“I feel relieved and elated! Thank God! Today I will have a good night sleep in peace,” these are the words of victory echoed by Ignatious Muhambi a consultant accountant with GALZ following his acquittal today.
Muhambi was on trial facing charges of allegedly possessing pornographic material, in breach of the country’s censorship laws.
In her ruling Magistrate Sandra Mupindu who presided over the matter said that there was no prima facie evidence to prove the essential elements of the case which are possession, indecent or obscene and without lawful excuse.
‘Haga que pase’: Make it happen! The short documentary 'Mi FinK' shows the process of community organization and resistance. This participatory action arose in the face of vulnerability to losing the land: one of the few things that keep the community united and free. Since the abolition of slavery in Colombia, the land has sustained the food supply and the economy of the Afrodescendant people of Villa Rica. Today the sugar companies dominate the area, planting sugar cane as a monoculture, thereby forcing out the traditional small farms of the region.
Bericht zu einem Besuch in Kolumbien im Mai/Juni 2010
Andreas
Speck, Mitarbeiter der War Resisters' International und
verantwortlich für
das Programm Das Recht, das Töten
zu verweigern1,
besuchte Kolumbien vom 19. Mai bis zum 12. Juni 2010.
During its 99th session, the Human Rights Committee also considered the periodic report of Colombia. On the issue of conscientious objection, the Colombian delegation was requested to provide more particulars on conscientious objectors and what protections were in place for them until the law concerning this matter was adopted. The Committee referred to the ruling of the Constitutional Court, had handed down nine months ago, but there was still no written ruling.
During its 99th session, the Human Rights Committee also examined the periodic report of Israel. Again, also the issue of conscientious objection came up. The Israeli delegation said that in the matter of conscientious objections, it did not have the statistics available at hand on the number of cases approved. The burden of proof was on the objector, but it was difficult to say what the burden of proof was because it was hard to determine what was in a person’s heart and mind and whether they were lying.
Comité de Derechos Humanos
99º período de sesiones
Ginebra, 12 a 30 de julio de 2010
Examen de los informes presentados por los Estados partes en virtud del artículo 40 del Pacto
Observaciones finales del Comité de Derechos Humanos
Colombia
CCPR/C/COL/CO/6
Distr. 29 de julio de 2010
Original: español
Los procesos y técnicas que podéis encontrar a continuación prueban que también en grupos numerosos de hasta cientos y miles de personas es posible funcionar y tomar decisiones de forma democrática, horizontal y participativa, sin delegaciones, jerarquías ni votaciones. Estas técnicas están avaladas por la experiencia de diferentes movimientos sociales de base en los últimos 30 años, principalmente en la organización de acciones de desobediencia civil masiva.
Welcome to the August issue of our newsletter. Which is a bit late because of festivities interruptions.
I would like to congratulate the EDO Decommissioners for their court victory. They show how at times taking bigger risks with our actions can bring important victories to our struggles. This risk though must be well planned if not it can backfire. I would like to thank Smash EDO for contributing to this issue.
On January 17th 2009 six people broke into EDO MBM/ITT in Brighton and caused £189,000 worth of damage to computers, servers, lathes and other equipment. The activists, calling themselves the ‘decommissioners’, took their action in response to the Israeli assault on Gaza which had claimed 1,400 lives by the 17th. EDO MBM/ITT manufactures the arming unit for the Israeli F16 bombrack.
After years of lobbying by NGO's, the United Nations decided to start negotiations for a global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The objective of this treaty is to create a legal mechanism to prevent 'unethical' arms trade. Arms should not be exported when there is a serious risk that they might be used in human rights violations, in war crimes, organised crime or terrorism. They should also not be sold to unstable regions, poor countries or corrupt regimes. Reading this, one cannot conclude anything else than that that this treaty is meant to end all arms trade. However, as is well known, international treaties should not be taken too seriously, especially not when they aim at soft goals like respect for peace and human rights. In the first place, clever diplomatic phrasing will leave lots of useful loopholes for a treaty not to be effective. In the second place, if a state does not is not live up to the treaty, there will be no consequenses. Unless, of course, it is a paria state already.
This is a new campaign planned to start in autumn (north hemisphere) 2010. Organised by several German peace and human rights organisations, among them: the Armaments Information Office and the German Peace Society (DFG-VK) who is a member of WRI.
The German foreign and economic policy must be an authentic and credible policy of peace based on humanitarian values. This can only be achieved by respecting the dignity and life of all human beings – even or just the one of innocent and
Formerly known as British Aerospace, BAE Systems has grown into one of the world’s largest aviation and weapons companies, with major operations not only in the United Kingdom but also in Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and the United States, where it is now one of the Pentagon’s largest contractors. BAE is one of the top producers of armored combat vehicles such as the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (widely used by the U.S.
United States and Swedish Air Force are right now preparing for a large war exercise in Norrbotten. War preparations can never go undisturbed says Ofog, who on Thursday at 12:00 will be at Norrbotten Air Wing F21.
The purpose is to break the silence about the fact that Sweden is at war and USA as an ally is allowed to practise bomb war on Swedish soil. War starts here and we can stop it from here, says Ofog who wants to show a better way to use common resources.
I am led into the central office of the Skenäs prison outside Norrköping. Two guards help me to carry my stuff. “It looks like you’re moving in here!” says one guard. “That’s exactly what I am doing, temporarily anyway”, I say. “Do you have your sentence papers with you?” asks another guard. “Yes,” I answer and hand them the papers which say that I was convicted to four months in prison.
El cambio social no sucede solo, este es el resultado del trabajo de gente comprometida luchando por un mundo de justicia y paz. Este trabajo se gesta en grupos o celulas de activistas, en discusiones, en sesiones de entrenamientos, en la reflexion de experiencias previas, en la planificación, en la experiencia y aprendizaje con otros. El prepararnos para nuestro trabajo por la justicia social es vital para su éxito.
Este manual compartelo que gente ya ha desarrollado a partir de contextos diferentes.
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Los procesos y técnicas que podéis encontrar a continuación prueban que también en grupos numerosos de hasta cientos y miles de personas es posible funcionar y tomar decisiones de forma democrática, horizontal y participativa, sin delegaciones, jerarquías ni votaciones. Estas técnicas están avaladas por la experiencia de diferentes movimientos sociales de base en los últimos 30 años, principalmente en la organización de acciones de desobediencia civil masiva.
