Thailand -Video and Pictures: Violence on the streets of Bangkok between Red Shirts and Army 13/4/09

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Video:Darfur Genocide Exposed-Four Sudanese men admit that they participated in violence and massacres

A video recently released by Aegis Trust shows the testimony of four men who state they actively participated in the violence and massacres on Darfur, and who are not afraid to call it genocide. The video was uploaded on The Hub and it is hoped that people will pass it on to others in order to spread this information:

The men - whose identities are obscured - are former members of the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed militia: one was a senior officer in the Sudan Army Finance, one a high-ranking Janjaweed commander, another a Janjaweed footsoldier, and the last a Sudanese soldier.
On the video, you can hear their testimonies of how the Sudanese government recruited the Janjaweed militias, gave them weapons and supplies and whenever they attacked villages, the government would cover it up and state that the attack had been done by the military against rebels, and not by militias attacking civilians. The video is available with German subtitles, Arabic subtitles and French subtitles.

According to Aegis Trust's press release on Human Rights First, this video could assist in the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Sudan's president, General Omar al-Bashir:
Since 2003, at least 300,000 civilians have died in Darfur and millions have been displaced from their homes, many of them at the hands of militia nicknamed the ‘Janjaweed' ('devils on horseback'). Time after time, survivors stated - and international observers confirmed - that as they murdered, raped, looted and burned village after village, the Janjaweed was backed by the Sudanese army and air force. Yet the Sudanese Government has consistently denied responsibility for atrocities in Darfur and to this day, says it has nothing to do with the Janjaweed.
However, the defectors in this film - some of them speaking publicly for the first time - tell a very different story.(Source: Global Voices)

Iraqi Forces Prepare to Take Over from Coalition Forces on January 1

Zimbabwe: Fears grow for the safety of abducted Human Rights activists as repression grows

There are fears for the safety of
Jestina Mukoko (left), director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) who was abducted from her home in Harare on December 3 when fifteen armed men in plain clothes broke into her family home. Her son witnessed the abduction.

Two of Mukoko’s colleagues were seized from their offices on December 8. Their whereabouts are also unknown. In the last six weeks, 22 opposition or civil rights activists have been seized and not heard from since.


The ZPP, a human rights organization has been documenting human rights violations by the Mugabe regime and its henchmen.
Human rights have drastically deteriorated in Zimbabwe, Caritas Internationalis reports.

People are being indirectly denied food and clean water, health care, and education. The police and army have shot illegal diamond miners, while more than seventy people have been arrested at trade union protests.
Reportedly, civil society activists have been detained after peaceful protests and human rights advocates have been systematically targeted and detained...

Please take this online action demanding the release of Jestina Mukoko.
A recording of an interview with Jestina Mukoko when she visited Ireland is available via Trocaire. The interview was conducted by George Hook on Newstalk

A-10 Engage Taliban Positions With 30mm In Afghanistan

A10 Takes Out Taliban In Afghanistan.

Special Operations Firefight in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq ( Special Forces )

This stunning video shows American and Iraqi special forces in action inside Sadr City, Baghdad in an operation to capture insurgents.The powerful video conveys the reality of war. Certainly the soldiers involved are fearless. Nevertheless the cameraman is probably crazy to put his life at risk. Thanks to him. Note the sound of what appears to be the M249 SAW, semi automatic weapon.

Turkey's Top Court to Hear Case to Ban Ruling AK Party Party in major Secularist Islamist clash-Whither Turkish Secularism?

Turkey is the only considerably secular country in the Muslim world. In the July 2007 General Election Turkey's ruling AK Party won a resounding victory scoring 47% of the vote.

The win for the pro-business, Islamist-rooted party was a major blow to secularism within the country. AK party officials have promised to maintain Turkeys secular political system. In reality the movement has moved towards a limited form of Islamisation. A ban on female students wearing Muslim headscarves in Turkey's universities has been lifted.Parliament approved the constitutional amendments by 411 votes to 103. This led to an outcry among secularists. Thousands of people waving Turkish flags and chanting secularist slogans staged a protest rally against the changes in Ankara. Secularists suspect -probably correctly- that the AK Party wishes to dismantle the secularist political system in a gradual manner.

It is against this backdrop that the Turkish Constitutional Court has announced that it will hear the closure case against the ruling AK Party. The case accuses the party of seeking to undermine the secular state and includes a possible political ban of five years for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Constitutional Court's decision to accept the closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party, called the AK Party, was given in a short announcement by the deputy chairman of the court, Osman Paksut.

With increasing political instability inevitable military intervention cannot be ruled out. So far the army has remained quiescent. However a major constitutional crisis may be about to unfold. In such an eventuality the army may intervene to maintain stability. Is is doubtful if the secularists can withstand the Islamist tide in the long term.

If the AK Party is banned it could reform under another name. AK's predecessor was the Refah Party.

A strongly Islamist Turkey would have little prospect of joining the EU. Could this save secularism?

Burma-It is now or never.

According to the Irrawaddy "More than 100 monks in Pakokku Township in Burma’s Magwe Division marched in a peaceful demonstration through the town on Wednesday morning. The monks paraded through the streets chanting the “Metta Sutta” (the Buddha’s words on loving kindness). ...................." This provides clear cut evidence that resentment continues to smoulder.
The junta can kill people but not ideas.
The Burmese Government is finding it difficult to recruit adult soldiers. In addition large numbers are deserting. Increasingly the gaps are being filled by child soldiers as young as ten. Children are kidnapped by the military and forced to fight. It maintains its grip on power by brute force, torture and terror. The power structure is crumbling from within. The tyrants are at war with the people.
It is time for the younger officers in the Burmese army to rebel. There are indications that many of these officers are unhappy. They must put this tottering regime out of its misery.

The US and EU have imposed sanctions. Unfortunately China, India and Russia continue to support the Butchers of Rangoon. Without this support the regime would crumble.

Junta leaders must realise that eventually the guns will be turned on them. They may face a lynching as pent up resentment of the population seeks retribution. China India and Russia should offer political asylum to Burmese leaders as a means of transferring power to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Western nations should threaten to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In the unlikely event of this happening Western athletes participating could draw attention to China's activities in Burma by protesting at opening and closing ceremonies. This would certainly spoil the party for the Chinese.