in Attica he became a devout Muslim, and subsequently a deeply respected Imam.
Dr. Rafil Dhafir, moved while infirm to be among the many New York City prisoners subject to freezing temperatures at the particularly toxic Riker's Island prison in New York (previous), was subsequently moved to a maximum security unit in Pennsylvania. He was moved again to a minimum security unit in Pennsylvania. The doctor was convicted for financial crimes after providing through the charity he founded medical supplies to Iraqi children victims of U.S. bombing while U.S. sanctions were in place. These were not sanctions as an alternative to 'bombing Iraq into the stone age' but post bombing sanctions which deprived a starving people recovery, food, medical supplies. Dr. Dhafir tried to stand against an attempted genocide of the Iraqi people when few others would confront the issue. In Spain an attempt to open a case at the Audiencia Nacional de España, 2009, alleging genocide in Iraq by British and U.S. leaders was not successful. Dr. Dhafir was convicted in 2005 to 22 years; on appeal his resentencing in 2012 reinstated his original sentence and according to the FBI required $865,272.76 in restitution. For nonviolent action as an affirmation of life and compassion, his early time was served at ADX Florence, a maximum security prison where prisoners were kept in 23 hour lockdown and required to be in shackles when they left their cells. Constructed next to a toxic nuclear waste dump known to be leaking throughout the 1980's, ADX Florence is considered by prisoner reports as particularly dangerous to health (Other political prisoners confined at ADX Florence have included Oscar López Rivera, Raymond Luc Levasseur, Imam Al-Amin, Abu Hamza al-Masri, Fahad Hashmi).
I include here one of many Mexican political prisoners imprisoned in Mexico showing a standard tactic of unjust government which criminalizes and neutralizes community leaders of oppressed minorities. Librado Jacinto Baños Rodríguez, community legal defender and attorney, defender of Indigenous rights, campesino rights, the rights of those with African ancestry, community rights, was falsely arrested in Oaxaca Mexico by 50 Mexican military and police cadre on August 25, 2013, despite protests by the villagers. During his imprisonment described as physical and psychological torture the legal defender lost his eyesight. The UN has protested his false arrest and that of other legal rights defenders in Oaxaca. He was acquitted on a charge of kidnapping. Treatments of legal rights and human rights defenders in Mexico is entirely suppressed in the English speaking media. In late October 2018 Librado Jacinto Baños Rodríguez and Felipe Rojas Orduño were released from prison.
Partial sources online: Wikipedia; "Former Black Panther serving life sentence for murder denied release," Renée Feltz, Nov. 29,2016, The Guardian; "Free Imam Jamil Al-Amin!" Dianne Mathiowetz, May 9, 2019, /Mundo Obrero / Workers World; "Legal campaign launched for Imam Jamil Al-Amin," Askia Muhammad, April 2, 2019, The Final Call; "México: Librado Baños finalmente en libertad tras más de 5 años de detención arbitraria," Oct. 23, 2018, Federacion Internacional por los Derechos Humanos; "Dhafir Ordered to Serve 264-Month Jail Term on Resentencing," Press release, feb. 3, 2012, Albany Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation; "How prisons are poisoning their inmates," Michael Waters, July 23, 2018, The Outline; "The Environmental Concerns of Closing a Toxic Island," Caitlin Hickey, Nov. 22, 2017, Fordham Environmental Law Review.
Fox news reported a fire and explosion under investigation at the Wood River Oil Refinery in Illinois, February 10, 2019. The refinery supplies petroleum products to the St. Louis area and St. Lambert International Airport at the rate of 314 thousands barrels a day ("1 person injured in explosion and fire at Wood River oil refinery," Chris Smith, Feb. 10, 2019, Fox2now).
On March 7, 2019, there was a fire and explosion of unknown cause at the Calumet Montana Refinery in Billings Montana ("Crews investigating explosion at Great Falls refinery," Juliana Sukut, March 7, 2019, Billings Gazette).
The 3rd largest refinery in the U.S., Exxon Baytown Texas was shut down by fire March 16th. The unit can process 560,500 gallons of crude a day.
Fire of unknown cause closed Phillips 66's crude unit processing at Carson California, March 15, 2019. ("Fires Hit Exxon, Phillips 66 Refineries in Texas, California," David Marino and Barbara J Powell, March 16, 2019, Bloomberg).
The heavy fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Company, Deer Park Texas petrochemical facility burned from March 17th to March 20, 2019 ("Now-extinguished Deer Park blaze joins the list of explosions and fires that have rocked the Houston area," Madeline Holcombe, March 20, 2019, CNN; "Crews Work to Control Fire at Petrochemical Plant," AP, March 19, 2019, NBCuniversalmedia).
On April 15, 2019 there was an explosion at the Shell Scotford Refinery in Alberta Canada; the facility includes a hundred thousand barrel a day refinery and 255 thousand barrels per day oil sands upgrader ("Explosion at Shell's Scotford refinery," Nia Williams & Harshith Aranya, April 15, 2019, BOE Report).
On June 3, 2016 a truck driver was injured by an explosion and fire while jet fuel was loading into his truck at the Carson refinery storage facility, the Kinder Morgan Terminals, in L.A. ("Truck Driver Injured In Carson Oil Refinery Explosion, Blaze," June 3, 2019, CBS Los Angeles ).
The Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery in Philadelphia, the largest refinery on the East coast, was ravaged by fire in the early hours of June 21, 2019. Usually the refinery processes 335 thousand barrels per day. By June 27th the area remained too unstable to investigate for the causes. It is unlikely the plant will reopen ("Massive fire and explosions rip through Philadelphia oil refinery," Thomson Reuters, June 21, 2019, CBC News.
"Philadelphia Refinery Explosion Probe Hits Roadblock," June 27, 2019, Bloomberg).
Also less than a year ago Canada's largest refinery, Irving Oil in St John's NB, was struck by an explosion and fire, thought to be due to a "malfunction." Maximum daily production - 300 thousand barrels/day ("Explosion and fire at Canada's largest oil refinery," AFP, Oct. 8, 2018, Yahoo News). The last previous major explosion there was in 1998.
Partial sources online:
"Canadian who helped design Ebola vaccine says there isn't enough to stop current outbreak in Congo," Katie Nicholson, July 6, 2019, CBC News; "South Sudan official allays fears of Ebola outbreak," July 5, 2019, Xinhua; "‘Sometimes we have to abandon the patients’: Treating Ebola in Congo’s warzone," Reuters, July 6, 2019, Digital Citizen; "WHO appeals to Ugandans with Ebola contact to trust vaccine," VOA, June 29, 2019, Digital Citizen.
North America: in the last six months there have been eight substantial explosions or major fires reported at North American oil refineries. The causes and environmental effects remain generally unknown to the public.
Quebec: the issue of public servants being forbidden to wear religious symbols which has approached legislation for over ten years (see 
i forget nor remember
A summary of the current coup attempt: on January 23rd, Juan Guaidó, leader of the right wing National Assembly declared himself the President of Venezuela. During the presidency of Hugo Chavez, and despite the failure of the first U.S. attempted coup against him, and then after the curious death of Chavez, and after the presidency was assumed by Chavez's and the people's chosen successor, Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. has continually and heavily funded the country's political opposition. Guaidó's counter-democratic declaration was endorsed immediately by Brazil, the U.S. and Canada in an attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government. Juan Guaidó's platform if allowed to rule, would include returning nationalized companies to their previous owners. The U.S. Vice president's call-out to the Venezuelan people to rise up and embrace Guaidó as their President, failed. Of the Americas, governments installed by the U.S. have supported the U.S. position. Countries of the Americas controlled by right wing middle classes at the service of corporate policies and wealth, also support the U.S. position. Western media explain 'a need for change' rising from the country's 'humanitarian crisis,' which on examination is an economic crisis rising from very low prices of oil - and then the debilitating U.S.-initiated sanctions to sideline Venezuela's attempts at economic recovery. As the largest holder of oil resources in the world Venezuela's political and economic difficulties are consistently traced to foreign corporate interests. The European Union has demanded new elections in an attempt to discredit President Maduro's victory at the polls last May and his re-installation as President on January 10th. Cuba has shifted 2500 of its health providers from its mission to the poor in what has become fascist Brazil, to Venezuela. Venezuela's alliances with Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, Mexico, among others, remain. Within Venezuela, the government and its supporters including all branches of the military have remained loyal to the country's Constitution and Nicolás Maduro as the elected President. The U.S.-Brazil-Canada axis attempt to effect its choice of rulers for another country has risked tripping these as aggressors and Venezuela, into war. As noted at the mourning for Hugo Chavez whose illness many believe was the result of an assassination, 
