Calais, France: Authorities plan assault on migrant camp

22 February 2016. A World to Win News Service. The French authorities are trying to forcibly evict migrants from a part of a camp in Calais, France, on the English Channel. The plan is to send police and bulldozers to demolish the homes and carefully constructed social fabric of about half the camp, whose total population is almost 4,000 people. The rest are to be kept in prison-camp like conditions. The assault, originally scheduled for 19 February, was postponed, although it could take place at any time. There have been demonstrations, for and against the migrants, in Calais and Paris, and some people have come from France and the UK to stand with them and help in any way they can. Among the more than 250 initial signers of a petition asking the Interior Minister to call off the planned assault were prominent figures in politics, the arts and sports, and in a later petition, professional associations of teachers, doctors and judges, as well as humanitarian organizations. (www.gisti.org, www.medicinsdumonde.org)

The following eyewitness account, written by David L. Glotzer, is part of a longer article that originally appeared on the Counterpunch.org website on 19 February.

The French Government [plans to] evict nearly one thousand asylum seekers from their homes in "The Jungle", Calais' infamous refugee camp.

Bulldozers [are expected to] to raze the southern neighbourhoods of the Jungle, where most of the camp's families reside. The southern section of the camp is also home to several of the camp's most important cultural, community and aid centres. These will also be bulldozed as part of the eviction.

On Sunday [14 February] there was a mass prayer held on the camp's main road as residents fear losing their homes and communities. Many have been in the camp for several months either attempting to enter the UK through the shipping port, or through the Eurotunnel. Some refugees have been in the camp for more than a year.

During the summer the number of people fleeing conflicts and oppression in Syria and Northern Africa ballooned sparking a rapid increase in the camp's population. When I arrived as a volunteer in December the Jungle was home to over 6,000 asylum seekers. Since then that number has declined with the most recent estimate by French authorities showing that the current population has fallen to just under 4,000, as many have left to seek asylum in Germany or to other camps around Europe. The [planned] evictions are part of the local government's plan to further reduce the size of the camp.

Among the centres to be closed down is the Ashram Kitchen which is one of a network of kitchens in the camp which serve over 5,000 meals a day to residents. The Good Chance Theatre, colloquially referred to as the "Dome", will also have to be dissembled or be torn down by the authorities. The Dome provides live music, art lessons, and a stage for refugees and visitors to perform plays. Plays performed by refugees during my stay in the camp included Shakespeare's The Tempest, various renditions of life in the camp, and a 45 minute autobiographical play written and performed by a young Afghan who was both deaf and mute.

Also located in the condemned area are three schools (including a children's school), Jungle Books (the camp's main library), a legal aid centre, a vaccination centre, one church and at least three mosques. The camp's youth centre, which provides a safe place for recreation, shelter, meals, and clothing to the over 500 young people living in the Jungle, will also be destroyed. Young men who have escaped compulsory military service – which both ISIS and the Assad regime have imposed – will be disproportionately affected by the youth centre’s closure, as many of them have come to the Jungle unaccompanied.

This planned expulsion follows a previous eviction in mid-January when the Pas de Calais Prefecture ordered the bulldozing of another section of the camp that was home to over 1,000 residents in order to forcefully move them into container housing units built during the winter. The 125 housing units were built by French authorities and are meant to house up to 1,500 refugees, but many refused to move voluntarily, likening the container village to a prison due to the fences that encircle it. The forced removal sparked riots and several fires when more than 300 residents refused to leave their homes.

In Calais there is no Red Cross or UN presence, which makes the condemned community centres vitally important to the health of the camp's residents. Because the French government does not recognize the Jungle as an "official" refugee camp, residents are forced to rely mostly on services provided by Medecins Sans Frontiers, Medecins du Monde and the volunteers that run the condemned centres.

In November the lack of services prompted a French court to rule conditions in the camp to be "inhumane", exposing residents to "degrading treatment", and ordered the provision of garbage removal, water taps, and much needed portable toilets. Even after the court's ruling such services are still substandard as many refugees don't have bins to dispose their trash, toilets fill up quickly, and there is little modern plumbing.

Sitting on the opposite side of the English Channel from Dover, it is the closest point between England and France and is home to both a ferry crossing and the Eurotunnel. As such it has become the prime destination for asylum seekers trying to reach the United Kingdom. Because of this, Calais has been the destination for people seeking asylum in the UK since 1999. This has prompted both the UK government and the French government to adopt various measures to discourage asylum seekers from coming to Calais or attempting to cross the border.

Rather than work towards processing the camp's residents for asylum, the British government began subsidizing French Authorities during the summer of 2015 in order to increase security at the border to stem the number of illegal crossings. Then in September, when the Tory government announced its plan to accept 20,000 refugees by 2020, they excluded refugees across the channel, restricting the pool of potential candidates to people from camps outside of Syria.

As a result a four-metre razor wire fence fitted with state of the art, night-vision capable cameras, was erected, and the CRS (French riot police) presence grew. The CRS is the main French authority tasked with policing the camp, but in practice the neighbourhoods police themselves as the CRS generally does not enter the camp, but pools resources at the camp's entrances and patrol the areas around the new fence. While the stated purpose of the fence is to keep refugees from the highways – which it does – and the border crossings – which it also does, it encircles large sections of the camp and allows the CRS to more easily control movement in and out of the camp.

The Jungle's main entrance lies under a highway overpass and is overseen by several CRS officers wielding military-style weapons and tear gas launchers during the day. At night the number of riot police balloons and there is usually a water cannon stationed behind the nearby chemical plant. It is also where Banksy, the world renown and anonymous street artist, spray-painted a rendition of Steve Jobs whose parents were Syrian refugees. Next to the Banksy is usually a collection of several dozen spent tear gas canisters from the previous nights.

On 17 December tear gas was launched into the women and children's section of the camp, whose populations is to be evicted, the quietest area in the Jungle. Being tear gassed is a regular occurrence in the Jungle (it happened to me on my first night in the camp) as is being beaten by police. Because the fence can be cut, the most common place for violent encounters with the CRS to occur is on the highway between 7 and 11 o’clock at night, when refugees attempt to stow away in cargo trucks. Many residents also complained about unprovoked confrontations with the CRS while leaving or entering the Jungle and along the camp’s perimeter.

Another unwelcome force in the Jungle has been the steady growth of local fascist groups and armed right-wing militias in the Calais region. The neo-Nazi group Les Calasiens en Colere has seen its Facebook following grow to more than 66,000 and members regularly gather outside of the camp at a local supporters home which sits by the southern entrance, by the neighbourhoods that are to be evicted.

I had the pleasure of walking past about three dozen members of Les Calasiens en Colere who dressed in all black uniform as they took a group photograph in front of their supporters home on 17 December, the same night the women and children's section of the camp was gassed. The members were accompanied by two police officers standing outside of a van marked CRS. Moments before this encounter I had been searched and questioned without probable cause by two CRS officers while walking around the perimeter of the camp.

Keeping an eye on the gathering with their cameras ready was a group of young activists who run the Jungle's legal aid centre – to be torn down, a duty which they perform on a nightly basis. The activists told me that the right-wing groups generally do not enter the camp. There have been instances where refugees are chased and pursued into the camp in order to prompt a confrontation with the CRS. Another tactic these groups use is to traverse the perimeter late at night making loud noises in order to draw out residents and provoke a violent response from the riot police. They also accused the police of previously beating one of their members and arresting another for videotaping the event.

The activists publish a blog called Calais Migrant Solidarity which has been active since 2009, in which they have routinely documented (with video and photographic evidence) violent confrontations with right-wing groups and the police. One such report, published 12 November 2015, claims that on the previous night plainclothes officers in an unmarked vehicle kidnapped three refugees. The operation quickly prompted a protest by the Jungle's residents which the activists claim was met by the use of a water cannon, rubber bullets, "incendiary gas pellets", concussion grenades and tear gas.

Confrontations between refugees, right-wing organizations and the CRS have also been routinely documented by members of the press. As recently as 12 February 2016, the UK's Independent reported on "one attack in which young male refugees were taken by van to a field where they were stripped naked and had their hands cuffed behind their back," where "they were then made to watch as their abductors – a group of unidentified men – beat them individually." These are claims that have been "corroborated by medical reports from international humanitarian organisations Medecins sans Frontieres and Medecins du Monde."
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Nahendra Modi's India stifles critical thinking and speech

22 February 2016. A World to Win News Service. The 12 February arrest of student union president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition based on a colonial-era law, for a speech at a demonstration deemed anti-India, has brought Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University to a standstill. Protests by students and teachers at universities across India have taken place over the last week, the largest nationwide student protests in 25 years. Public opinion has been sharply polarised around issues of patriotism, freedom of expression, stifling of critical thinking and university autonomy, provoked by the repressive response from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its supporters, who say Kumar's arrest is justified. According to a 19 February Aljazeera report, demonstrators in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai clashed with right-wing student activists. At his court appearance Kumar was attacked by a pack of lawyers, while journalists were pelted with stones.

Different and contradictory video versions of Kumar's speech have been turning up in the last few days. Kumar says that during the demonstration (a protest against the execution and unfair trial of a Kashmiri accused of attacking the Indian parliament), he was trying to break up a fight between Kashmiri students and right-wing students who are staunch supporters of Modi. His speech touched on many subjects critical of the Modi government's Hindu chauvinism (Hindutva), its use of patriotism to attack people who dissent, its cutbacks on government spending on higher education, its attacks on tribal and lower-caste people and women's rights.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir live under a brutal Indian occupation. The area has been claimed by both Pakistan and India since 1947, and an estimated 47,000 people have died in the long complex struggle for self-determination. Thousands have been disappeared by the Indian authorities. In a 1988 insurgency, Kashmiri people demanded and fought for liberation from India. Protests of stone-throwing youth are met with live ammunition, tear gas, curfews, mass arrests, torture and disappearances. On a visit to Kashmir some years ago, when author Arundhati Roy spoke about justice for Kashmiri people and an end to Indian military occupation, she was threatened with arrest for sedition (a crime that could mean life in prison). The Indian government could not politically touch the Booker prize winner without causing an uproar and the charges were later dropped.

Any Indian who considers Kashmir not part of India is considered a traitor. Kashmiri students at JNU are being profiled by the Indian police. Because Kashmir is majority Moslem, India's repression of the people there has been justified on religious grounds, sometimes with the false claim that the demand for Kashmiri freedom (azadi) is a ploy by the Islamist Pakistani government, and at other times simply stoking Hindu religious bigotry.

Academics from some of US and Britain's most prestigious universities and others around the world (Noam Chomsky, Orhan Pamuk and Judith Butler to name a few) have signed a statement of solidarity with Kumar, denouncing his unlawful arrest and decrying the repression and bullying of the Modi government and its current stepped-up campaign against dissent. (See sanhati.org for a list of signers).

Taking place in the context of this overall repressive and Hindutva climate, the January suicide of Rohith Vemula was heartbreaking and shocking to many people. Vemula was a brilliant student who happened to be born a Dalit (once called "Untouchables") and whose interests ranged from helping the poor to protecting the environment and using science to change the world. He was inspired by astronomer Carl Sagan. Working towards a doctor's degree, he and four other students were accused of fighting with pro-Modi students in July 2015. Without any semblance of due process, their scholarships were cut and they were banned from public spaces on the campus, including their dormitory. After a hunger strike and a long, futile struggle to overturn the university ruling, Vemula committed suicide. He left a long, scorching letter of indictment of the society he grew up in, and its vicious caste structure. The following is an excerpt: "The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust. In every field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living." (For an informative article on Rohith Vemula and the full text of his letter see "The Clarity of a Suicide Note," 25 January, thehindu.com)

The following article by Dr Deborah Sutton, a history professor of Lancaster University, UK, is reprinted from theconversation.com.

On the night of 12 February, Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the students union of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, one of India’s foremost universities, was arrested on charges of sedition. In the words of cabinet minister Smriti Irani, he had insulted the divine "Mother India".

Protests and sit-ins by angry students and staff have been organised on the campus and in the city. On 14 February, thousands of students, alumni and members of the public formed a human chain on campus in a demonstration of solidarity with Kumar.

The crisis is an orchestrated attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to cultivate resentment and suspicion of the university as harbouring and encouraging "anti-national" forces. A social media campaign – #shutJNU – has proliferated. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is charged with being an enemy of the nation and of the taxpayer.

"Anti-JNU" protesters who assembled outside of the university gates and who attacked academics, students and journalists at Kumar’s court hearing were organised by associations affiliated with the BJP: the Sangh Parivar, a family of religious and political organisations committed to a robustly, and exclusively, Hindu version of India – "Hindutva".

The case against Kumar is slight. His arrest followed his attendance of a meeting on the JNU campus held the day before to condemn the execution in 2013 of Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri separatist accused of involvement in an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. Kumar remains incarcerated and has been remanded in judicial custody until 2 March.

Critics of the government have pointedly questioned the credentials of a democracy that employs legislation inherited from the colonial era to lock up a student leader for attending a meeting at which “anti-Indian” slogans may have been shouted.

JNU labelled a "hub of treason"

Beyond the fragile charges levelled against Kumar, a more diffuse accusation that JNU as an institution is "anti-Indian" has been set out by politicians and anonymous activists. On 16 February, the online library catalogue of the university was hacked to display the slogan: "Dear Traitors in JNU …"

The accusation that JNU is, in the words of MP Maheish Girrias, a "hub of treason" is rather dampened by the number of civil servants in India, not to mention members of the current BJP government, who are JNU alumni.

Optimists maintain that the BJP has bitten off considerably more than it can chew in attacking an institution like JNU – an institution that employs many of India's foremost researchers and intellectuals and that has alumni and research affiliations across the world.
Yet, the ongoing maelstrom of violence in Delhi highlights that JNU's prestige as a public institution cannot protect it from the antagonism of the current government towards universities.

History of student protest

The current disturbances remind many of the dark days of the "Emergency", when prime minister Indira Gandhi suspended democratic government for two years between 1975 and 1977 and unleashed widespread repression and violence.

Universities across the country were centres of organised resistance and large numbers of students were arrested and incarcerated. The Jana Sangh, the political party from which the BJP emerged in 1980, was one of the many political organisations that resisted the authoritarian strictures of this period and indeed subsequently benefited from the political allegiances formed while opposing it.

By invoking the protection of "Mother India" in its suppression of free speech at Indian universities, the BJP government has chosen a very large target to hide behind.

During the freedom struggle in India, the figure of Mother India embodied the nation and in turn women (of the right kind) were invited to embody a national ideal. Few political parties have not mobilised her; however, her blend of Hindu divinity, nation and chaste morality has made her a particular favourite of Hindu right-wing politicians who revel in reacting to perceived slights to her honour.

Shifting the debate

The JNU crisis has a more immediate context. A month before Kumar's arrest, on 16 January, Rohith Vemula, a dalit student, committed suicide after being suspended from Hyderabad University. Vemula's death provoked weeks of public discussion and protest about the continuation of caste oppression in India.

Kumar's arrest and the organisation of "anti-JNU" demonstrations in Delhi are counter-reactions by the BJP and by Hindu organisations whose politics rest upon the assertion, and violent protection, of a conservative social morality. The aggressive identification of an enemy within the nation, and specifically within universities, has displaced the demands for social change provoked by Vemula's death.

Students have long been active participants, and leaders, of activism in India, championing the causes of social justice and equality. For decades, and long before the current government came to power, university students have been at the forefront of movements against gender violence, caste oppression, the displacement and impoverishment of rural communities.

From the point of view of any government, JNU is a font of thought and debate and, potentially, an irritant. Long may it continue.

Erneute Isolationshaft für Rainer - nach Brandlegung in Forensik / Nordrhein-Westfalen

01.02.16

„[....] Für mich besteht keine andere Wahl als Krieg gegen den Staat und für die Freiheit […] ich habe den Fluchtversuch gemacht und das war ein Anfang. Jetzt mach ich anders Krieg!“
(Rainer in einem Brief im September 2015)

Rainer Loehnert ist eingesperrt in der forensischen Psychiatrie (Maßregelvollzug) Bedburg-Hau (Nordrhein-Westfalen) und beginnt auch dieses Jahr mit einem feurigen Zeichen seines ungebrochenen Widerstands gegen das (Klinik-)System! Er sitzt jetzt seit Anfang Januar erneut in Isolationshaft, im „Bunker“, d.h. 24 Stunden abgesondert und hat nur Stift, Papier und etwas zu lesen bei sich.


* * * * * *
Ein kurzer Überblick der letzten Monate: Nach seinem Fluchtversuch im Januar 2015(¹) - mittels einer Verbandsschere „bedrohte“ Rainer einen LKW- Fahrer auf dem Campus der Forensik und versuchte so zu entkommen - und der anschließenden langen Isolationshaft, wurde Rainer auf die sogenannte „gesicherte Eingangs-Station“ verlegt. Hier sieht er sich mit ständigen Provokationen, Bedrohungen und Übergriffen durch andere inhaftierte Faschos konfrontiert. Diese Konflikte scheinen dem sogenannten Pflege- und Ärztepersonal ganz nützlich zu sein. Rainer schreibt, dass die Pfleger nichts machen würden, bzw. das Geschehen ignorieren oder ihm raten, „sich in der Zelle aufzuhalten.“ Rainer wurde in den letzten Monaten mehrmals in seiner Zelle vom Rest der Station isoliert, meistens nach Auseinandersetzungen mit einem dieser Faschos. Auch wurde seine Zelle nach „gefährlichen“ Gegenständen gerazzt. Es findet somit auch im Maßregelvollzug eine direkte oder indirekte Zusammenarbeit von Nazis und staatlichen Personen/Institutionen statt.
Dies erinnert ebenfalls stark daran, wenn in Knästen auch Gefangene als „Werkzeug“ zur Zermürbung von unliebsamen, rebellischen und ungehorsamen Gefangenen benutzt werden. Und selbst wenn nicht bewusst herbeigeführt so nutzt die „Klinik“ diese Konflikte zumindest aus, um ihre Macht zu demonstrieren und ihre sadistisch-autoritäre und menschenverachtende „Behandlung“ an Rainer weiter zu praktizieren, bzw. Bestrafung und Psycho-Terror gegen ihn auszubauen.

* * * * * *
Während seiner gesamten Inhaftierung, seit seinem 25. Lebensjahr, wurde vor allem Rainers antifaschistische und antiautoritäre Haltung, Aktionen und Widerstandshandlungen immer wieder pathologisiert, als krankhaft und wahnhaft verklärt. Unwürdige Würmer, genannt Gutachter und Psychologen/Psychiater konstruieren und prognostizieren so regelmäßig seine „Krankheit“ und „Gefährlichkeit“ für die Gesellschaft. Sie versuchen seit inzwischen über 29 Jahren (!) ihn seelisch, körperlich und psychisch zu brechen: mit Medikamenten und Therapien, Isolation und Postzensur, Zellenrazzien und Fixierung, Begutachtungen und Gerichtsprozessen. Doch trotz und wegen dieser ganzen menschlichen Schweinereien - im Auftrag von „Sicherheit“, Wohlstand, „Gesundheit“, Gesetzen und Normen, also der Logik einer funktionierenden Normalität in der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft - wirft Rainer seine Ideen und sein Leben immer wieder in den Kampf. Sie haben seinen Drang nach Freiheit, seine antiautoritären und herrschaftsfeindlichen Ideen nicht brechen können. Der Terror der Pfleger, Ärzte, Therapeuten, Gutachter, Richter und anderen Gefangenen wurde diesmal mit einem größerem Feuer auf der „gesicherte Eingangs-Station“ beantwortet!

Eine Entlassung oder Vollzugslockerung scheint weiterhin nicht in Sicht, so wurde im August 2015 erneut richterlich (Landgericht Kleve) beschlossen, dass „selbst eine lebenslange [geschlossene] Unterbringung verhältnismäßig“ sei. Rainers Tortur im demokratisch-deutschen Maßregelvollzug begann mit einer Körperverletzung, die fast 30 Jahre zurückliegt und mittels einer „festgestellten Schuld-Unfähigkeit und negativen Gefährlichkeitsprognose nach § 63 StGB“ zu einer Einweisung in die geschlossene Psychiatrie führte. Mit der Folge einer inoffiziellen, scheinbar endlosen „Sicherungsverwahrung“ und Dauerüberdosierung von Psychopharmaka.

* * * * * *
Wir können und wollen nicht taten- und sprachlos diesen täglichen Entwürdigungen in einem der niederträchtigsten Orte und „Erfindungen“ der Zivilisation gegenüber sein. Tränen der Wut und der Verzweiflung begleiten uns angesichts der systematischen Beraubung von Freiheit und Würde. Hier geht es nicht nur um physische oder psychische Bestrafung. Hier werden Menschen mit ihren Gedanken, Gefühlen und Bedürfnissen als Geiseln der modernen, „ethischen“ klinischen Einrichtungen, verschiedener (sozial- und psycho-)Wissenschaften und der Pharmaindustrie gehalten, bearbeitet, verstümmelt und zerstört.

Rainer versucht viel in Kontakt mit (kämpfenden) Menschen innerhalb und außerhalb der Knäste weltweit zu kommen. Er bezieht sowohl aktuelle (anarchistische) Anti-Knast-Kämpfe v.a. in Europa, sowie anarchistische Zeitungsprojekte aber auch „Klassiker“ der anarchistischen Theorien und Praxen in seine Überlegungen und Beobachtungen mit ein. Da er jedoch kaum noch regelmäßige Kontakte hat, möchten wir dazu ermutigen ihm zu schreiben, ihm Pakete zu schicken (muss er vorher anmelden), ihn zu besuchen und/oder ihm Solidarität in Wort oder Tat zukommen zu lassen. Er ist dankbar für jede Geste der Solidarität, jeden Brief: „[…] Aber ich hab gute Leute wie Dich, … und ... und die anderen Anarchisten [...] und jeder macht was gegen Staat Herrschaft und Knast und das hat mich auch raus geholt aus dem Sumpf der 28 Jahre […]“ (Rainer im Herbst 2015) Vergessen wir nicht die Menschen wie Rainer. Wir können uns gegenseitig Durchhaltekraft und Energie geben!

Seite an Seite mit den unbeugsamen Menschen, die sich im Krieg gegen ihre Unterdrücker und jegliche Herrschaft befinden!

Nieder mit allem was Mensch, Tier und Natur kontrolliert, einsperrt und tötet!

Lang lebe die Verrücktheit nach Freiheit!



- Seine Anschrift:

Rainer Loehnert
Bahnstraße 6
47551 Bedburg-Hau

- mensch kann ihn auch anrufen:
02821/815201, Fax: 02821/815208
- Telefonzeiten:
MO-SO: 7 - 7.30 Uhr, 8 - 11.30 Uhr, 12 - 13 Uhr, 14 - 18 Uhr, 18.30 - 20.30 Uhr.

- Besuchszeiten:
MO- FR: 14 - 17 Uhr; SA, SO, Feiertage: 10 - 12 Uhr, 14 - 16 Uhr
(¹) - Rainers Fluchtversuch 2015
- Klinik in Bedburg-Hau

Sicherungsverwahrung auch über 10 Jahre! EGMR hat geurteilt.

01.02.16

Raus aus dem Knast!
Seit der EGMR (Europäischer Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte) 2009 entschieden hat, dass die BRD die Menschenrechtskonvention durch ihre Gesetzesänderung von 1998, damals wurde rückwirkend die Maximaldauer der (ersten) Unterbringung in der Sicherungsverwahrung von 10 Jahre auf "Lebenslänglich" ausgeweitet, verletze) setzten viele Betroffene, die dennoch weiter in Haft gehalten werden, ihre Hoffnungen auf weitere Urteile aus Strasbourg - und wurden jetzt enttäuscht.


Die Rechtslage

Durch ein Piloturteil des EGMR (http://www.freedom-for-thomas.de/thomas/texte/inpol/oS1yFmwNM0.shtml) von 2009 stand fest, dass die rückwirkende Verlängerung, wie auch die rückwirkende bzw. nachträgliche Anordnung der Sicherungsverwahrung gegen Artikel 5 und Artikel 7 der EMRK (Europäische Konvention zum Schutze der Menschenrechte) verstieß. In der Folge wurden Dutzende Betroffene, nach teils jahrzehntelanger Haft, auf freien Fuß gesetzt. Die Rückfallhäufigkeit dieser Personen, wiewohl allesamt als exorbitant "gefährlich" klassifiziert, hielt sich in sehr engen Grenzen, (vgl. http://community.beck.de/gruppen/forum/sicherungsverwahrung-und-r-ckfall). Im Jahr 2011 urteilte das Bundesverfassungsgericht, dass trotz der Entscheidung des EGMR, "Alt-Fälle" (also jene die vor 1998 ihre Delikte begangen hatten) in Verwahrung gehalten werden dürften, wenn diese eine psychische Störung aufweisen und auf Grund dieser Störung hoch gefährlich einzustufen seien (vgl. https://freedomforthomas.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/sicherungsverwahrung-verboten/).

Die Gesetzesreformen von 2013

Vor zwei Jahren traten dann umfängliche Reformpakete im Bund und den Ländern in Kraft, in Folge derer die Haftsituation der Sicherungsverwahrten verbessert werden sollten, hierzu vgl. https://linksunten.indymedia.org/de/node/68014. Die Zellen wurden ein wenig vergrößert, ein paar TherapeutInnen mehr eingestellt um "Therapie" anzubieten, aber letztlich wurden die Verwahrten weiter verwahrt - auch über die 10 Jahre hinaus. Die Untergebrachten in Freiburg bekamen zudem landesweit den schäbigsten Vollzug zu spüren (auf meinem Blog berichte ich seit Sommer 2013 ausführlich darüber).

Das Urteil vom 07.01.2016

Anfang Januar dieses Jahres urteilte nun der EGMR auf Beschwerde eines in Niedersachsen inhaftierten, 72 jährigen Langzeitinsassen, dass die rückwirkende Verlängerung seiner Sicherungsverwahrung kein Verstoß gegen Artikel 7 oder Artikel 5 EMRK darstelle (http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-159782). In dem entschiedenen Fall (Application no. 23279/14) kamen Sachverständige zu der Einschätzung, von dem Betroffenen seien, zumal unter Einfluss von Alkohol, schwere Sexualtaten zu erwarten.

Immerhin seit dem 9.10.1985 befindet der Kläger sich in Haft.

Nach Ansicht des EGMR liege schon deshalb keine Verletzung des Artikel 5 EMRK vor (dieser gestattet die Freiheitsentziehung nur unter eng begrenzten Voraussetzungen), weil bei ihm ein "unsound mind" diagnostiziert worden sei, d.h. eine "psychische Störung".

Aber es liege auch keine Verletzung des Artikel 7 EMRK vor (dieser verbietet die rückwirkende Erhöhung von Strafen), denn nach Ansicht des EGMR liege in der Sicherungsverwahrung, angesichts der Reformen von 2013 keine Strafe mehr (vgl. Urteil des EGMR, a.a.O. Rz. 182).

Folglich, da es sich um keine Strafe handele, liege in der rückwirkenden Verlängerung, auch keine Verletzung des Artikel 7 EMRK.

Die Folgen

Mit dieser, aus Sicht der Betroffenen, skandalösen Entscheidung, wird nun auch europarechtlich die dauerhafte, lebenslange, bis zum Tode dauernde Inhaftierung auf bloßen Verdacht hin, abgesegnet.

Sicherungsverwahrung, das kann nicht oft genug wiederholt werden, ist eine Maßregel, die die Nationalsozialisten (mit Gesetz vom 24.11.1933) einführten, welche das Oberste Gericht der DDR mit Urteil vom 23.12.1952 als "inhaltlich faschistisch" für das Gebiet der DDR verwarf. Bedenken, welche in der BRD Gerichte zu keinem Zeitpunkt hatten.

Menschen werden hier auf Basis zweifelhafter Gutachten und Prognosen weggesperrt; die Haftbedingungen sind partiell etwas komfortabler als in der Strafhaft, letztlich werden die Verwahrten aber in Gefängnissen untergebracht, von Wärtern des Strafvollzuges bewacht, von Juristen des Strafvollzugs beurteilt, von Psychologen des Strafvollzugs "therapiert".

Die bloße Prognose, jemand könne wieder straffällig werden (im vorliegenden Fall sitzt der Kläger schon seit 1985 in Haft) zu treffen, nach jahrzehntelanger Unterbringung hinter Gittern, das ist nicht weit entfernt von bloßer Kaffeesatzleserei.

Und so werden auch weiterhin, nunmehr aus Strasbourg abgesegnet, Menschen hoffnungslos, bis zum Tode verwahrt werden. Angesichts dieser Praxis werden vielleicht in absehbarer Zeit Betroffene, wie vor ihnen ein Insasse in Belgien, staatlich assistierte Suizidbeihilfe einfordern, denn Menschen, bar jeglicher Hoffnung wegzuschließen, und in der Praxis eröffnen auch die "Therapiebemühungen" wenig Chancen, im Gegenteil: nicht wenige Verwahrte bekommen nach Jahren der Therapie eröffnet, sie seien letztlich "hoffnungslose Fälle", diese Menschen also wegzuschließen, sie auf den Tod warten zu lassen, das ist faktisch eine Todesstrafe auf Raten. Da wäre es nur konsequent, den Betroffenen ein würdiges und selbstbestimmtes Sterben zu ermöglichen.


Thomas Meyer-Falk, c/o JVA (SV)
Hermann-Herder-Str. 8
79104 Freiburg
https://freedomforthomas.wordpress.com

Zehntausende Opfer des Verschwindenlassens: Versagen der Behörden verschärft Menschenrechtskrise in Mexiko

Der Fall der 43 Studenten, die im September 2014 verschwunden sind, ist das bekannteste Beispiel für das tausendfache Verschwindenlassen von Menschen in Mexiko. Ein neuer Amnesty-Bericht zeigt das ganze Ausmaß der Unfähigkeit der mexikanischen Behörden, das Schicksal der vielen Opfer aufzuklären. Polizei und Staatsanwaltschaft ermitteln oft nur mangelhaft – auch aus Angst vor den Drogenkartellen. Die deutsche Bundesregierung ist auch gefragt, Verbesserungen der Menschenrechtslage von den mexikanischen Behörden einzufordern

BERLIN, 14.01.2016 –Mexiko erlebt eine der schwersten Menschenrechtskrisen seit Jahren. Zehntausende Menschen sind Opfer des Verschwindenlassens geworden - und die Behörden unternehmen fast nichts, um diese Verbrechen aufzuklären. Das geht aus dem neuen Amnesty-Bericht „Treated With Indolence: The State‘s Response To Disappearances In Mexico“ hervor. „Das bis heute nicht aufgeklärte Verschwinden der 43 Studenten im September 2014 ist nur einer von vielen anderen Fällen, die das komplette Versagen der mexikanischen Regierung zeigen“, sagt Maja Liebing, Mexiko-Expertin bei Amnesty International in Deutschland.

„Laut amtlichen Zahlen ist derzeit der Verbleib von rund 27.000 Menschen in Mexiko unbekannt. Viele von ihnen sind Opfer des Verschwindenlassens. Genaue Statistiken, wer für das Verschwindenlassen verantwortlich ist, ob Drogenkartelle, Polizisten oder Militärs, gibt es jedoch nicht. Tatsächlich verschwinden in Mexiko seit Jahren so viele Menschen, dass es fast schon als Teil des Alltags betrachtet wird“, so Liebing. Allein im nördlichen Bundesstaat Chihuahua sind seit 2007 fast 1.700 Menschen verschwunden. Oft wurden die vermisst gemeldeten Personen zuletzt gesehen, als Polizisten oder Militärangehörige sie festnahmen. Die Behörden weisen jeden Vorwurf der Beteiligung zurück.

Der Amnesty-Bericht beweist, dass die mexikanischen Behörden in den meisten Fällen zum Beispiel darauf verzichtet haben, Telefon-, Bank- und Finanzdaten der Opfer und Tatverdächtigen zu überprüfen. Standortinformationen von Handys und Aufnahmen von Überwachungskameras an den vermutlichen Tatorten wurden nicht berücksichtigt. Zum Teil trauen sich die Behörden nicht, angemessen zu ermitteln oder sie arbeiten mit kriminellen Banden zusammen. Die Polizei stellt die Vermissten auch oft einfach als Mitglieder eines Drogenkartells dar, die Opfer von Revierkämpfen geworden seien. „Dieses skrupellose Verhalten der mexikanischen Behörden zeigt, dass sie überhaupt kein Interesse daran haben, den Opfern und deren Angehörigen zu helfen“, so Liebing.

„Amnesty International fordert die mexikanische Regierung auf, entschlossener gegen das Verschwindenlassen vorzugehen. Polizei und Staatsanwaltschaft müssen schneller, gründlicher und unabhängig ermitteln. Die Familienangehörigen müssen an diesen Ermittlungen beteiligt und für das Verschwindenlassen ihrer Angehörigen angemessen entschädigt werden“, sagt Liebing.

Liebing fordert die Bundesregierung dazu auf, von der mexikanischen Regierung konkrete Verbesserungen der Menschenrechtslage zu verlangen. „Das Thema Menschenrechte sollte ein zwingendes Kriterium bei den Verhandlungen über das deutsch-mexikanische Sicherheitsabkommen über die Zusammenarbeit im polizeilichen Bereich sein. Die Bundesregierung darf sich bei der Bewertung der Menschenrechtslage in Mexiko nicht auf die verharmlosenden Aussagen der mexikanischen Regierung verlassen. Vielmehr muss sie die Expertise der Zivilgesellschaft und insbesondere der unabhängigen Expertengruppe der Interamerikanischen Menschenrechtskommission einbeziehen, die das Verschwindenlassen der 43 Studenten in Guerrero untersucht.“

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Regulators Ignore Demands of the People of Porter Ranch and Those Fighting to Stop Environmental Catastrophe

February 1, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

This disaster has the fingerprints of the entire system all over it. It shows again that this system is incapable of protecting human health and life and the environment, because it’s not set up and structured to do this but instead is based on private interests and control, profitability, and competition.
(Orpheus Reed, “Porter Ranch Gas Disaster and the Poisonous Lies of the System,” January 18, 2016, at revcom.us)

More than 150 people, nearly all from Porter Ranch, came to hear and protest what they already knew was going to be a kick in the teeth to their number one demand: that the entire Aliso Canyon storage fields be shut down. AP photo

The last of three public hearings held by the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) took place Saturday, January 23, at a Hilton Hotel 10 miles from Porter Ranch—the well-to-do community located just below Southern California Gas Company’s (SOCAL) Aliso Canyon gas storage fields in LA’s San Fernando Valley. For the past several months, massive amounts of natural gas have been spewing into the air from a broken gas well.
More than 150 people, nearly all from Porter Ranch, came to hear and protest what they already knew was going to be a kick in the teeth to their number one demand: that the entire Aliso Canyon storage fields be shut down.
Before the meeting, dozens of supporters had stood outside the Hilton with signs, shouting “Shut. It. Down. Now.” But the “abatement order” that had already been agreed to by SOCAL, and was going to be approved at the end of the “hearing,” only calls for shutting down the one well that is leaking, leaving the other 115 wells in the Aliso Canyon field operating. Many of these wells are over 60 years old, corroded, and used in a very risky way by SOCAL gas. When the rest of the wells were inspected after the leak was made public, 15 other wells were found leaking smaller amounts of methane.

This system and those who rule over it are not capable of carrying out economic development to meet the needs of the people now, while balancing that with the needs of future generations and requirements of safeguarding the environment. They care nothing for the rich diversity of the earth and its species, for the treasures this contains, except when and where they can turn this into profit for themselves... These people are not fit to be the caretakers of the earth.

Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:29

The mood at the meeting was serious, tense, and emotional. Many were holding identical signs to Shut It Down Now, repeatedly raising them when people expressed their anger. One woman came with her son and held her hand-made sign everywhere she went for the next six hours: “Stop the Lies, Lies, Lies.” The stories people told us, and the panel of five administrative law judges, were very disturbing.
While the official story is that the leak, the largest natural gas leak in history, began on October 23, people told us of symptoms they had had for months earlier, but had no idea where they were coming from, including headaches, nose bleeds, shortage of breath, vomiting, and fatigue. A woman who has lived there for 49 years said: “We actually had symptoms first; we didn’t know what was causing them; we didn’t make the connection because we hadn’t heard anything about it. I was really concerned with my dad, because of what was going on with his chest, and his heart. I had unusual nose bleeds; and we were all fatigued. There were so many things, but we couldn’t connect the dots until after we found out there was a problem.”
A man from South Asia told the panel, as though describing the cautionary “canary in the coal mine,” about the 40 to 50 hummingbirds in his back yard and finding two or three a day dead on the ground until there were no more: “We have not lived in the house in six weeks. All I’m asking is that something has to be done, that we do not go through this again. We are literally being gassed to death. We would like to breathe air that we cannot smell. That is not too much to ask, is it?”
SOCAL has been assuring everyone that there won’t be any long-term effects from inhaling methane. But there is cancer-causing benzene being released as well. And the long-term effects are not known for mercaptan, the chemical added to make the methane easier to detect, which is what is making people so ill. More than 3,000 families have relocated from Porter Ranch to hotels or temporary houses, and another 2,000 are on the waiting list, more than 60 percent of the entire community.

This Revolution special issue focuses on the environmental emergency that now faces humanity and Earth’s ecosystems. In this issue we show:

• the dimensions of the emergency...
• the source of its causes in the capitalist system, and the impossibility of that system solving this crisis...
• a way out and way forward for humanity—a revolutionary society in which we could actually live as custodians of nature, rather than as its plunderers.

Read online....

Also available in brochure format (downloadable PDF)

A 12-year-old boy who is still going to school in Porter Ranch told us: “At times it stinks, like rotten eggs. I get headaches, and I start to sneeze a lot. And when I go to school I can still smell it. And during P.E. I can’t really do as well as usual. My friends at school talk about it; we say they should shut it down. But I heard that the nozzle; they didn’t fix it back then, so they can’t shut it down.”
We were interrupted by his mother, who had come out soon after people began telling their stories to the panel: “I had to come outside, I was getting very emotional. It’s such a scary thing for a mom; and a human. And I’m just shocked that more people aren’t aware of it; it’s going on all over the country and the world, and that’s just terrifying.” She described someone who was found passed out in their garage, lying on the floor. After she relocated to Santa Clarita, the family started feeling better right away. But she still, nervously, drops her son back at his school in Porter Ranch every morning; she has already paid for the school and can’t get her money back.
Copies of the SCAQMD abatement order were there for people at the hearing. Two things stand out about the order: First, that SCAQMD’s answer to the demand of the people of Porter Ranch to shut down the gas field was No! The other is that what they are requiring of SoCal Gas is basically that they monitor the emissions around the facility, check the wells to be sure they aren’t leaking, and look into the long-range impact of breathing the gas! Why is it that only after 60 years in which the wells have been in operation, and decades since they have been breaking down, does it takes a monumental disaster to decide they need to be monitored?
When the panel voted to approve their abatement order, the audience booed the decision. “Shame on you,” one man shouted. A woman yelled, “Move them into the area so they can breathe the air.” And another ran from the room in tears: “I don’t want to get cancer and die.”

* * *

The Aliso Canyon storage fields are an emergency threat to humans. But that’s not how the capitalist system calculates needs and priorities. Aliso Canyon is the largest natural gas storage facility in the western U.S. Oil and gas, fossil fuels that are a huge factor in the environmental emergency and the climate change crisis, are tremendously profitable. Control of the world’s supply and distribution of oil and gas are critical to gaining advantage in the rivalries between global powers, and what the U.S. rulers of this system call “energy self-sufficiency” gives them great advantage. And so the damning testimony at the meeting from people whose lives have been made hellish by the leaks, and who live in the shadow of even greater disaster, was overruled by the needs of the system.

Download PDF

The whole day people’s sense of betrayal was palpable; a feeling of being lied to, and being powerless in the face of much larger forces. We found a lot of openness to a different perspective. More than half left with a copy of the Revolution article on Porter Ranch; and those we spoke with were introduced to and many got copies of Revolution #420, announcing Bob Avakian’s new presentation. A few we spoke with were already familiar with the newspaper, and with BA.
But this required challenging people to step back from a narrow framework, and an individualistic perspective; wanting to believe this was an aberration, a local problem, with a solution within their reach as individuals, or a single community; as opposed to a crisis affecting the planet, and humanity, connected with the other horrors this system is bringing down on the majority of humanity, which will take an actual communist revolution to tackle. A few of those we spoke with, who had already been putting this disaster in the context of the global environmental emergency, and a sense that capitalism was at the root of it, were surprised that there was such a movement, with a leader with such a developed analysis of the problem and the solution, and were open to learning more about it.

Seven Arrested at Seneca Lake in Solidarity with the People of Porter Ranch

Protesters from the “We Are Seneca Lake” movement in upstate New York, in solidarity with the people of Porter Ranch 2,600 miles away. Photo: wearesenecalake.com

Seven protesters, part of the We Are Seneca Lake movement in upstate New York, were arrested in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience on January 18, the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s birthday, in solidarity with the people of Porter Ranch, 2,600 miles away. The protesters, coming from six different counties, held a banner across the roadway leading to old salt mines on the banks of Seneca Lake—one of New York’s five Finger Lakes—“SENECA LAKE TO PORTER RANCH—GAS STORAGE COURTS DISASTER—#SHUT IT ALL DOWN.”
Two years ago the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved an expansion project by the Crestwood Midstream company to turn the salt mines next to Seneca Lake into the largest storage facility for methane and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) in the Northeast, and one of the largest in the country. The We Are Seneca Lake movement was formed at that time to prevent this expansion and the potential for catastrophic accidents such as the one now taking place in Porter Ranch, as well as the risk of salinization of Seneca Lake, which is the source of water for 100,000 people.
The founder of We Are Seneca Lake—Sandra Steingraber, a Distinguished Scholar in Residence in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Ithaca College—delivered a message to the people of Porter Ranch during the protest—“Seneca Lake Stands with Porter Ranch: Shut It All Down!”—which said in part:

In the last 16 months, there have been 460 arrests on this strip of pavement for civil disobedience in objection to the expansion of underground gas storage in old salt mines on the banks of our beautiful lake. Some of us have gone to jail.
Today, we affirm our network of mutuality with people who live three time zones away in a California community called Porter Ranch....
We know it’s the biggest gas leak in U.S. history. We know it’s an official state of emergency. We know there is no end in sight and there is no clear way to fix it....
Seneca Lake and Porter Ranch are tied in a single garment of destiny. What affects you directly today could affect us directly tomorrow. We look at the myriad injustices that you are now compelled to endure, and we see our own future.... We Are Seneca Lake and we join you in saying, “Shut it all down!”

(Read the entire statement here.)

Georgia Cop Indicted for Murder of Anthony Hill

From a member of the Atlanta Revolution Club:

February 1, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

Anthony Hill

On January 21, the cop who killed Anthony Hill last March in DeKalb County outside Atlanta was indicted for murder. First, some background: In March of last year, the Atlanta Revolution Club wrote to Revolution newspaper to report on the murder of Anthony Hill by DeKalb County police in a city just east of Atlanta:

On Monday, March 9, Anthony Hill, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by white DeKalb County (in the Atlanta metro area) police officer Robert Olsen. Hill, known by his friends as Tony, was met by police after a neighbor reported that he was walking around the apartment complex naked and confused. Rather than trying to help him, the pig fired two shots into Tony’s chest, leaving him on the ground naked for over an hour as friends and neighbors begged them to cover his body as the children got off their school buses. The cop claimed that Tony “lunged” at him, leading him to shoot Tony dead—however, even the DeKalb County Chief of Police had to admit that Tony was unarmed. The cop was carrying a Taser and pepper spray, but instead chose to reach for his gun and take Tony’s life. (from “DeKalb County, Georgia: Anger at Police Murder of Unarmed Anthony Hill: It’s Time to Stand Up!”)

DeKalb County protest against police killing of Anthony Hill, March 14, 2015. (Photo: Special to revcom.us)

The day after Anthony Hill’s murder, the Revolution Club went out to the apartment complex where Anthony was killed. Immediately we met dozens of youths, parents, and neighbors outraged by his murder and burning to do anything to get justice for Tony. That night, we led an impromptu march through the neighborhood, which spawned a much larger and defiant protest that weekend. More than  150 people from all walks of life gathered at the apartment complex and then took over the busy street outside the complex, shutting it down for hours. Six people, including several members of the Revolution Club, were arrested. (Read more about the protest here and the legal victory of the protesters arrested here.)
Over the past year, revolutionaries, as well as other activists, have organized protests and engaged in acts of resistance, demanding justice for Anthony Hill and the many others (more than 1,200 people in the U.S. in 2015 alone (http://killedbypolice.net/) murdered by police. Some of the actions included a powerful protest called by Stop Mass Incarceration Network in the streets of downtown Atlanta and on the Georgia State University campus with a performance by Janelle Monáe and Wondaland with families whose loved ones were murdered by police. Local Black Lives Matter activists also interrupted a speech by Hillary Clinton at the Atlanta University Center and brought Anthony Hill’s name to the fore.
In November, we again wrote to Revolution about the outrageous “recommendations” delivered by a civil grand jury regarding the murders of Anthony Hill and Kevin Davis: “The grand jury’s recommendations were: NO charges for the cop that murdered Kevin Davis, and a ‘more thorough interview’ with Anthony Hill’s killer before deciding whether or not to press charges.” (“Don’t Let Them Get Away With Murder: Georgia Grand Jury Issues Recommendations for the Cops that Killed Anthony Hill and Kevin Davis”)
Stop Mass Incarceration Network Atlanta issued a petition denouncing the grand jury’s recommendations, demanding that District Attorney Robert James indict the killer cops.
As the grand jury began its meeting in January, dozens of local activists, including Anthony Hill’s girlfriend, braved three days of cold rain setting up an encampment outside the courthouse to demand an indictment. Then on Thursday, January 21, it happened: Robert Olsen, the cop who killed Anthony Hill, was indicted on six counts, including felony murder. Olsen was arrested and released on $110,200 bond.
Following the indictment, Anthony Hill’s family’s lawyer said that “this is a day in history,” referring to the scarcity of cops indicted for shootings in Georgia (and nationally, as well). Since 2010, there have been at least 184 fatal shootings of civilians by police in Georgia. In nearly half of these cases, the person shot by police was either unarmed or shot in the back. Over a third of those killed were shot in their own home or the home of a loved one, often after a call for help. Out of those 184 killings, only one cop has been indicted (the cop shot a man in the back of the head)—however, the district attorney in the case persuaded the judge to drop the charges the next day! (http://investigations.myajc.com/overtheline/ga-police-shootings/)
Let’s be clear about the indictment of Robert Olsen: what persuaded D.A. Robert James to pursue charges against the killer cop and proclaim “I am no longer neutral. I’ve become an advocate” is not an uncovering of new facts. Anthony Hill was naked, obviously unarmed, and suffering from a mental episode (the 911 caller requested medical attention for Anthony, but instead the call was dispatched as a “suspicious” person)—those are not new facts. The fact that Olsen had a number of options other than killing Anthony Hill is not a new revelation to anyone—let alone the district attorney.
The righteous resistance that erupted immediately after Anthony’s killing coupled with protests and rebellions in cities around the country—people saying NO MORE! to this shit—refusing to let the cops murder with impunity, led to the indictment. Mass resistance is what compelled the system to charge the killer cop. And now the resistance must escalate to a higher level—that is what it is going to take to MAKE them CONVICT Anthony’s killer.
Now is the time to act to build this resistance and strengthen the movement to STOP MURDER BY POLICE nationally. I encourage everyone reading this to get in touch with the Stop Mass Incarceration Network (go to stopmassincarceration.net) and find a way to contribute all that you can. As I write this, we are preparing to travel from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Southeastern regional conference called for by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network. We invite anyone who wants justice for those whose lives have been stolen by the police to join us in demanding MURDER BY POLICE MUST STOP! Which Side Are You On?

No es una victoria para la diplomacia, sino un trato entre reaccionarios lleno de riesgos

La historia detrás del acuerdo nuclear entre Estados Unidos e Irán

31 de enero de 2016 | Periódico Revolución | revcom.us

El verano pasado, Estados Unidos y otras grandes potencias firmaron un acuerdo nuclear importante con Irán. Desde entonces, Irán ha trabajado para cumplir con sus obligaciones en virtud del acuerdo para desmantelar gran parte de su programa de enriquecimiento nuclear. La semana pasada, Irán completó dichos pasos. Como consecuencia, el sábado 16 de enero Estados Unidos y Europa comenzaron a implementar su parte del acuerdo al liberar unos $ 100 mil millones en activos iraníes congelados y levantar las sanciones paralizantes con respecto al petróleo y las finanzas (el más reciente conjunto de esas sanciones se impuso en respuesta al programa nuclear de Irán).
Mientras esto ocurría, resolvieron otros dos asuntos que en el pasado pudieron haber sido focos de tensión. A principios de semana, Irán capturó dos lanzas patrulleras de la marina estadounidense cuando habían entrado en aguas iraníes en el Golfo Pérsico. Irán puso en libertad los barcos y sus tripulaciones el día siguiente después de intensas negociaciones privadas. Luego, el sábado, mientras se implementaba el acuerdo nuclear, Estados Unidos e Irán intercambiaron prisioneros (Irán había detenido a cinco estadounidenses, Estados Unidos a siete iraníes).
La administración de Obama y muchos miembros de la clase dominante (entre ellos el New York Times) aclamaron estos acontecimientos como un triunfo de la paz y las negociaciones en lugar de la guerra y la muerte, y una situación en que ganan ambos lados, Estados Unidos e Irán, así como la región y el mundo. En su discurso del estado de la unión, Obama elogió el acuerdo con Irán como un ejemplo de un “enfoque más inteligente” de la estrategia de Estados Unidos “que utiliza todos los elementos de nuestro poder nacional”. Dijo que “en cuestiones de interés mundial, vamos a movilizar al mundo a trabajar con nosotros, y asegurarnos de que otros países cumplen su parte.... Por eso hemos construido una coalición mundial, con las sanciones y la diplomacia de principios, para evitar que Irán llegue a poseer armas nucleares. Mientras hablamos, Irán ha revertido su programa nuclear, exportado sus reservas de uranio, y el mundo ha evitado otra guerra”.
Cuatro puntos importantes para entender:

Forjar otro camino es una versión editada de un discurso de Bob Avakian, presidente del Partido Comunista Revolucionario, Estados Unidos, pronunciado ante un grupo de partidarios del Partido en 2006. Es un recurso trascendental para entender a fondo lo que realmente se trata “la guerra estadounidense contra el terror” y cómo generar una fuerza positiva en el mundo que se oponga a tanto el imperialismo occidental como la yihad islámica.

Lea el discurso completo

Los gobernantes de Irán y Estados Unidos no están actuando para garantizar la paz y la cooperación, sino que están actuando para preservar sus intereses y su papel dentro de un mundo de explotación y opresión y de la competencia de la jungla entre los intereses y potencias en contienda. En el caso de Estados Unidos, esto significa mantener su dominio del Medio Oriente.
Los gobernantes de Estados Unidos e Irán llegaron a este acuerdo para tratar de forjar maneras de lidiar con una maraña de contradicciones que enfrenta cada uno en una región que es un lío infernal para el pueblo sin ninguna buena opción para las potencias reaccionarias. Las maniobras que los gobernantes de Estados Unidos han hecho en la región han empeorado la situación para ellos.
Estas maniobras están llenas de todo tipo de riesgos y peligros potenciales, no sólo para las partes en este acuerdo, sino para toda una mezcla de potencias y fuerzas contendientes.
En parte debido a esos riesgos, este acuerdo es un elemento en los conflictos dentro de las clases dominantes de tanto Estados Unidos como Irán, y sirve para intensificar esos conflictos.
Y todo esto plantea la necesidad de que la gente desmienta las malditas tonterías, entienda la posible explosividad en esta situación, y trabaje para sacar de esta locura un mundo completamente diferente, lo que incluye aprovecharse de aberturas potenciales para la revolución que podrían producirse, inclusive de maneras impredecibles.

Los intereses de las clases dominantes

Los intereses, objetivos y grandes planes de los imperialistas no corresponden a nuestros intereses — no corresponden a los intereses de la gran mayoría de la población en Estados Unidos ni de la abrumadora mayoría de la humanidad. Hay que entender las dificultades en que se han metido los imperialistas en aras de sus intereses, y hay que responder a ellas, pero no desde su punto de vista y sus intereses sino desde el punto de vista de la gran mayoría de la humanidad y de la necesidad básica y urgente de un mundo diferente y mejor, de otro camino.

Bob Avakian, Lo BAsico 3:8

Su dominio del Oriente Medio ha sido una pieza clave en la posición del imperialismo de Estados Unidos como la dominante potencia imperialista del mundo desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Hoy los gobernantes de Estados Unidos se enfrentan a un conjunto complejo, entretejido e impredecible de desafíos, que van desde el acenso y las maniobras de potencias mundiales como Rusia y China, hasta la aparición de los yihadistas islámicos con sus propios programas reaccionarios que están en conflicto con los de Estados Unidos. Durante el régimen de George W. Bush, hubo un intento por parte de los gobernantes de Estados Unidos de aplastar estos conflictos por medio de las invasiones masivas de Afganistán e Irak, invasiones que resultaron ser un desastre para Estados Unidos. Nuevos y más virulentos grupos de Yihad reaccionaria han surgido, potencias rivales han chocado con Estados Unidos, y ha habido estrés y tensiones con los aliados como Israel y Arabia Saudita.
Dentro de todo esto, el surgimiento de la República Islámica de Irán ha planteado un gran desafío ante los gobernantes de Estados Unidos. Irán ha patrocinado, apoyado o servido de impulso para las fuerzas reaccionarias islámicas en Irak, Palestina, Líbano, Yemen y otros lugares. Tanto Irán como Rusia respaldan al régimen de Bashar al-Assad en Siria.
Estados Unidos atacó a la República Islámica de Irán con crueles “sanciones” cuyo impacto más importante ha sido el intensificado sufrimiento del pueblo iraní, con el objetivo de aislar y desestabilizar el régimen. Estas sanciones y otras medidas han tenido un impacto y creado problemas reales para el funcionamiento y la estabilidad de la clase dominante iraní.
En gran parte del Medio Oriente y más allá, Estados Unidos y su aliado Arabia Saudita están involucrados en conflictos contra Irán por medio de terceros. Al mismo tiempo hay varios lugares donde Estados Unidos e Irán tenían acuerdos para combatir a enemigos mutuos como el Estado Islámico.
Con tanto los gobernantes de Estados Unidos como los de Irán enfrentándose a enormes desafíos, sectores de las clases dominantes en cada país se han manifestado en favor del acuerdo nuclear, con la intención de llegar a una cooperación más amplia.

Los riesgos impredecibles para los gobernantes

Pero el acuerdo nuclear entre Estados Unidos e Irán plantea graves peligros para cada lado. Arabia Saudita, un aliado clave de Estados Unidos, ve el acuerdo nuclear como una gran amenaza para su posición en una región volátil y ha tomado medidas, inclusive la ejecución de un clérigo con algunos vínculos con Irán, con la intención de crear tensiones y provocar una respuesta iraní. Israel, que desempeña un papel especial como matón defensor de los intereses del imperio estadounidense considera a Irán como una amenaza importante, y las tensiones entre Estados Unidos e Israel se han intensificado desde que se hizo el trato.
Con respecto a los gobernantes de Irán, su legitimidad y credibilidad se han basado en hacerse pasar por fuertes oponentes al “Gran Satán”. Y están envueltos en conflictos con las fuerzas respaldadas por Estados Unidos en la región (incluso al mismo tiempo cooperando en cierta medida con Estados Unidos en Irak contra el Estado Islámico). Y hay sectores de la clase dominante iraní que ven peligros potencialmente fatales en estrechar los lazos con Estados Unidos
Por estas y otras razones, tanto en Estados Unidos como en Irán, hay fuerzas importantes en ambas clases dominantes (representadas en Estados Unidos en un gran medida por los republicanos, y en Irán por la Guardia Republicana y otras fuerzas islámicas de “línea dura”) en feroz oposición al acuerdo nuclear y los acontecimientos asociados con la relación entre Irán y Estados Unidos
Estos conflictos no tienen nada que ver con “la paz en lugar de la guerra” o “la diplomacia en lugar de la guerra”, por no hablar de los intereses de los pueblos de la región o del mundo. En particular, la clase dominante de Estados Unidos se pelea entre sí acerca de cómo hacer frente a los peligros para su imperio en la región sin involucrarse de tal grado que otras potencias (imperialistas) saquen ventaja en otros lugares, ni hacer de las cosas un lío tan grave que el orden dominante se desmenuce y genere nuevas y aún más impredecibles contradicciones (como ha sucedido en Irak, Libia y Siria).

Sus intereses contra los de la humanidad

Vea también: "Por qué NO debemos animar a nuestros propios gobernantes... y por qué más vale que PIERDAN sus guerras" de Larry Everest

Para ambas partes, este nuevo tratado constituye un riesgo, y no hay absolutamente ninguna garantía de que la situación vaya a mejorarse para ni Estados Unidos ni Irán, inclusivo porque desestabiliza alianzas ya existentes e intensifica otras.
No hay nada de positivo en ninguna parte de esto para la gran mayoría de la humanidad. Y en lugar de apoyar a ninguna facción de la clase dominante de Estados Unidos, incluidos los que Obama representa, hay una gran necesidad de que la gente en este país deje de identificarse con “sus propios” gobernantes y, en vez de eso, luche por un tipo de mundo totalmente diferente, libre de explotación y opresión. Acontecimientos impredecibles que surgen de este acuerdo podrían —con un movimiento revolucionario con una vanguardia comunista revolucionaria como núcleo— formar parte de las condiciones que hagan posible un intento serio de hacer una revolución.
El acuerdo nuclear entre Estados Unidos e Irán es un intento de preservar los intereses de clases dominantes reaccionarias. Pero como ya hemos comenzado a explorar aquí, y que hemos analizado en la cobertura continua de este acuerdo en www.revcom.us, es una medida cargada de problemas para ambos lados y más allá — con enormes riesgos y peligros para ellos, los que incluyen la posibilidad de reveses dramáticos que podrían abrir la puerta para el trabajo acelerado para una revolución. Preparar para aprovecharse de una oportunidad de este tipo requiere explicar y denunciar la verdadera naturaleza de este acuerdo, oponer resistencia a los crímenes de “nuestra” clase dominante, y preparar al pueblo, preparar al terreno, y preparar a la vanguardia para una revolución concreta.

Victory in Noche Diaz Case

February 1, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

Noche Diaz.
Photo: Special to revcom.us/Revolution

Noche Diaz entered Manhattan Criminal Court January 27 facing four criminal charges and several violations arising from New York City protests in August and November 2014 in response to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Noche could have been sent to Rikers Island—the huge NYC prison notorious for brutal treatment of prisoners—for up to two years if convicted.
Noche and supporters from the Revolution Club, the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, and other organizations were ready for a trial. Instead, the district attorney dropped all the criminal charges and Noche pleaded guilty to one violation.
When the judge asked him if he wished to speak before sentencing, Noche took the courtroom back to the time in 2014 when cries for justice ringing out from Ferguson shook the earth. He was surrounded by extra court officers gathered behind as he faced the judge, the prosecutors staring at him.
Noche spoke in a loud, clear, firm voice as the full courtroom got quiet: “We have seen dragged into the light a bloody epidemic of police, all over this country, carrying out murder after murder, especially of Black people, Latinos, Native Americans, and other oppressed people. Yet over this same period of time, we still see, all across the land, prosecutors and courts and grand juries refuse to even bring charges or put on trial, let alone convict, the police who carry out this murder.”
His allocution (formal statement by a defendant before a court) lasted several minutes, as people awaiting appearances—almost completely Black and Latino—were murmuring, snapping, yelling “yeah!” As Noche finished, the judge asked, somewhat incredulously, “You’re saying you did not commit a crime?” He replied, “I did not commit a crime. I committed the violation of blocking traffic!”
Applause and some laughter rang out. Although court officers jumped to tell the crowd to be quiet, there was jubilation in the air. Noche would not have to go through a trial, and he had made a defiant statement. People in the room said they had never heard anything like this before in court and felt Noche was speaking for them in calling out police terror and mass incarceration.
Outside the court later, Noche read his allocution. He spoke of others around the country and in the crowd facing trials for protests during #RiseUpOctober and said that “nothing for the oppressed has ever been won without struggle, and that struggle has always had to come up against attacks from the authorities who carry out that oppression. To advance and win anything, that repression is going to have to be met, and more, to actually win anything and put an end to it, people are going to need revolutionary leaders who bring them a real way out. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since I got connected up with Bob Avakian and the science, the strategy, and leadership for an actual revolution to bring this system down... and to replace this system with something that’s emancipatory for people.” He invited everyone to come Sunday, January 31, to the important meeting on the Six Resolutions of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
Noche was sentenced to 10 days of community service, with no criminal record. For days before this victory, supporters had been writing and calling the district attorney, demanding that the charges be dropped. Many pointed out that the NYPD cop who killed Eric Garner in 2014 has not done a minute in jail, having not even been charged, while Noche has been arrested twice in nonviolent protests against the killing of Garner and Mike Brown.

Noche and supporters outside the court. Photo: Special to revcom.us/Revolution

This outpouring from supporters—including clergy, academics and professionals as well as activists—was part of a struggle lasting 17 months. When thousands of dollars were required to bail him out after the November 2014 arrest, people ran to ATMs to quickly donate enough to keep the court from transferring him to the dangerous jail at Rikers Island. Many showed up for court appearances, signed petitions, and invited Noche to speak as part of politically defending him.
The legal battle went through some twists. As it is a defendant’s right to know what evidence the state has against him, Noche’s lawyers filed motions for discovery, seeking to expose what surveillance by the NYPD or other law enforcement had been carried out on Noche and the political movement to stop police terror. In response, the city quietly dropped some of the charges against Noche, but brought new charges, saying eight months after the fact that he had touched a cop. But they never did answer the discovery motion. Particularly after TheIntercept.com published NYPD documents in August 2015 showing surveillance of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, it is outrageous that the city, up until the day the trial was scheduled, refused to reveal this information.

January 27, 2016

Allocution to the Court, Noche Diaz:

Looking back to the time of my arrest, August 2014, something very old was giving birth to something new. Michael Brown was another unarmed Black youth gunned down by this system’s authorities, another addition to the body count in the centuries old oppression of Black people in America. But the defiant rebellion of the youth, which would catch fire across the land, ushered in new waves of resistance to this oppression not seen in far too long.
The cries for justice ringing out from a little town called Ferguson shook the earth. It was the responsibility of every person with a moral conscience and heart for justice to make sure they knew their cries were heard. And since this time, we have seen dragged into the light a bloody epidemic of police, all over this country, carrying out murder after murder, especially of Black people, Latinos, Native Americans, and other oppressed people. Yet over this same period of time, we still see, all across the land, prosecutors and courts and grand juries refuse to even bring charges or put on trial, let alone convict, the police who carry out this murder—all while people who protest these injustices face charges and are accused of all sorts of crimes.
I COMMITTED NO CRIME. What I DID do, going back to August 14, 2014, is attend a vigil for Michael Brown. I took silence to defiance when I led a march of hundreds, which became nearly 2,000, into the streets and straight to the heart of Times Square. The normal hustle and bustle which usually marks the passage of “business as usual” was punctuated when I, along with those 2,000 or so, filled the streets of Times Square and brought traffic to a halt, thus blocking traffic.
At this point the judge interjected: “Are you saying you did not commit a crime?”
Noche replied: “I did not commit a crime, I committed the violation of blocking traffic!”

[Hoppetosse] Veranstaltungsreise durch Franken (und Thüringen?)

Hallo,
ich habe eine Anfrage vom BUND aus Bayreuth bekommen für einen Vortrag mit Diskussion "Macht macht Umwelt kaputt". Ein Termin ist noch nicht abgesprochen. Da eine Kombination mit der Märztour in den Raum München - Augsburg nicht klappt, ist eher ein Extra-Zeitraum sinnvoll. Gerne würde ich dann wieder ein paar Termine kombinieren. Diese Mail ist daher eine Voranfrage in den Norden Bayerns und nach Thüringen, ob da Interesse an Veranstaltungen besteht - dann würde ich die Termine und eventuellen Terminvorschläge versuchen, in Einklang zu bringen.

Meine aktuellen Themen füge ich unten an. Weitere auf www.vortragsangebote.de.vu.
Wer hat wann Lust, dass ich mal wieder (oder erstmals) vorbeikomme?
Die Anfrage darf natürlich auch gern weitergeleitet werden.

Gruß aus der Projektwerkstatt, Jörg B.

Die Mischung macht's - erfolgreiche Strategien des Widerstandes (am Beispiel der Agrogentechnik)

Wie lassen sich politische Auseinandersetzungen gewinnen? Am Beispiel der Agrogentechnik wird das anschaulich, doch die Ton-Bilder-Schau soll Handwerkzeug für alle politischen Themen und Aktionsfelder geben. Die Story: 2004 starteten Gentechnikkonzerne und Lobbygruppen eine neue Kampagne zur Durchsetzung ihrer Profitinteressen und zur Anlage von Feldern mit manipulierten Pflanzen. Ab 2005 entwickelte sich - wie schon Mitte der 90er Jahre - eine spannende Mischung des Widerstandes: Feldbefreiungen, Feldbesetzungen, Aktionen vor Konzernzentralen und -versammlungen, Recherchen hinter den Kulissen, brisante Veröffentlichungen und viele informative Veranstaltungen. Mit Erfolg: 2011 wurden die letzten Versuchsfelder in einer spektakulären Aktion zerstört. Monsanto, BASF & Co. kündigten ihren Abgang aus Deutschland an. Seit 2012 ist Deutschland gv-Felder-frei. Da lohnt sich der Rückblick: Was macht solche Widerstandsstrategien aus? Was lässt sich daraus für andere Kampagnen und Aktionen lernen, also für den Widerstand gegen Atom oder Kohle, Tierfabriken oder übergriffige Behörden, Nazis oder Sozialabbau, Militär oder Repression. Fotos, kurze Filme und ausgewählte Anekdoten machen die Ton-Bilder-Schau zu einer rasanten Erinnerung an vergangene Protestjahre - immer verbunden mit Tipps und Thesen für eine entschlossene Protestkultur überall. Am Ende besteht die Gelegenheit zur Debatte, Entwicklung eigener Ideen und für konkrete Verabredungen.

Form der Veranstaltung: Ton-Bilder-Schau (Power-Point, Audio, Filme) oder Workshop (ohne Beamer/Leinwand)
Es kann dann ergänzend mehr folgen - z.B. ein Tagesseminar oder Workshop am Folgetag (auch als Frühstück zum Weiterdiskutieren o.ä.)!
Notwendige Technik: Beamer, Leinwand, Lautsprecher (zum Anschluss an Laptop mit kleiner Klinke, also z.B. Computer-/Aktivboxen)

Direct Action - Ideen für kreativen Protest (als Training, Ton-Bilder-Schau usw.)

Du findest, in der Welt läuft einiges verkehrt? Und fühlst Dich ohnmächtig, weil Du oft nicht weißt, wie das Bessere gelingen oder durchgesetzt werden kann? Umweltzerstörung, Menschenrechtsverletzungen in Zwangsanstalten, Diskriminierung und Ausbeutung - so vieles passiert täglich, aber kaum etwas hilft dagegen? Dann könnte dieses Direct-Action-Training (wahlweise: Workshop) helfen. Denn ganz so ohnmächtig, wie es scheint, sind wir nicht. Im Gegenteil: Es gibt viele Aktionsformen, die wir kennenlernen und üben können, um uns wirksamer wehren zu können, um lauter und deutlicher unsere Stimme zu erheben oder uns politisch einzumischen: Kommunikationsguerilla, verstecktes Theater, gezielte Blockaden oder Besetzungen, intelligente Störung von Abläufen und vieles mehr schaffen Aufmerksamkeit und bieten Platz für eigene Forderungen und Visionen. Wir werden konkrete Aktionsideen besprechen, den rechtlichen Rahmen durchleuchten und einiges ausprobieren.

Den Kopf entlasten: Kritik anti-emanzipatorischer Positionen in politischen Bewegungen

Monsanto ist schuld. Nein, die Bilderberger. Quatsch, das Finanzkapital macht alles kaputt. Hinter allem stecken zwei Bankierfamilien. Europa wird immer mehr amerikanisiert. Geht doch gar nicht, weil die BRD ohnehin von den USA besetzt ist. Oder gar nicht existiert ...
So oder ähnlich klingen viele Erklärungsmodelle für die Ursachen empfundener Missstände. Was sie gemeinsam haben: Sie vereinfachen, verkürzen komplexe Herrschaftsanalysen und spielen mit den Mitteln des Populismus. Statt Menschen zu eigenständigem Denken und kritischem Hinterfragen anzuregen, wandeln sie Ohnmacht oder Empörung in billige Zustimmung - zwecks politischer Beeinflussung, Sammeln von Anhänger_innen und Wähler_innen oder auf der Suche nach dem schnöden Mammon in Form von Spenden und Mitgliedsbeiträgen. Vor allem aber können sie gefährlich sein, wenn plumpe Feindbilder und verkürzte Ursache-Wirkungsketten zu einem Hass gegen Bevölkerungsgruppen führen, denen die Schuld für das Böse auf der Welt zugeschoben wird - der Antisemitismus ist nur ein Beispiel dafür, die Folgen sind bekannt.
Im Vortrag (bzw. Workshop) werden Prinzipien vereinfachter Welterklärungen benannt und dann Beispiele vorgestellt, über die jeweils auch kurze Debatten möglich sind. Den Abschluss bilden praktische Tipps für skeptisches Denken.

Macht macht Umwelt kaputt - über den Zusammenhang von Herrschaft und Umweltzerstörung

Herrschaft bedeutet die Möglichkeit, Abläufe und Verhältnisse so regeln zu können, dass andere die negativen Folgen erleiden müssen. Umweltzerstörung basiert regelmäßig auf diesem Prinzip: Industrie und ihre Staaten graben in armen Regionen nach Energiequellen und Rohstoffen, transportieren schiffeweise Nahrungsmittel oder Holz zu sich und kippen den Müll wieder in die Peripherien zurück. Städte nutzen das Umland für Bauflächen, Straßentrassen und Müllhalden. Die Natur zählt nichts, weil die Menschen in ihr still sind oder still gehalten werden. Wer Umwelt dauerhaft schützen will, muss daher die Machtfrage stellen. Doch was geschieht tatsächlich? Selbst Umweltver-bände setzen auf Staat, Umweltpolizei, Gesetze und Firmen, um die Welt grün zu halten. Diese Schüsse gehen nach hinten los - schon seit Jahrzehnten. Nötig ist eine Umweltschutzstrategie, die die Menschen ermächtigt, ihr Leben wieder selbst zu organisieren – ohne Hierarchien und Privilegien. Nur ein Umweltschutz von unten ist grundlegend und dauerhaft wirksam.

Mehr auf www.vortragsangebote.de.vu.
Und was es noch gibt:

Für einen spannenden Kino-/Filmabend: Film "Aufstieg und Fall einer Patentlösung"

102 (oder als Langfassung 123) spannende Minuten über die Hintergründe der aufstrebenden, profitträchtigen Agrogentechnik und den Widerstand dagegen. Am Ende siegt, zumindest in Deutschland und vorläufig, der Widerstand - ein nicht alltägliches Ergebnis. Wie das kam, zeigt der Film - am Beispiel von Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

• Der Film steht seit Januar 2015 offen zur Verfügung. Alle Infos und Links und www.projektwerkstatt.de/filme/agrar.html
  

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(Bitte lange Zitate beim Antworten abschneiden - spart Daten und Unübersichtlichkeit :-)

Jörg Bergstedt, 06401/903283, Fax 03212-1434654, Mobil 01522-8728353 (nur erreichbar, wenn unterwegs)
 c/o Projektwerkstatt, Ludwigstr. 11, 35447 Reiskirchen-Saasen
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www.projektwerkstatt.de - und von dort in über 15000 Themenseiten!
Projektwerkstätten leben davon, dass woanders Sachen übrig sind: Eine Liste, was gebraucht wird, ist unter www.projektwerkstatt.de/gesucht zu finden, z.B. kleines Audio-Aufnahmegerät, BluRay-Laufwerk, Obstpresse, (Full)HD-Kamera mit Eingang für externes Mikrofon und viele Verbrauchsmaterialien.

Scheele empfiehlt „Belagerung“ für Hartz-IV-Bezieher mit Kindern

Das neue Vorstandsmitglied der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA), Detlef Scheele, hat sich dafür ausgesprochen, Eltern, die lange Hartz IV beziehen, in eine „fürsorgliche Belagerung“ zu nehmen: Nötig seien für diese Menschen regelmäßige beschäftigungsfördernde Maßnahmen. „Kinder müssen erleben, dass ihre Eltern mit oder vor ihnen aufstehen, dass es normal ist, aus dem Haus und zur Arbeit oder zur Schule zu gehen. Notfalls sind dafür Hausbesuche nötig“, sagte Scheele der „Süddeutschen Zeitung“ (Montagsausgabe).
Was den Kampf gegen die zuletzt kaum mehr zurückgegangene Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit angeht, warnte er aber vor übertriebenen Erwartungen: „Auch 2016 wird kein Instrument erfunden werden, das die Vermittlungsquoten Langzeitarbeitsloser in lichte Höhen treibt. Wir werden jedoch alles tun, um die Vererbung von Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit zu verhindern.“ Der frühere Hamburger Sozialsenator, der seit Mitte Oktober bei der BA in Nürnberg im Amt ist, zeigte sich auch im Hinblick auf die Integration von Flüchtlingen nicht allzu optimistisch: „Wir sollten nicht zu hohe Erwartungen haben. Wenn es gut läuft, werden im ersten Jahr nach der Einreise vielleicht zehn Prozent eine Arbeit haben, nach fünf Jahren ist es die Hälfte, nach 15 Jahren 70 Prozent.“ Scheele rechnet damit, dass es Mitte des zweiten Quartals in den Jobcentern „so richtig losgeht“. Dann seien viele Asylbewerber anerkannt und könnten um Hilfe bitten.
Foto: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, über dts Nachrichtenagentur