Sunday: Yo Soy 132 Marches In Mexico

This from NarcoNews:

On Sunday, June 10, the Mexican movement known as “YoSoy132” will participate together with the convening organization “Enrique Peña NO” in the “Second March of Anti Peña Nieto Information.” The first occurred when tens of thousands marched through the streets on May 19. ...

The national march on Sunday will converge from two routes [in Mexico DF]. ...:

• At noon from the Zocalo in Mexico City the “Second March of Anti Peña Nieto Information” will head toward the Angel of Independence.

• At 10:30 a.m. a contingent of the YoSoy132 movement’s Arts Commission will head out from the Casco de Santo Tomás, near Metro Station Normal, toward the Zocalo, in memory of the June 10, 1971 massacre in which government and paramilitary squads massacred 120 students who had marched peacefully against the PRI government. That massacre is today known as “El Halconazo.”

Both marches will converge at the Zocalo and then march to the Angel of Independence, where demonstrators will watch, together, the broadcast of the second presidential debate (which, thanks to the pressure of the student movement will be aired by the Televisa and TV Azteca duopoly) at 6 p.m....

[S]imultaneous protests have been organized in at least 52 cities and towns throughout the Mexican Republic.

We will march with placards, megaphones, banners, etcetera, making evident to all of society all the errors, goof-ups, evil governance, repression, corruption and other messes by Peña Nieto. We will tell the truth since the traditional media of television and newspapers refuse to broadcast it… Together we will demonstrate our rejection of the most repressive and corrupt party in the country and it’s candidate, a plastic puppet!

All who attend the march pledge to:

• Attend on Sunday, June 10, 2012 in the Zocalo without any partisan political displays. The recommendation is to dress in black.

• Not engage in any prosletism in favor of any candidate or party. This means not wearing the colors associated with political parties, images that allude to the candidates, cheers for any of their names, etcetera.

• March PEACEFULLY and on the indicated route.

• Remain in only one lane of traffic so as to not impede the travel of vehicles.

• Respect all who attend the march, pedestrians and vehicles along its path, regardless of their political inclinations. There will be some guides during the march solely to indicate what that means, but we trust in your civility and if we act according to these guidelines everything should happen exactly as it is planned.

• Do not respond to any provocations by infiltrating groups nor occur in acts of vandalism or violence, such as taking down, damaging or destroying campaign signs. We must not damage any public services.

• Do not bring your voter ID of the Federal Elections Institute nor expensive objects of value that could be robbed or a target of provocations.

• Expose vandals and people who participate in acts of violence. If this occurs we suggest stopping the march and sitting down with arms crossed around the violent person, filming and taking photographs. This is how we will expose the aggressor.

• Deliver any person who conducts acts of vandalism or violence to the authorities.

• Inform the people of the truth about candidate Enrique Peña Nieto: his errors, goof-ups, evil governing, inexperience, ignorance, et cetera.

• Inform about the dishonest news by media companies bought by the PRI party (like Televisa) that have edited or ommitted relevant information that would expose the true face of Peña Nieto.

• In the event that any of these cited agreements are violated, retreat from the march.

I am in solidarity with Yo Soy 132 and this march. Join me in this. Wear black if you are marching. If you are in Mexico, join a march near you. If you are in the US, and there is a march near you (So Cal, you hear me?) join it.

More info here at FB.

Yo Soy 132

The Election in Mexico is July 1, 2012. EPN is not inevitable. If you want it.

What's it mean? On May 11th an uncounted number of students jeered at Peña Nieto when he addressed them at the Ibero University in Mexico City. The Media tried to diminish the importance of their protest by reporting that there were only 131 students involved. There were many more than that… and so the students started to furiously spread the word: “I am # 132” The slogan appeared on T shirts, banners, placards Then a group of them made a You Tube video clip that went viral.

And, as if that weren't enough, one of my heroes, Paco Ignacio Taibo II applauds:

“The real miracle is that a complete generation that was condemned to apathy, to only observe, and to individualism, is once again making the nation’s destiny their own.”

Tibet: Two Women Self Immolate

Sad and difficult to understand news from Tibet. The New York Times reports:

Two Tibetan women killed themselves by self-immolation in two different Tibetan regions of western China over the weekend, according to reports by Tibetan exile groups and Radio Free Asia, which is financed by the United States government.

The two deaths bring the number of Tibetans who have set fire to themselves in western China since March 2011 to at least 24; at least 16 have died.

The Radio Free Asia report said that Rinchen, a 32-year-old widow and mother of three, killed herself by self-immolation on Sunday in front of Kirti Monastery in the town of Aba, known in Tibetan as Ngaba. A report by Free Tibet, an advocacy group, said Rinchen had four children.

On Saturday, a woman who attends a middle school in Maqu County in Gansu Province set fire to herself in a vegetable market, Radio Free Asia reported. On Monday, the Tibetan Women’s Association, an exile advocacy group, identified the woman who killed herself as Tsering Kyi, age 19; Free Tibet said she was 20.

The group said the two self-immolations were the first by Tibetan laywomen in Tibet’s history. Previously, only nuns or former nuns had set fire to themselves.

AP has more details:

The reported deaths came on the eve of the opening of China's annual legislative session, a time when security is tightened across the country. March is also a sensitive time for Tibet, marking several anniversaries, including that of the unsuccessful revolt against China that caused Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to flee in 1959, and deadly anti-government riots that rocked the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 2008....

Free Tibet director Stephanie Brigden said Rinchen's self-immolation was the result of repression and attempts to assimilate Tibetans into Han Chinese culture.
"Tibetans are living under de facto martial law. China's response to protests — which are increasingly widespread — has been to intensify repression and surveillance, pushing Tibet deeper into crisis," she said in a statement.

China says it treats minority groups such as Tibetans fairly, and pours tens of billions of dollars into improving living conditions in their areas. The government has also accused the Dalai Lama and overseas Tibetans of being behind the protests and self-immolations.

The message from these self immolations could not be clearer. What is more difficult by far for me is comprehending how taking one's own life aligns with Buddhism's strong belief in doing no harm and in refraining from killing.

Activism: How Do We Support The Iranian People's Protests?

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.

And now I ask again: what can we do to help?

Olympic Protesters Punished Without Trials

Evidently, it's not a really good idea to assert free speech rights in China or to protest the policies of the Chinese government. If you're Chinese, as I previously wrote, you can be sent to "re-education through labor" if you apply five times to get a permit to protest legally. And what if you're a US Citizen and you protest? You are summarily punished without trial. Or deported. After all, protests about freedom for Tibet, or anything else that might offend you about the Chinese Government's policies, might tarnish the luster of the perfect, mechanistic Olympics.

The New York Times reports:

Six Americans who were taken into custody on Tuesday as they tried to protest against China’s rule in Tibet have been given 10-day detentions, the Chinese police said Friday.

But members of their organization, the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet, said that they had no information about four other protesters — two Americans, a German and a British citizen — who were detained early Thursday during a protest near the National Stadium. Extrajudicial detentions are a common form of punishment for Chinese dissidents, but are rarely handed out to foreigners, who are often deported almost immediately after being taken into custody. Members of Students for a Free Tibet have staged eight protests involving 55 people since the Olympics began on Aug. 8, and human rights advocates said the government might be seeking to deter those contemplating similar activities in the Games’ final days.

/snip

Reached by telephone, Public Security Bureau officials declined to comment, but faxed a two-sentence statement explaining that the six Americans had been “apprehended for upsetting public order.” The statement, which did not include the detainees’ names, said the men were being held at the Dongcheng police station.

You read that right. Extrajudicial detentions means punishment without trial. And the offense is "upsetting public order."

What exactly did these protesters do that so grievously "upset public order"?

Most of the organization’s demonstrations have involved unfurling “Free Tibet” banners or displaying Tibetan flags, which are illegal in China. In the latest action, four protesters raised their fists and shouted slogans while waving a Tibetan flag near the National Stadium. As at the other protests, the participants were quickly bundled off by plainclothes police officers.

So. The protesters are summarily detained and punished without trial. But it gets more interesting:

Two photographers for The Associated Press were also roughed and taken into custody, according to news agency reports and press freedom advocates. The police questioned them for 30 to 40 minutes and took the memory cards from their cameras.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China has received dozens of complaints from foreign journalists who have been detained, trailed or had equipment damaged by the police.

How dare anyone so grievously upset public order during the Olympics! How dare newspeople and photographers actually do their jobs and record the protests! Didn't Chairman Mao write, "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend?" Well maybe. But he must not have meant during the Olympics.

Gitmo On The Platte: The Police State Lives In Denver

Just in case you thought that exercising your Constitutional Right to assemble in Denver, engage in non-violent protest and perhaps participate in civil disobedience at the Democratic National Convention was going to be easy and humane, the NY Times informs in an article entitled, "Grim Warehouse Set To Process Convention Arrests," that is not be the case. The Government has set up a mini-Gitmo to handle pesky protesters who get arrested in Denver. And they're telling you about it now, so you'll reconsider your plans. And maybe stay home.

Individuals arrested at the Democratic National Convention will be processed at an industrial warehouse with chain-link cells topped by razor wire, a facility some have compared to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. /snip

The Denver sheriff's office, which operates city and county jails, insists anyone taken to the center will be there only a few hours while they're fingerprinted, issued a court date and released after posting bail. Others will be transferred to facilities designed for longer detentions.

''Of course if the numbers are overwhelming, that's all going to be out the door,'' said Capt. Frank Gale, a sheriff's spokesman. ''If we're inundated with a bunch of civil unrest, it doesn't matter how well we prepare. If we get severe numbers it's going to take us forever'' to process those in custody. /snip A sign [at the facility] read: ''Electric stun devices used here.''

Gale said each cell will be about 20-by-20 feet. He refused to say how many people could be processed there. /snip

ACLU-Colorado legal director Mark Silverstein said city officials told him detained protesters will be taken by bus to the facility, about 2 miles northeast of downtown. Those who are unable or refuse to post bail will be taken to a downtown city jail to await a court date.

Silverstein said warehouse cells won't have running water, bathrooms or telephones. Gale said deputies will escort anyone needing those services.

Great. A mini-Gitmo on the Platte. 20 x 20 cells with an unknown number of people in them, for an unknown period of time, without food, water or toilets. And the idea that if there are too many people, whatever planning there was would be overwhelmed. And then those incarcerated would be stuck.

You'll pardon me, but it reminds me of this 1964 event when there were too many protesters and too few cells:

The Natchez occurrence included the arrest of plaintiffs while engaged in a civil rights march without a parade permit on one of the principal streets of Natchez, and their subsequent detention at the city auditorium for several hours. The arrests took place on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 2, 3, and 4, 1964 under the same circumstances. /snip The remaining arrestees were removed to the Parchman State Penitentiary on commercial buses, three busloads on Saturday, two on Sunday and one on Monday. /snip

One facet of this special treatment was that each person was compelled to take a laxative upon admission to maximum security. He applied this procedure to the arrestees who testified. Another tactic then employed in this section of the prison was that male prisoners were deprived of their clothing and issued underwear as their sole wearing apparel while confined. This tactic was doubly imposed on the male arrestees. They were stripped of their clothing and left naked for varying periods of time, some for as long as 36 hours. None were issued underwear. Some were allowed to claim and wear their own underwear; one was allowed to wear the top to his underwear but not his shorts.

As to the female arrestees who testified, they were compelled to take the laxative. They were deprived of their coats and other outer garments, stockings and shoes, but were allowed to wear their dresses and undergarments.

All arrestees were confined in cells designed to accommodate two persons, having two bunk beds, one lavatory, and one commode. They were not given mattresses, pillows or cover. The temperature ranged from 60~ to 70~. From four to eight persons were placed in each of the cells. They slept on the bare steel beds or on the floor. They huddled together for warmth.

That's what tends to happen when the planning is overwhelmed, the authorities make other arrangements. And they make them without consultation from representatives of those who've been arrested. They do what they want to do how they want to do it.

The purpose for telling you this now, of reminding me about this now, just before the convention?

It's called a "chilling effect." You'll be hesitant to exercise your rights, to protest, to be arrested, to engage in any sort non-violent civil disobedience that might result in arrest, authorities think, if you believe that your arrest will be extremely unpleasant, hours upon hours of confinement without running water, without bathrooms, without contact with those outside.

If large numbers of protesters mean that the Government's planning is "all going to be out the door" if large numbers of people are arrested, leave aside what a "large number" might mean in this case, who do you think is going to be taking those arrested to the bathroom? Who do you think is going to make sure those arrested have food and water? Who do you think is going to make sure that those arrested receive adequate medical attention if they need it while in confinement? I think you know the answer.

The question is whether this makes one shrivel, or whether it makes one more steadfast. Either way, the story from Denver is just plain appalling.