20 July 2006

BRD

Deutsche Asylpolitik macht krank
Medizinische Flüchtlingshilfe Bochum legte Jahresbericht vor

Ein 21jähriger Iraner erfährt auf dem Sozialamt in Plettenberg (Nordrhein-Westfalen), daß ihm die Sozialleistungen gestrichen werden, da er seiner Residenzpflicht nicht nachkäme. Für den Mann, dessen Vergehen darin bestand, häufig seine Schwester in Köln zu besuchen, bricht eine Welt zusammen. Noch auf dem Amt versucht er, sich mit einem Rasiermesser die Pulsadern aufzuschneiden. Der Fall ist nur ein Beispiel aus dem Jahresbericht der Medizinischen Flüchtlingshilfe (MFH) Bochum, der kürzlich veröffentlicht wurde. Der Mann überlebte und wurde inzwischen nach Köln »umverteilt«, die Kernaussage des Berichts ist trotzdem erschreckend: »Die deutsche Asylpolitik macht Flüchtlinge krank.«

»Der Druck auf Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund wächst stetig, und insbesondere für Menschen mit ungesichertem Aufenthaltsstatus ist das physische und psychische Überleben hierzulande häufig traumatisierend«, heißt es schon im Vorwort des Berichts. Und dieser ungesicherte Aufenthaltsstatus, amtsdeutsch »Duldung« genannt, wird mehr und mehr zur Regel. 200000 Flüchtlinge sind nach Angaben von Amnesty International derzeit »geduldet«, 130000 von ihnen bereits länger als fünf Jahre.

Der Jahresbericht der MFH listet Detail für Detail die Einschränkungen auf, die der Status »Duldung« mit sich bringt. Eine Arbeitserlaubnis ist nur mit dem guten Willen der Behörden zu bekommen. Nur wenn kein Deutscher, kein anderer EU-Bürger und kein Ausländer mit gesichertem Aufenthaltsstatus für die Stelle zu finden ist, hat der Flüchtling überhaupt eine Chance. Die Hilfen zum Lebensunterhalt liegen 30 Prozent unter dem Sozialgeldsatz, Kleidergeld, Zuschüsse für Sprachkurse und Kindergeld bekommen die Asylsuchenden überhaupt nicht. Sie dürfen den ihnen zugeteilten Landkreis nicht verlassen, müssen mindestens drei – teilweise auch bis zu zwölf Jahre – in Flüchtlingsheimen wohnen und sind von der gesundheitlichen Regelversorgung ausgeschlossen. Hinzu kommt, daß die Duldung nie über einen langen Zeitraum garantiert wird, sondern in der Regel alle drei bis sechs Monate– in bestimmten Fällen sogar alle zwei Wochen – verlängert werden muß. Das Fazit der MFH ist deutlich: Den Flüchtlingen werden in Deutschland »elementare Menschenrechte abgesprochen«.

Bei jedem Besuch der Ausländerbehörde, so der Bericht weiter, müßten die Flüchtlinge mit der ständigen Angst vor der Abschiebung leben und würden häufig »ungeachtet ihrer psychischen Situation unter Druck gesetzt«. Die logischen Folgen: Fast die Hälfte der 349 Menschen, denen im Jahr 2005 allein die MFH Bochum Hilfe durch Ärzte und psychologische Hilfe vermittelte, litten dem Jahresbericht zufolge an psychischen Störungen, mehr als ein Drittel sei selbstmordgefährdet. Auch die Perspektiven, die der Bericht bei einer unveränderten Asylpolitik erwartet, lesen sich wie ein Horrorszenario. Die MFH schätzt, daß die Zahl der familiären Probleme und psychosomatischen Erkrankungen kurzfristig zunehmen wird, und schließt daraus einen mittelfristigen Anstieg von aggressiven Straftaten und Bandenkriminalität sowie langfristig sogar eine »immer stärkere« Bedrohung für »gesellschaftliche Werte wie Toleranz und Frieden« zugunsten von »rassistischen und fundamentalistischen Kräften«.

Im für Asylpolitik zuständigen Bundesinnenministerium konnte gestern auf Anfrage von junge Welt niemand zum MFH-Jahresbericht Stellung nehmen.

[  jungewelt.de

[  Jahresbericht.pdf

18 July 2006

SCOTLAND

Child football team banned from Scotland over ‘illegal migrant’ fear

"The British High Commission has denied all of us visas. They say they don't believe that we will return home after the festival"

An African under-14s football team has been banned from taking part in an international tournament in Scotland on the orders of the Foreign Office, which claimed the young players might abscond. The 24-strong squad of players from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe had been due to take part in the Aberdeen International Football Festival, which opened in the city yesterday. But the squad has been refused access to the UK amid fears that they posed a flight risk. The footballers from Bulawayo, which is twinned with Aberdeen, were due to join another 21 teams from Britain, Norway, Belarus, Ghana, the US and South Africa. Teams from Bulawayo have played in the festival in the past without any access problems. Gordon Naismith, the festival director, said the entry applications from the young Zimbabweans had been denied by the British High Commission in Zimbabwe over concerns that some of the group might not return.

Mr Naismith said: "It is ridiculous to claim under 14-year-olds are a flight risk." He added: "They [the Foreign Office] just thought the youngsters weren't going to go back to Zimbabwe. You really feel sorry for them, after all the heightened expectations of coming to the UK for a short break." Mr Naismith continued: "We were looking to break down some of the barriers the politicians have put up, so it is very disappointing that they have been denied visas. Aberdeen City Council did not want to be seen to support the regime in Zimbabwe, but we were more than happy for Bulawayo to come across and were even going to help finance their accommodation." He added: “Bureaucracy has gone over the top when they turn round and say 14-year-old kids can't experience what could be a trip of a lifetime. The event is not just about football - it is about understanding each other's culture and customs and enjoying the camaraderie with teams from other countries. Sadly, the Bulawayo team won't have the chance to do this."

David Davidson, the Conservative MSP for the North-east, said: "I find it absolutely staggering that youngsters could be refused visas as potential illegal immigrants. This is an absolute nonsense and flies in the face of what we deem to be a free society." Nku Malusalila, a spokesman for the Bulawayo team, said: "The British High Commission has denied all of us visas. Everyone is disappointed. They say they don't believe that we will return home after the festival." Neil Fletcher, the chairman of Aberdeen City Council's Bulawayo Trust, also voiced his disappointment. "This is a terrible way to treat children who would have been looking forward to coming over here," he said. "It's disappointing for them, and it's disappointing for us. We have had links with Bulawayo for years with the twinning, and we are careful about who we allow over here, and ensure that they go back home." A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said it did not comment on individual cases.

[  zwnews.com

July 2006

Combating torture
– a manual for action

Amnesty International Publications The information in this manual covers the period up to 31 December 2001. Some details have been updated to October 2002. The manual draws from the ideas and experiences of human rights defenders around the world.

[   Combating torture
– a manual for action

25 June 2006

Big Mother
Sind paranoide Eltern die neuen Überwacher?

Ist die neue Elterngeneration übervorsichtig? Sind die Eltern heute [extern] paranoider als ihre Väter und Mütter?

Früher, [extern] sagt Frank Furedi, Soziologieprofessor an der Universität Kent in Canterbury, habe man von guter Erziehung gesprochen, "wenn Eltern ihren Nachwuchs gesund ernährten, wenn sie sich darum bemühten, Kinder in ihrer motorischen oder geistigen Entwicklung anzuregen und sie zu fördern und wenn sie dafür sorgten, dass sie mit ihrer Umwelt gut zu Rande kamen."

Heute bedeutet "gute Erziehung" vor allem, die verschiedensten Aktivitäten von Kindern zu überwachen. Das geht so weit, dass in Kindergärten Videokameras installiert werden, um Eltern jederzeit zu ermöglichen, den eigenen Nachwuchs zu beobachten. Die Erziehungsexperten, die in den letzten Jahren wie Pilze aus dem Boden geschossen sind, raten Eltern unaufhörlich, immer und überall wachsam zu sein. Mütter, die ihre Kinder heute ohne Aufsicht "auf die Straße" oder auf den Spielplatz schicken oder ihnen gestatten, allein zur Schule zu gehen - so wie es früher Usus war - ernten heute nicht selten schräge Blicke.

Wer auf der Suche nach anekdotischen Belegen für solche Behauptungen ist, wird schnell fündig: bei Diskussionen über Impfschäden etwa, an Spielplätzen, wo Kleinstkinder an der Leine herumgeführt werden und die hypernervösen Eltern, die neuen Helden der Republik, ihrem Nachwuchs ständig zwischen die kleinen Kiefer greifen, um Sand oder Steine aus den großen Zahnlücken zu fischen.

[  Big Mother

June 2006

UK

Global Responses to Global Threats: Sustainable Security for the 21st Century

This major new report is the result of an 18-month long research project examining the various threats to global security, and sustainable responses to those threats. Current security policies assume international terrorism to be the greatest threat to global security, and attempt to maintain the status quo and control insecurity through the projection of military force. The authors argue that the failure of this approach has been clearly demonstrated during the last five years of the 'war on terror' and it is distracting governments from the real threats that humanity faces. Unless urgent action is taken within the next five to ten years, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to avoid a highly unstable global system by the middle years of the century. This report outlines a more sustainable approach. "Current US and UK foreign policy is totally counterproductive and is encouraging terrorism and proliferation of WMD. This report offers a serious alternative which would make the world safer and British people proud of our role in the world. I hope it is widely read." Rt. Hon. Clare Short MP, UK Secretary of State for International Development (1997-2003)

[  Global Responses to Global Threats: Sustainable Security for the 21st Century.pdf

[  oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk

29 March 2006

As mass demonstrations continue, Republicans split over anti-immigration bill

Demonstrations in defense of the rights of immigrants continued in cities from coast to coast Monday, as the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to an immigration bill that would remove many of the most draconian provisions demanded by the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.The biggest single protest action Monday came in Detroit, where a crowd numbering in the thousands-as many as 50,000, by one police estimate-marched from a Catholic Church in the Mexicantown area and rallied near the McNamara Federal Building downtown.The huge crowd carried flags from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador as well as the United States, and signs with slogans like “We are not criminals.” An estimated half-million Latinos, US-born and immigrant, live in the state of Michigan.[...]

[  As mass demonstrations continue, Republicans split over anti-immigration bill

Más de un millón marchan en Los Ángeles y otras ciudades de Estados Unidos en defensa de los derechos de los inmigrantes

Este artículo apareció por primera vez en nuestro sitio en inglés el 27 de marzo, 2006.

En la mayor manifestación que jamás se haya visto en la historia del estado de California, más de un millón de personas marcharon por el centro comercial de Los Ángeles el sábado, 25 de Julio, en defensa de los derechos de los inmigrantes y para protestar en contra de los ataques del gobierno contra los mismos, sobretodo en contra de los trabajadores indocumentados.La manifestación culminó dos semanas de marchas y protestas contra un nuevo proyecto de ley adoptado por la Cámara de Diputados del Congreso de Estados Unidos. Se supone que la otra cámara del Congreso-el Senado-comience a debatir el proyecto este mismo lunes. Si se adopta, la ley convertiría a la inmigración ilegal en un delito mayor, y también penalizaría como criminales a toda persona que le brinde ayuda a los inmigrantes indocumentados, inclusive a trabajadores que laboran en instituciones que rinden servicios sociales, organizaciones caritativas, comedores populares para los pobres, refugios para la gente sin techo y clínicas de emergencia.

La enormidad de las manifestaciones ha dejado atónitos a los políticos que representan al orden social de Estados Unidos, pero ello no quiere decir que la prensa del país le haya prestado la debida atención a semejante movimiento social. No fue hasta que sucediera la enorme manifestación en Los Ángeles que las cadenas nacionales de televisión comenzaron a cubrir las protestas.

[  Más de un millón marchan en Los Ángeles y otras ciudades de Estados Unidos en defensa de los derechos de los inmigrantes

More than a million march in Los Angeles, other US cities in defense of immigrant rights

27 March 2006

In the largest demonstration in California’s history, well over half a million people marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, March 25, in defense of immigrant rights and to protest the government attacks on immigrants, especially undocumented workers. The demonstration was the culmination of two weeks of protest demonstrations against new federal legislation, passed by the House of Representatives and scheduled to be taken up Monday by the US Senate, which would make illegal immigration a felony crime, as well as criminalizing all those who help illegal immigrants-including social service and charity workers who operate soup kitchens, homeless shelters and emergency clinics. The scale of the demonstrations has staggered the political establishment in the United States, while going largely unreported by the American media. Not until the mammoth turnout in Los Angeles Saturday did the national television networks even report on the protests.

Another 50,000 people marched on Saturday in Denver, Colorado, in what was likely the largest demonstration in that city’s history. Twenty thousand marched in Phoenix, Arizona, rallying outside the offices of US Senator Jon Kyl, who has introduced his own version of the punitive anti-immigrant legislation. It was the largest demonstration in the history of the state. Thousands more marched in cities as far-flung as Charlotte, North Carolina; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Sacramento, California. In the biggest such protest before Los Angeles, more than 100,000 immigrant workers and their supporters rallied in downtown Chicago on March 11. According to organizers, the total number participating in the Los Angeles march may have exceeded 1 million. Throughout the day, thousands of new protesters joined the march, causing Spanish-language network UNIVISION to arrive at an estimate of 2 million. The demonstration was sponsored by CARECEN (Central American Resource Center), the Mexican American Political Association, the Catholic Church hierarchy and local groups in the Latin American and Asian-American communities.

[  wsws.org

24 March 2006

AUSTRIA

Rassismus Report 2005 Österereich
ZARA präsentierte Rassismus Report 2005

Über 1100 rassistische Meldungen bei ZARA - Immer mehr Menschen setzen sich zur Wehr

(Wien, 24. März 2006) ZARA präsentierte zum sechsten Mal den jährlichen Rassismus Report, die einzige qualitative Datenquelle über Struktur und Ausmaß von Rassismus in Österreich. Über 1100 Fälle von rassistischen Übergriffen sind im Jahr 2005 der Beratungsstelle für Opfer und ZeugInnen von Rassismus gemeldet worden. Immer mehr Menschen setzen sich gegen rassistische Übergriffe zur Wehr und fordern ihr Recht auf Nicht-Diskriminierung ein. Dennoch zeigt der Report nur die „Spitze des Eisberges“ und macht sichtbar, dass Rassismus in Österreich tabuloser und aggressiver geworden ist.

[  Zara Website mit Pressespiegel zum Rassismusbericht

[  Rassismus Report 2005
   Einzelfall-Bericht über rassistische Übergriffe und Strukturen in Österreich

[   Racism Report 2004
   Case Report of Racist Incidents and Structures in Austria

26. March 2006

RUSSIA

Neunjähriges Mädchen in St. Petersburg niedergestochen

In der russischen Metropole St. Petersburg ist eine Neunjährige bei einem Angriff niedergestochen worden, der offenbar rassistisch motiviert war: Das Mädchen hat einen afrikanischen Vater. Es ist nicht der erste Fall dieser Art.

Moskau - Der Zustand des Mädchens sei ernst, meldete die russische Nachrichtenagentur Interfax unter Berufung auf Ärzte. Sie ist Tochter einer Russin und eines Mannes aus Mali. In Kreisen der Staatsanwaltschaft hieß es, zwei Männer seien dem Mädchen am Samstagabend in die Eingangshalle ihres Wohnblocks gefolgt und hätten mit einem Messer auf Hals und Kopf eingestochen. Das Mädchen habe sich danach noch in ihre Wohnung schleppen können, wo die Eltern die Rettungskräfte alarmiert hätten. Laut Polizei sei es wahrscheinlich, dass die Tat einen rassistischen Hintergrund habe, meldete das Fernsehen. Erst am Mittwoch war in St. Petersburg ein Teenager von einem Geschworenengericht freigesprochen worden. Er hatte vor zwei Jahren ein damals ebenfalls neunjähriges, tadschikisches Mädchen erstochen. Der Todesfall hatte in Tadschikistan für viel Aufsehen und Unmut gesorgt. Präsident Wladimir Putin hatte die Polizei kürzlich aufgefordert, stärker gegen rassistische Übergriffe vorzugehen. Einwanderer-Gruppen und ausländische Studenten berichten, solche Angriffe zielten oft auf Menschen mit dunkler Hautfarbe. Menschenrechtsgruppen werfen der Regierung und der Polizei vor, kaum gegen die sich häufenden, rassistisch bedingten Straftaten vorzugehen.

[  spiegel.de

Russland: Mädchen niedergestochen

26. März 2006

Ein neunjähriges Mädchen ist in der nordrussischen Stadt St. Petersburg bei einem wahrscheinlich rassistisch motivierten Angriff niedergestochen worden. Der Zustand der Tochter eines Afrikaners aus Mali und einer Russin sei ernst, teilte die russische Nachrichtenagentur Interfax unter Berufung auf Ärzte weiter mit. Der russische Präsident Wladimir Putin hatte die Polizei kürzlich aufgefordert, stärker gegen rassistische Übergriffe auf Ausländer vorzugehen. Einwanderer-Gruppen und ausländische Studenten berichten, solche Angriffe zielten oft auf Menschen mit dunkler Hautfarbe. In Kreisen der Staatsanwaltschaft hieß es, zwei Männer seien dem Mädchen am Samstagabend in die Eingangshalle ihres Wohnblocks gefolgt und hätten mit einem Messer auf Hals und Kopf eingestochen. Das Mädchen habe sich danach noch in ihre Wohnung schleppen können, wo die Eltern die Rettungskräfte alarmiert hätten. Laut Polizei sei es wahrscheinlich, dass die Tat einen rassistischen Hintergrund habe, meldete das Fernsehen.

[  vol.at

[  Racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and ethnic discrimination in the Russian Federation in 2005
   Review of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights

[  Moscow Bureau for Human Rights

22 March 2006

FRANCE

France: Police assault leaves protesting worker in coma

A 39-year-old French telecommunications worker is in a coma as a result of a brutal beating by riot police last Saturday evening. Cyril Ferez was attacked during the mass demonstration against the Gaullist government’s “First Job Contract” (CPE), which permits companies to sack young workers without cause during the first two years of employment. More than a million workers and students marched against the measure last Saturday, including 350,000 in Paris.

Ferez was assaulted by the police while demonstrating at the Place de la Nation, the end-point of Saturday’s protest march in Paris. Ferez, a member of the Sud-PTT union, is in critical condition. He is at the neurological unit of Paris’s Henri-Mondor de Créteil Hospital, suffering what the hospital described as “severe cranial trauma and intra-cerebral traumatic lesions.” Union official Bernard Allaire told Reuters, “His situation is worse than alarming. No one is allowed to see him except his immediate family.” Witnesses report that the worker sustained the injuries after riot police (gardes-mobiles) charged a section of the demonstration at the Place de la Nation. They say Ferez was stomped on the head by the police. Onlookers have also reported that police refused to call for medical assistance, even as the injured man lay prostrate on the ground for 20 minutes. Other demonstrators appealed to firefighters in the area, who drove Ferez to the hospital.[...]

[  France: Police assault leaves protesting worker in coma

Frankreich: Arbeiter nach Polizeiangriff im Koma

Ein 39-jähriger französischer Telefonangestellter befindet sich nach brutalen Schlägen der Bereitschaftspolizei im Koma: Cyril Ferez wurde am Schluss der großen Massendemonstration vom letzten Samstag in Paris niedergeschlagen. Die Demonstration richtete sich gegen den Ersteinstellungsvertrag (CPE) der gaullistischen Regierung, der es Arbeitgebern erlaubt, junge Arbeiter in den ersten beiden Beschäftigungsjahren ohne Begründung zu entlassen. Mehr als eine Million Arbeiter und Studenten demonstrierten am Samstag gegen die Maßnahme, davon 350.000 alleine in Paris.[...]

[  Arbeiter nach Polizeiangriff im Koma

Von Polizei verprügelt: Französischer Gewerkschafter im Koma

Nach dem Zwischenfall bei den Reform-Protesten in Paris belasten Zeugen mehrere Polizisten. Trotz neuer Streikaufrufe will Premier Villepin sein Gesetz für Berufseinsteiger durchsetzen. Paris - Ein französischer Gewerkschafter liegt im Koma, nachdem er nach Zeugenaussagen von mehreren Polizisten in Paris verprügelt worden war. Zwei Fotografen sagten der Nachrichtenagentur AFP, sie hätten gesehen, wie Ordnungshüter am Samstagabend am Platz der Nation mit Gummiknüppeln auf den Mann eingeschlagen hätten, auch als dieser schon am Boden lag. Die Polizeiaufsicht ermittelt wegen des Vorfalls. Erste Untersuchungen hätten ergeben, daß der 39jähriger Vertreter der Gewerkschaft SUD PTT angetrunken gewesen sei, hieß es bei der Polizei. Ärzte berichteten, daß der Verletzte bleibende Schäden davontragen könnte. Unterdessen hält Frankreichs Premier Dominique de Villepin trotz eines Streikaufrufs der für den 28. März an seinem umstrittenen Reformgesetz fest. Der Regierungschef verwies demnach auf Möglichkeiten von Arbeitgebern und Gewerkschaften, den zur Bekämpfung der Jugendarbeitslosigkeit gedachten Text auszulegen.

Villepin will Gesetzesvorlage nicht ändern

Vor der Fraktion seiner bürgerlichen UMP-Partei in der Nationalversammlung betonte Villepin Abgeordneten zufolge, daß er das Gesetz weder in Frage stellen noch ändern wolle. Besonders umstritten sind die zweijährige Probezeit und die Kündigung ohne Angabe für Gründen für junge Berufseinsteiger.Die Chefs der großen Konzerne in Frankreich haben hingegen signalisiert, daß sie eine Verkürzung der Probezeit auf ein Jahr sowie einen Verzicht auf Kündigungen ohne Nennung von Gründen akzeptieren. Die Gewerkschaften von Beschäftigten, Studenten und Schülern bestehen aber auf einem vollständigen Rückzug des Gesetzentwurfs. Oppositionspolitiker sprechen bereits von einem Bürgeraufstand gegen Villepins Vorhaben. Auch Wirtschaftsminister Thierry Breton erklärte, die Zeit der Anpassung und des Dialogs sei gekommen. Am Samstag hatte mehr als eine halbe Million Menschen friedlich für eine Rücknahme von Villepins Erstanstellungsvertrag CPE protestiert. Am Rand gab es Ausschreitungen vor allem in Paris. WELT.de

[  welt.de

BRD

8 March 2006

Bundesdeutsche Flüchtlingspolitik und ihre tödlichen Folgen

13 aktualisierte auflage

Die Zahl der Flüchtlinge, die in der BRD Asyl beantragten, war 2005 mit 28.914 die niedrigste seit 1983. Zugleich wurden bei 48.102 Entscheidungen des Bundesamtes nur 411 Personen als Asylberechtigte anerkannt (0,9 %). Die Vorstellung der aktuellen Statistik verband Bundesinnenminister Schäuble am 8.1.2006 mit der Ankündigung, "die Ausreisepflicht bei nicht bleibeberechtigten Personen noch effektiver durchzusetzen".

Die Hoffnung der meisten Flüchtlinge, die seit 10, 12 Jahren oder länger hier leben, durch das im Januar 2005 in Kraft getretene sogenannte Zuwanderungsgesetz ein Bleiberecht zu erhalten, hat sich nicht erfüllt. Einerseits werden weiterhin Ketten-Duldungen ausgestellt. Eine Behördenmaßnahme, die die Menschen über Jahre hinweg in einen Wartezustand zwingt, der – abgesehen von der Beschneidung sozialer Rechte – durch die ständige Angst vor Abschiebung auf die Betroffenen eine extrem traumatisierende Wirkung hat. Besonders schwer trifft es Kinder und die durch Krieg und Folter seelisch schwer erkrankten Flüchtlinge. Andererseits ist in der vorliegenden Dokumentation auffällig, daß die Methoden der Abschiebebehörden immer brutaler werden. Es wird z.B. beschrieben, wie Menschen aus psychiatrischen Kliniken nachts mit Gewalt aus ihren Betten zur Abschiebung weggeschleppt werden. Flüchtlinge werden zur Einnahme von Beruhigungsmitteln genötigt. Minderjährige Kinder werden durch die Abschiebung von Mutter oder Vater getrennt. Noch "effektiver", wie Schäuble fordert, ist nicht mehr vorstellbar.[...]

Tod nach der Abschiebung: Ein besonders tragischer Fall, der sich bereits im Jahre 2004 ereignete, konnte jetzt genauer recherchiert werden. Familie B. lebte mit ihren drei Kindern seit fast 10 Jahren in der BRD. Nach einer Abschiebung, die nach dem Zusammenbruch des Ehemannes in Amsterdam gestoppt wurde, tauchte die Familie B. unter. Als die schwangere Tschianana Nguya aufgrund ihres schlechten Gesundheitszustandes versuchte, einen Krankenschein zu bekommen, erfolgte ihre Festnahme. Nach längerer Abschiebehaft wurde sie in desolatem Zustand mit zweien ihrer Kinder (2 und 10 Jahre alt) in den Kongo (DRK) abgeschoben. Dort erfolgte ihre sofortige Inhaftierung – zunächst in Polizeihaft, später in einem Militärcamp. Durch die Haftbedingungen verschlechterte sich ihr Gesundheitszustand weiter. Erst eine Woche vor der Niederkunft erfolgte ihre Einweisung in ein Krankenhaus. Das Kind lebte nach der Geburt nur eine Stunde - die 34 Jahre alte Mutter starb acht Stunden später. Zurück bleiben ihre kleinen Kinder, deren Aufenthalt im Kongo völlig ungewiß ist. Zurück bleiben ihr Mann und ihr heute 16-jähriger Sohn, die beide versuchen, irgendwo in Europa zu überleben.

Die vorliegende Dokumentation beschreibt in über 4700 Einzelgeschehnissen die Auswirkungen des institutionellen Rassismus auf die Betroffenen. Auf Flüchtlinge, die gehofft hatten, in diesem Land Schutz und Sicherheit zu finden, und letztlich an diesem System zugrunde gingen oder zu Schaden kamen. Die jährlichen Zahlen der Dokumentation sind im Vergleich n i c h t sinkend, sondern bleiben konstant. Auszugehen ist von einer wesentlich höheren Dunkelziffer. Die Dokumentation umfaßt den Zeitraum vom 1.1.1993 bis 31.12.2005.

162 Flüchtlinge starben auf dem Wege in die Bundesrepublik Deutschland oder an den Grenzen, davon allein 121 an den deutschen Ost-Grenzen*,
439 Flüchtlinge erlitten beim Grenzübertritt Verletzungen, davon 259 an den deutschen Ost-Grenzen*,
131 Flüchtlinge töteten sich angesichts ihrer drohenden Abschiebung oder starben bei dem Versuch, vor der Abschiebung zu fliehen, davon 49 Menschen in Abschiebehaft,
629 Flüchtlinge haben sich aus Angst vor der Abschiebung oder aus Protest gegen die drohende Abschiebung (Risiko-Hungerstreiks) selbst verletzt oder versuchten, sich umzubringen, davon befanden sich 393 Menschen in Abschiebehaft,
5 Flüchtlinge starben während der Abschiebung und
299 Flüchtlinge wurden durch Zwangsmaßnahmen oder Mißhandlungen während der Abschiebung verletzt,
23 Flüchtlinge kamen nach der Abschiebung in ihrem Herkunftsland zu Tode, und mindestens
397 Flüchtlinge wurden im Herkunftsland von Polizei oder Militär mißhandelt und gefoltert,
62 Flüchtlinge verschwanden nach der Abschiebung spurlos,
12 Flüchtlinge starben bei abschiebe-unabhängigen Polizeimaßnahmen,
380 wurden durch Polizei oder Bewachungspersonal verletzt, davon 127 Flüchtlinge in Haft.
67 Menschen starben bei Bränden oder Anschlägen auf Flüchtlingsunterkünfte,
725 Flüchtlinge wurden z.T. erheblich verletzt,
13 Menschen starben durch rassistische Angriffe auf der Straße.

Ein Fazit: Durch staatliche Maßnahmen der BRD kamen 333 Flüchtlinge ums Leben - durch rassistische Übergriffe oder bei Bränden in Unterkünften starben 80 Flüchtlinge.

* die Angaben für 2005 werden sich noch erhöhen, weil die offiziellen Zahlen des Bundesinnenministeriums noch nicht vorliegen

Die Dokumentation ist bei uns auf Papier (DIN A4 – 358 Seiten, Ringbindung) und demnächst auf CD-Rom erhältlich zum Preis von 13,00 € (bei Versand: plus 1,60 € für Porto & Verpackung); im Netz (zur Zeit noch die 12. Auflage) unter der Adresse: www.anti-rar.de/doku/titel.htm

[  vollständige Presseerklärung der antirassitischen Iniative

[  Bundesdeutsche Flüchtlingspolitik und ihre tödlichen Folgen

27. February 2006

der gründer einer pizzakette baut die erste stadt in den usa, in der nach katholischen prinzipien gelebt wird. die stadt wird 90 km nordwestlich von miami liegen. es wird eine uni für 5.000 studentinnen gebaut, leben werden dort etwa 30.000 menschen .

Domino`s founder plans Catholic town

MIAMI, FL, United States (UPI) -- The founder of the Domino`s Pizza chain is building the first town in the United States to be run on strict Catholic principles. Tom Monaghan says pharmacies in the new Florida town of Ave Maria will not be allowed to sell condoms or birth control pills, and the town`s cable television network will carry no X-rated channels, the Sunday Times of London reported. The town, being built 90 miles northwest of Miami, will be centered around the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in 40 years. The land on the western edge of the Everglades swamp will eventually house up to 30,000 people, with 5,000 students living on the university campus. Civil rights activists concerned about the separation of church and state are threatening lawsuits if Ave Maria attempts to enforce Catholic dogma, the newspaper said.

[  onstersandcritics.com

23 February 2006

MEXICO / USA

Unmarked Graves Across the U.S. Border

MEXICO CITY, Feb 23 (IPS) - Sex: male. Age and nationality: unknown. Cause of death: drowning. Place and date: U.S. southern border, October 2005. This is the stark record left behind by a Latin American migrant who now lies in an unmarked grave, like thousands of others who have died without reaching their goal.

The victim is on a list of 280 recorded in the U.S. state of Arizona by the Human Rights Coalition/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders in 2004-2005.More than 3,800 people have died in the U.S.-Mexican border region since 1993. Some 1,000 of them are buried in unmarked graves.Thousands of people from Latin America and the Caribbean die in the attempt to reach the United States or other destinations by the most varied means imaginable and trying to outwit ever stricter border controls. Some get lost or die of exposure in inhospitable desert areas, others are shipwrecked on the high seas, murdered, or suffocate in shipping containers, boxcars or trucks.

Nobody knows for sure how many deaths there have been, but the numbers continue to mount."We now know there are even some (Arizona county) authorities who have the bodies of unidentified immigrants cremated, because they are running out of room in the cemeteries," the coordinator of the non-governmental Human Rights Coalition/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders, Katarina Rodríguez, told IPS by telephone from Arizona.In one of the latest incidents, 25 Haitians suffocated while travelling to neighbouring Dominican Republic concealed in an unventilated truck last January.

Cubans, Ecuadoreans, Guatemalans, Haitians, Hondurans, Mexicans and Salvadorans are the main victims of the regional migration phenomenon, according to studies.At least 15 out of every 100 Cubans who try to reach the United States by sea die, and in most cases their remains are never found.Last year, 31 Cubans disappeared when the boat they were travelling in sank.In one extraordinary case, a young Cuban woman was granted political asylum in the United States, having arrived there in a crate sent by the DHL cargo company from the Bahamas.Since 2005, the Mexican Foreign Ministry has distributed leaflets in border areas and airports, warning about the dangers of travelling to the United States without documents and in the company of human traffickers, or "coyotes".

One of these, the "Guide for the Mexican Migrant," points out the travel risks, provides safety tips, and explains the consular rights of people who are detained. It also includes recommendations about how to act while living in the United States without a residence permit.Ecuador has been doing something similar since January, by broadcasting messages over the media. The aim is to make "people aware of the dangers of illegal emigration, and of trusting human traffickers," says a government communiqué.But the warnings and the dangers do not deter potential migrants.Raúl, a 26-year old Mexican, is adamant that he will keep trying to go to the United States. "I've already been sent back once by the 'migra' (U.S. border patrol), and another time the coyotes stole everything I had, but I'll soon try again," he said.

A 32-year-old Cuban who preferred to remain anonymous said something similar. "I have tried to (reach the United States from Cuba illegally) seven times, and something always goes wrong. But I won't give up till I get there," he told IPS.He said he had been intercepted at sea by the U.S. coast guard and by Cuban authorities, and that he had also experienced trouble on a homemade boat.On Feb. 20, 98 Ecuadoreans heading to Central America in a fishing boat were intercepted and sent home. They had planned to reach the United States overland from Central America. The group also included 24 Peruvians, one Dominican and three Asians.

Last August, 94 Ecuadoreans drowned when their boat, also sailing towards Central America, sank. There were 103 emigrants on board the craft, which was designed to carry a total of 15 people."Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico are the initial destinations, and sometimes migrants die there or are abandoned before reaching the United States, their final destination," Iván Granda, spokesman for the Public Defenders Office in Ecuador, told IPS.Ecuador's Dirección Nacional de Migrantes, the national migration office, reports that hundreds of thousands of Ecuadoreans have emigrated to the United States and Europe since the mid-1990s. IPS was told that from 2002-2005, the bodies of 496 emigrants were repatriated.

"The situation is getting steadily worse, every year there are more dead migrants, and they are very difficult to identify, as sometimes only their bones are found," Rodríguez said, describing conditions in the most inhospitable desert areas in the U.S. border state of Arizona.Identification of the victim's origin, name and nationality is often difficult, which means many of the migrants end up in unmarked graves. Some are cremated, thus foreclosing any opportunity for their families to find out what happened to them.In order to deal with this problem, in late 2004 the Mexican government implemented a System for Identifying Remains and Locating Individuals - a computer programme which logs information about and photographs of the dead, and of persons reported missing along the frontier with the United States.

Around 11,000 Mexican families have already filled in forms with a large amount of information, to start searching the system. They have also checked the files containing 299 photographs of bodies that have been found. Among these, there are 44 where the sex of the deceased could not be established because of the advanced state of decomposition when the bodies were found.In order to avoid detention, many people attempting to make it into the United States swim across rivers, walk across deserts in extreme temperatures, or hide in sealed compartments on trains or trucks.But many migrants find the greatest obstacles in their journey towards the United States in Mexico.Mexico deported 235,297 undocumented migrants last year, most of whom were from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Mexican authorities reported that 200 bodies of migrants were found in this country in 2005. In addition, the governmental National Commission for Human Rights reported at the end of 2005 that foreigners from Central America suffer "a high degree of social exclusion and poor treatment" in Mexico.Most Latin American immigrants in the United States are Mexican. Mexico is also a transit route for migrants of all nationalities to enter the United States.In 2005, more than 400,000 immigrants entered the United States without a visa, and around one million people were detained and deported in the attempt, according to Mexican government reports.

* With additional reporting by Dalia Acosta in Cuba and Juan Carlos Frías in Ecuador. (END/2006)

[  ipsnews.net

07. February 2006

RUSSIA

African Killed In Street Attack

A man from Mali was stabbed to death early Sunday, the head of an organization for Africans in the city said. Aliu Tunkara, president of African Unity in St. Petersburg, said the victim had graduated from a medical school in St. Petersburg nine years ago but was jobless and had been living on the street. Tunkara said police told him the man was found dead, but the RIA-Novosti news agency, also citing police, said he died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital. Ekho-Moscow radio station reported that he had been attacked on Bolshoi Sampsonievsky Prospekt. The victim was identified as Dembele Mamutu, 38, RIA-Novosti reported. Police said he had been taken into custody for public intoxication several times in the past. Tunkara said the victim was married and had a child. St. Petersburg has seen numerous racially motivated attacks in recent months. A student from Cameroon was stabbed to death in St. Petersburg in December, and a Congolese student was killed in the city in September.

[  sptimes.ru

January 2006

The Human Rights Watch World Report 2006 contains information on human rights developments in more than 60 countries in 2005.

[  WORLD REPORT 2006

31. January 2006

IRAN

im iran gibt es seit einiger zeit streiks der busfahrer. aufgerufen dazu hat die tehraner bus company?s union, eine der ältesten gewerkschaften mit über 17.000 mitglieder . am 29. januar wurden mindestens 50 menschen schwer verletzt, mehrere hundert wurden seit dem 27. januar festgenommen. die meisten gefangenen sind im berüchtigten evin knast, ein hochsicherheitsknast. die leiter der gewerkschaft wurden bereits vor 5 wochen inhaftiert.

HUNDREDS still in detention; more arrests today; workers ...

Tehran bus workers under attack

Hundreds of striking bus workers of the state-owned Vahed bus company are still in detention in Tehran today following the vicious attack by thousands of members of the security forces on their strike on Saturday 28th January.

Reports are coming in of more arrests last night and today, in particular in transport districts 4, 5 and 6. A gathering of workers in district 6 last night to press for the release of their jailed colleagues was attacked by the security forces, resulting in more arrests. Workers are being intimidated into signing pledges to give up strike and protest actions or risk being fired. This morning around 200 members of the security forces swarmed district 4, threatening families not to take part in any protest action.

The arrests started from Friday 27th January, the eve of the strike, during police raids on the homes of the strikers and union leaders. The management of the company and the company's Islamic Council worked hand in hand with the security forces to help identify the workers and assist in the arrests. Union officials said the brutality of the security forces was indescribable. The wives and children of some union executive members were also arrested, but later released. They were taken out of bed and beaten up during raids on Friday night. The beatings continued in detention. 2-year-old daughter of Yaghoub Salimi was injured in her face in the attack, when she was thrown into a waiting patrol van. Her 12-year-old elder sister, Mahdiye, described the ordeal in detail in an interview yesterday with a radio station abroad (summary transcript in a separate release). The wife of Mansoor Hayat Gheibi is still in prison.

On Saturday, as the workers arrived at the picket lines, they were rounded up. Many were verbally abused, threatened and beaten up to force them to drive the buses. Those who refused were taken away. Some buses had been moved the night before, and replacement drivers had been enlisted from among the military and mercenary Baseej militia.

The majority of the detainees are now in the high security Evin Prison, where the seven members of the union?s leadership, including the head of the executive, Mansoor Ossanlou, were already being held. This prison is notorious for being the centre for the jailing, torture and execution of thousands of political prisoners. The strike has had the unanimous support of the 17,000 employees of the state-owned company, who have been battling the management and authorities since last year. Their demands include a decent pay increase, introduction of collectively negotiated agreements and recognition of their union. Since the arrest of their leaders, they have been fighting for their release too. The head of the union, Ossanlou, has been in jail for over five weeks.

In a letter to world labour and progressive organisations, the union executive said that in the light of what the Islamic Republic regime had done, they had no option but to continue with their fight with even greater resolve and unity. It thanked international labour and progressive organisations for their solidarity so far and appealed to them to keep up their support. WPI has called for a powerful and immediate response to the bus workers' appeal by all possible means. Protest letters may be sent to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir . Please forward copies to us so that they may be brought to the attention of the workers and people of Iran.

[  libcom.org

Hundreds of Workers and Drivers Arrested, Strike Banned

29. januar 2006

TEHRAN, 29 Jan. (IPS) The clerical-led authorities of the Islamic Republic crashed “ruthlessly” a general strike planned by the Union of the Single Bus Company of Tehran and Suburbs (SBCTS) for Saturday 28, arresting “hundreds” of drivers, workers and personnel and their families.

Following of the “savage and inhuman” assault of the police, security forces and revolutionary guards on its members, the 17.000 strong SBCTS’s Union called on Sunday on all workers and unions of the free world as well as the inhabitant of the Capital and Iranians to support them in their strike and protest to the authorities. According to well informed sources and eyewitnesses,on orders from the Government of the islamo-populist President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad, thousands of security forces in plainclothes, police and militias backed by the Revolutionary Guard’s anti-riot units attacked drivers, workers and personnel of the Bus Company of Tehran, arrested over one thousands, including wives, children and families, beat up the strikers, wounding at least 50 of them, reported in a “very serious state”.

Aimed at urging the release of Mr. Mansour Osanlou, one of the leaders of the Company’s Union and also press for their long due demands, including better work conditions and salaries, the authorities pre-empted by invading all depots, arresting drivers and personnel who refused to work, taking buses out of garages, using military personnel, a communiqué from the SBCTS said.The communiqué, addressed at both all Iranians as well as all unions and organizations of the “free world’s workers”, informs them of the “brutality” with which the authorities “assaulted and crushed their planned strike and calls on them to “denounce the brutal use of force against the Union’s members and their families and demanding the “immediate release” of all of the detained members.

“On the behalf of the 17.000 members of the Union of the SBCTS, we inform you that our strike was met with an unprecedented assault of the authorities”, the communiqué that was published by Iranian media outside said, adding that “hundreds of our members have been detained overnight, including their families and even children”.

“We call on you, our colleagues every where in the world, to condemn this brutal aggression and urge the Iranian Government to recognize our rights. We call on you to condemn the crackdown on our Union and urge the prosecution of those responsible for this illegal move”, the communiqué stressed.According to the communiqué, Tehran’s Mayor, General Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf – a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force and Police Chief --, has condemned the strike, saying the SBCTS’ Union is “illegal” because it is not officially registered. “Does not Mr. Qalibaf know that our Union is one of the oldest in Iran and enjoying dedicated members?”, it said.

With more than 17.000 members, the Tehran Bus Company’s Union is one of the largest, best organized and older of all Iranian unions.The Saturday 28 January strike follows that of 22 December 2005, which ended after the Mayor cooled down the situation promising to study the case of the Company’s members and help free all the Union’s d leaders detained by the authorities.The order for the arrest, detention and seizure of all documents of the arrested men was issued by Judge Sa’id Mortazavi, the Prosecutor for Tehran and Islamic Revolution Tribunals.

“They (plainclothes men) attacked at night, raided houses, did not show the slightest regards for small children and women, took the men, searched the house, confiscated everything and destroyed the household, “as if we had been attacked by a mortal enemy”, one source reported to Iran Press Service.The first arrests took place early morning on Thursday 22 December by agents from the Office of the Prosecutor accompanied by plainclothes policemen. “The agents raided our house very early in the morning, presenting warrants from the Prosecutor, took away my husband, searched the house and took away all his documents and computer”, the wife of one of the arrested men told a Farsi-language radio station based outside Iran.

The crackdown follows months of disturbances in the SBCTS, where drivers and the personnel is asking for better work conditions and increase of their salaries, freezed since at least four years while prices for everything in Iran has raised by more than ten times, particularly housing rents and basic food.The malaise started after leaders of the Union, while in a meeting, were suddenly attacked by plainclothes members of the Ansar Hezbollah and badly beaten up, injuring some of the participants and going as far as cutting the tongue of one of them”, informed sources told IPS. “The Government took no action, when it heard about the attack and instead of ordering investigation, ordered the arrest of the SBCTS’s leaders”, he added.

Ansar Hezbollah is a pressure group controlled by Ayatollah Ali Jannati, an influential cleric close to the leader of the Islamic Republic, who is also the Secretary of the powerful Council of the Guardians.“Strike is labourer’s natural right. For months, we are trying to explain our problems to the authorities. We have talked to most of them, including one of the President’s advisors, but never got any answer to our demands”, Mr. Torabian said, adding that several of the detained people are even not members of the Union’s Executive Committee, “but simple members of the Union involved of informing the people, distributing our communiqués and petitions”.

“The way the arrests were carried out shows that the Government of Mr. Ahmadinejad, the very one that had promised justice and help to the poor, is determined to abolish the SBTCS’s Union, one of the oldest and most powerful of all Unions in Iran”, a journalist told Iran Press Service on condition of anonymity, adding that on order from the authorities, the media had been banned to report the event.“We call on you to urge the authorities of the Islamic Republic to immediately and without condition free all of our detained leader, to present official apology and promise to respond to our legitimate demands”, the communiqué said, warning the Government that “otherwise, we woud have no choice but continue our struggle”.

[  iran-press-service.com

BRD

18 January 2006

Germany: spying and discrimination against Muslims

Muslims living in the southwest state of Baden-Württemberg applying for a German passport now have to submit to unprecedented spying by the state that not only violates the personal rights of the individuals concerned, but also discriminates against all those of Islamic faith. Those suspected of not being “constitutionally loyal” can be interviewed and screened by government representatives—an act that openly contravenes rights of citizens under the German constitution.

Prospective citizens have to demonstrate their knowledge of the constitution and the “free democratic basic order” of Germany in order to qualify for a German passport. For the Interior Ministry of Baden-Württemberg, a person’s commitment to citizenship also includes their “internal attitude.” As of the start of this year, numerous interviews have been held with people from Islamic countries, or who are believed to hold Islamic beliefs, with the aim of uncovering the views of these passport applicants.

The basis for these interviews is a departmental handbook that encompasses 30 different points, each one containing one or more questions. The handbook is intended to resolve any doubts—or confirm them—that the immigration department has about “whether the applicant has really understood the content of his declaration [commitment to the constitution] and whether his declaration really expresses the applicant’s convictions.” The content of the handbook represents an illegitimate intrusion by the state into the personal and political affairs of individuals. Its catalogue of questions reflects the racism of the German state, casting blanket suspicion on all Muslims for oppressing female family members, exercising self-justice and sympathising with terrorist acts. The brazen and provocative form of the questions reveals that this new procedure for assessing people for citizenship serves more to debase and intimidate migrants than to in any way defend the basic principles of the constitution.

The Interior Ministry bluntly asks Muslims whether they are supporters of Al Qaeda: “You have heard about the attacks on 11 September 2001 in New York and 11 March 2004 in Madrid. In your eyes, were the perpetrators terrorists or freedom fighters? Explain your opinion.” According to the immigration department in Baden-Württemberg, having Islamic beliefs is sufficient reason to assume that you have contact with terrorists: “You find out from people in your neighbourhood or from your circle of friends or acquaintances that a terrorist attack has been committed or is being planned. How do you react? What do you do?” The handbook contains other questions that have nothing to do with a supposed assessment of a person’s “internal attitude to the constitution”: “In Germany you can decide whether to visit a male or female doctor. In certain cases, though, this is not possible: emergencies, shift changes at the hospital. In such cases, would you rather be treated or operated on by a female doctor (male applicants) or a male doctor (female applicants)?”

The intention behind other questions is incomprehensible: “What do you think about the following statement: ‘Democracy is the worst form of government we have, but the best one which exists.’” Other questions completely contradict the social reality of the country, a reality that migrants in particular experience on a daily basis: “Anyone in Germany can, with the relevant qualifications, obtain entry into his/her desired occupation. What do you think about this?” Other questions openly amount to political snooping and intimidation: “In Germany, parties and organisations can be prohibited due to activities that contravene the constitution. Would you continue to support such a party or organisation when it is prohibited? Under which circumstances?”

Most of the questions are related to sex and family relationships. On these issues, the immigration department takes an interest in the clothing of daughters and their participation in swimming classes, as well as the applicant’s opinion on violence in marital relationships. The latter topic offers broad opportunities for provocation: “Your daughter/sister comes home and tells you that she was sexually assaulted. What do you do as father/mother/brother/sister?” Homophobia can also be used as a reason to refuse German citizenship to Muslims: “Imagine that your adult son comes to you and explains that he is homosexual and wants to live with another man. How do you react?”

Many commentators have already pointed out that, according to these criteria, one would have to take citizenship away from many Germans—above all, from the German Pope. How many parents don’t allow their daughters to wear midriff-baring tops, how many women are dominated by men in relationships, how many people in Germany regard homosexuality as perverse? Without defending in any way any form of backwardness, these questions are sufficient to demonstrate that such criteria are completely inadequate as a basis for refusing someone the right to citizenship.

Just as repellent is the hypocrisy displayed by the immigration department, which seeks to demonstrate its tolerance in contrast to the implied backwardness of the Muslim population. After all, the German state is heavily influenced by the Christian churches, which play a far-reaching role in this country, spreading and cementing reactionary positions in relation to homosexuality and the role of women in society. The interview ends by requesting applicants to sign a statement that threatens them with loss of citizenship should they fail to act according to the results of their attitude test. The prospective German citizen has to sign “that untruthful statements will be regarded as deception of the immigration department and—even after years—can lead to the revocation of citizenship, even if this means that as a result I become stateless.”

Such a penalty is absurd in light of the questions. What will this mean? Will new German Muslim citizens have to hand in their passports if they do not allow themselves to be treated by a doctor? This passage by the Baden-Württemberg immigration department, which poses as a defender of the German constitution, in fact contravenes the constitution (not to mention international law), which prohibits the revocation of citizenship under any circumstances if it means that the person affected were to become stateless as a result. That the guidelines of the Interior Ministry are saturated with the racism of an authoritarian state, and in reality have nothing to do with the defence of the constitution, is also shown by what is not asked in the interview to determine the applicant’s loyalty to the constitution.

Applicants are not asked if they understand that under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany the dignity of a person is inviolable and that human rights are deemed sacred. The government departments do not ascertain whether the future German is familiar with Article 3 of the constitution, which states that no one may be discriminated against or favoured due to their ancestry, race, language, place of origin, or their religious or political beliefs. Nor are the officials interested in whether passport applicants are aware of the constitutional rights to freedom of opinion, association and organisation, or whether they have understood that, according to the constitution, asylum is guaranteed to victims of political victimisation and that property should serve the benefit of society as a whole.

In other words, applicants are not informed of their rights, incorporated into the German constitution after the Second World War as a direct result of the experiences of the Nazi dictatorship. Rather, Muslim applicants have to go through an interview and tolerate blanket accusations made against them, that they may not have the ability to be integrated into German society or are potential criminals, and be threatened with the harshest of penalties.

These new procedures to assess Muslims as prospective citizens in Baden-Württemberg, under the cover of “defence of democracy,” is an attempt to introduce methods of spying and intimidation that contravene every democratic principle. No one should underestimate the dangers posed because these new practices are at first aimed “only” against Muslims. Such police-state methods are often tested out against the weakest sections of society before they are applied to the entire population. Baden-Württemberg Justice Minister Ulrich Goll (Free Democratic Party) has already used criticism of the new measures to demand an expansion of spying operations. He was quoted by the media as saying that in order to prevent allegations being made against the state for discrimination, such questions “should be applied equally to all, and not just confined to Muslims.”

[  wsws.org

Einbürgerungsverfahren in Baden-Württemberg
Gesinnungsschnüffelei und Diskriminierung von Muslimen

12. Januar 2006

Muslime, die im Bundesland Baden-Württemberg einen deutschen Pass beantragen, müssen sich einer Gesinnungsschnüffelei von Seiten des Staates unterziehen lassen, die nicht nur die Persönlichkeitsrechte des Einzelnen verletzt, sondern auch sämtliche Menschen islamischen Glaubens diskriminiert. Die per se angezweifelte "Verfassungstreue" muslimischer Einbürgerungsbewerber soll von Behördenvertretern durch ein Leitfadeninterview überprüft werden, das selbst in offenem Widerspruch zu den in der Verfassung verankerten Bürger- und Freiheitsrechten steht.[...]

[  Gesinnungsschnüffelei und Diskriminierung von Muslimen
   Full Article

Werte-Test für Muslime: Der strittige Fragenkatalog aus Baden-Württemberg

8. Januar 2006

Mit einem neuen Leitfaden prüft die Ausländerbehörde die Gesinnung der Einbürgerungsbewerber aus islamischen Staaten. Der Zentralrat der Muslime will klagen. Wie würden Sie antworten?

Seit Neujahr müssen Einbürgerungsbewerber aus islamischen Staaten in Baden-Württemberg Fragen zu ihrer Gesinnung und Verfassungstreue beantworten. Innenminister Heribert Rech (CDU) hat den Behörden dafür einen Leitfaden mit 30 Fragen an die Hand gegeben. Baden-Württemberg ist das erste Land, das die Gesinnung von Muslimen auf diese Art prüft. Der Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland hat bereits eine Klage gegen den Fragebogen angekündigt. Dieser sei mit dem Grundgesetz unvereinbar und erschwere Integration. Wir dokumentieren den Fragebogen aus Baden-Württemberg. Er ist eine Einladung zum Selbstversuch: Wie würden Sie antworten? Und fänden Sie es akzeptabel, diese Fragen beantworten zu müssen?

1. Das Bekenntnis zur freiheitlichen demokratischen Grundordnung des Grundgesetzes für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland umfaßt die Werteordnung des Grundgesetzes, die inhaltsgleich für alle Staaten der Europäischen Union gilt. Dazu gehören unter anderem - der Schutz der Menschenwürde - das Gewaltmonopol des Staates, das heißt, außer dem Staat darf in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland niemand Gewalt gegen einen anderen anwenden, es sei denn in Notwehr. Der Staat selbst darf Gewalt nur auf Grund einer gesetzlichen Ermächtigung anwenden - sowie die Gleichberechtigung von Mann und Frau.
Entsprechen diese Grundsätze Ihren persönlichen Vorstellungen?

2. Was halten Sie von folgenden Aussagen? - "Demokratie ist die schlechteste Regierungsform, die wir haben, aber die beste, die es gibt." - "Die Menschheit hat noch nie eine so dunkle Phase wie unter der Demokratie erlebt. Damit der Mensch sich von der Demokratie befreien kann, muß er zuerst begreifen, daß die Demokratie den Menschen nichts Gutes geben kann [...]."

3. In Filmen, Theaterstücken und Büchern werden manchmal die religiösen Gefühle von Menschen der unterschiedlichen Glaubensrichtungen verletzt. Welche Mittel darf der einzelne Ihrer Meinung nach anwenden, um sich gegen solche Verletzungen seines Glaubens zu wehren, und welche nicht?

4. Wie stehen Sie zu Kritik an Religion? Halten Sie diese für zulässig? Setzen Sie sich damit auseinander?

5. In Deutschland können politische Parteien und Vereine wegen verfassungsfeindlicher Betätigung verboten werden. Würden Sie trotz eines solchen Verbots die Partei oder den Verein doch unterstützen? Unter welchen Umständen?

6. Wie stehen Sie zu der Aussage, daß die Frau ihrem Ehemann gehorchen soll und daß dieser sie schlagen darf, wenn sie ihm nicht gehorsam ist?

7. Halten Sie es für zulässig, daß ein Mann seine Frau oder seine Tochter zu Hause einschließt, um zu verhindern, daß sie ihm in der Öffentlichkeit "Schande macht"?

8. In Deutschland kann die Polizei bei gewalttätigen Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Eheleuten einschreiten und zur Abwehr von weiteren Gefahren den Täter für einige Tage aus der Wohnung verweisen. Was halten Sie davon?

9. Halten Sie es für einen Fortschritt, daß Männer und Frauen in Deutschland kraft Gesetz gleichberechtigt sind? Was sollte der Staat Ihrer Meinung nach tun, wenn Männer dies nicht akzeptieren?

10. In Deutschland kann jeder bei entsprechender Ausbildung nahezu jeden Beruf ergreifen. Was halten Sie davon? Sind Sie der Meinung, daß bestimmte Berufe nur Männern oder nur Frauen vorbehalten sein sollten? Wenn ja, welche und warum?

11. Welche Berufe sollte Ihrer Meinung nach eine Frau auf keinen Fall ausüben? Hätten Sie bei bestimmten Berufen Schwierigkeiten, eine Frau als Autoritätsperson anzuerkennen?

12. In Deutschland kann jeder selbst entscheiden, ob er sich lieber von einem Arzt oder einer Ärztin behandeln läßt. In bestimmten Situationen besteht diese Wahlmöglichkeit jedoch nicht: Notfall, Schichtwechsel im Krankenhaus. Würden Sie sich in einem solchen Fall auch von einer Ärztin (männlicher Einbürgerungsbewerber) oder einem Arzt (Einbürgerungsbewerberin) untersuchen oder operieren lassen?

13. Man hört immer wieder, daß Eltern ihren volljährigen Töchtern verbieten, einen bestimmten Beruf zu ergreifen oder einen Mann ihrer Wahl zu heiraten. Wie stehen Sie persönlich zu diesem Verhalten? Was würden Sie tun, wenn Ihre Tochter einen Mann anderen Glaubens heiraten oder eine Ausbildung machen möchte, die Ihnen nicht gefällt?

15. In Deutschland gehört der Sport- und Schwimmunterricht zum normalen Schulunterricht. Würden Sie Ihre Tochter daran teilnehmen lassen? Wenn nein: warum nicht?

16. Wie stehen Sie dazu, daß Kinder an Klassenausflügen und Schullandheimaufenthalten teilnehmen?

17. Ihre volljährige Tochter/Ihre Frau möchte sich gern so kleiden wie andere deutsche Mädchen und Frauen auch. Würden Sie versuchen, das zu verhindern? Wenn ja: Mit welchen Mitteln?

18. Bei Einbürgerungsbewerberinnen: Ihre Tochter möchte sich gern so kleiden wie andere deutsche Mädchen und Frauen auch, aber Ihr Mann ist dagegen? Was tun Sie?

19. Ihre Tochter/Schwester kommt nach Hause und erzählt, sie sei sexuell belästigt worden. Was tun Sie als Vater/Mutter/Bruder/Schwester?

20. Ihr Sohn/Bruder kommt nach Hause und erzählt, er sei beleidigt worden. Was tun Sie als Vater/Mutter/Bruder/Schwester?

21. Erlaubt das Grundgesetz Ihrer Meinung nach, seine Religion zu wechseln, also seine bisherige Glaubensgemeinschaft zu verlassen und ohne Religion zu leben oder sich einer anderen Religion zuzuwenden? Was halten Sie davon, wenn man wegen eines solchen Religionswechsels bestraft würde (zum Beispiel mit dem Verlust des Erbrechts)?

22. Sie erfahren, daß Leute aus Ihrer Nachbarschaft oder aus Ihrem Freundes- oder Bekanntenkreis einen terroristischen Anschlag begangen haben oder planen. Wie verhalten Sie sich? Was tun Sie?

23. Sie haben von den Anschlägen am 11. September 2001 in New York und am 11. März 2004 in Madrid gehört. Waren die Täter in Ihren Augen Terroristen oder Freiheitskämpfer? Erläutern Sie Ihre Aussage.

24. In der Zeitung wird manchmal über Fälle berichtet, in denen Töchter oder Ehefrauen von männlichen Familienangehörigen wegen "unsittlichen Lebenswandels" getötet wurden, um die Familienehre wieder herzustellen. Wie stehen Sie zu einer solchen Tat?

25. Was halten Sie davon, wenn ein Mann in Deutschland mit zwei Frauen gleichzeitig verheiratet ist.

26. Wie beurteilen Sie es, wenn ein verheirateter Mann aus Deutschland in seinen früheren Heimatstaat fährt und dort ein zweites Mal heiratet?

27. Manche Leute machen die Juden für alles Böse in der Welt verantwortlich und behaupten sogar, sie steckten hinter den Anschlägen vom 11. September 2001 in New York? Was halten Sie von solchen Behauptungen?

28. Ihre Tochter bewirbt sich um eine Stelle in Deutschland. Sie bekommt jedoch ein ablehnendes Schreiben. Später erfahren Sie, daß eine Schwarzafrikanerin aus Somalia die Stelle bekommen hat. Wie verhalten Sie sich?

29. Stellen Sie sich vor, Ihr volljähriger Sohn kommt zu Ihnen und erklärt, er sei homosexuell und möchte gern mit einem anderen Mann zusammenleben. Wie reagieren Sie?

30. In Deutschland haben sich verschiedene Politiker öffentlich als Homosexuelle bekannt. Was halten Sie davon, daß in Deutschland Homosexuelle öffentliche Ämter bekleiden?

[  wams.de

13. January 2005

SWITZERLAND

UNO kritisiert Rassismus in der Schweiz

Die Schweiz hat nach Ansicht des UNO-Gesandten Doudou Diene ein Problem mit Rassismus und Fremdenfeindlichkeit, aber keine Strategie dagegen. Vor allem die Verharmlosung von Rassismus auch in der Politik sei Besorgnis erregend, erklärte Diene.Diene schloss gestern einen fünftägigen Besuch des Landes ab, bei dem er mit Ministern, Kantonsregierungen und betroffenen Minderheiten zusammentraf. Konkret kritisierte er etwa rassistische Übergriffe durch die Polizei.

Wie sich Rassismus in die Politik einschleicht

Darüber hinaus berge die Tendenz, das Phänomen des Rassismus in der Politik zu banalisieren, die Gefahr in sich, dass rassistisches Gedankengut auch auf demokratische Parteien übergreife, warnte der UNO-Gesandte. Die politischen Gremien würden das Thema indes vernachlässigen.Als Beleg für diese Tendenz verwies Diene auf ein Abstimmungsplakat der Schweizerischen Volkspartei (SVP) anlässlich der Kampagne über die erleichterte Einbürgerung. Darauf greifen braune Hände nach dem Schweizer Pass. Als weiteren Beleg erwähnte Diene die geplanten Verschärfungen im Asylgesetz.

Kein Interesse an Kampf gegen Rassismus?

Generell zeigten die vielen Abstimmungen zu dem Thema, dass sich die Schweiz mit der Ausländerfrage schwer tue, befand Diene. Als Mangel wertete es der Berichterstatter, dass es der Schweiz an Gesetzgebung gegen Rassismus fehle. Das wertete er als Zeichen, dass der Kampf gegen Rassismus den regierenden Politikern kein Anliegen sei.

[  orf.at

50% der Schweizer Jugendlichen akzeptieren Gewalt an Ausländern (oder wehren sich nicht dagegen )

1. April 2005

Diese erschreckende Erkenntnis stammt aus dem langjährigen Projekt [  “Jugend und Gewalt (PDF)” . Bereits 1999 hat eine, in 28 Länder durchgeführte, Studie gezeigt, dass Deutsche- und Schweizer Jugendliche am ausländerfeindlichsten sind. Auf diese alarmierenden Ergebnisse gabs in der Öffentlichkeit erstaunlicherweise kaum Reaktionen.

Ausländerfeindlichkeit scheint chic zu sein. Früher eher in den unteren Bildungsschichten ein Problem, sind die Resultate der Studie “Jugend und Gewalt” eindeutig: Ob Realschüler, Gymnasiasten, Mädchen oder Jungen, überall ist Ausländerhass “in”. Zu denken gibt da zudem, dass Ansichten und Einstellung von Teenagern zu 80% von ihren Eltern geprägt wird! ….

Beispielsweise “Rütli 1291? ist eine Gruppierung ländlicher Jugendlicher aus dem Zürcher Oberland. Die Jungs tragen rote Shirts mit weissen Kreuzen und schnupfen Tabak. Die Mädchen tragen Londsdale Jacken und Gurte mit Schweizerkreuz auf der Schnalle. So weit so gut. Sollen sie doch, denkt sich ein weltoffener Mensch. Doch diesen Gruppierungen liegt ein Problem zu Grunde: Latenter-Soft-Rassismus, der von Erwachsenen schnell als jugendlicher Patriotismus abgetan wird. Schnell wird klar, dass hier nicht bloss die Schweiz gefeiert wird, sondern Ausländer gehasst werden. Und zwar aktiv. Zum allgegenwärtigen “Schnupf” gehört meist ein Spruch. Im konkreten Falle lauten die gängigsten: “Uf rotem Grund ä wisses Chrüz, mir liebed di du schöni Schwiiz! Uf rotem Grunden schwarze Adler, mir hassed eu, ihr scheiss Albaner” oder ” In dieser Bibel steht geschrieben, du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben. damit ist gemeint der Schnupftabak un nich das verdammte Jugopack, Priis!“ Wenn es soweit gekommen ist, dass solche “Spässe” gesellschaftsfähig sind, toleriert werden und mit einem Achselzucken hingenommen werden, haben wir ein ernsthaftes Problem, welches nicht ohne weiteres wieder verschwindet. Bedenklich, sehr sehr bedenklich.

[  ignoranz.ch

Rassismus: Brennpunkt Schweiz 

Diese Rubrik verschafft einen Überblick über rassistische Vorfälle, Gesetzeslage, Projekte und antirassistische Beratungsstellen und in der Schweiz.

Gesammelte Nachrichten zum (Anti-)Rassismus in der Schweiz

Verfassung und Gesetze

Projekte gegen Rassismus

Fachstellen und Beratungsstellen 

[  humanrights.ch

[  Rassistische Vorfälle in der Schweiz seit 1992

[  Jahresbericht 2005 von Amnesty
   Berichtszeitraum 1. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2004

9. January 2006

MEXICO

martin barrios hernandez, vorsitzender der human and labour rights commission des tehuacan tales, ist seit dem 29. dezember 2005 im puebla state knast inhaftiert. er wird beschuldigt erpressungsversuche bei den besitzer von verschiedenen textilfirmen, die kleidung für den export in die usa oder kanada nähen , gemacht zu haben. barrios hat 163 gefeuerten arbeiterinnen geholfen prozesse wegen den arbeitsbedingungen zu führen und abfindungen zu erhalten.

SWEAT Shop Fighter Jailed

The news came during the lull between Christmas and New Year's, on the eve of a long weekend, when media outlets and government officials were guaranteed to be virtually inoperative. Martín Barrios Hernández, president of a Mexican human rights commission, had been arrested December 29 and incarcerated in Puebla's state prison with no possibility of bail under Mexican law. The charge? Barrios is accused of attempting to blackmail the owner of several factories that assemble clothing for export to Canada and the United States. Coincidentally, Barrios had been pursuing legal channels to obtain severance pay for 163 employees recently fired from one of the factories, after demanding that working conditions comply with the law.

Young rights commissioner

I met Barrios six years ago, while on assignment in his hometown of Tehuacán in Puebla, a three-hour drive southeast of Mexico City. I was writing an article about free trade and the garment industry. Barrios stood out amongst dozens of people I interviewed; he was young, articulate, outspoken, and deeply committed to improving employment standards in scores of garment factories that have sprung up around Tehuacán since Canada, Mexico and the United States signed a free trade agreement in 1994.

Secluded behind high walls and guarded gates, the factories each hire up to 10,000 workers to sew brand name clothes on contract for companies like Levi's, Guess, the Gap and Tommy Hilfiger. So many of the clothes are made of denim, stonewashed with chemicals and feather-light abrasive rocks from the nearby Popocatépetl volcano, that Tehuacán has become known as Mexico's "denim capital". Barrios, a Nahua Indian, was clearly a prominent figure to others as well; in 1999 his sharp mind and tenacity had already earned him, at the age of 27, his position as president of the Human and Labour Rights Commission of the Tehuacán Valley. He wore his hair long, a bright knitted cap on his head and his heart on his sleeve. On one arm, he sported a tattoo of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god of the Aztecs and the Toltecs. "Human rights are being violated on a daily basis," Barrios told me. "There is political [physical] torture, everything?It's a question of investigating and denouncing."

Grind of the maquilas

Since then, Barrios has continued to document and denounce violations of Mexican law at Tehuacán's garment factories, known in Spanish as "maquilas". In 2003, he co-authored a report jointly published by the human rights commission and Canada's Maquila Solidarity Network (http://www.maquilasolidarity.org/) . The report, "Blue Jeans, Blue Waters and Workers Rights", documents labour and human rights abuses in maquilas: salaries for some workers of far less than $1 an hour, child labour, long shifts, lack of legally-required overtime pay, unjust dismissals, and risks to workers and the environment posed by chemicals used to stonewash jeans.

Now, Barrios himself is the focal point of an unfolding human rights scandal. Although his imprisonment has received widespread press coverage in Mexico, and shows signs of becoming an election scandal, it has attracted surprisingly scant media attention outside the country. Brand name garment companies that do business in Tehuacán, however, are monitoring the situation closely. Gap Inc.'s vice-president of Social Responsibility, Dan Henkle, has written to Puebla State Governor Mario Marín Torres, urging the governor "to take immediate action to investigate" the charges against Barrios, and his arrest and imprisonment, and to "take appropriate steps to ensure Mr. Barrios' safety." "It is important that foreign buyers who do business in Puebla remain confident in the government's commitment to rule of law," Henkle explained in a January 4th letter to the governor. (Gap does not do business with the factory owner accusing Barrios of blackmail, but the company has contracts with other maquilas in the Tehuacán area.)

Blackmail charges

On January 4, Barrios appeared in a Puebla court flanked by police in riot gear. Judge Horacio Bravo Negrete ruled that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with blackmail charges against Barrios laid by maquila owner Lucio Gil Zárate. The judge then declared himself unfit to hear the trial, for which a date has not been set.

Gil, according to Mexican newspaper articles, did not appear in court. The decision to continue the case was made after the defence presented a video of Barrios at a church meeting in the town of Ajálpan-on the same day, at the very same time, that he is accused of appearing at Gil's house to blackmail the factory owner for 150 million pesos.

In a public statement issued after the judge's decision, Amnesty International wrote that Barrios' "arrest and prosecution may be an attempt to prevent him from carrying out his legitimate human rights work." One memorable evening during my stay in Tehuacán, Barrios took me to meet a Catholic priest who worked with the commission and worried about the impact of NAFTA on Mexico's indigenous peoples. Prior to free trade, Mexico's indigenous groups owned and farmed large tracts of land. Changes to land-ownership laws had encouraged the breakup of communal land into individual holdings, cheap U.S. bean and corn imports had made traditional farming less viable, and now one way to stave off hunger was to work in a maquila for the minimum wage of about $5 a day.

'Intimidation'

Father Anastasio Hidalgo lived in a cavernous church lit by flickering candles in the neighbouring village of Coxcatlán. The church, flanked by a graveyard and a heap of stone where one of its towers had collapsed in a recent earthquake, resembled an eerie gothic cathedral. We traveled there on a rickety public bus filled with visibly weary maquila workers heading home in the dark. Suddenly, fire flares and soldiers appeared on the road ahead. The bus lurched to a stop. Soldiers boarded, ostensibly to search for marijuana. "Intimidation," Barrios declared. He, alone among dozens of bus passengers, refused to let the armed soldiers open his backpack. "It's unconstitutional," he told the soldiers, glaring at them until they relented and allowed the bus to proceed.

Barrios' refusal to let the soldiers illegally search his backpack reflects a determination to pursue justice even at great personal risk. Where others back off, Barrios presses forward. Where others are timid, Barrios is bold. From San Miguel prison on December 31, he issued a sweeping two-page statement declaring that he is falsely accused of blackmailing Gil and demanding to know why he was taken to Puebla if the alleged crime occurred in Tehuacán. Barrios also points out that he was told nothing of the charges against him until he was picked up by police in an unmarked car 13 days after charges were filed. Bob Jeffcott, spokesperson for the Maquila Solidarity Network, believes Barrios has been targeted because Tehuacán factory owners are being pressured by brand name clothing companies to improve working conditions. At the same time, the global quota system that assigned shares of the world's apparel and textile industry to individual countries has been abolished.

"They're really fearful that production is going to leave Mexico and go to China, so they see exposés on working conditions as being a threat to the survival of the industry," says Jeffcott. "What they're not appreciating, is the possibility that they could begin to promote Mexico under labour standards compliance and that some of the brands would like to be working with them on proven practices."

Stonewash toxins

While in Tehuacán, I spoke with 15 and 16-year-olds leaving unmarked factories after shifts, and talked to workers suffering headaches and other chronic health problems from exposure to chemicals used to stonewash jeans. Some improvements have recently been made at larger factories catering to big, brand names, according to Jeffcott. Yet, labour and human rights violations persist at many maquilas, he says, and many workers do not earn enough money to send their children to school. In the Tehuacán neighbourhood of Observatorio, where maquila workers live in dirt floor houses patched with cardboard and plastic sheeting, I arrived unannounced at the home of Rosa Rodriguez, because she, like everyone else in her neighbourhood, had no phone. Nor did any of the homes have running water. A water truck came to the neighbourhood once a week before dawn and residents leaped out of bed to fill receptacles with enough water to last for seven days.

Rodriguez (who did not want her real name used for fear of reprisal) was better off than most of her neighbours, because her six-person family lived in two rooms instead of one. Her dream was to keep her four kids in school. On weekdays, Rodriguez worked in a maquila cinching wastebands; on weekends she took in laundry and sold perfume. Her husband worked full-time as a security guard. Together, they earned so little they didn't know if they could afford the next round of mandatory public school uniforms and school books for their children.

Report: Mexico tortures

These days, we are inclined to think of Mexico as a holiday destination and peer on the international stage. Yet, human rights groups and international organizations point to ongoing systemic human rights violations in our close trading partner and underscore that insufficient action has been taken to improve the situation. "Structural flaws in the criminal justice system remained a key source of human rights violations and impunity," wrote Amnesty International about Mexico in its 2004 annual report. The United Nations Committee against Torture, after a five-year investigation, concluded that Mexican police "commonly use torture and resort to it systematically as another method of criminal investigation."

In another case recently highlighted by Amnesty, independent journalist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro was arrested December 16 at her home in Cancun-the same day that charges against Barrios were quietly laid. Cacho, who is also president of a women's assistance centre that highlights abuses suffered by Mexican women and children, was transported 1,500 kilometers to the city of Puebla and detained for 30 hours on charges of defamation. The charges stem from a book Cacho authored last year alleging the involvement of important Mexican businessmen in a child pornography ring. Amnesty reports that Cacho was released on bail of US $10,000, and could face up to four years in prison.

Defamation is a criminal offence in Mexico, where Amnesty says it is sometimes used "to silence and intimidate journalists reporting on matters of public interest". The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has called for defamation to be a civil offense, but Mexico has not taken steps to adopt the commission's recommendation.

Barrios fears for life

Two years ago, almost to the day that he was arrested, Barrios was severely beaten outside his home by unknown assailants. Human rights organizations sounded the alarm and Jeffcott credits the ensuing international concern with helping to protect Barrios up until now. Barrios, in addition to heading the human rights commission, is also an advisor to Mexico's federal electoral commission. He has been told he will be transferred to a prison in Tehuacán to await a trial date. Barrios, who spent his first night in jail sharing a cell with 14 people, told the court that he fears for his life in prison. If convicted, Barrios could face a prison sentence of two to 10 years.

[  thetyee.ca

7 January 2006

MEXICO

18-year-old shot by Border Patrol
Killing fuels Mexican anger over US immigration policy

The fatal shooting of an 18-year-old immigrant by a US Border Patrol agent last week has fueled popular anger in Mexico over an increasingly repressive and xenophobic immigration policy that is being crafted in Washington.

Guillermo Martinez Rodriguez, a Tijuana resident, was shot in the back and fatally wounded December 30 while fleeing from a US agent on the US side of the border between Tijuana and San Diego, California. He and his brother, Agustin, managed to make it back to Mexico, where Guillermo died in a hospital the next day. While the government of President Vicente Fox sent a diplomatic note to Washington protesting the shooting and demanding an investigation, it has come under intense fire from both opposition politicians and sections of the media, which have characterized the official reaction as “spineless.” The incident has further discredited Fox’s policy of accommodating Mexican foreign policy to that of the Bush administration. The shooting came just weeks after the US House of Representatives passed a draconian immigration bill that would turn the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the US into criminals and further militarize the US-Mexican border.

Outrage in Mexico over the legislation has focused on the bill’s proposal to build 700 miles of concrete and steel security fencing to seal off more than one third of the border between the two countries. Mexican politicians, including Fox, have compared the proposal to the Berlin Wall and the security barrier that Israel is constructing on the West Bank. The legislation further requires the Defense and Homeland Security Departments to develop plans utilizing military technology to thwart border crossers. Critics of the border’s growing militarization warn that these measures will only push those seeking to cross to more dangerous areas, resulting not in a decrease in the number of undocumented immigrants, but a rise in the number of dead ones. The official death toll on the border in 2005 hit a record high of 415. In addition to turning immigration violations into a criminal offense, one of the bill’s most egregious measures makes it a crime for any US citizen to enable undocumented immigrants to stay in the US or to aid them in evading detection. Social service and human rights groups have warned that this statute could make doctors, social workers, school personnel and anyone else who provides care or assistance to immigrants—rather than turning them over to the authorities—liable for criminal prosecution. By the same token, American citizens married to undocumented immigrants could be jailed for failing to turn in their spouses.

The legislation, rapidly approved by the House, is clearly aimed at appealing to the anti-immigrant and racist sentiments of the Republican Party’s extreme right-wing base. Separate legislation is being drawn up by the Senate, which is expected to better reflect the demands of corporate America and particularly agribusiness, which are opposed to any measures that would deprive them of the ability to exploit low-wage immigrant labor. President Bush, who praised the House measure, has also vowed not to sign any legislation that does not include a “guest worker” provision. This revival of the old “bracero” program of the World War II era would create a legally sanctioned class of super-exploited workers without any rights and subject to deportation after three years.

The killing of Guillermo Martinez Rodriguez is widely seen in Mexico as emblematic of Washington’s drive to criminalize immigrants, lumping them together with terrorism as a supposed threat to national security. In the wake of the killing, US authorities have sought to justify the Border Agent’s action, while refusing to answer any specific questions on the grounds that an investigation is in progress. Thus, the Border Patrol released a report claiming that the number of rock-throwing incidents in the San Diego area had risen to 218 last year, as compared to 112 in 2004. Curiously, however, the agency was unable to provide the media any figures on the number of migrants who had been shot during the same period.

US authorities also sought to demonize Martinez, claiming that he was a professional immigrant smuggler—known as coyotes or polleros. The charge was vigorously denied by his family, who pointed out that the youth lived in one of Tijuana’s poorest barrios and worked in construction. Mexican authorities also dismissed the accusation, pointing out that the youth had been sent back to Mexico numerous times by US authorities without ever being identified as a smuggler. Instead, they said, he had crossed by himself, apparently looking for work. On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff gave a press conference in San Ysidro, California, near the site of the shooting in which he essentially defended the killing. “This is the kind of thing that occurs when people try to illegally cross the border,” he said. “There is zero tolerance for violence along the border.”

This “zero tolerance” declaration appeared to endorse the Border Patrol answering rocks with bullets, using lethal force under conditions in which the lives of agents are in no imminent danger—a departure for the agency’s written policy. Moreover, the US and Mexico signed a bilateral agreement in 2001 that called for the Border Patrol to use non-lethal weapons rather than firearms in the San Diego area in order to avoid such killings.

The influential—and conservative—Mexican daily El Universal published a blistering editorial Thursday denouncing the attempts to justify the shooting, calling them a defense of what amounted to the “indirect and discretional application of the death penalty by US immigration agents.” The paper continued by demanding an end to “abusive measures pushed by retrograde elements in the US government and Congress, who say they are shocked by the migrant phenomenon, but are thirsty for cheap labor to feed their economy.

“This perverse double standard of the United States can no longer be endured and is an attack on the human rights of millions of people who look to support themselves in an honorable manner working on the other side of the border in the factories and fields, which flourish thanks to their efforts. It would be very regrettable if the US covers up this kind of murder.”

Others, however, directed their critical fire at the Fox government and its subordination to the US. La Jornada editorialized: “The government of our country has been incapable of intervening in an effective manner in defense of the life, dignity and rights of Mexicans who provide this country with the third greatest source of revenue after petroleum exports and foreign investment.... The presidency of the republic has ceded to so many demands made from the north on matters of collaboration for US security, but it has abstained from adopting a firm attitude towards the abuses of which Mexicans are victims on the other side of the Rio Bravo.”

With national elections set for July, all three major parties, including Fox’s own National Action Party, or PAN—Mexican law limits presidents to a single six-year term—denounced the murder and were critical of the government’s response.

The leadership of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled the country uninterruptedly for 71 years until Fox’s election, issued a statement declaring: “The Mexican government should demand that international human rights organizations intervene to sanction the US authorities responsible for these barbaric methods that are contrary to international law.” The party added, “An infraction of immigration regulations, that arise from the search for work—which should be recognized as an essential liberty of every human being—cannot in any case authorize the execution without trial or opportunity of defense, on the very spot where it is committed.” The party characterized the Fox administration’s response to the killing as “lukewarm and spineless.”

The Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), whose candidate, former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is considered the front-runner, issued a statement calling for a united strategy to confront the “dangerous escalation of violence against Mexican immigrants.” Even the ruling PAN called the shooting “a crime in that it was not a legitimate use of force,” and called on the government to demand that US authorities place the Border Patrol agent on trial for the shooting. The respective candidates of the PAN, the PRI and the PRD are forbidden under Mexican law from publicly campaigning until later this month. When they begin, there is no doubt that denunciations of US policy and the killing on the border will be at the center of their campaigns.

While such denunciations have long been the stock-in-trade of Mexican bourgeois politicians seeking to divert the militancy of the country’s working people along nationalist lines, there is no doubt that this campaign rhetoric will be only a pale reflection of the immense popular anger building up against US policies.

[  wsws.org