[noborders-brum] International Human Rights Day this Sunday 10th December

[Mike D]

Hello everyone,

This Sunday 10th December is International Human Rights Day, there
will be a protest rally in the city centre at 1.00pm outside
Waterstones on High Street.


Press Release:

10th of December will mark the 58th  anniversary since the United
Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal declaration of Human
Rights. Sadly, after 58 years of the adoption of the Universal
declaration of Human Rights we are no nearer guaranteeing every
human being their human rights.

In this country, Asylum seekers fleeing persecution find themselves
locked up, subjected to a harsh prison regime, not knowing what will
happen to them and vilified in the popular media. The despair they
face has led many to take part in hunger strikes. Many others sadly
have taken their own lives.

Britain’s conduct of the ‘war on terror’ has resulted in raids on
hundreds of Muslim homes across the country. Many of those arrested
are subsequently released without charge, but their lives and those
of their families will have already been damaged. There are also
people detained without charge in high security prisons like
Belmarsh and Woodhill and others effectively imprisoned at home
using control orders.

In the Middle East thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of
Lebanese are being held without charge or trial by Israel. There are
currently 300 Palestinian children (under 18s) and 100 women held
hostage in Israeli prisons. The so-called wall, built by Israel has
effectively turned Gaza into one huge prison.

The coalition forces in Iraq do not even bother to count the Iraqi
dead – clearly Iraqi human rights are not considered important.
However, when a reliable estimate of 600,000 Iraqi dead is published
in the Lancet, the US and the UK insist that it is incorrect. The
horrific pictures of the abuse that took place in Abu Ghraib are
still with us, but we should not imagine that all is now well
because of the prosecution of a few low-ranking soldiers. There are
still thousands detained in prisons in Iraq.

Guantanamo Bay, described by Amnesty International as the ‘gulag of
our times’ remains one of the most potent symbols of the ways in
which human, legal and civil rights are trampled by the US. There
are still more than 450 men illegally imprisoned there, without
charge or trial. There is well documented evidence of torture and
abuse. The UK government is complicit in this abuse and refuses to
act on behalf of British residents still incarcerated. However, we
hear that there are even worse places, such as Bagram Airbase, the
Dark Prison in Kabul and secret detention facilities in countries
around the world about which we know very little. It is to places
such as these that ‘terror suspects’ are kidnapped (extraordinary
rendition) by the CIA to be brutally tortured.

To mark the International Human Rights Day and highlight the
violations of human rights internationally and in Britain,
campaigners in Birmingham, including Anti-Racist Campaign,
Birmingham Guantanamo Campaign, Birmingham No Borders, Birmingham
Trade Union Congress, The Green Party, Palestine Solidarity
Campaign, Peace and Progress, Respect, Socialist Resistance, South
Asian Alliance, Stop the War have organised a protest rally.