The State's Justice Machine, Guantanamo Bay.

        I doubt if there is anyone in the developed world today who doesn't know of Guantanamo Bay, who doesn't know of the brutal injustice that emanates from its walls. Guantanamo Bay epitomises the brutal authority of the state, it is the states final answer to resistance, justice put in the hands of the military. No civil courts, no due process, no public scrutiny, simply brutal military rule. It is fourteen years since its creation, fourteen years of secret brutality beyond the prying eyes of the public, a state gone mad with authority.

       Obama came to power seven years ago with the promise that he would close this abomination, his reign at the helm of the world's biggest empire has accounted for 7 years of overseeing Guantanamo Bay, 50% of its time in existence. He leaves office in approximately one year, and it looks like he will leave the rod of empire, and the keys of Guantanamo Bay to the next emperor. I have no doubt that this symbol of repression and brutality will continue to stand, belching out its foul stench of state authority and human degradation, for as long as the powers that be think they can get away with this, their weapon of choice.

       This video is distressing, but as far as we know accurate.

This from Code Pink:

       “Despite the rhetoric saying he would close Guantanamo as almost the first act of his Presidency, President Obama has had clay feet from the beginning. He has refused to take actions to actually close the prison. Let's remember: seven of the 14 years that these men have languished in Guantanamo have been under Obama.
        “Don't let President Obama blame others. A reluctant Pentagon is no excuse. Obama is Commander in Chief. The fault is not in the stars, but with him. One day of unlawful detention is an outrage, 14 years is an abomination. If Obama is to close the prison before he leaves office, he must move to do so NOW.”

–  Michael Ratner, attorney who represented Guantanamo detainees before the US Supreme Court

       TODAY is the fourteenth anniversary of the opening of the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Join us in calling on President Obama to use his executive powers to close down the prison (and return the base to the Cuban people!).

CODEPINK National Coordinator Alli McCracken led the last delegation to Guantanamo, and the 60-person group visited Caimanera – a small town of 11,000 people that abuts the US Naval Base on the southeastern coast of Cuba. The US naval base, they were told, is an illegal occupation of Cuban land that violates the territorial sovereignty of the island. The base sits on a critical part of the bay that would vastly improve the local economy if the land were returned. They believe that the closure of the base is a condition for the full normalization of relations between the two nations.

       It is unconscionable that the prison in Guantanamo remains open 7 years into the Obama presidency. Call on President Obama to make good on his campaign promise to to close the prison TODAY!

        President Obama can’t make up for the last seven years of failed leadership, but he can live up to his campaign promises and finally end this shameful chapter of American history. Please join us to ensure that he does.

Toward a more peaceful world,
Alli, Andrea, Ariel, Chelsea, Janet, Janna, Jodie, Lisa, Medea, Michaela, Michelle, Nancy, Sam and Tighe
P.S. Make sure to sign the petition to see our video of then President-elect Obama promising to close Guantanamo seven years ago today!

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Nuclear Weapons Passing By Your Homes.

 

         Warwickshire is a fairly long way from the Clyde, lots of roads winding they way through towns and villages. No doubt the people living along this route sleep easy at night, unaware that rolling slowly past their humble abode are convoys of deadly weapons of mass destruction. Convoys of nuclear weapons for the trident submarines based on the Clyde at Faslane, trundling past homes, schools, and hospitals, unannounced, escorted by police and armed marines. The state doesn't give a monkeys about your opinion on this matter. Your concerns will not be considered, you will not be informed. Some of the deadliest nuclear weapons in the world, being carted the length and breadth of our land, with all the inherent dangers of an accident, and you have no say in the matter. They call it democracy.

       January 9th. 2016, nuclear weapons convoy in Warwickshire transporting Trident nuclear weapons between the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire and HM Naval Base Clyde.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Success.

Jailed Philip Morris Pakistan workers released!

       I have no doubt that solidarity won the day in this case, as it has done in countless thousands of cases around the world. The state apparatus, and its vile partner, large corporations, can pick off individuals and small groups with impunity, if we don't stand up and support those being abused, oppressed, and imprisoned, they win. We have the numbers to overcome all oppression, it just requires our coming together in solidarity, global solidarity.

This from IUF: 

On January 8, we informed you of the arrest and jailing of 35 workers who were peacefully protesting the brutal, illegal termination of 141 workers at the Philip Morris International factory in Mardan, Pakistan. Thousands of you responded to our appeal for messages, and we are very pleased to inform you now that the 35 workers with their union President were released from jail on January 10, and the union is determined to continue their struggle.  The union has warmly thanked the IUF and all those who responded to our appeal. We thank you for your solidarity and support.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Net Neutrality Violated By T-Mobile.

From demandprogress.org

       T-Mobile has been caught red-handed violating Net Neutrality. Will you chip in $5 to help demand the FCC crack down?

Dear Friend,
         For possibly the first time since the FCC adopted Net Neutrality last year, an ISP has been caught red-handed breaking the law.¹
        T-Mobile is throttling video content from select websites as part of their new "Binge On" feature, and when confronted about it, T-Mobile's CEO lashed out at internet freedom activists, asking "Who the f*ck are you?" and "Who pays you?"²
         It's clear T-Mobile has no shame about violating Net Neutrality. And if the FCC doesn't crack down, other companies are sure to follow their lead.

Will you chip in $5 to help demand that the FCC crack down on T-Mobile's blatant violation of Net Neutrality?

       Here's what’s happening: Late last year, T-Mobile automatically enrolled all their users in a service they're calling Binge On, which allows users to watch video from certain select websites, like Netflix, without counting against their data cap.
       The problem is that sites not enrolled in Binge On, like YouTube and Vimeo, not only count against the data cap but are being pushed onto a data slow lane, causing buffering and poor playback.³
       This is a clear, systematic violation of the Net Neutrality rules we fought so hard for. And it's one of the first big tests of whether Net Neutrality will actually be enforced—or will exist only on paper.
       We're launching an urgent push to demand the FCC take swift action to crack down on T-Mobile. Will you donate?

Yes, I'll donate to help stop T-Mobile from violating Net Neutrality.

Thanks for taking action on this at a critical time.
David, Daniel, Kurt, Mark, Sara, Victoria, and the rest of the Demand Progress Team

DONATE

---

Sources:

1. T-Mobile 'breaks' net neutrality rules with Binge On, BBC News, January 5, 2016
2. Twitter blows up after T-Mobile CEO drops anti-eff f-bomb, Wired, January 7, 2016
3. EFF Confirms: T-Mobile’s Binge On Optimization is Just Throttling, Applies Indiscriminately to All Video, Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 4, 2016

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Wealth And Poverty, Two Sides Of Capitalism.

       This winter may have been mild, but it is Scotland, and it is winter, cold and damp, not the sort of conditions anyone should find themselves homeless. While our parasitical politicians tell how well everything is doing, spouting, everything is on the up and up, some facts contradict that propaganda. The number of homeless people is rising, rising homelessness can never equate with an improving society. Glasgow City Mission, a charity that helps provide temporary shelter for homeless people, claims to have had a 60%+ increase in the number of rough-sleepers seeking a bed for the night. The charity claimed that, December 2015, saw 711 individuals came to them seeking a bed, compared with 437 December 2014. The quietest night this December saw 14 individuals seek a bed for the night, last December that figure was 4. While the busiest December night this year the figure was 31, compared with last December when there were 21. 

      Not a very flattering picture of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, and an indictment of the system we live under. Glasgow has an abundance of glossy, glitzy, shopping malls, lots of fancy expensive restaurants, car parks littered with luxury cars, yet hunger and homelessness stalks its streets. Under the neon lights a doorway can be a shelter from the cold and damp, a dark lane, a bed for the night. There is an invisible army of enforced hungry, lurking in the shadows of abundance. It is totally unacceptable that hunger's vicious claws tear at an individual a hands throw away from a warehouse of food. It is totally unacceptable that someone should lay their head on cold wet stone for a bed, when the city abounds in empty accommodation. 

      This cruel injustice is the law of capitalism, no matter your needs, you will have to do without, if you can't pay. You can't be provided for if there is no profit in it for somebody. In this insane system, you can die from hypothermia and/or hunger, while shelter lies empty, and food rots next door. Why do we tolerate this?

The Homeless

Tenebrous spectres, they exist,   out there,

on the crumbling edge of chaos.

A father, a son, a brother,

a daughter, a sister, a mother.

Fragments of some shattered family structure;

waste products

from a society being driven to destruction

by a hurricane of greed,

living a life that wears out life,

dying,

the devious death of exhaustion from existence.

Visit ann  arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Union Leaders Arrested In Thailand.

Around 500 locked-out union members at Japanese auto-supplier Sanko Gosei rallied outside the Ministry of Labour on 6 January 2016.

07.01.2016 ***This article has been updated***

      IndustriALL Global Union strongly condemns the Thai military government after it invoked new powers under the Public Assembly Act 2015 to end a peaceful protest by union members in Bangkok (6 January).
      It followed a rally of 500 locked-out workers at Japanese-owned auto-part supplier Sanko Gosei outside the Ministry of Labour on 6 January.
     At 19.00 three police units and military forces were used to break up the demonstrators who were planning to spend the night there. Shortly afterwards two union leaders, Chalee Loysoong, Vice President of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC) and Amorndech Srimuang, President of the Sanko Gosei Workers Union, which is affiliated to IndustriALL through TEAM, were questioned by authorities.
     During this time their phones and ID cards were temporarily confiscated and they were escorted at all times, even to the bathroom.
      The union leaders had taken part in mediation negotiations with Sanko Gosei and the Ministry of Labour during the day, as the rally was taking place outside.
      “We are gravely concerned that the government is using the Public Assembly Act to curb the legitimate rights of workers to gather peacefully,” said Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriALL. “This goes against all norms and international standards.”
      The Public Assembly Act carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison for causing a disturbance or disruption of public services.
     “The crackdown is particularly disappointing considering our positive meeting in December at which the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Labour said the government shared IndustriALL’s will to protect the rights of workers,” added Raina.
        In October 2015, IndustriALL filed an official complaint to the International Labour Organization against the government of Thailand for serious violation of trade union rights.
       More than 600 Sanko Gosei workers, who are all union members, have been locked out after negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement and bonuses broke down. The company claims that it is unprofitable. In the meantime, casual workers have been brought in to replace the locked out workers.
       The Sanko Gosei Workers Union accuses the company of using the dispute to bust the union and replace permanent workers with subcontractors.
       The Minister of Labour, General Sirichai Distakul, has reportedly promised to attend the next mediation meeting between the union and the company.
      For more information, please contact: Leonie Guguen, Communications Officer, IndustriALL Global Union - lguguen@industriall-union.org or tel: +4179 137 5436.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Join A Union, Get Sacked!!

         Some good news and some bad news, that's the way of workers lives. The good news usually comes from solidarity between workers across the globe, the bad news invariably comes from the state and/or big business.

This from Labour Start:

2016 begins with news of yet another company responding to workers' attempts to organize themselves with mass dismissals. 

In this case, it's a company in Turkey that's sacked 30 workers who dared to join a trade union.  The International Union of Food Workers (IUF) has launched an online campaign demanding their reinstatement and a recognition of union rights.  Please take a minute and add your name here.
Meanwhile, two of our campaigns launched in December closed down fairly quickly -- and for good reason.
A campaign we launched on December 14th demanding the release of Iranian teacher trade unionist Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi closed within a day after we learned that he had been freed. Mahmoud's hunger strike captured the attention of many human rights activists and trade unionists, and the more than 4,500 of you who sent off messages in that short time helped send a clear message to the Iranian government.
And just one day before that we learned that the deal between the Israeli and Chinese governments -- which would have led to the importation of 20,000 Chinese workers as bonded labour -- failed.  The collapse of the deal came after more than 6,300 of you supported the online campaign we launched with our partners in the Israeli and Hong Kong labour movements.  Full details are here.

These are both good news stories, and again I want to thank you for supporting our campaigns in 2015 -- as I hope you will do this year as well.



Eric Lee

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Mass Terminations, Mass Arrests.

Time and time again we see the state apparatus step in to support large corporations against their employees, peaceful protest can be turned into a criminal offence at the whim of the authorities. All this proves is that there is a festering cancerous marriage between state and big business. Workers can never expect fair and just treatment from either. However, whenever this oppression happens, we should all stand up and support those workers being repressed and criminalised by the state in its efforts to protect the profits of big business. Workers jailed for protesting illegal mass terminations at Philip Morris Pakistan. An appeal from IUF:        Thirty-five workers were arrested in the city of Mardan on January 6 for peacefully protesting the brutal instant termination of 141 employees at the Pakistan subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris International. Workers were informed of the mass terminations on November 21 when they arrived to work only to learn that dismissal letters would be sent to them by post.          With the support of the local union, whose President Abrar Ullah was among the arrested, workers launched a continuous round of protests at the factory gate after management refused to discuss the terminations and began pressuring workers to accept the illegal dismissals. To add to the pressure, police were called to the factory gate when the protest began.        On January 6, workers gathered with their union officers to present a Charter of Demands to management when police arrested 35 protestors under the Maintenance of Public Order law, which allows for up to 90 days detention without charges.        A solidarity delegation from the IUF-affiliated Pakistan Food Workers Federation (PFWF), which had hoped to meet with the workers demonstrated outside the police station following the mass arrests. The arrested workers were then shifted to Bannu Jail, some 250 kilometers from Mardan and notorious as a prison for incarcerating Taliban activists.        The PFWF and the IUF will continue to support and assist the workers, who have vowed to continue the fight. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNMENT authorities calling for the immediate release of the workers and their union President. Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Crime Of Asbestos.

       Throughout capitalism there has been a constant trait and it still persists. That trait has been as mining and manufacture of materials developed, dangers to workers health became apparent. In most of these cases the pattern was/is the same, first the employers try to conceal the dangers, then trash any results proving the danger, as well as trashing the reputation of those bring forward the evidence of health dangers. In most cases they can fall back on the state legislators to be on their side, as they drag their feet in introducing any meaningful legislation to try and control that danger.

        Probably one of the most brutal and callous cases of this festering marriage between employers and state in safeguarding profits at the expense of workers health has been asbestos. The dangers to workers and the public's health from asbestos was being raised in the 1800's, but the substances was still being used here in the UK well into the 20th. century. We all know now that asbestos is a killer, it is the cause of the incurable disease of mesothelioma. However it was know for years and the companies mining it and manufacturing it continued to deny any such danger, and went into the arena of dirty tricks to conceal the facts.

        One of the worlds largest manufacturers of asbestos products was Turner and Newall and they pulled out all the stops to have the reputations trashed of anyone involved in revealing the dangers of asbestos. The even called on the disgraced MP Cyril Smith to rubbish the claims at a Commons Select Committee, there was more stings to this vipers tongue that most people ever suspected. 

         From its first entry into our lives, it is impossible to put an accurate figure on the number of people who died a horrible death from asbestos mesothelioma, and the deaths still continue to this day. The crime is that the manufacturers were well aware of those dangers and with money and power, attempted to conceal the facts for generations. Our legislators, the state, are complicit in this vicious and brutal crime.

        As the West began to be forced to legislate against asbestos and around the 60's, there were calls to ban asbestos in countries like the UK, America and Australia, you would imagine that as these bans came into force, the mining of this killer would start to fall off. On the contrary, from the 60's on, mining of asbestos started to rocket. The callous reasoning behind this strange fact is that the asbestos industry realised that they were losing a vast market, so they went into overdrive in marketing their filthy product to the third world, Africa and China. Thus with one aim, increasing their profits, they spread the death dealing disease of mesothelioma to new generations of workers.

       People today are still dying from this profit driven disease, mesothelioma, as asbestos found its way into all aspects of our lives, industry, homes, cars etc. and it has not yet been all cleaned up, this killer still lurks in corners of our society, waiting to be disturbed and do its deadly deed. All thanks to the drive for profit from unscrupulous and greedy corporations.

From the Independent:

          Turner and Newall archives reveals that executives had sent a staff member to an asbestos campaign meeting posing as a member of the public, who then sent back a three-page report detailing everything that was said. 

        The executives also revealed they had ordered a “very confidential report” to be made on researchers involved in a Yorkshire TV documentary, Alice: A Fight for Life, which told the story of 47-year-old former asbestos worker Alice Jefferson, who was dying from malignant pleural mesothelioma. The film, directed by award-winning film maker John Willis, explicitly linked asbestos to cancer and attacked the Government’s perceived complacency in limiting the manufacture of asbestos in Britain.

         At the time of the film, asbestos as a health hazard was not widely known to the public, and mesothelioma, the cancer caused by asbestos, was even less wellknown. The Government and leading doctors told people that asbestos was a vital industry and that its manufacture was safe.-------

And:

Asbestos: The slow clean-up

• 1898 Factory inspectors express concern about the “evil effects” of asbestos dust.
• 1911 The first cases of asbestos deaths in factories are confirmed and recommendations made for improved ventilation.
• 1924 The death of a textile worker in Rochdale is the first published case of asbestosis. The firm pays no compensation to the bereaved family.
• 1931 Asbestos industry regulations introduced. Home Office survey finds widespread asbestos disease in the UK.
• 1967 The asbestos register is established. Safety limits are proposed the following year. 
• 1972 The first personal injury claim succeeds.
• 1983 Asbestos licensing regulations are introduced.
• 1985 Regulations introduce a ban on crocidolite (blue) asbestos and amosite (brown) asbestos.
• 1987 Control of asbestos at work regulations introduced to protect workers from fibre exposure.
• 1992 Laws are amended to ban rarer forms of amphibole asbestos. Later followed by a ban on chrysotile asbestos.
• 1995 A report shows that asbestos deaths are increasing at an alarming rate. A quarter are away from asbestos manufacturing industries.
• 1996 A report claims asbestos protection is vastly inferior to the claims stated by its manufacturers.
• 1999 Asbestos regulations introduce a final, comprehensive ban on asbestos.
• 2002 New regulations mean businesses have to start identifying and managing asbestos in their properties.
• 2006 Previous regulations are brought together in the new Control of Asbestos Regulations.

When The Time-bomb Goes Off.

The bike just sits there
dust covering its lovely sheen
puffing up the Fintry Hills
well, it's no longer my scene.

Y'see, as a Clydeside apprentice

I proudly learnt the tradesman's skill

little did I know then

the price, asbestos lungs that kill.

Now I just sit here through the painful day

gasping each mouthful of air,  wondering

how can I make the bastards pay.

They new it was a killer

a time-bomb in our lungs

but,  because it was so quick and cheap

they firmly held their tongues.

So what if it cost the workman's life

there's always a couple of new workers

in the care of the worker's wife.

Please try to understand my anger

as I and others bear their cost

a slow death from asbestos lungs

a vibrant life lost.

Anguish for a family and friends

all in the name of profit;

now that really does offend.

Our anger without direction

is a blind archer behind the bow

we have to use our anger

to smash the status quo.

Perhaps making my dying public

might provoke righteous indignation

at a system that puts profit

before the health of a nation.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Protecting The System.

Protectors of the system. Coming to a side street near you!!!

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Littler Bit Of Good News.

               In a world that is falling apart, with wars, repression, brutal authoritarianism and executions, it is cheering to hear some good news.

This from Contra Info: 

            Long months have passed since the hot summer day at the beginning of July when our friend and comrade got arrested at a passport control at the Greek-Bulgarian border. The Europe-wide arrest warrant against her had been issued by the prosecution office of Aachen, Germany, on the 24^th of June 2015. After having spent three weeks in Bulgarian cells she got handed over to the German cops at the airport of Sofia.
          In Germany she got locked up under the ‘U-haft‘ (Untersuchungshaft) regime in Cologne because of a presumed involvement in an armed bank robbery that had taken place two years earlier (2013). Under this regime prisoners awaiting trial are locked up, officially for a maximum of six months, which in reality very often is extended up to a period of over a year. In her case the restrictions put in place meant that at each visit (2 hours per month) there were two cops, a guard and a translator present, that she was not allowed to make any phone calls and that all post was first directed to the prosecutor’s office where it was read and then given to her after one month delay.
               Her detention was based on a single piece of evidence: a DNA trace found on two gas pistols discovered in a closet of the bank by an employee 11 days later. A few weeks ago, on the 2nd December, after months of investigation the prosecution formally charged her with bank robbery, hostage taking and weapon possession. These charges were brought in front of three judges, who had to decide whether to pursue them in court or not. On the 16th of December, the court called the prison instructing them to release our comrade because all charges were to be dropped, since the “evidence” that five months of investigation produced was not sufficient for this case to be brought to court.
                 Now, our comrade is back with us. However, the joy that this brings us does not replace, nor lets us forget our anger towards the isolating restrictions, towards the ridiculousness of the uniform circus, and towards any authoritarian system that plays with people’s lives in such a way. The biggest source of strength came from the uncompromising and uncooperative stand our comrade took: she always kept her head up and her defiant spirits alive.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

ACE Dates.

ACE MONTHLY MEETING – 7.30pm WED 13 JAN –  

ALL WELCOME – AT ACE

        The ACE meetings are normally the first Wednesday each month but we have postponed for a week on this occasion to give more people the chance to participate – all interested in ACE are very welcome. 

        As a self-managed centre totally run by volunteers, ACE needs the active involvement of as many people as possible, so we hope to see you at this meeting. There are many projects based at ACE which you can get involved in, including the Scottish Radical Library and Counterinfo Lab
       - see www.autonomous.org.uk Following our holiday break we are now aiming to be open as normal, and so we are always looking for people to help staff ACE at our public opening times – Saturday 12-4pm, Tuesday 12-3pm and Thursday 6-8pm.
         Some more upcoming events, open to all interested:

MIGRANTS RESISTANCE FORUM MEETING – 

6pm FRIDAY 15 JAN - BEEHIVE INN
        The next Migrants resistance forum is Friday 15 Jan, 6pm at the Beehive Inn (18 to 20 Grassmarket, Lothian, Edinburgh, EH1 2JU). We will review progress on the action points agreed in the last meeting as well as discuss new ideas and actions. All welcome, please invite people that may also be interested. https://www.facebook.com/events/558298784337173/

See also MIGRANTS RESISTANCE FORUM on facebook

EDINBURGH COALITION AGAINST POVERTY MEETING – 

 7pm MON 25 JAN – AT ACE
       Monthly ECAP meeting, organising grass-roots resistance to the attacks on claimants and the low-paid. All welcome. Meetings last Monday each month. You can also meet ECAP at ACE every Tuesday 12-3pm at the drop-in to support people with benefits, debt, housing and other poverty-related problems.
edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk   Facebook-

 EDINBURGH COALITION AGAINST POVERTY

EDINBURGH CHIAPAS SOLIDARITY GROUP MEETING – 

7pm TUES 26 JAN – AT ACE
         Solidarity with the indigenous Zapatistas in Mexico. Meetings last Tuesday each month
EDINBURGH CHIAPAS SOLIDARITY GROUP on facebook

      Check out AUTONOMOUS CENTRE OF EDINBURGH on facebook for regular news and events updates. Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh, 17 West Montgomery Place EH7 5HA

ACE is open Sats 12-4pm, Tues 12-3pm, Thursday 6 – 8pm
       Advice and solidarity on benefits, debt, housing etc on Tuesdays.
     Leith Wholefoods, the Info Shop, Scottish Radical Library and free broadband available all 3 days.

Open monthly meetings first Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm at ACE 0131 557 6242 ace(at)autonomous(dot)org(dot)uk

www.autonomous.org.uk

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Recent General Strike In Finland.

The latest from Anarchist Radio Berlin:

       As Anarchist Radio Berlin we had the opportunity of making an interview with two members of the new Anarchist Federation in Finland, Alusta. The interview was made during the Anarchist Bookfair in Tallinn, Estonia. The comrades tell us about the idea and the goals of the federation, the recent general strike in Finland and the political and social panorama of the country, including the rise of the far right in midst of governmental austerity measures.

The Inhumanity Of Prisons.

        All prisons are an injustice, prisons are the state's tool of repression, and in America, the corporations business model. Being locked up separated from you family and friends can be a very traumatic experience, but when added to that there is brutality, humiliation, sexual harassment and solitary confinement, it can be beyond endurance. All those who are subject to this state de-humanising experience, unreservedly deserve our total solidarity. Below is just one case of the millions across the globe who suffer from this inhumanity at the hands of the state. 

***PLEASE CALL THE NEW MEXICO WOMEN'S CORRECTIONAL FACILITY (a Corrections Corporation of America run prison) TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR CHLOE WELLS***
       Chloe is currently being held in solitary confinement and has been for over 8 weeks at the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility in Grants, NM. after being found not guilty on charges of inciting a riot.
       After leading 5 other women in an attempt to speak to the prison's inmate advocacy representative, Chloe was told she and others would not be allowed to file a report against a corrections officer who had allegedly committed acts of both sexual and physical abuse against many of the 611 inmates housed in the Grants facility.
       At this time all the other inmates who took part in the stand-off lead by Chloe Wells have been released from solitary confinement and all charges have been dismissed except for those against Chloe.
        Despite being found "not guilty" of the charges, Chloe will still suffer the consequence of being the first woman in the history of this facility to be moved to maximum security Level 6; a program dedicated to solitary confinement for male inmates displaying predatory behavior.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

           Please use the attached contact list of prison officials to call on her behalf. Feel free to use this script (leaving your phone number if you reach voicemail is optional) or speak in your own words, but please be polite and courteous! Finally, please like the Facebook page "Justice For Chloe Wells" and let us know how your phone call(s) went. If you are especially moved by Chloe's story, there is also information on that page on where you can write her a letter to keep her spirits up. Thank you!
       "Hello, my name is _____, and I am calling out of concern for an inmate at New Mexico Women’s Correctional Facility by the name of Chloe Wells, inmate number 79147. I am calling to demand that she be released from solitary confinement and put back in general population, that she have access to the same medical care and programs she had before being moved to solitary, and that she and other inmates at this facility are allowed to meet with their inmate advocacy representative and file complaints against allegedly abusive corrections officers as is their right. Furthermore I demand that Chloe’s transfer to Level 6 be cancelled, as this wing is reserved for sexual predators and Chloe’s transfer there is clearly in retaliation for her courageous stand against the sexual abuse of her fellow inmates. I find this whole situation outrageous and disgusting, and I am sure you share my concern about the welfare of these women. Please call me back at (000)-000-0000. Thank you for your time and action on this important matter."

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACTS FOR CHLOE WELLS

For Stage 1 of Call in Campaign 1/1/2016
MAIN PHONE NUMBER FOR THE PRISON: 505­287­2941
CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA HEADQUARTERS:
615­263­3000

Paula Burns
NM Corrections Office of Internal Audit and Investigation 505­827­8633
Paul Montoya
Administrative Services Director for NM Dept of Corrections 505­827­8632
Melissa Ortiz
Deputy Director of Administration and Female Facilities for NM Dept of
Corrections 505­827­8677 office
James Lopez
Assistant Warden for NM Women’s Correctional Facility in Grants, NM
Currently has no phone number listed online, was former warden for
Grants facility but retired in 2012.
Rhonda Ayers
Chief of Security at NM Women’s Correctional Facility in Grants, NM 

505­449­7394
Was named in most recent PREA Audit as Chief of Security.
Pete Perez
Deputy Warden for State of New Mexico Corrections Dept 505­876­8300 

fax 505­876­8200
Gregg Marcantel
CEO of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
Has commented personally on most recent allegations of Sexual Abuse of
female corrections officers and inmates that took place in March 2015 

505­827­8884
Dr.Margaret Western
Ordering Physician for Women’s Prison in Grants, NM
Works with Corizon Healthcare, the Healthcare provider for the Women’s
prison 505­287­3666

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk