Survey shows 11m people have taken drugs

Positive for Class A substances

4m admit taking class A substances

Prison officers responsible for smuggling into jails

Nearly 4 million people in England and Wales have tried class A drugs - including heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, LSD and magic mushrooms - at least once. The annual British Crime Survey drug findings show that 11 million people, aged between 16 and 59, say they have tried some illegal drug at least once, with 3.5 million saying that they have taken them in the past year.

The figures show that since the launch of the government's drug strategy in 1998, overall use in England and Wales has remained broadly stable. Class A abuse, the most serious, has increased, mainly due to a surge in cocaine use up until 2000, despite the government's now-abandoned target of cutting class A abuse by 25%.

Fresh Home Office research also confirmed the extent of abuse in prisons yesterday, and suggested that prison staff were one route for drugs to get in. The study found that smuggling by uniformed or civilian staff was thought to be "substantially increasing" the availability of heroin and cannabis behind bars.

The figures show a fall in cannabis use in all age groups since the law was relaxed over the past 12 months.

But 9 million people say they have smoked cannabis, 1.75 million of them in the past month.

The picture for class A drugs has been stable over the past year, but there has been a fall in cocaine use and a rise in use of hallucinogens, particularly magic mushrooms.

Two million people say they have tried mushrooms, possibly because, until this summer, the class A drug could be bought legally.

Despite media coverage warning of a crack cocaine epidemic, only 239,000 people have tried the drug, against 1.8 million who have had cocaine. There are said to be about 16,000 regular crack users. It is estimated 200,000 people have used heroin; 21,000 in the past month.

Among young people (aged 16 to 24) the BCS estimates 45% have tried illicit drugs at least once, 26% in the past year and 16% in the past month. A million young people, or one in eight, have used a class A drug.

More generally, cannabis was the most commonly used drug, followed by cocaine, which is now more popular than ecstasy. There is also significant use of amyl nitrate, also called poppers, and amphetamines by young people.

Further Home Office research by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research at King's College London shows that heroin, cannabis, non-prescribed medication, and crack cocaine were all in circulation at the six prisons studied.

Main routes of entry were social visits, mail, new prisoners, drugs thrown over the perimeter, and contact after court appearances.

More than half the prison officers and ex-prisoners questioned said staff were responsible for smuggling - the fourth most commonly mentioned route.

"Many of the staff who were interviewed acknowledged that such trafficking goes on, and could substantially increase the amount of illegal drugs available in an establishment," said the report.

At one prison a member of staff had been convicted of supplying drugs and sentenced to seven years.

Once an officer has been persuaded to bring in contraband, he or she is vulnerable to blackmail, the report said.

By Alan Travis posted 31 October 05

People: 'Prisoners' of Drugs'

People who are addicted to heroin usually take the drug because it relieves them of problems such as low self-esteem, distrust and fear of abandonment. They may have poor communication skills & poor relationship skills.

Blunkett's Quest, but is he on drugs?

The legislation is expected to introduce a new definition of "possession" of an illegal drug, making it an offence to have a certain amount in the bloodstream. This is likely to prove controversial - not least because some drugs, such as cannabis, can remain in the bloodstream for weeks.

POSSESSION? OR INVASION?

UK: This absolutely preposterous idea/theory of allowing a person/s to be possibly charged with 'possession', if found to have a drug substance within their bloodstream, just goes to prove such hypocrisies which certain hierarchies feel justifies passing legislation, is another blow for democracy!

Related:

Plea to release Biggs rejected by ruling-class
UK: Home Secretary Charles Clarke has rejected a plea by Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs to be released from prison on compassionate grounds.

Prisons chief hits at 'gross' overcrowding
Martin Narey, a civil servant who has served every Home Secretary since 1989, highlights statistics showing that thousands of mentally ill inmates and a record number of children now constitute a significant part of the prison population.

Clarke faces a fight over probation overhaul
UK: The home secretary, Charles Clarke, yesterday confirmed his plans to abolish 42 local probation boards and instead create "a vibrant mixed economy" in the management of 200,000 offenders in the community.

The devilish advocate
UK: The devilish advocate John Hirst taught himself law in jail, and has never lost a case against the prison service. Erwin James meets up again with the former 'lifer' who won inmates the right to vote.

Racism still rife in jails, five years after the murder of Zahid Mubarek UK: The prison service will be strongly criticised for continued racial discrimination against ethnic minority inmates by the official report from the Zahid Mubarek inquiry.

UK prisoners should get vote, European court rules
UK: Laws setting out who can and cannot take part in elections are to be rewritten after the European court of human rights today ruled in favour of giving British prisoners the right to vote.

Prison plan 'will cut reoffending'
UK: A network of community prisons to help cut the number of criminals who re-offend has been outlined by Home Secretary Charles Clarke.

Clarke to scrap plan to peg prison numbers
UK: The home secretary, Charles Clarke, has said he is to abandon his predecessor's aspiration of pegging the prison population in England and Wales at 80,000. He will also drop plans to put a legal obligation on the judges' sentencing guidelines council to take the size of the prison population - currently 77,000 and rising - into account when laying down the "going rate" for major crimes.

Crowded jails 'boosting suicides'
UK: The chief inspector of prisons warned that an overcrowding crisis in Britain's jails was leading to an increase in prisoner suicides.

Chief justice calls for new approach to law and order
UK: The retiring [ruling class] lord chief justice, Lord Woolf, made a passionate plea for a new approach to law and order which would see a major shift away from punishment towards the solution of problems which generate crime.

Britain's only prison ship ends up on the beach
UK: The last inmates have departed and a skeleton staff is left guarding Britain's only prison ship - in case anyone is minded to break in rather than out.

Throw away the key
The one profession to get results on recidivism has been sacrificed to Labour's desire to lock up criminals in private prisons.

Judges' misdeeds will remain secret
UK: Judges who are disciplined for bad behaviour will not have the findings against them made public under a complaints regime to be launched next year.

Prisoner total rises 15% in six years
England and Wales are continuing to jail offenders at a higher rate than any other major country in western Europe, it emerged today. New research indicates that the government's use of prison as its main tool of penal policy has increased by 15% since 1999.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Prisoner's cell death
UK: A prisoner was found hanged in his cell last week, the Home Office said, fuelling criticism over the soaring number of suicides in custody.

Plans for five new 'superprisons'
Recent figures show a total of 75,550 prisoners were held in 139 jails in England and Wales, nudging up the previous record of April 2004 by just six inmates.

Prison has lost its way - report
UK: Bristol prison is suffering wide-ranging problems because of inconsistent management, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said.

Row over acupuncture for prisoners
UK: The Home Office has responded to criticism over prison inmates who are being offered acupuncture on the NHS in order to relieve stress.

Number of prisoners sent back to jail trebles
UK: The number of prisoners being sent back to jail after release has nearly trebled in the past five years, according to a report published today.

Top judge says crowded prisons cannot break cycle of crime
UK: Reoffending rates after a prison sentence are at an "unacceptably high level" and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners reoffending should shock the public, England's top judge, [Ruling Class] Lord Woolf, said last week.

All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

Decade after inspector left in disgust, report tells of filth
UK: Dirty, mice-infested cells, high levels of self-harm, and widespread bullying over drugs and medications were just some of the damning findings of a report into conditions at Holloway, Britain's largest women's prison.

Most women 'should not be jailed'
Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'
UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

Inquest blames jail for overdose death
UK: An inquest jury returned a verdict itemising a catalogue of faults at Styal prison in Cheshire, concluding that the prison's "failure of duty of care" contributed to the death of Sarah Campbell, 18, who took an overdose of tablets on the first day of her three-year sentence.

Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect others
UK: Sarah Campbell, 18, spent the last hours of her life in the segregation unit of Styal prison, Cheshire. "The seg", as those places are referred to, used to be known as "the block", short for punishment block. [ Seg is a bullshit word for Punishment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Human Rights Abuse and that is State Terror.]

Britain 'sliding into police state'
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

UK solitary confinement
UK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.

Inquiry must root out prison racists
UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Prison suicides soar as jails hire 'babysitters'
UK: Prison officers are being taken off suicide watch and replaced by unqualified 'babysitters' because the system is overwhelmed by an epidemic of self-harm.

Plan to sell off juvenile jails as job lot
UK: The government is to put out to tender all its dedicated juvenile jails that hold children under 18 in a departure in Whitehall's privatisation programme.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remand
UK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".

Concern as UK prison suicides hit record level
UK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.

End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doors
But now Holloway prison in north London - where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged in 1955 - has been earmarked for closure, along with several other women's prisons, which have been hit by a spate of suicides.

How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal jail notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.

Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

The prison industry in the United States: big business or a new form of slavery?

HUMAN rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million - mostly Black and Hispanic - are working for various industries for a pittance.

For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don't have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don't like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.

There are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, "no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens."

The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world's prison population, but only 5% of the world's people. From less than 300,000 inmates in 1972, the jail population grew to 2 million by the year 2000.

In 1990 it was one million. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates. It is expected that by the coming decade, the number will hit 360,000, according to reports.

What has happened over the last 10 years? Why are there so many prisoners?

"The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners' work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself," says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being "an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps."

The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. "This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors."

According to the Left Business Observer, the federal prison industry produces 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98% of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93% of paints and paintbrushes; 92% of stove assembly; 46% of body armor; 36% of home appliances; 30% of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21% of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people.

CRIME GOES DOWN, JAIL POPULATION GOES UP

According to reports by human rights organizations, these are the factors that increase the profit potential for those who invest in the prison industry complex:

¥ Jailing persons convicted of non-violent crimes, and long prison sentences for possession of microscopic quantities of illegal drugs. Federal law stipulates five years' imprisonment without possibility of parole for possession of 5 grams of crack or 3.5 ounces of heroin, and 10 years for possession of less than 2 ounces of rock-cocaine or crack.

A sentence of 5 years for cocaine powder requires possession of 500 grams - 100 times more than the quantity of rock cocaine for the same sentence. Most of those who use cocaine powder are white, middle-class or rich people, while mostly Blacks and Latinos use rock cocaine. In Texas, a person may be sentenced for up to two years' imprisonment for possessing 4 ounces of marijuana. Here in New York, the 1973 Nelson Rockefeller anti-drug law provides for a mandatory prison sentence of 15 years to life for possession of 4 ounces of any illegal drug.

* The passage in 13 states of the "three strikes" laws (life in prison after being convicted of three felonies), made it necessary to build 20 new federal prisons. One of the most disturbing cases resulting from this measure was that of a prisoner who for stealing a car and two bicycles received three 25-year sentences.

* Longer sentences.

* The passage of laws that require minimum sentencing, without regard for circumstances.

* A large expansion of work by prisoners creating profits that motivate the incarceration of more people for longer periods of time.

* More punishment of prisoners, so as to lengthen their sentences.

HISTORY OF PRISON LABOR IN THE UNITED STATES

Prison labor has its roots in slavery. After the 1861-1865 Civil War, a system of "hiring out prisoners" was introduced in order to continue the slavery tradition. Freed slaves were charged with not carrying out their sharecropping commitments (cultivating someone else's land in exchange for part of the harvest) or petty thievery - which were almost never proven - and were then "hired out" for cotton picking, working in mines and building railroads.

From 1870 until 1910 in the state of Georgia, 88% of hired-out convicts were Black. In Alabama, 93% of "hired-out" miners were Black. In Mississippi, a huge prison farm similar to the old slave plantations replaced the system of hiring out convicts. The notorious Parchman plantation existed until 1972.

During the post-Civil War period, Jim Crow racial segregation laws were imposed on every state, with legal segregation in schools, housing, marriages and many other aspects of daily life. "Today, a new set of markedly racist laws is imposing slave labor and sweatshops on the criminal justice system, now known as the prison industry complex," comments the Left Business Observer.

Who is investing? At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons. The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more.

All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month.

The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call "highly skilled positions." At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.

Thanks to prison labor, the United States is once again an attractive location for investment in work that was designed for Third World labor markets. A company that operated a maquiladora (assembly plant in Mexico near the border) closed down its operations there and relocated to San Quentin State Prison in California. In Texas, a factory fired its 150 workers and contracted the services of prisoner-workers from the private Lockhart Texas prison, where circuit boards are assembled for companies like IBM and Compaq.

Oregon State Representative Kevin Mannix recently urged Nike to cut its production in Indonesia and bring it to his state, telling the shoe manufacturer that "there won't be any transportation costs; we're offering you competitive prison labor (here)."

PRIVATE PRISONS

The prison privatization boom began in the 1980s, under the governments of Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr., but reached its height in 1990 under William Clinton, when Wall Street stocks were selling like hotcakes. Clinton's program for cutting the cutting the federal workforce resulted in the Justice Departments contracting of private prison corporations for the incarceration of undocumented workers and high-security inmates.

Private prisons are the biggest business in the prison industry complex. About 18 corporations guard 10,000 prisoners in 27 states. The two largest are Correctional Corporation of America (CCA) and Wackenhut, which together control 75%. Private prisons receive a guaranteed amount of money for each prisoner, independent of what it costs to maintain each one.

According to Russell Boraas, a private prison administrator in Virginia, "the secret to low operating costs is having a minimal number of guards for the maximum number of prisoners." The CCA has an ultra-modern prison in Lawrenceville, Virginia, where five guards on dayshift and two at night watch over 750 prisoners.

In these prisons, inmates may get their sentences reduced for "good behavior," but for any infraction, they get 30 days added - which means more profits for CCA. According to a study of New Mexico prisons, it was found that CCA inmates lost "good behavior time" at a rate eight times higher than those in state prisons.

IMPORTING AND EXPORTING INMATES

Profits are so good that now there is a new business: importing inmates with long sentences, meaning the worst criminals. When a federal judge ruled that overcrowding in Texas prisons was cruel and unusual punishment, the CCA signed contracts with sheriffs in poor counties to build and run new jails and share the profits.

According to a December 1998 Atlantic Monthly magazine article, this program was backed by investors from Merrill-Lynch, Shearson-Lehman, American Express and Allstate, and the operation was scattered all over rural Texas. That state's governor, Ann Richards, followed the example of Mario Cuomo in New York and built so many state prisons that the market became flooded, cutting into private prison profits.

After a law signed by Clinton in 1996 - ending court supervision and decisions - caused overcrowding and violent, unsafe conditions in federal prisons, private prison corporations in Texas began to contact other states whose prisons were overcrowded, offering "rent-a-cell" services in the CCA prisons located in small towns in Texas. The commission for a rent-a-cell salesman is $2.50 to $5.50 per day per bed. The county gets $1.50 for each prisoner.

STATISTICS

Ninety-seven percent of 125,000 federal inmates have been convicted of non-violent crimes. It is believed that more than half of the 623,000 inmates in municipal or county jails are innocent of the crimes they are accused of. Of these, the majority are awaiting trial. Two-thirds of the one million state prisoners have committed non-violent offenses. Sixteen percent of the country's 2 million prisoners suffer from mental illness.

BY VICKY PELAEZ posted 15 October 05

Related:

New Orleans: Prisoners Abandoned to Floodwaters
As Hurricane Katrina began pounding New Orleans, the sheriff's department abandoned hundreds of inmates imprisoned in the city's jail, Human Rights Watch said today.

Lockdown
Mumia, if the last nameless prostitute becomes an unraveling turban of steam, if the judges' robes become clouds of ink swirling like octopus deception, if the shroud becomes your Amish quilt, if your dreadlocks are snipped during autopsy, then drift above the ruined RCA factory that once birthed radios to the tomb of Walt Whitman, where the granite door is open and fugitive slaves may rest.

Ohio's Abu Ghraib
US: Before becoming an Ohio State Penitentiary physician, Dr. Ayham Haddad experienced a different side of incarceration as a political prisoner in Syria. After being arrested, tortured, and released, Haddad immigrated to the United States to begin a new life.

Two Million Imprisoned = Too Many
On August 13, thousands of people from around the nation are expected to march in a "Journey for Justice" to our nation's capitol. Times have certainly changed since the 1963 civil rights march on Washington, but this year's march still has everything to do with what many view as institutionalized racism.

Harmful, Undeserved Punishment
US: Nearly five million American citizens are denied the right to vote - one of every 50 citizens. That includes 13 percent of all African-American men nationwide, up to almost twice that percentage in particular states and the majority of adults - black and white -- in some inner city neighborhoods.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

[PRISONACT] FOR THE MILLIONS WHO CARE!
US: Washington: Hello. My name is Kay Lee and among other things, I am currently a coordinator for Prison Reform's first 'Call to Arms': A massive march which is scheduled to take off from Lafayette Park in Washington DC on August 13, 2005.

International conference: Prisoners and their families
NEPACS' third national conference looks at the importance of family relationships to an offender and the trauma and disruption to family life caused by a prison sentence.

Association for the Prevention of Torture
The Optional Protocol requires 20 ratifications to enter into force. All States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture should seriously consider ratifying the OPCAT as soon as possible. National Institutions and others promoting the human rights of people deprived of their liberty need to be informed of their potential role as national preventive mechanisms under the OPCAT.

US land of the free: 2,131,180 prisoners
US: WASHINGTON -- The nation's prisons and jails held 2,131,180 inmates as of June 30, 2004, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced this week. Two-thirds were in federal and state prisons, and the other third were in local jails. Jail authorities were supervising an additional 70,548 men and women in the community in work release, weekend reporting, electronic monitoring and other alternative programs.

The ABOLITIONIST
From the first issue's open letter: "When a prisoner suggested we entitle this quarterly newspaper The Abolitionist, we couldn't help but revel in the titleâs historical significance. The original Abolitionist was a monthly journal of the New England Antislavery Society that agitated for the immediate abolition of slavery back in 1835.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

Unlock the Box:
Unlock the Box is a product of many years of struggle to shut down the Security Housing Units in California. During this time, the United Front to Abolish the SHU was created as a forum to coordinate the actions of everyone involved in this campaign.

State of the Prison System
US: According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 2.3 million men and women are now behind bars in the United States. Yes, the country that touts itself as the "land of the free" and the champion of freedom around the world incarcerates a higher percentage of its people than any other country.

THE HIDDEN TRUTH ABOUT EXECUTIONS:
For death row inmates in Indonesia, execution usually comes on a deserted beach or remote jungle at the hands of a paramilitary firing squad. And, it rarely comes fast.

US incarceration rate climbs
The US penal system, the world's largest, maintained its steady growth in 2004, the US Department of Justice reported.The latest official half-yearly figures found the nation's prison and jail population at 2,131,180 in the middle of last year, an increase of 2.3 per cent over 2003.

Three-Strikes law mandatory sentencing
US: First of all, this is not about a simple baseball game. This is about the most important thing of all, the game of life. The Three-Strikes law (mandatory sentencing for three felony convictions) came into being through fear, manipulation and, yes, full-blown prejudice.

Most women 'should not be jailed'
Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.

He Did Time, So He's Unfit to Do Hair
She has managed to turn life in federal prison into a nifty career move. Her company's stock is soaring, and she has plans for not one but two television shows. It almost makes you wonder why the Enron types are fighting so hard to stay out of jail.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK:
US: The American media reports that thousands of Iranians cheered, whistled and clapped as a serial killer was publicly executed in Iran last week.US death row numbers don't change policy?
The number of prisoners on death row in the United States appears to be falling, mostly credited to a single Governor who commuted the sentences of all the death row prisoners in his state.

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
US: The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

Our Two Priority Bills sent to White House
US: The 8th National CURE Convention last June lobbied on Capitol Hill the Innocence Protection Act in the Senate and the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 in the House. On Sunday, October 10th, Congress passed both bills and sent them to the President to be signed.

THE LAW IS AN ASS:
US: A Californian man who beheaded a german shepherd dog he had named after his girlfriend, has been sentenced to 25 years to life under California's three-strikes law.

How Denying the Vote to Ex-Offenders Undermines Democracy
For starters, hundreds of thousands of people who are still eligible to vote will not do so this year because they will be locked up in local jails, awaiting processing or trials for minor offenses.

BIRTHDAY PROTEST BACKS INNOCENT MAN ON DEATH ROW:
Kids from 3 to 83 years old beat candy labeled "Justice" out of a big Texas-shaped piqata on Aug. 1 as dozens gathered in the Houston City Hall Park to celebrate the 30th birthday of Nanon Williams, an innocent person on Texas death row.

THE LAND OF BIBLES, GUNS, PATRIOTS AND THE 'WORLD ROLE MODEL' FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The state of Alabama, USA, executed James Barney Hubbard. So what? ... you might say ... America executes prisoners almost every week!

Abu Ghraib, USA
When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail.

On Solitary Confinement
There has been much written about solitary confinement by some of the world's leading psychiatrists, but very little written by victims of solitary themselves. I believe that the 32 years I have spent in solitary qualifies me for the task.

Appealing a Death Sentence Based on Future Danger USA-HOUSTON, June 9 - Texas juries in capital cases must make a prediction. They may impose a death sentence only if they find that the defendant will probably commit more violent acts.

Forensics? In proposing a new death penalty for Massachusetts last month, Governor Mitt Romney offered firm assurance that no innocent people would be executed: Convictions, he said, will be based on science.

The Two Million Signature Campaign
We are shooting for over 2,000,000 signatures on the LERA petition! That is one signature for every person incarcerated in the United States!

Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America: Part NSW Community News Network Archive: US land of the free: 2,131,180 prisonersOne BY LAURA MIRSKY.

Maoist Internationalist Movement
March 6 -- Protesters took to the streets in cities across the state of California to demand California prisons shut down the Security Housing Units (SHU). Like other control unit prisons across the country, the SHU are prisons within a prison. They are solitary confinement cells where prisoners are locked up 23 hours a day for years at a time. The one hour a day these prisoner sometimes get outside of their cell is spent alone in an exercise pen not much larger than their cell, with no direct sunlight.

From Terrell Unit in Texas to Abu Ghraib Doesn't It Ring a (Prison) Bell If the president wasn't so forthright about his disinterest in the world, it would have been hard to believe him Wednesday when he said the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison "doesn't represent the America I know."

US Prison system ending love affair with incarceration?
After 25 years of explosive growth in the U.S. prison system, is this country finally ending its love affair with incarceration? Perhaps, but as in any abusive relationship, breaking up will be hard to do.

High court keeps alive case of inmates held in solitary
NEW ORLEANS: The nation's highest court refused Monday to kill a lawsuit brought by two prisoners and an ex-inmate at the Louisiana State Penitentiary who spent decades in solitary confinement.

Notebook of a Prison Abolitionist
In his autobiography, Frederick Douglass recalls how as a slave he would occasionally hear of the "abolitionists." He did not know the full meaning of the word at first, but he heard it used in ways that he found appealing. He heard about it when a slave ran away or killed his master. He heard about it when a barn was set on fire or a slave committed an act his master thought wrong. For Douglass, these utterances and reports were "spoken of as the fruit of abolition." He adds, "Hearing the word in this connection very often, I set about learning what it meant."

Racism still rife in jails, five years after the murder of Zahid Mubarek

* Year-long inquiry attacks failure to change
* Bias remains at institution where inmate died

UK: The prison service will be strongly criticised for continued racial discrimination against ethnic minority inmates by the official report from the Zahid Mubarek inquiry.

The inquiry was set up into the killing of Mr Mubarek who was battered to death by his cell mate, a white racist psychopath, at Feltham youth jail, west London, in March 2000.

The expected criticism comes two years after the service promised big improvements after an inquiry by the Commission for Racial Equality found it guilty of unlawful racial discrimination on 17 separate counts. Two internal reports by the prison service catalogue continuing discrimination, poor practice and other failings.

The inquiry, chaired by Mr Justice Keith, will find prison bosses have still failed to implement enough changes after the Mubarek scandal. Mr Mubarek, 19, died just hours before he was due to be released. His killer, Robert Stewart, was violent and racist, yet the two youths were put in the same cell. Stewart, who had RIP tattooed on his forehead, admitted to the inquiry for the first time that racial hatred was a motive in the killing.

Yesterday the year long inquiry ended and has seen the prison service suffer more damaging revelations. Even the prison service's internal reports, passed to the inquiry find widescale continued failings on race despite promises by its most senior managers to crack down on discrimination.

A report by its race equalities adviser found prisons with a swastika daubed on the wall, racist language and "belligerent behaviour" by staff, officers telling racist jokes to white inmates, and claims of bullying and abuse. Staff at one jail were also found to be hostile to the prison services's investigation team which was mostly black. At Portland jail the race equality report found that on the investigator's first day a staff member told them "we're being overrun by you lot." Some staff at Portland saw demands to reform by their bosses as "political correctness from London" .

At Leeds jail staff were"openly" hostile to prison service inspectors. Leeds is being investigated by the prisons ombudsman after an Asian inmate was killed by his white cellmate. According to the report by Beverley Thompson, the segregation wing at Leeds was of most concern: "Some staff were unable to disguise the hostility they felt about race relations."

At the top security Belmarsh jail, where terrorism suspects are held, white inmates complained about the racism of white officers. The white prisoners took offence because some of them were in mixed race relationships.

Even at Feltham itself "an undercurrent of discriminatory behaviours and attitudes" from some staff was found. In evidence to the inquiry the CRE commissioner responsible for checking the prison service lives up to its promises said some governors were unaware of discrimination.

Mohammed Aziz said very senior managers just did not get it: "My big disappointment is that even as I walk the prison today, I still find that there is not the recognition in everyday life, amongst very, very senior prison staff, that there is such a thing as institutional racism in our prisons today.

The inquiry will find that prison service headquarters produce policy on racism that is good or competent, but it is not translated into action at ground level, sources said.

The inquiry's report will be handed to the home secretary in February next year and will be published.

FAQ: Prisons and race

What are the proportions of ethnic minority prisoners and prison officers?

In the decade from 1993 to 2003, the percentage of ethnic minority inmates increased from 16% to 25%. A large part of the increase is due to a rise in incarcerated foreign nationals. Only 5.7% of prison staff are from ethnic minorities, up from 4.9% in 2000, the year Zahid Mubarek was murdered.

How seriously is the Prison Service taking the problem?

The current Prison Service director general and his predecessor have vowed to take tough and effective action. But the Mubarek inquiry report will find that it has not been enough.

How many inquiries into the Zahid Mubarek death have there been?

The inquiry that ended yesterday is the third. The Prison Service held an internal inquiry. That was followed by one from the Commission for Racial Equality. Mubarek's family were unsatisfied by both and demanded the third.

By Vikram Dodd posted 8 October 05

Inquiry must root out prison racists

UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned

UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'

UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

Related:

UK prisoners should get vote, European court rules
UK: Laws setting out who can and cannot take part in elections are to be rewritten after the European court of human rights today ruled in favour of giving British prisoners the right to vote.

Prison plan 'will cut reoffending'
UK: A network of community prisons to help cut the number of criminals who re-offend has been outlined by Home Secretary Charles Clarke.

Clarke to scrap plan to peg prison numbers
UK: The home secretary, Charles Clarke, has said he is to abandon his predecessor's aspiration of pegging the prison population in England and Wales at 80,000. He will also drop plans to put a legal obligation on the judges' sentencing guidelines council to take the size of the prison population - currently 77,000 and rising - into account when laying down the "going rate" for major crimes.

Crowded jails 'boosting suicides'
UK: The chief inspector of prisons warned that an overcrowding crisis in Britain's jails was leading to an increase in prisoner suicides.

Chief justice calls for new approach to law and order
UK: The retiring [ruling class] lord chief justice, Lord Woolf, made a passionate plea for a new approach to law and order which would see a major shift away from punishment towards the solution of problems which generate crime.

Britain's only prison ship ends up on the beach
UK: The last inmates have departed and a skeleton staff is left guarding Britain's only prison ship - in case anyone is minded to break in rather than out.

Throw away the key
The one profession to get results on recidivism has been sacrificed to Labour's desire to lock up criminals in private prisons.

Judges' misdeeds will remain secret
UK: Judges who are disciplined for bad behaviour will not have the findings against them made public under a complaints regime to be launched next year.

Prisoner total rises 15% in six years
England and Wales are continuing to jail offenders at a higher rate than any other major country in western Europe, it emerged today. New research indicates that the government's use of prison as its main tool of penal policy has increased by 15% since 1999.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Prisoner's cell death
UK: A prisoner was found hanged in his cell last week, the Home Office said, fuelling criticism over the soaring number of suicides in custody.

Plans for five new 'superprisons'
Recent figures show a total of 75,550 prisoners were held in 139 jails in England and Wales, nudging up the previous record of April 2004 by just six inmates.

Prison has lost its way - report
UK: Bristol prison is suffering wide-ranging problems because of inconsistent management, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said.

Row over acupuncture for prisoners
UK: The Home Office has responded to criticism over prison inmates who are being offered acupuncture on the NHS in order to relieve stress.

Number of prisoners sent back to jail trebles
UK: The number of prisoners being sent back to jail after release has nearly trebled in the past five years, according to a report published today.

Top judge says crowded prisons cannot break cycle of crime
UK: Reoffending rates after a prison sentence are at an "unacceptably high level" and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners reoffending should shock the public, England's top judge, [Ruling Class] Lord Woolf, said last week.

All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

Decade after inspector left in disgust, report tells of filth
UK: Dirty, mice-infested cells, high levels of self-harm, and widespread bullying over drugs and medications were just some of the damning findings of a report into conditions at Holloway, Britain's largest women's prison.

Most women 'should not be jailed'
Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'
UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

Inquest blames jail for overdose death
UK: An inquest jury returned a verdict itemising a catalogue of faults at Styal prison in Cheshire, concluding that the prison's "failure of duty of care" contributed to the death of Sarah Campbell, 18, who took an overdose of tablets on the first day of her three-year sentence.

Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect others
UK: Sarah Campbell, 18, spent the last hours of her life in the segregation unit of Styal prison, Cheshire. "The seg", as those places are referred to, used to be known as "the block", short for punishment block. [ Seg is a bullshit word for Punishment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Human Rights Abuse and that is State Terror.]

Britain 'sliding into police state'
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

UK solitary confinement
UK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.

Inquiry must root out prison racists
UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Prison suicides soar as jails hire 'babysitters'
UK: Prison officers are being taken off suicide watch and replaced by unqualified 'babysitters' because the system is overwhelmed by an epidemic of self-harm.

Plan to sell off juvenile jails as job lot
UK: The government is to put out to tender all its dedicated juvenile jails that hold children under 18 in a departure in Whitehall's privatisation programme.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remand
UK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".

Concern as UK prison suicides hit record level
UK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.

End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doors
But now Holloway prison in north London - where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged in 1955 - has been earmarked for closure, along with several other women's prisons, which have been hit by a spate of suicides.

How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal jail notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.

Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

Indonesian Police Set Free After Torturing West Papuan Students to Death

If you thought Schapelle Corby got a raw deal from the Indonesian justice system, spare a thought for the West Papuan students who survived a vicious attack by police as they slept in their dormitories in Abepura, West Papua, in the early hours of 7 December 2000.

After nearly five years of waiting for the case to conclude, the students were in a Makassar court last week to hear judges hand down a "not guilty" verdict to two police officers accused of perpetrating the violence.

One West Papuan student was killed in the raid, two others later died as a result of beatings while in police custody, and over a hundred others were harassed or tortured in the attack. The case is the first to come before the Human Rights Court newly established under Law 26/2000, which, as an initiative was widely viewed as a positive step toward addressing Indonesia's appalling record on human rights.

However, the verdict sends an ominous message not only to West Papuans, but to all Indonesians, that Indonesia's legal system cannot be depended on to deliver justice, and is a reminder of the ongoing impunity of Indonesia's security forces.

Shortly after 1am on 7 December 2000 a group of unidentified persons attacked the Abepura police station. A policeman, Petrus Eppa, was killed in the melee. In a separate attack on the Autonomy Office in Abepura, a security officer, Markus Padama, was killed. Around 2:30am then police chief Daud Sihombing and then police superintendent Johny Wailan Usman ordered that the attackers be "hunted down".

The police launched a retaliatory attack against a group of mainly highland students who, according to subsequent investigations by a number of high profile legal aid and human rights associations, had nothing to do with either the attack on the police station or the attack on the Autonomy Office.

Over the following twenty-four hours, Brimob (Indonesia's mobile paramilitary police brigade) raided a series of nearby West Papuan student dormitories. Ninmin Hostel was the immediate target. The BTN Puskopad Abepura housing complex home to residents from Kotalima, Mamberano and West Wamena the Yapen Waropen hostel, and the Illaga University Students hostel, were also targeted by police.

One student, Elkius Suhuniap (male, 23-years-old) was fatally shot by police during the raids. Over a hundred others, including pregnant women and children, were rounded up by police and taken into police custody where they were systematically beaten, tortured and taunted with racist remarks.

One West Papuan student recalled the police beating him and spitting on him, saying "your mother eats pig and you have the brain of a pig " even with your college degree you won't get a job " You Papuans are stupid; stupid and yet you think you can be independent."

Two students, Ori Ndoronggi (male, 19-years-old) and Johny Karunggu (male, 20), died in police custody as a result of injuries sustained during torture. Another student, Agus Kabak (male, 19) was permanently incapacitated while a fourth student, Arnold Mundo Soklayo (male, 32), was crippled and later died in Jayapura as result of his injuries.

The students were tortured and beaten to death in the presence of Swiss journalist, Oswald Iten who had been arrested and detained previously for photographing an independence demonstration. The police told Iten that such violence was "normal" when a policeman had been killed.

Iten later wrote: "What I saw was unspeakably shocking. About half a dozen policemen were swinging their clubs at bodies lying on the floor and, oddly enough, they did not cry out; at most soft groans issued from them. After a few long seconds a guard saw me looking and struck his club against the bars of the cell block door.

I quickly went back to my usual spot, from where I could still see the clubs, staff and split bamboo whips at their work. Their ends were smeared with blood and blood sprayed the walls all the way up to the ceilings. Sometimes I saw the policemen hopping on the benches, continuing to strike blows from there or jumping back down on the bodies below."

Indonesia's national human rights commission, Komnas HAM, conducted an independent investigation into the attack. Twenty-five suspects were identified by the commission but only two were ultimately ordered to face trial by the Attorney General's Office. The Office gave no explanation why the remainder of suspects escaped prosecution. The two accused, however, were not arrested, and not only were they allowed to remain in their jobs, they were actually promoted. The Attorney General's Office obstructed investigations by the survivors legal team, and delayed the case well beyond the time limit stipulated by Law 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts.

When the court handed down their verdict last week, the survivors and their families broke into hysterics. One woman climbed onto a chair and yelled in disbelief that the judges had been unfair. In contrast, the group of Brimob soldiers who packed the courtroom cheered and started singing the Brimob anthem. Prominent Human rights defender, Todung Mulya Lubis, who is based in Jakarta, says the verdict will only add to Papuans feelings of alienation from the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.

Inside the court, representatives of Peace Brigades International accompanied the survivors, their families and friends, many of whom had received threatening phone calls and text messages or had been intimidated 'by persons unknown' in the lead up to the trial. Indonesian human rights advocates say they have been told by insiders that the judges involved in the case had been pressured by the authorities to deliver a not guilty verdict, and to refuse compensation to the survivors and their families. Also witnessing the proceedings were representatives of the European Union and the New Zealand and Canadian governments. No one from the Australian embassy was present.

Br. Budi Hernawan from the Catholic Office of Justice and Peace in Jaypura says "the Abepura verdict shows that human rights violations in West Papua are not taken seriously by the central government. The verdict demonstrates that there is no political will to deliver justice to the West Papuan people. The state is not even willing to protect the right to life for West Papuans."

The verdict was handed down just weeks after the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University released a report on the human rights situation in West Papua entitled Genocide in West Papua? The role of the Indonesian Security Services Apparatus.

The report, which took four years to compile, details a systemic policy of human rights violations of West Papuans, including the burning of entire villages, extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture at the hand of the Indonesian security forces. Both the Indonesian and Howard government questioned the veracity of the findings.

Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja spoke to the Genocide in West Papua? Report in parliament, urging the Australian government to pursue a relationship with Indonesia that is based on being honest and open, on having a mutual respect for human rights and on recognising dignity and the importance of human life. Senator Stott Despoja also called on the Australian government to revisit our role in the internationally discredited 1969 Act of Free Choice under which Indonesia seized control of West Papua. Greens Senator Bob Brown then put forward a motion that notes the release of the report and calls on the Australian Government to investigate the claims in the report and report back to the Senate. Senator Brown's motion was opposed by Labor.

In recent years human rights violations in West Papua have steadily worsened. Jakarta's inconsistent policies, military operations,unwillingness to fully implement Special Autonomy legislations for the province, moves to partition the province into two, and lack of political will to address the core causes of the conflict, have all made matters worse. Jakarta now plans to send military forces withdrawn from Aceh to West Papua, where a new military command will be established.

The increase in troop numbers shows the central government's fear of the nonviolent movement that is challenging Jakarta's legitimacy and whose grievances are beginning to capture the attention of a growing transnational moral community.

The brutality of the Abepura case illustrates the gravity of the dire human rights situation in West Papua. Last week's verdict will only fuel West Papuan nationalism and strengthen West Papuans determination to be free from what is widely considered by West Papuans to be an illegal and illegitimate colonial occupation by Indonesia.

It's not hard to understand why. And Jakarta only has itself to blame.

Alex Rayfield is a researcher and activist working with the Australian West Papua Association.

WWW.FREEWESTPAPUA.COM

Indonesia: Do you even think of us Papuans as human beings?
By West Papua posted 16 September 05

As Indonesian police get acquitted for murder and brutality again, what are you going to do in Australia to stop the Genocide on our next door neighbour?

Dear all friends around the world,

Please distribute my statement all over world and to the Indonesian embassy nearest you.

Let the world know what the Indonesian government is doing to my people today.

BW

Indonesia: Do you even think of us Papuans as human beings?
Statement by Benny Wenda, Oxford, England. 12 September 2005

Have you seen photos of the bruised and battered faces of my people, kicked and beaten by Indonesian Police in their student hostel in Abepura in December 2000? I didn't just see photos.

I saw some of my brothers and sisters with my own eyes. Their faces were so mangled I could hardly recognise them. I saw their blood mixed with their tears. I also spent time with the families crying for their loved ones murdered by the Police on that horrible day.

Now Indonesia has added yet another injustice and insult to my people. Over the past few days we Papuans have heard that Indonesia's so-called justice system has acquitted the two senior Indonesian police officers responsible for the Abepura massacre because the brutal killing of three unarmed Papuans (two while already in police custody) and the cruel beating of at least 99 other innocent Papuan students do not meet the necessary criteria for "gross human rights violations".

Amnesty International has issued this strong condemnation, which the world's democracies must listen to:

"Today's verdict means that not a single member of Indonesia's security forces has been convicted of these horrific crimes after nearly five years of investigations and legal proceedings. The verdict also denied victims any compensation.

Despite the Indonesian government's overtures of reform and the establishment of Human Rights Courts, this verdict sends an alarming message to the victims of grave human rights abuses.

These failures to deliver justice and combat impunity illustrate both a flawed system and a lack of political will, which sets an extremely worrying precedent for other cases of grave human rights violations currently under investigation.

Today's verdict also risks giving a green light to future human rights violations by the Indonesian security forces."

When the judge announced the verdicts, my people cried with anger. At the same time, Indonesian police in the court room cheered the two criminal policemen and sang marching songs with contempt for the suffering of the Papuan people.

Surely Indonesia can never think that we Papuans will ever want to be part of Indonesia? Indonesia: Do you even think of us Papuans as human beings? We have seen during 42 years of illegal occupation that Papuan lives mean nothing to Indonesia. We know that Indonesia just wants our land, our trees, our gold and our oil but not us human beings.

We Papuans know that full independence is the only sure way to save us from Indonesian colonial greed and the annihilation of the Papuans as a people.

The name 'Abepura' should be known as the site of one of our Papuan universities, training my people for their futures in a Free West Papua, but Indonesia has made Abepura infamous around the world as a place of Indonesian state violence and contempt for the Papuan people. But Indonesia has made another big mistake. By letting these two police criminals go free, Indonesia has put into all our Papuan hearts an even greater yearning for FREEDOM.

God Bless our struggle. Papua Merdeka!

Benny Wenda
Chair of DeMMaK (The Koteka Tribal Assembly)
International Lobbyist in the UK for a Free West Papua
PO Box 1409 Oxford OX4 1UN England UK
Mobile: +44 (0) 7791629782
Email: bwe-@infopapua.org
Web: Web:
Richard Samuelson
Free West Papua Campaign
Oxford, U.K.
E-Mail: samo-@aol.com
Tel: +44 (0)1865 241200

By Alex Rayfield posted 15 September 05

Related:

Say no to Indonesia as a tourist destination
Australian tourists visiting Bali's nightspots will face random urine tests under an escalating anti-drugs crackdown on the Indonesian holiday island.

WHY IS THE HOWARD GOVERNMENT PLAYING 'DEATH' WITH AUSTRALIANS: There has been much controversy recently on whether the Australian Federal Police should have tipped-off the Indonesians over the arrest of the Bali Nine. Due to the fact that Indonesia executes convicted drug-traffickers, ACADP believes that any evidence collected by AFP should have been withheld from Indonesian authorities until they have a written guarantee not to pursue the death penalty for the Bali Nine.

'CORBY VIDEO HELP REBUFFED'?
On page19 of the BRISBANE "SUNDAY MAIL" there was an article entitled "CORBY VIDEO HELP REBUFFED". IF it is true, (the article which follows) it PROVES (IN LAW) the claim that OUR GOVERNMENT HAVE WITH-HELD EVIDENCE FROM THE LEGAL DEFENCE OF A CITIZEN.

It was me! 'New Corby trial'
SCHAPELLE Corby has been handed a second chance to fight for her freedom. But she got no second chances with the Daily Telegraph.

Australian man denies owning drug stash
AN Adelaide man facing up to 10 years in a Bali prison for drug possession has denied owning a stash of hashish allegedly found at his rented bungalow.

AUSTRALIANS PAY BRIBE TO VISIT CORBY IN BALI PRISON:
The Corby drug trial has become Bali's latest tourist attraction. Australians are taking time off to lend moral support to Schapelle Corby.

Corby lawyer pleads for Australian help
The lawyer for a Queensland woman facing drugs charges in Indonesia says it is not too late for Australian authorities to assist her defence.

THE DRUG-RIDDEN STREETS OF BALI:
Chris Allen, took to the streets of Bali and found it possible to buy a smorgasbord of illegal narcotics from dealers.

People: 'Prisoners' of Drugs'
People who are addicted to heroin usually take the drug because it relieves them of problems such as low self-esteem, distrust and fear of abandonment. They may have poor communication skills & poor relationship skills.

POSSESSION? OR INVASION?
UK: This absolutely preposterous idea/theory of allowing a person/s to be possibly charged with 'possession', if found to have a drug substance within their bloodstream, just goes to prove such hypocrisies which certain hierarchies feel justifies passing legislation, is another blow for democracy!

PLANNING TO TRAVEL OVERSEAS? BEFORE YOU GO, READ THIS!
Currently, 214 Australian citizens are languishing in prisons around the world. The majority of these having been convicted of drug-related crimes.

JACKSON TRIAL Or Inquisition

"Ye shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall

William J. Wagener does a weekly Libertarian TV show in Santa Maria since October 1, 2000, which is sometimes bicycled around the nation. Libertarians believe in individual freedoms and rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Wagener has been a court "watcher" since 1992 in Santa Maria, and especially of Judge Rodney S. Melville, and his tendency to give Prosecutors leeway, not usually afforded to public defenders, or private defense attorneys.

As I predicted, the Jury did not come back with a verdict. Look to see it on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. Meanwhile another 150 fans and lookee loos have pulled into town and 300 are expected to be at the Courthouse of Santa Maria, on Tuesday. And for those fans paying close attention. there will be a pleasant surprise.

No, Not Joe Jackson, who showed up today, looking for his son Michael, but something else I can not reveal until after Midnight PST. Watch Diane Diamond's face turn shades of rage when the NOT GUILTY verdict come in, as I who live here and know of two of the Jurors. But in my view she is a nut case, and not a reporter or truth. In fact, I can count on my left hand the number of Truth reporters I have seen in this Courtroom. I have told many of them of the sleezy uneven enforcement of the law, and told them were to double check what I say at the local library. Not one has done so. There ain't no money in telling the Truth, if it leads to the conclusion MJJ is getting a Kangaroo Trial. A modern day financial lynching.

I stand alone in my opinion, among those who hold a S.B. Sheriffs Press credential. But heck so did Jesus. I am not saying MJJ is as good as Jesus, but Jesus said, HIS followers would be persecuted. I have seen that MJJ does much good for inner city kids of all races. He has been persecuted.

NOT GUILTY or any bunch of dysfunctional liars can accuse any rich do gooder and ruin their life. Today Michael Joe Jackson, tomorrow YOU.

We will have several of my TV shows ready for viewing off this web site (On Second Thought) including at least one of my 10 shows on Michael Joe JACKSON inquisition. Tell me which one YOU would prefer. Number 1, which deals with the custody battle, M.J. may have to fight or IS fighting, number 2, with the footage of the Santa Maria City Council & City manager admitting they are making money off MJJ inquisition, number 3, where I sport fun at one of the Asst. Dist. Atty., number 4, where you get to see the best of the April 3 FANs RALLY for Michael. Which one, would you most like to see. Email me at Producer@onSecondThought.tv.

Source: MJFC

POINTS FOR THE PROSECUTION
* Prosecutor Ronald J. Zonen summed up the case as being about "the exploitation and sexual abuse of a 13-year-old cancer survivor at the hands of an international celebrity."
* Lest jurors missed his initial point, Zonen likened the waif-like Jackson to a "lion on the Serengeti" on the hunt for prey.
* Make that a "lion on the Serengeti" with a "drinking problem," another of Zonen's charges.
* Zonen said the defense's contention that the boy at the center of the case and his family have simply made up their allegations against Jackson was "unmitigated rubbish."
* Zonen tied in the prior abuse allegations to the current case by arguing that the prosecution proved that Jackson "molested [the current accuser] and numerous other boys." The pop star's MO, then as now, Zonen said, was to "seduce boys into his confidence, into his bedroom and into his bed."
* In the event that jurors missed the above point, Zonen made it again, only pithier, by saying Jackson's accuser was welcomed into "the world of the forbidden."
* Zonen argued that the accuser's mother would be unlikely to make up an allegation such as seeing Jackson lick her son's head because the behavior is so "bizarre." Also, he said, the woman had no way of knowing that Jackson had been accused of doing the "bizarre" deed to another child a decade ago.
* Freed of the judge's vocabulary restrictions, Zonen called porn "pornography," instead of "sexually explicit" materials. He reintroduced jurors to Jackson's pornography stash, too.
* Zonen charged that Mesereau broke a promise to jurors by failing to prove several damaging allegations against the accuser's mother.

POINTS FOR THE DEFENSE
* Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. summed up the case as being about "the life, the future, the freedom and the reputation of Michael Jackson."
* Mesereau said his client "must be acquitted."
* While Mesereau did not manage to make a rhyme with "acquitted," he did manage to disparage the accuser and the boy's family as "con artists, actors and liars."
* Mesereau brought that above point home by saying, "There is no way in the world you can find that [the accuser and his family] are trustworthy beyond a reasonable doubt."
* Mesereau said it was "absurd" to charge that Jackson molested his accuser at the same time he was "under the microscope" for the 2003 Martin Bashir documentary, Living with Michael Jackson.
* Mesereau said it was "absurd" to charge that Jackson, a man who "likes to sit in a tree and do music," orchestrated a plot to abduct children and send them away to Brazil.
¥ Mesereau said it was absurd, a paraphrase this time, that Jackson would give a child, much less an ex-cancer patient, alcohol in order to set up the boy to be molested.
* Pulling the CSI card, Mesereau said there was no DNA evidence to link Jackson to his accuser. (In child-abuse cases, there rarely is.)
* Mesereau pointed out all the prosecution witnesses who blew up on the prosecution, such as Jackson ex-wife Debbie Rowe, and all the alleged Jackson molestation victims who came to court to deny being molested, such as Macaualay Culkin.
* Mesereau accused the prosecution of a "barbaric attempt" to destroy Jackson by ridiculing everything from his penchant for legal porn to his reputedly troubled finances.
* Mesereau accused Zonen of being mean to him because the prosecutor didn't have a case.

By William J. Wagener posted 9 June 05
















Related Audio:


Related:

Michael Jackson Innocent: Fan Club!!!
The jurors in the Michael Jackson's 'lies innuendo and exaggeration' sex-abuse trial' have ended their first hours of deliberations, and now have a weekend break.