riots

Islamic sect leader filmed in custody before his killing

Ségolène Team Observers — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:59:06 +0200

This video shows Nigerian Islamist militant Mohammed Yusuf just before he was handed over to the police. Hours later, he died. The footage of the sect leader being interrogated by the army strongly implies that the he was not killed in battle, as initially reported by the authorities.

The details of 39-year-old cleric Mohammed Yusuf's death remain unclear. Blamed for the anti-state violence which saw five days of bloodshed in Nigeria's northern Borno state, Yusuf was killed by authorities on the afternoon of Thursday 2, his bullet-riddled body put on display outside the police station.

It was initially reported that he died during an exchange of fire. But inconsistencies between the police and the army revealed that he had actually been arrested and detained. It emerged that he had been found hiding in his wife's parents' goat pen in the town of Maidiguri, and arrested by the army, who then interrogated him - seen in the video - before handing him over to the police. It was after this that he died. The police deny responsibility for his death, however, saying only that he died trying to escape the authorities. On Wednesday President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua ordered an investigation into his death.

Cheating and sacking push New Caledonia to boiling point

Ségolène Team Observers — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:35:44 +0200

Twenty seven policemen were injured yesterday when protests by pro-independence activists turned violent in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. Our Observers in the capital of Nouméa describe the chaos.

Unionists from the pro-independence group USTKE are staging a general strike after union chief Gérard Jodar was jailed for attempting to ground an aircraft amid a dispute over the sacking of an employee by local airline Airca. The employee was fired after an extramarital affair had been unveiled. Starting a week ago, the USTKE blocked a number of industrial zones, prompting an intervention by riot police on Monday.

The events have been compared with the fierce violence that took hold of the island between 1984 and 1988, when dozens were killed.

The Iranian uprising seen from the future

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:52:56 +0200

Iranian blogger "Bolts" posted this commentary on her blog on Monday. It was translated into English by "Sanli". One of our Iranian Observers, Farnaz Seifi, alerted us to the post. The information has not been verified by FRANCE 24 journalists.

Originally posted in Farsi by Iranian blogger Bolts on August 3.

In the history books of the 21^st century, the first chapter will be about us.

In the introduction, they might write that important events have happened before us, events like 9/11 and war on Iraq and Afghanistan, but those were the remnants of the previous century, with an outdated dialogue and with twentieth century tools: Airplanes, bombs and bullets. And then they will write that the first chapter is dedicated to us because we have been the true children of our time and our dialogue was the dialogue of the beginning of the third millennium.

Early in the book, they will write that social movements are born out of communication technologies and at the same place they will write that we were the first movement that exploited entirely all the new communication tools that were established at the beginning of this century.

Perhaps they will write a footnote on how these tools changed the social structure and how they changed the world view on the social classes, work flow, production and distribution of wealth, social leadership and management and even changed the world's attitude about the sustainable human values.

Perhaps on the same page, there is a photograph of the inventor of the first mobile phone and the portraits of the founders of Wikipedia, Facebook, Blogger, YouTube, Podcasts, or maybe photos of their statues in the main squares of the world's leading cities, with captions like: "Figures who built the twenty first century."

Idem they will write that previously there were only one-way paths: Somebody wrote and published the newspapers and the rest of the people read them. Somebody spoke while the rest were listening. One person was on TV and the rest were watching. Somebody commanded and led and then shapeless masses followed. They will write that the community structure and distribution of wealth, power and information was pyramidal, and then they will highlight that the new communication technologies flattened the society. It empowered the bases of the pyramid such that they reached the top.

It made it possible to communicate with each other, send and receive news, exchange information, tell and listen, watch and be seen, and find new means of cooperation, thinking, criticizing and progress.

There, on top of that page they will put a picture of us with our green flags. They will write that we were the first social movement that all of us were its leader and all of us were its organizer. The name which was called the most was only the speaker of a part of our demands.

Perhaps they will open a box there to put Mirhossein's written statement as an example, where he said: because the people participate in the Friday prayer, he will accept their invitation and join them. They must also add the explanation that previously the leader of a movement used to announce his presence and invited people to join him.

They may make a subsection to describe how a movement without a command centre was acting so well-orchestrated. How its ideas, desires, and slogans were suggested, criticized, and completed so well, and then one day they were expressed in such a harmony as if all these millions, have practiced together for years. Perhaps there, at least in the electronic version of this history book, they will make a link to a clip of us, where the speaker shouts from the loud-speaker: "death to the U.S." and we all respond "death to Russia". Without anybody been preparing for this response, without being coordinated, we shout as if we are all one mouth and one voice.<

They will write that we were the first party that had no central council, no secretary general, and no political branches. They will write that our party was one of complete anarchy that behaved quite systematic. They may presumably point their sarcasm toward anarchist parties of decades before us that were built systematically to behave as anarchists. They will write that our party had no party organs, but all its strategies were clear and its programs were all set correctly. Our demands were also summarized, reviewed, completed, and expressed in the clearest form of expression.

In the same chapter they will write that we lived the last days of guns and bullets and we showed that wherever the awareness, information and enough communication channels for human connection exists, the bullet is pointless. There may put a picture of a single bullet somewhere in our Freedom Museum and will write for its caption "the last bullet that was pulled out of the magazine".

A delicate person will calculate the total weight of the electrons that construct our blogs and websites, and will show that it was not even a thousandth of a bullet weight. He may estimate the weight of all the air molecules in our chants, our "death to dictators", our "all political prisoners must be released" and show that they altogether weigh less than the weight of a single wall of the Evin prison.

Next they will write that we suggested a new definition for the human society, the human relations, for globalization and for living in the global village. Each of these historians will give us a name. Their simplest may write the "Green Revolution", another will call us the "Silent Revolution", somebody will call it the "Smile Revolution", and at last there will be someone to write the "Awareness Revolution".

Unrest in South African shanty towns – ready to host the World Cup?

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:38:03 +0200

Photo: blogger Sydelle Willow Smith.

Protests over living conditions in South African shanty towns turned violent on Wednesday when discontented slum dwellers around the country clashed with police forces. Similar outbursts last year resulted in over 70 deaths when rioters also targeted foreigners from neighbouring countries; a cause for concern for the hundreds of thousands of World Cup fans planning to travel to the country in a year's time.

Police responded to stones and bottles with rubber bullets and tear gas. The protestors, who marched in their thousands in townships in Johannesburg, Western Cape and the northeastern region of Mpumalanga, demand better basic services such as increased water supplies and toilet facilities. Jobless protestors demand higher unemployment benefits.

The crisis comes just two months after African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma was elected president after promising improved conditions for the country's poor. Instead, conditions have worsened after South Africa hit its biggest recession in 17 years. More than a million people remain living in shacks and over 23% of the country is unemployed. Which is perhaps why they find it hard to believe that the government is spending nearly $145 million (€102m) on next year's World Cup, taking place across the country between June 11 and July 11. With around 500,000 foreigners planning to make their way to the event, the government is under pressure to quell the violence before the games kick off.

Haredim, the ultra Ultra-Orthodox Jews fighting the state

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:54:59 +0200

Image © "odedgal" on Flickr.

Extremist Ultra-Orthodox Jews have been rioting for three days after social services took a woman's child away from her for alleged starvation.

Known as the Haredi community, the majority of Israel's extremist Ultra Orthodox Jews live in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood. It was here that a three-year-old, weighing seven kilos, was removed from his mother on Tuesday after social services were warned that she was starving him. The mother was detained.

Extremists from the community took to the streets in defence of the mother, burning litter bins, vandalising state property, and attacking civil servants, from policeman to cleaners. They initially claimed that the boy was not sick, and then insisted that he was ill because he suffered from cancer. The hospital he is being treated in, however, deny the claims, saying that his ill-health is a result of malnutrition, and that his mother has a psychiatric disorder called Munchausen-by-proxy - which entails abusing someone in order to generate sympathy.

On Friday (July 17) the mother was bailed, following concerns that protestors would become even more dangerous if she remained in custody during the Shabbat, which begins at sundown on Fridays in the Jewish calendar. She is to be tried later.

Northern Ireland – a return to violence?

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:46:32 +0200

Violent clashes between police and rioters continued for a third night in the Catholic district of Ardoyne on Wednesday night, sparked by Belfast's yearly Orange Parades - a celebration of Protestant rule in the region.

So far over 20 police officers have been injured and four people arrested since riots broke out on Monday night. "The Twelfth" celebrations, in which tens of thousands take to the streets to celebrate the 1690 Battle of the Boyne - considered a crucial event for Protestant supremacy in Ireland - rarely go entirely problem-free. This year, however, has seen the violence continue into its third night for the first time in several years.

Sinn Fein, the political wing of the (now non-violent) Irish Republican Army and currently the second largest political party in Northern Ireland, blames the unrest on dissident republicans from the illegal terrorist organisation, the Real IRA.

Xinjiang riots: official version v Internet version

Team Observers — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:35:19 +0200

140 people have been reported killed in clashes between Chinese police and protesters from the Uighur Muslim ethnic minority in the north-western region of Xinjang yesterday.

Like each time this kind of unrest occurs in the country, two versions have emerged: the state television shows only images of Han victims, while on the Internet the story is one of a bloody crackdown against the Uighur people.

The initial death count, released by the Chinese state news agency on Sunday, counted only three dead — all of whom were Han. Alongside this information, the state media played images of Uighur people burning cars and the Hans with bloody faces. On 6 July, the authorities came up with quite another number: 140 dead and 816 injured.

Images: Boxun News. On 5 July in Urumqi.

How to disperse a protest, Chinese style

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:55:14 +0200

Last Tuesday we published a post about the violent clashes between protesters and the police in the central Chinese town of Shishou. This photo, published by a Chinese weekly paper, shows the technique the riot police use in order to push back the crowds. Each time the police gain around 20 metres of ground, they form a wall of officers to secure the area. Is this a method specific to China? If you know something about the way riot police work, leave a comment.

Photo: Southern Metropolis Weekly

Thaksin unintentionally suggests red shirts are paid to cause havoc

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:25:27 +0200

This video is supposed proof that the "red shirts" rioting in support for exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra are being paid to cause havoc. Is it a misunderstanding, a fake, or a major boo boo on the part of the opposition leader?

The clip has received almost half a million hits in just three days, and is hotly debated by Thai Web users. It's part of a video address from Shinawatra, who has pledged to his supporters in the country that he will return and govern "if the country and the people really need me". The said "red shirts" have caused chaos in the past week, resulting in two dead and 13 under warrant for arrest (including Shinawatra). But while support for the former PM is undoubted, critics say that rioters are being paid for their efforts. The clip, which emerged Tuesday, is presented as proof of that allegation.

If you have any info on the video, leave a comment. We'll update the post tomorrow.

Translated by Jotman and subtitled by France 24. 500 Baht is €10. The original video was posted 13 April by "hatethaksin". It was broadcast online by "DStation", which transmits the video addresses from Shinawatra, who is currently based in Dubai. On Wednesday DStation was disconnected down by the Thai authorities.

Protests hijacked by "drug users and hooligans"

Team Observers — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:39:15 +0200

Who were the people seen around the world storming the Moldovan president's office, throwing computers out of the window, and guzzling champagne? Not us, says Oleg Brega, a member of the one of the groups that organised the original protests against the Communist regime.

On Tuesday, protestors angered by the Communist Party’s victory in Moldova’s legislative election stormed the office of the presidency and entered the parliament compound. Some then left with furniture and computers, which they burnt in the street (see photos) to cries of "Down with the communists" and "We want a re-count of the vote". President Vladimir Voronin, of Moldova’s Communist Party (PCM), has accused Romania of being behind the riots, a claim Bucharest immediately denied.

Click here for more information on the riots and Moldovan politics.