Eclipsed from the headlines by the ongoing carnage, there is an active
civil resistance in Iraq that opposes the occupation, the torture regime
it protects, and the jihadi and Ba'athist 'resistance' alike.
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 20:45.
The latest in a series of break-ins in Bogotá occurred Sept. 6, with the theft of two computers—and nothing else—from the home of Gloria Cuartas, the former mayor of Apartadó and a long-time supporter of the Peace Community of San José de
Apartadó.
The theft follows targeted burglaries in June of computers with human rights files from FOR, Justapaz (Mennonite peace group that works with communities at risk) and Corporación Yira Castro (an organization of women human rights attorneys). In response to these and earlier thefts of computers from human rights organizations, 36 Members of Congress wrote to President Uribe, urging support for the groups, public denunciation of the crimes, and a thorough investigation.
"These crimes remain in impunity and end up as countless charges that are filed as common burglaries. But [judging] by the form and consistency that computers are disappearing for several years, they constitute a subtle form of social control of those of who think differently from the regime," Cuartas said. "These acts make up part of a military policy of persecution of human rights defenders and political opponents of democratic security policy," she said.
The inconvenient facts and unanswered questions surrounding the attacks are legion, but the endemic sloppiness of the self-styled "researchers" is delegitimizing the entire project of critiquing the "official version." The ostentatiously named "Truth movement" is not clearing the air, but muddying the water.
WW4 Report pamphlets
WAR AT THE CROSSROADS
An Historical Guide Through the Balkan Labyrinth
The Balkan region is intensely multicultural - a point of crossroads and clash for some of the world's major religions, cultural spheres, and economic systems. While there have been vicious wars in Balkan history, these have taken place in the context of manipulation by imperial powers and the self-serving local leaders who cater to them.
opensource technology and the people of Sundays Energy
Bogotá: more burglaries target activist computers
The latest in a series of break-ins in Bogotá occurred Sept. 6, with the theft of two computers—and nothing else—from the home of Gloria Cuartas, the former mayor of Apartadó and a long-time supporter of the Peace Community of San José de
Apartadó.
The theft follows targeted burglaries in June of computers with human rights files from FOR, Justapaz (Mennonite peace group that works with communities at risk) and Corporación Yira Castro (an organization of women human rights attorneys). In response to these and earlier thefts of computers from human rights organizations, 36 Members of Congress wrote to President Uribe, urging support for the groups, public denunciation of the crimes, and a thorough investigation.
"These crimes remain in impunity and end up as countless charges that are filed as common burglaries. But [judging] by the form and consistency that computers are disappearing for several years, they constitute a subtle form of social control of those of who think differently from the regime," Cuartas said. "These acts make up part of a military policy of persecution of human rights defenders and political opponents of democratic security policy," she said.
Cuartas is profiled in I Will Never Be Silenced: Testimonies of Hope from Colombian Women, the recent publication by FOR and American Friends Service
Committee. (FOR Colombia Program, Oct. 1)