From jo at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 3 13:35:53 2009 From: jo at xs4all.nl (jo van der spek) Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 13:35:53 +0100 (CET) Subject: Support for Hungerstrike at Schiphol detention center + Lampedusa Message-ID: <56271.24.132.74.67.1236083753.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> M2M is in direct contact with six of the 25 migrants that went on hungerstrike two weeks ago (wednesday 18-2). They call on us to help them. The way we walk with them is a massive visit and inspection of the whole complex on Friday 6 and Saturday 7th of March. Join us, please. - Distribute, translate this information. - Come to Schipholplaza or direct to Schiphiol Oost on Friday 6 and Saturday 7 from 12 o'clock till 4 p.m. - Send messages of solidarity to m2m at streamtime.org - Donate money for tel.credit to Postbank 3452284 (J vd Spek, ref: Hungerstrike) Your prison is illegal We are here with you No borders, no nations Stop Deportations more info in Dutch at http://www.vertrokkengezichten.net audio proof here: http://m2m.streamtime.org/uploads/2009/Maart/Tel_Schiphol1.mp3 Jo M2M 0624148872 Update from Lampedusa (Italy). There is a lack of precise news, but up to 70 people may have been injuried in the riots and fire of the centre - 20 policemen and 50 immigrants. According to one resident, only 10 migrants, more seriusly injuried, have been seen in the poliambulatory, and no policemen. The rest of the immigrants have been kept in the centre or transferred to other centres without anyone being able to see them or ascertain their condition. The protes of the Tunisians transferred to other centres and threatened with deportation has continued in Milano, Rome and Torino, where they continuing the hunger strike and have done other acts of revolt like overturning the beds and the rubbish bins. Other detainees join the protes and local activists have organised initiatives in support outiside the detention centres. About 500 immigrants are believed to be still in the damaged centre, that before the fire had an operating capacity of 460, to be extended in emergency to 800. Around 1000 police and carabinieri are present on the island. Continues the protest of the residents in Lampedusa and tensions run high, although the resident are still keeping to peaceful and lawful means of protest. written by Chiara 20/02/09 Lampedusa: humanitarian emergency. translated from http://calabria.indymedia.org/ For some time the idea has been put forward that is necessary to militarize the detention centres for immigrants (CPT). At present the situation in the CPT of Lampedusa has beceme unbearable. Since well known episodes that have been the island's citiziens enter a general strike, there have been numerous escapes of migrants frome these places of detention, not to mention suicide attempts. All epsiodes that add to the clashes with police that have also involved island's natives, mistaken for immigrants by police and so even 'deserving', according with the hard line adopted by the government against the latests, to be hit with truncheons. At the same time deportations towards Tunisia have begun, and the lives of about a hundred women were put at risk when a fire broke out in the ex- NATO base Loran, where they had been transferred due to the overcrowding and appalling conditions in the centre. In the meantime the judiciary in Agrigento has began an inquest about alleged irregolarities in the reception centres in Lampedusa. However judiciary action does not compare with mounting popular indignation against these inhumane centres of detention and appeals, petitions, mobilisations, solidarity grow. 18. 02. 09 The situation gets totally out of hand with a revolt of the migrants starting the 17th February. The centre of Lampedusa, not in line with the fire regulations, goes easily in flames. The mayor of Lampedusa denounce the dangerous situation and asks for the resignation of the minister Maroni. Look at the video: http://www.c6.tv/archivio?id=3017 18. 02. 09 The situation gets totally out of hand with an uprising of the migrants starting early in the morning the 17 February. The centre of Lampedusa, not in line with the fire regulations, goes easily up in flames and the central building is destroyed. The police prevents the immigrants from leaving the burning centre. Many suffer from smoke inhalation. The mayor of Lampedusa denounce the dangerous situation and asks for the resignation of the minister Maroni. Look at the video. Agerncy news: 19 FEB - Moved during the night 180 immigrants that were in the Lampedusa centre. They were transported by two flight to Gorizia and Cagliari. 19 feb. - Other 130 immigrants 'guests' in the reception centre of Lampedusa were transferred to other structrues. 20 Tuinsians were transferred to the Cie (centre of identification and expulsion) of Torino. 19 FEB - More than twenty the immigrants who have been investigated by Agrigento police. The police are looking at the camera footage from the videocameras installed in the centre to identify those who took part in yesterday's uprising to proceed to set fire to the central building of the centre. Communiqe from the police union and comments from its general secretary: Roma, 18 Feb. - The facts of Lampedusa 'cannot be defined as incidents' because the revolt that erupded in the Cie (centre of identification and expulsion) ' is the logic consequence of a series of concurring causes' and than 'who has mistaken should take all responsibilities and act accordingly'. This is what has declared the police trade union (Siulp) underlining that, once again, 'to pay a very high price' has been the police force. The police, goes on the Siulp communique, ' have been uised for some time as the waste bin for some social porblematics such as immigration, which cannot continue to be managed just such as a public order porblem.' Furthermore, the choice of Lampedusa as the place for a reception centre 'has been a wrong choice from the beginning', without considering that the centre 'ha been tranformed in a ghetto, with twice as many guests as the maximum capacity, and the immigrants have touched with their own hand the limit of their desperation.'. 'This means that the immigrant have not being given a reception, but rather stacked like merchanidse in spaces that are insufficient and unsuitable: today this mixture has exploded'. In regard to the police force stanced in Lampedusa, they are policemen, carabinierei adn custom officers that 'for mothw have been obliged to do double and treble work shifts in one day only, without payment for the overtime and all the discomfort that follows'. 18 FEB - The damage, the riots and the injuried in the Cie of Lampedusa have been a foretold disaster'. This mantains Claudio Giardullo, general secretary of the police trade union Silp- Cgl. ' It was inevitable - remarks Giardullo - that this would happen, because to keep 900 irregular foreigners in a centre that cannot contain more than the half, and with an average of less than 10 expulsions a day, is some sort of hell round, frome which nobody is spared, not the immigrants, who are living in inhumane conditions, nor the 400 police agents who are operating in working and environmental conditions that are unacceptable, nor the islland's inhabitnts who see their daily lives totally upturned. ' Now, however - continues the Siulp secretary- let reason prevail and the irregular immigrants be distributed amongst other centres in the country, only in this way it will be possible to restore a condition of respect for the rights of the migrants, tranquility for the Lampedusa residents and recover 400 police agents taken away from the control of the territory'. "Fast deterioration of the situation of 'boat people' in Lampedusa must be halted," according to Parliamentary Assembly Committee Chair Strasbourg, 20.02.2009 - "The fast deterioration of the situation of 'boat people' in Lampedusa must be halted immediately", said Mrs Corien Jonker, Chair of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), talking on the margins of a seminar on migration organised by the French Red Cross in collaboration with the Council of Europe. "We are deeply concerned by the overcrowding and worsening conditions in the identification and expulsion centre dealing with irregular migrants and asylum seekers in Lampedusa. This has lead to violent confrontations between the detainees and the law enforcement bodies and has now resulted in over 60 wounded persons following Wednesday's fire in the centre. I urge the Italian authorities to return to the practice of forwarding these 'boat people' to other parts of Italy for processing in order to diminish the overcrowding in Lampedusa. It cannot be expected that the small island can cope with more than 30,000 people arriving annually on its shores." Mrs Jonker urged Italy to tackle the problems of Lampedusa and she also called on Europe to remind Italy to abide by its agreed European commitments in treating migrants in a humanitarian fashion with proper systems of reception, resettlement and - where appropriate - return. Foretold disaster: a previous appeal to the institutions from varuios NGOs and associations. http://www.meltingpot.org/articolo13895.html From jo at xs4all.nl Fri Mar 6 08:24:14 2009 From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M) Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 08:24:14 +0100 Subject: CALL to ACTION! Your Prison is Illegal Message-ID: dear all, today is the first of three days of support to the uprising in Block L at Schiphol Oost. See LAST POSTS at m2m.streamtime.org We start at 10 in the Hacklab Ruysdaelstraat 79. STREAM starts from 12 till late 12.00 start of public event Schiphol Oost (Noise!) meeting POINT Schiphol Plaza (flyers!) Picketing actions at Recruiting Agencies of prison personnel all over Holland. 15.00 Court Haarlem will hear arguments against the prison regiem. all afternoon live reports and tactical communication all afternoon You may find PDF of our FLYER soon at m2m.steamtime.org www.veretrokkengezichten.net do download, photocopy, distribute support this MOBilization by all Media! SILENCE, You KILL me From jo at xs4all.nl Tue Mar 17 11:08:43 2009 From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M) Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:08:43 +0100 Subject: Detained migrants fight brutality in the Netherlands. Call for support. Message-ID: <8204577D1F18415F98851B8BCB5375D0@jom2m> Migrants in detention complex Schiphol Airport fight brutality, call for help M2M Radio, Migrant to Migrant, calls on activists and artists for international collaboration in solidarity Amsterdam, NL. March 2009 --- http://m2m.streamtime.org ---- On the 18th of February the inmates of Block L demanded clear information on their fate. "How long can they keep us here? Is asking for asylum a crime in this country? Why are we here?" In Block L migrants are detained who are supposed to be deported back home. They did not fulfill the tough requirements to be accepted as a refugee. But it can take a long time, even more than a year, for the Ministry of Justice to find out how to deport a single person, especially when s/he is from a country like Sudan, Somalia or Palestine, where the civil registers are not quite up to date. According to Dutch law the simple fact of not having the proper documents is not a violation. The reason for detaining thousands of migrants is administrative: to facilitate a smooth exit when opportunity knocks. Hunger strike When satisfying answers to their questions were not available from the staff and the director, some 40 of the migrants, decided to insist by sitting down on the ground of the cage for fresh air and refuse to return to their cells. This action was then broken by forcing them one- by-one back to his or her cell, handcuffed and when "opportune" in isolation cells. Fourty riot police in full gear entered the stage and used "proportional violence", in the terms used by the managing director of Penitentiary Institutions in a report of Dutch NOVA TV. Twenty inmates were forced to watch how Surab Keladze (from Georgia) was beaten up and how Ibrahim Hassan (Sudan) was hit in his genitals. That same day 36 of the inmates of Block L went on hunger strike and are now organizing their resistance, their fight for freedom. And they call on us to fight with them. In Dutch detention centers the conditions are worse than in regular prisons. There are women among the men, which is against the law. People have to sleep in paper sheets. There are less facilities for recreation, medical care and communication. This adds to the isolated locations and the lack of contact with family in many cases. This drives many of the detained sans-papiers crazy and mad. Resistance is met by violence: isolation cells, hand cuffs and beatings are regular practices. It is not the first time that a group of inmates starts a protest, but it is a new that inmates manage to communicate directly with activists and advocacy groups in the country of Holland. M2M Radio, Migrant to Migrant, receives daily reports from several outspoken detainees in Block L over the phone. This is made possible by people who donate eleven Euro for phone credit. You can listen to their recorded phone calls at the M2M website: http://m2m.streamtime.org/index.php/2009/now-every-day-block-l-calling-for-freedom/ The number eleven is a direct symbolic reference to the eleven migrants who died in the fire in Block K in October 2005. This fire has been a turning point in the growing social movement rallying against these detention centers and for a humane treatment of migrants. The survivors of the "Schiphol Fire" are united in their quest for truth and justice and M2M is their platform. The cause of justice for all survivors boils down to the case of the only man that has been accused so far: his name is Ahmed Isa. He was condemned to three years in jail in 2007 and will stand to appeal in spring 2009. Parallel to the proceedings against Ahmed Isa, criminal charges have been brought up by an ad hoc committee of human rights groups and other advocates of the survivors and relatives of the deceased against the two directly responsible ministers accusing them of creating the conditions that made the fire possible and for inhuman treatment of the survivors of the fire. The European Court of Human Rights has endorsed the accusations and this means that for the first time the authorities are brought to account. They have to reply to all points of the accusations. A proper administration of justice is of the highest importance for the well being of the survivors and indeed for their lives. The Dutch detention complex More than three years after the Schiphol Fire no substantial change has been made in the migration politics: migrants are chased, locked up by the thousands and either deported or rotting a way like dead dogs in detention. The lesson learnt by the state is to build new and permanent facilities for detaing migrant, including special child friendly facilities for minors and mothers. At Rotterdam Airport and Schiphol these new prisons will replace the redundant temporary and substandard hangars and containers. Worse even, the Dutch deputy minister is succesfully promoting this Dutch approach as a model for the European Union: Italy, Spain and the UK have adopted the same regiem and the EU has opted for a maximum period of one-and-a-half year of administratieve detention. So far Holland had no legal time limit. For an analysis of the political causes of the Schiphol Fire see: http://m2m.streamtime.org/index.php/2009/now-what-caused-the-schiphol-fire/ Many people find it hard to believe that the Netherlands, a country that poses as a champion of human rights and international justice, is guilty of this systematic violation of human and civil rights. Not only undocumented migrants, also legal immigrants and complete communities and neighbourhoods are disturbed and disrupted by this state policy. It is a policy that goes hand in hand with the wave of xenophobia and anti-islamic nationalist parties. That is why M2M does not hesitate to call this region a frontline in the global struggle for the acceptance of migration as a fundamental freedom of man. Outlawing human beings is not only brutally humiliating, it undermines the core values and the basic rights that any civilized society is held to respect. No borders between us! Cross the line. Break the silence! Every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. People come to perform together in acts of witnessing, protest and solidarity at the fence of the detention complex at Schiphol Oost. Address: Ten Pol, 1438 AJ Oude Meer (bus 187 from Schiphol Plaza) The M2M Foundation promotes free communication of migrants. Look with us, not at us. http://m2m.streamtime.org e: m2m at streamtime.org t: +31624248872 Donations to Postbank 3452284, Jo van der Spek, Amsterdam. Ref: M2M, Hungerstrike International Bank Account Number (IBAN): NL52 INGB 0003452284 BIC (= SWIFT) code INGBNL2A. From jo at xs4all.nl Fri Mar 27 09:17:00 2009 From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M) Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:17:00 +0100 Subject: Schiphol Fire on trial. The next campaign Message-ID: <80961C3A5E8B4DFD8BD419FFE282DBAD@jom2m> You can help this campaign. Contact us at m2mstreamtime.org Call us at +31624158872. Donate at ING 3452284, Jo van der Spek, Amsterdam. ref. Free Ahmed Isa. Silence, you kill me. In Holland innocent migrants are detained and tortured by the thousands. Eleven migrants died in the Schiphol Fire. And the prosecutor persists in accusing the first victim. Politicians remain silent about this sysematic violation of rights. Their silence is killing. We can break this silence, together. M2M and All Included invite you to join our next campaign with the Schiphol People. On Tuesday 21st of April the High Court of Amsterdam will start the trial in appeal against Ahmed Isa.We are preparing a series of actions and activities to make clear that not Ahmed Isa should stand in front of the judges, but the government of the Netherlands. Because it is the Dutch government that built the prison at Schiphol Oost, they recruited and trained the personnel, they were in charge of safety and care for people without the possibility to protect themselves against their detention, against the fire and against the security forces that preferred to let people die inside their cells, rather than allowing them to save themselves or be saved by their fellow prisoners. Not Ahmed Isa. We say: even if Ahmed Isa started the fire by throwing away his shaggie, rolled with Blue Rizla paper, it was still the system that did everything to cause the disaster. And every roll-your-owner knows that a shaggie rolled with Blue Rizla is very difficult to keep alight.Besides the technical evidence that indicates that the fire did not start in Ahmed Isa's cell, a historiical analysis of the way foreigners are facilitated to be deported at Schiphol Oost detention complex (and elsewhere in the Netherlands) clearly proves the contempt for the human rights of innocent people put in a prison, just to deport them more easily. It starts with denying their right, it ends with taking their life. The survivors of the Schiphol fire and their friends, together known as the Schiphol People, know all about the way the government takes its responsibility. They persecute Ahmed Isa, who was the first to burn himself. They took the survivors to a prison boat. They threatened to deport them for a year after the fire. They refused proper therapy for their trauma's. They refuse to pay proper compensation. And they can't say sorry, we made a mistake.They can't even say: what can we do to help you make a life again? They are blind, deaf and mute. We will be there, in court, in Amsterdam, with Ahmed Isa. To see, to speak, to listen Because we are here. You can help this campaign. Contact us at m2mstreamtime.org Call us at +31624158872. Donate at ING 3452284, Jo van der Spek, Amsterdam. ref. Free Ahmed Isa. From jo at xs4all.nl Sat Mar 28 15:36:13 2009 From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:36:13 +0100 Subject: Launch of new Campaign: Free Ahmed Isa Message-ID: <0AE645E515E94BA0A7C6B92173BB45D3@jom2m> The Schiphol Fire on trail. The next campaign In Holland innocent migrants are detained and tortured by the thousands. Eleven migrants died in the Schiphol Fire. And the prosecutor persists in accusing the first victim. Politicians remain silent about this sysematic violation of rights. Their silence is killing. We can break this silence, together. Free Ahmed Isa we are here M2M and All Included invite you to join our next campaign with the Schiphol People. On Tuesday 21st of April the High Court of Amsterdam will start the trial in appeal against Ahmed Isa. We are preparing a series of actions and activities to make clear that not Ahmed Isa should stand in front of the judges, but the government of the Netherlands. Because it is the Dutch government that built the prison at Schiphol Oost, they recruited and trained the personnel, they were in charge of safety and care for people without the possibility to protect themselves against thair detention, against the fire and against the security forces that preferred to let people die inside their cells, rather than allowing them to save themselves or be saved by their fellow prisoners. Not Ahmed Isa. We say: even if Ahmed Isa started the fire by throwing away his shaggie, rolled with Blue Rizla paper, it was still the system that did everything to cause the disaster. And every roll-your-owner knows that a shaggie rolled with Blue Rizla is very difficult to keep alight. Besides the technical evidence that indicates that the fire did not start in Ahmed Isa's cell, a historiical analysis of the way foreigners are facilitated to be deported at Schiphol Oost detention complex (and elsewhere in the Netherlands) clearly proves the contempt for the human rights of innocent people put in a prison, just to deport them more easily. It starts with denying their right, it ends with taking their life. The survivors of the Schiphol fire and their friends, together known as the Schiphol People, know all about the way the government takes its responsibility. They persecute Ahmed Isa, who was the first to burn himself. They took the survivors to a prison boat. They threatened to deport them for a year after the fire. They refused proper therapy for their trauma's. They refuse to pay proper compensation. And they can't say sorry, we made a mistake. They can't even say: what can we do to help you make a life again? They are blind, deaf and mute. We will be there, in court, in Amsterdam, with Ahmed Isa. to see, to speak, to listen Because we are here. You can help this campaign. Contact us at m2m.at.streamtime.org Call us at +31624158872. Donate at ING 3452284, Jo van der Spek, Amsterdam. ref. Free Ahmed Isa.