Film released to mark the birthday of hate crime victim Sophie Lancaster

A film has been released to mark what would have been the twenty-third birthday of Sophie Lancaster, who was kicked to death for being a Goth in August 2007 whilst with her boyfriend Robert Maltby.

The film, Sophie: A Dark Angel, can be viewed below on Youtube:


The film's aim is to increase awareness of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and raise £500,000 to help educate young people about tolerance.

The foundation is working with behavioural experts Huthwaite International to create a programme, which will initially be aimed at 14 to 16 year olds before being extended to to primary schools.

Sky News reports that twenty-three black balloons were released into the sky in Manchester city centre on 26th November, before Sophie: A Dark Angel was shown to over 100 people in Cathedral Gardens.

Commissioned by make-up brand Illamasqua, the film was directed by Fursy Teyssier and produced by creative agency Propaganda in association with the band Portishead.

It is also being shown on MTV1 and MTV2.

You can find out more about events supporting the Sophie Lancester Foundation at their Myspace page.

Other ways to remember Sophie and oppose hate crime against people from subcultures are to purchase merchandise intended to raise money for the foundation, including umbrellas and eyebrow pencils.

The thugs:

Two youths,Ryan Herbert and Brendan Harris, have been found guilty of Sophie's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Joseph and Danny Hulme, 17 and 16, and Daniel Mallet, 17, have been jailed for attacking Sophie's boyfriend Robert Maltby, who has made a partial recovery.

The minimum sentences of five years and 10 months for the Hulmes and four years four months for Mallet seem very light.

Stubbylee Park, Bacup, where Sophie and Robert were attacked, has been described as being used by "drunken, violent yobs", according to the Lancashire Telegraph.

Disgracefully, Rossendale Borough Council has refused to hire park rangers to improve security.

Aftermath:

Ade Varney, creation of an online petition to increase the definition of hate crime, says that goths: "get verbal assaults every day, and not just from young people. But now younger teenagers have the mentality of hardened criminals and I definitely sense this violent aspect getting worse... Sophie's death has made people think and I have heard of teenagers, especially girls, modifying the way they dress when they walk through certain areas."

Justice Minister Jack Straw has promised Sophie's mother changes to sentencing guidelines for judges.

We need to educate children about tolerating others, punish harshly those who do not and condemn those in popular culture who promote hateful attitudes against anyone who is different.

Supporting the Sophie Lancaster Foundation is the first step.

Sudanese teenager Silva Kashif flogged for "indecent" skirt

Silva Kashif, a sixteen year old teenager from Khartoum, Sudan, has been given fifty lashes for wearing an "indecent" knee length skirt.

A Khartoum judge ruled the garment was inappropriate, and ordered a female police officer to lash Kashif in front of him, despite a Sudanese law that under eighteens should not be lashed, according to the Daily Mail.

Khartoum, unlike other areas of Sudan, follows Sharia Law, which calls for women to "dress modestly". This law is open to interpretation.

Her lawyer, Azhari al-Haj, told the Daily Mail: "She was wearing a normal skirt and blouse, worn by thousands of girls. They didn’t contact a guardian and punished her on the spot."

Alex DiBranco blogs at Women's Rights: "According to a 2005 peace agreement that put an end to civil war in the country, the government is supposed making efforts to be more lenient on Christians and those who have moved from the south of the country [like Silva Kashif]. However, for a woman to be prosecuted for indecent dress, all that is required is a single complaint filed against her."

Some people on the Mail comments section are arguing that people in Sudan should live by Sudanese laws. I'm sure if Sudan increased parking fines or introduced CCTV they'd be the first to complain. Why should we not condemn a breach of human rights because it happens in another country?

Silva Kashif's mother now plans to sue, as her daughter was underage when she was punished.

In September, journalist Lubna Hussein was fined for wearing trousers in Sudan, her punishment reduced from a lashing. On that occassion, diplomats and some Sudanese females protested outside the Khartoum courthouse.

More information on human rights in Sudan.

Fijian government removes all broadcasting licences

The Fijian government has has removed all broadcasting licences and given Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum the power to renew or redistribute, Medianetwork recently reported.

The action was carried out this week by decree , as the Fijian parliament has been dissolved and the constitution annuled.

This decree states that no compensation can be claimed due to the cancellation or redistribution of a broadcasting licence, and that no court, tribunal or commission can allow any challenge over the removal of a licence.

Anyone broadcasting without the permission of Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum can be jailed for five years.

December 5th will mark the third year of the Fijian military government, which came to power in a coup.

Under Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, the media has already suffered from tight censorship.

The Age reports that: "the media is either devoid of political discourse, like the Murdoch-owned Fiji Times, or it slobbers over the regime, as does the locally owned Fiji Sun."

However, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum claims that a new tender process will minimise corruption.

Broadcast IT Management and Engineering company Streamcom, whose report claiming that the broadcasting spectrum in Fiji was disorganised and in need of a clean up of frequences prompted the licence removals, also claims that the military government did the right thing.

The Fijian govermnent's attempt to further censor the media should be condemned, as a fully functioning and democratic media is essential for a free society.

I doubt that the military government can be trusted to fairly redistribute the licences.

Write to your local embassy. The British one is at 34 Hyde Park Gate,London,SW7 5DN.

Human rights in Fiji:

Fiji has a questionable human rights record, with an Amnesty International fact-finding mission discovering that: "judges, lawyers and judicial officers have been blocked from entering court buildings since 14 April and a number of judges and judicial officers, including the Director of Public Prosecutions and the head of the Fiji Law Society, have been placed under house-arrest."

Recently, Australian academic Brij Lal was detained for questioning and ordered to leave Fiji after he gave interviews criticising the military government’s expulsion of New Zealand and Australian diplomats this month, Radio New Zealand International states.

British high street banks are lending to cluster bomb producers

British banks such as Lloyds TSB, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland are lending or providing investment banking services to cluster bomb producers, according to a report released last month by IKV Pax Christi and Netwerk Vlaanderen, viewable at Stop Explosive Investments.

Cluster bombs release hundreds of smaller submunitions, which do not always denotate on impact and can remain in the ground as de facto antipersonnel mines, killing and maiming people after the conflict has ended, according to Cluster Munition Coalition.

At the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions in May 2008, one hundred countries signed a treaty promising never to use or develop cluster munitions. So far, twenty three countries have ratified the treaty.

Today, Amnesty International is reminding us to put pressure on banks to convince them to stop aiding merchants of death.

A letter has been created on the Amnesty International site which you can send to any of the chief executives of these unethical banks.

You can see a film about the effects of cluster bombs on civilians below:



In the report "Worldwide investments in Cluster Munitions" (PDF) 138 financial institutions are identified as investors in eight producers of cluster munitions since January 1st, 2007.

These producers include: Alliant Techsystems ATK (USA), Hanwha (South Korea), L-3 Communications (USA), Lockheed Martin (USA) Poongsan (South Korea), Roketsan (Turkey), Singapore Technologies Engineering (Singapore) and Textron (USA)

Few banks were named as ethical, and amongst those who were are ASN Bank (The Netherlands) and Banca Etica (Italy).

More pressure, including demonstrations, is needed against unethical investment by banks.

Hugo Chavez defends three tyrants and a terrorist during speech

Venezulan leader Hugo Chavez has been reported by the BBC as having defended Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ugandan dictator Idi Amin during a televised speech to various socialist politicians.

Chavez certainly sounds a little confused about whether he wants to put Amin's poster above his bed or not, saying: "We thought he was a cannibal... I don't know, maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot."

Normally, only the most stupid of commentators on Indymedia* would defend Mugabe or Amin (although a number seem to defend Ahmadinejad).

Hugo Chavez also defended Carlos the Jackal, whose real name is Ilich Sanchez Ramirez, saying "he is wrongly considered to be a bad guy and is to be praised as a key revolutionary fighter, instead" and described him as "one of the great fighters of the Palestine Liberation Organization".

This is the same Ilich Sanchez Ramirez who put bombs on France's TGV trains in 1983, killing four people, who claimed to have thrown a grenade at a resturant in Paris, and who was hired by Communist Romania's brutal secret service, to murder Romanian dissidents in France.

Ramirez is currently serving life in a French prison for the murders of two secret service agents and an alleged informer.

He is also a fan of fellow terrorist Osama Bin Laden, and praised the undertaking of the September 11th attacks.

It seems Chavez forgot to mention him in his recent speech.

I would say that the mark of a "bad guy" is someone who does not care about the human rights of French citizens or about who he works with.

Hugo Chavez should be condemned for his praise of human rights violators, as well as being urged to spend more time on fixing his country's issues.


*Not all commentators are stupid on Indymedia, nor are all articles. I read the site on an occasional basis. It is just that much of the content is dogmaticaly ludicrous.

Slave rescuer Aaron Cohen interviewed in the Observer

Today's Observer magazine has a fascinating interview by Carole Cadwalladr with Aaron Cohen, the founder of the Abolish Slavery Coalition.

Cohen, whose book Slave Hunter: One Man's Global Quest to Free Victims of Human Trafficking was published this June, has rescued children from sex slavery and child solider camps all over the world.

In his book, he estimates "it's estimated that 27 million people are enslaved today – double the number taken from Africa during the three and a half centuries of the slave trade. Approximately 80,000 new victims are trafficked across international borders each year."

Some of the testimonies of former victims can be seen at the Polaris Project Action Centre.

You can support Cohen and find out more about human trafficking at the online philantrophy platform Causecast.

Cohen is also on Twitter.

Pressure from those opposed to slavery does have an effect.

In July, the Burmese Shan State Army (SSA) signed an agreement promising to no longer use child soliders in return for aid, in order to increase international credibility.

Your support of Aaron Cohen could make a difference to tens of thousands of slaves around the world.

Youtube: BBC's The Big Questions: Antisemitism from 15th November

Via Harry's Place, parts one and two of The Big Questions: Antisemitism, broadcast on Sunday 15th November on BBC One.





You can also read comments on the program by panalist Tony Greenstein and Jewish Chronicle blogger Aaron16.

The first comment left on the Harry's Place blog page to where these Youtube videos were posted was very interesting.

By "yesiam" (which might be short for "yes, i am an idiot"), it reads: "Your boys took a hell of a beating. Trying to defend that fascist little state called Israel in the Middle East by citing antisemitism is no longer good enough.The eyes of the world have been opened. Israel is a pariah state.Free Palestine."

This comment equates British Jews with the events taking place in the Middle East.

People are entitled to have whatever views on the conflict between Israel and Palestine they want.

My own view is that both sides have been guilty of human rights abuses, and that blindly refraining from criticsing one side whatever they do is the wrong approach to take.

Even if someone is strongly opposed to Israel's actions, it does not make it right to attack Jewish people or support attacks on Jewish people.

The Jewish state and Jewish citizens, either living inside or outside Israel, should not be lazily confused.

The current debate, as seen on Channel Four's Dispatches recently, about whether there is an "Israel lobby" and how powerful it is should not be confused with ordinary Jewish citizens either.

Clearly, some people are unable to understand this, as Jonathan Boyd writes in his Guardian article:

In April 2002, at the height of the Palestinian intifada, media reports began circulating that a massacre had been committed by the Israel Defence Force in Jenin, in the West Bank. Rumours circulated that hundreds of Palestinians had been killed. The BBC suggested 150. Saeb Erekat, interviewed on CNN, claimed 500. Yasser Abed Rabbo intimated 900. The overarching impression was that the IDF had committed a horrific atrocity.

On the following Saturday, I was walking to synagogue, wearing my kippah (skull cap) in the north London suburb of Finchley. On the way, I was punched in the face by a young man. It was an entirely unprovoked assault. We were simply crossing paths when he delivered a sudden, forceful, right hook. Taken aback, my first response was to ask why he had done it. "That's what happens to Jews," he responded, "when they behave like that."

That is the only time in my life that I have been a victim of an antisemitic assault. It is possible, I suppose, that it had nothing to do with the events in Jenin, but I find that very difficult to believe. My attacker saw me as a legitimate target directly linked to the so-called "massacre".

Russian antifascist activist Ivan Khutorskoy murdered in eastern Moscow

Ivan Khutorskoy, one of the key figures in the Russian antifascist movement Antifa, was shot dead in eastern Moscow on Monday 16th November.

Many believe his killers were neo-nazis.

According to Schnews, Khutorskoy's address has been published on neo-nazi websites, and three previous attempts have been made to kill him.

The Brighton activist freesheet comments: "Ivan’s life and death show the perils of fighting the increasingly state-assisted far-right movement in Russia and the bravery of those who do so."

On Tuesday, a memorial gathering was held for Khutorskoy outside the Tsvetnoy Boulevard metro station, before being attacked by riot police.

Some of those at the memorial later attacked the offices of Young Russia (Rossiya Molodaya), for alleged links with murderous neo-nazi groups, something that Young Russia's leader Maxim Mishchenko denies.

According to Sky News, the murder of Ivan Khutorskoy has been linked to the arrest of two nationalists suspected of the murders of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova.

Find out more about Ivan Khutorskoy at Indymedia Nederland.

Iranian web crime unit set up to locate "insults and lies"

A special unit of the Iranian justice system has been set up to police the Iranian internet.

While senior Iranian police officer Brigadier General Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam claims that the "cyber police division" will oppose "Internet crime.", it is disturbing that, according to Article 19, there is also an emphasis on combatting "insults and lies".

This term has been used by the judicary to describe opposition statements.

Colonel Mehrdad Omidi, the head of the web crime unit, said cyber-crimes would be treated as seriously as armed robbery. He pledged to intervene in "political matters on the internet, should there be an illegal act", according to the Guardian.

Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Amnesty International, said: "This new unit will further undermine freedom of expression, which is already severely limited in Iran.

"The authorities’ aim seems to be to deter people from criticizing the government or circulating information – such as information on human rights violations – that they wish to suppress...Iran will be applying to cyber activists the same flawed legal standards that have resulted in the imprisonment of scores of journalists who did nothing other than report the facts, peacefully and objectively."

As the Guardian notes, Iranian opposition candidates rely on the web to communicate their messages. While newspapers supporting them have been closed, websites supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi still exist.

The Iranian government must not be allowed to limit the right to free expression. Support the Iranian resistance and the Green Revolution.

Soft sentences make a mockery of the right to be safe

The right to be safe is a basic phyiscal human right. I would question how much British justice protects this right, given two recent cases.

In Rochdale, Greater Manchester, three people who attacked their victim so savagaly that pendant from her bracelet became embedded in her eye were given referral orders or community sentences, according to the Rochdale Observer.

Despite an appeal from the Observer, District Judge Paul Richardson refused to lift an order banning publication of the identies of the attackers, who are sixteen.

Kirsty Leigh Hood, 19, was sentenced last month for verbally abusing the same woman shortly before the attack, including shouting "BNP" at her.

Richardson even told one of the attackers: "When not inebriated, it seems you have good sense.If you didn't, we'd have seen a lot more of you in this court. This is a final chance."

Of course, the lack of money to fund the criminal justice system, including prisons is a huge contributor to the weak sentencing regime.

Via The Policeman's Blog, which also notes that Ashleigh Holliman was sentenced to just 120 hours community service after nearly blinding Jennifer Wilson after smashing her in the face with a glass in Watford, Hertfordshire.

Questions have also been raised about the response of Hertfordshire Police to this incident, according to the London Evening Standard.Wilson ended up using Facebook to locate her attacker.

While it is important that our response to criminals does not include barbarity, the right to be safe is

Rwandan milita leaders arrested in Germany over Democratic Republic of Congo war crimes

The BBC reports that Ignace Murwanashyaka, the leader of the Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), and his aide Straton Musoni have been arrested by German police on suspicion of war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The pair are accused by German prosecutors of being in command of a Hutu militia that carried out crimes against humanity on Congolese civilians.

According to Global Security, the FDLR is made up of key members of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, as well as a mix of displaced Rwandan Hutus, some of whom are former Rwandan Army soliders.

They describe themselves as "Rwandans determined to defend their motherland kept under constant threats of extermination by a tyrannic and barbaric regime."

The organisation is described as being "among the worst offenders in the onslaught against women, hundreds of thousands of whom have been raped over the past decade of conflict", according to Chris McGreal in the Guardian.

In November 2005 Murwanashyaka was blacklisted by the United Nations for violating an Democratic Republic of Congo arms embargo, and was subjected to a travel ban and assets freeze.

American demonstrations against homophobic Ugandan laws on Thursday 19th November

This Thursday, 19th November, two demonstrations are taking place in America opposing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, which allows Ugandan courts to sentence homosexuals to life imprisonment.

In New York, a rally will take place at Uganda House on 336 East 45th St from 12:30pm, organised by Sexual Minorities Uganda.

In Washington D.C, a rally will take place at the Ugandan Embassy to the United States,5911 16th Street, NW,Washington, DC 20011 between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

The Washington demonstration is 1 mile northwest of the Georgia Ave/Petworth Metro Stop on Quincy Street and also accessible via 16th Street buses.

If you are in New York or Washington this Thursday, why not attend the demo and oppose homophobic laws in Uganda

The bill continues to attract international condemnation.Members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights have denounced the bill in the European Parliament.

Alleged anti-semitism by group of Romford scouts

The Scouting movement is usually something Britain can be proud of, so it was surprising to read of a group of Explorer Scouts shouting anti-semitic abuse at members of the Association of Jewish Ex-servicemen and Women during a Rememberence Day parade in Romford, Essex.

Reverend Lee Sunderland, present at the parade, told the Daily Mail that "Here come the Jews, let's kill the Jews" was said four times during the service.

A Metropolitan police spokesman told the Guardian that they were investigating two allegations of "racially aggravated harassment" involving more than one member of the Romford explorer scout unit.

One of the troop has confessed his part to police, and been ordered by the Scout Association to visit the rabbi of the Romford and district synagogue to apologise in person.

Jewish RAF vetran Paul Freedman MBE, 84, who laid a wreath during the service, told the Evening Standard: "I told them that I was a Jew and I'd spent four and a half years in the RAF during World War Two and that Jewish people had sacrificed so much for freedom. They didn't react to any of this."

Talking of vile behaviour at war memorials, Sheffield Hallam University student Philip Laing is currently awaiting sentence for urinating on a war memorial while taking part in a Carnange UK event.

Let us hope the sentence is a fitting one.

Azerbaijan bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli given long prison sentences

Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, two bloggers in Azerbaijan who were charged with hooliganism in July after being attacked in a resturant, have been sentenced today.

Hajizade was sentenced to two years in prison by the Sabail District Court in Baku while Milli was sentenced to two and a half.

Their lawyer Isakhan Ashurov told the media: "This sentence is unjust and illegal...we plan to appeal the conviction and if we find no justice in Azerbaijan's judicial system, we will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg."

There has been strong condemnation of the sentences, as well as belief that the trial was unfair.

An observer from Article 19 clamed he witnessed one of the alleged victims testify he did not remember writing a statement accusing Milli and Hajizade, a statement which had also reportedly stated he was attacked by three men.

Azerbaijan authorities claim the charges are unrelated to the bloggers' criticism of the government, including a Youtube spoof press conference which can be seen below, created just before the arrests:



It has also been revealed that when the bloggers were first arrested police interrogated them for five hours without legal representation present.

US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told The Register: "The United States regrets today's court decision in Azerbaijan to imprison Azerbaijani youth leaders Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade. This court decision is a step backwards for Azerbaijan's progress towards democratic reform."

He also commented that the sentences "raised concerns about the independence of the police and the judiciary, as well as about restrictions on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan."

Emin Huseynov, director of the Institute for Reporter Freedom and Safety, told the BBC the sentences were: "aimed at intimidating new media on the internet and preventing the distribution of alternative opinions."

European security watchdog the OSCE told The Hurriyet that the jail terms confirmed the country's status as "the pre-eminent jailer of journalists" in the OSCE region.

Nigerian gay rights activist Davis Mac-Iyalla writes to Archbishop of Canterbury over Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009

Gay rights activist Davis Mac-Iyalla has written to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and primates of the Anglican Communion regarding Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill.

In the letter, which was also printed in the Guardian, Davis Mac-Iyalla calls on them to: "condemn Uganda's proposed anti-homosexuality bill, which will make gay relations between disabled people and those under 18 a capital offence. "Carnal knowledge against the order of nature" – as homosexuality is termed in Ugandan law – is already punishable with life imprisonment. However, if passed, the new bill will widen the scope, including promoting homosexuality, aiding and abetting homosexuality and keeping a house "for purposes of homosexuality". This means that the relatives and friends of gay couples could face execution if they allow them to stay in their homes."

As Mac-Iyalla mentions in his letter, he is both a practising Anglican Christian and a refugee from homophobic persecution in Nigeria.

He also established the Nigerian wing of the British Changing Attitude organisation, which presses for for further inclusion of Anglican sexual minorities in the Anglican Communion

He concludes:

"Legislation of the kind proposed in Uganda is based on irrational hatred and a desire to entrench the stigmatisation of LGBT people. There is no place for love, understanding or acceptance in such laws. As such, the Church of England has a duty to condemn the anti-homosexuality legislation and put pressure on those MPs who support such laws. Whatever the divisions within the communion about homosexuality as a moral issue, Anglicans should unite in condemnation of violent persecution and discrimination of LGBT people whoever and wherever they are, particularly when it is carried out in the name of Jesus Christ."

Bill to be debated at Makerere University:

David Bahati, the bigot who tabled the bill, will be taking part in a "public dialogue" at Makerere University, along with Prof. Sylvia Tamale, Coordinator, Law, Gender & Sexuality Research Project, Faculty of Law, Rev. Canon. Aaron Mwesigye, Provincial Secretary of the Anglican Church of Uganda and Rubaramira Ruranga, a human rights and HIV/AIDS Activist.

The dialogue will focus on the bill and take place in Makerere University,Faculty of Law Auditorium, according to GayUganda, who also highlights this newspaper report.

Reaction to Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill:

Forty gay activists protested outside Ugandan House in central London on Saturday 8th November, including Ugandan John Bosco Nyombi, according to Pink News.

The Pink Triangle Trust has also written a letter to Joan Rwabyomere, the Ugandan High Commissioner in the UK, to ask her to bring the concerns before Ugandan authorities.

A spokesperson from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are concerned by the introduction of a private member's bill on anti homosexuality in Uganda.Adoption of the bill could do serious damage to efforts to tackle HIV and its criminalisation of organisations that support homosexuality could, in theory, encompass most donor agencies and international NGOs."

Bit mealey-mouthed, them being "concerned". Their concern joins France's "deep concern".

I would go further and say I totally oppose Uganda's hateful and backwards laws on homosexuality, and am glad Davis Mac-lylla is taking a stand.

We need people to support Mac-lylla in his fight.

While we can't expect much from the Indymedia crowd, let us hope that others, both on the left and right, will take to the streets, to the telephone and to the Internet in protest.

Lesbian student in Alabama, USA, now allowed to bring girlfriend to prom (subject to usual screening)

Cynthia Stewart, a student in Tharptown High School, Alabama, America, is now allowed to take her girlfriend to the school prom in March, subject to the usual screeing process, following a reversal of the decision of Franklin County School System officials, according to Pink News.co.uk

She had originally been told by her headteacher Gary Odom that she was not allowed to

Earlier it had been alleged that the school was cancelling the prom (formal dance for students near the end of the school year) altogether in order to prevent Stewart bringing her girlfriend.

The Miami Herald reports that "Some teachers told classes last Thursday that prom was being canceled altogether as a way to avoid having to let Cynthia bring her date."

The intervention of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), contacted by Stewart's aunt Kathy Baker, encouraged school officials to change their minds.

Stewart's ACLU representative Christine P. Sun, Senior Counsel with the ACLU National Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, had told the Miami Herald: "Federal law makes it absolutely clear that Franklin County School System doesn't have any right to discriminate against lesbian, gay, and bisexual students who want to bring same-sex dates to school dances...We hope that our telling the school about its legal obligations towards its students will make it think again about treating Cynthia Stewart like a second-class citizen."

According to the ACLU, Stewart's headteacher Gary Odom also forced her to remove a sticker she was wearing that said: "I am a lesbian," telling her: "You don't have that much freedom of speech at school."

Assistant Superintendent Donald Borden has said that Stewart's girlfriend still needs to be screened, a progress that takes place for all prom dates that live outside the catchment area.

So, Tharptown High School is midly paranoid as well as run by a homophobe. I am glad that Cynthia Stewart has (almost) won victory, given how homophobic schools in America are (like schools in Britain).

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez attacked on way to march

Cuban blogger Yonai Sanchez has been attacked while on her way with three friends to a march of young Cubans opposed to the Communist regime.

It is presumed that the attackers, who tried to force them into a car, were state security agents.

Whenthe four refused to get into the car, they were brutally attacked.

Sanchez and one of her friends were thrown in and driven a short distance and then thrown into a street, while two others were taken to a police station in a patrol car (summoned by their orginal attackers) and then released.

On her blog Generation Y, Sanchez vividly describes the assault and attempted kidnap:

Near 23rd Street, just at the Avenida de los Presidentes roundabout, we saw a black car, made in China, pull up with three heavily built strangers. "Yoani, get in the car," one told me while grabbing me forcefully by the wrist. The other two surrounded Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, and a friend who was accompanying us to the march against violence. The ironies of life, it was an evening filled with punches, shouts and obscenities on what should have passed as a day of peace and harmony. The same "aggressors" called for a patrol car which took my other two companions, Orlando and I were condemned to the car with yellow plates, the terrifying world of lawlessness and the impunity of Armageddon.

Sanchez told El Nuevo Herald: "No blood, but black and blues, punches, pulled hairs, blows to the head, kidneys, knee and chest...in short, professional violence."

Last year, Harry's Place reported on how Cuban Ministry of the Interior agents tried to prevent Yoani Sanchez and her husband from holding a workshop for bloggers in Pinar del Río.

Time magazine has named Sanchez one of the world's 100 most influential people. Last month, the Cuban government refused to let Sanchez visit New York to receive a top journalism prize, while her blog Generation Y is often blocked in CUba.

Recently, Yoani Sanchez has blogged about a visit to the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industry, where several blogger friends of hers were prevented from entering, despite the event being free for all, and journalist José Alejandro, who had the courage to speak out against media censorship in Cuba.

Along the Malecón reports that some supporters of Yonai Sanchez are using her photo as their Facebook profile photo in order to show their solidarity.

The Miami Herald also reports that a dozen Cuban bloggers and over one hundred Internet Sites recently took part in a virtual protest, "using Tweets, text messages and blog posts to send out messages like ``Freedom'' and demanding the release of all political prisoners".

One country that is not bothered by the repressive regime in Cuba is Russia. According to General Nikolai Makarov in September, the Russian military will help train Cuban military personnel and repair old Soviet military equipment.

Twenty years since the Berlin Wall fell

Twenty years ago on this day, the Berlin Wall was brought down, removing the division between Communist East Germany and Capitalist West Germany.

Shortly afterwards, the Communist regime in East Germany collapsed and German unity (Deutsche Einheit) took place.

Five thousand people attempted to escape from East to West Berlin via the Wall.

One hundred were killed doing so. They are being remembered today.

An article in Spiegal International on files kept on East Germans by the secret polic (Stasi) makes fascinating reading:

Herbert Ziehm, who now heads up the department of requests for the Birthler Authority -- which manages the Stasi files -- said that the East German spooks also took notes on details that smacked of bourgeoisie. Ziehm, an East German, told SPIEGEL ONLINE that a look into his own file revealed that "the Stasi were very intrigued as to why my wife could drive and had a car even though she was a housewife." He added: "They were also fascinated by the fact that we were teetotallers and non-smokers. While after 20 years you can still laugh at the absurdity of it all, you always have to remember that people were getting arrested for the tiniest things."

West Germany is by no means perfect, and the past twelve months have shown how flawed capitalism is, but it was a much better place to live in than repressive East Germany.

Any regime that bans George Orwell's Ninteen Eighty-Four is no friend of dissent.

A minority, such as Morning Star columnist Neil Clark and Bruni de la Motte, mourn the fall of the German Democratic Republic.

However, the majority of Germans still feel that the demise of the Soviet Union is a good thing.

Celebrations are currently taking place in Berlin, including a line of 1,000 foam dominoes set up along the wall to be pushed over by former Polish President Lech Walesa, representing the collapse of Communism.

Via Harry's Place, the moment that the Berlin Wall fell:



The Berlin Twitterwall has been set up to allow people to share their thoughts on the Berlin Wall via Twitter.

Mercedes Butnz writes about other digital media projects related to the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Guardian's PDA Digital Content blog.

Disability hate crime in Cornwall

While the motives for the recent murder of Mary Fox in Bodmin, Cornwall, are not yet known, it is fairly clear that her son Raum Fox has been a victim of hate crime in the past.

According to The Times, Raum had been bullied at Bodmin College about his acne and reported learning difficulties. He recently moved to St Austell College to escape the bullying.

As with the Fiona Pilkington case, there are reports of local youths being vicious.

Kerry Ollerenshaw, a 36-year-old care worker and friend, told The Times: "The kids on this estate can be very harsh. They hang around in groups, harassing and intimidating and Raum was a victim of that", while Gary Breslin told the Daily Mirror: "They have caused trouble round here, criminal damage and stuff like that. And I know that Mary's boy was being bullied."

Social networking sites are now being examined by police to discover who put the firework through the Foxs' door.

Three teenagers aged between 12 and 16 were spotted chanting "shame, shame, shame" as the Foxs tried to escape, according to the Sunday Express.

Superintendent Martin Orpe told a meeting: ""To suggest that earlier press reports regarding the systematic intimidation or bullying of either of them was a cause of this incident is purely speculation and is unfounded at this time."

Devon and Cornwall police claim that no complaints of harassment were made by the Foxs.

Outrage was expressed in the media and by politicians when the news that Fiona Pilkington had killed herself and her daughter to escape abuse and intimidation from local thugs was first reported.

Has anything really changed? Has popular culture become less intolerant of those who are different? Are those committing the abuse being punished harshly? Are we tough enough on yobs who destroy communities?

Given that one of the alleged principal tormentors of Fiona Pilkington, Alex Simmons, has only just received an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (hardly a harsh punishment), I do wonder.

According to the Leicester Mercury, Anthony Warner Thorne, of Bardon Road, Josh Warner Thorne, of the same address, and Billy Joe Kenney, 20, of Elwell Avenue, Barwell have also received Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.

As with Bardon, the Berryfields Estate, where Mary Fox lived, seems to be a dangerous place for anyone who is different. I hope that community leaders work to change this.

I also hope that Bodmin College does more to prevent bullying. No-one should be harassed because of a disability.

Anyone with information should call Devon and Cornwall Police on 08452 777 444 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Tunisian blogger Fatma Riahi released from police custody

Tunisan blogger Fatma Riahi, who is known online as Arabicca, has been released by police investigating whether she is the author of Blog de Z, according to a posting on the Free Arabicca blog.

According to Al Jazeera, Riahi was first summoned to appear before the Criminal Brigade of Gorjani in Tunis on Monday.

She was released only to be arrested the next day. Her home was searched, and her computer was confiscated, while police accessed her social media accounts.

During this time, she recieved little access to her lawyer Laila Ben Debba.

Riahi has not yet been charged as the police claim her file has not yet been given to a prosecutor, however if convicted she may face a three year prison sentence.

It is still possible that she may be re-arrested.

Join the Facebook group to show your solidarity with Fatma Riahi.

She has done nothing wrong, and neither has the author of Blog de Z, whose latest cartoon is of a bird with an "I'm not Fatma" sign.

Riahi's friend and fellow blogger Aymen Jamani gave the Los Angeles Times a copy of Riahi's final post before she removed her blog shortly before she was first arrested:

An exerpt:

Wanting to live free, read the newspaper you want, meet with friends or colleagues in a coffee house to discuss the development plan proposed by the municipality or the government, for coastal protection, the devastating side effects of the construction of a Marina, the curriculum of our children, to organize a concert of solidarity with a cause, to develop a campaign for the candidate best able to convey our ideas...to create an association to safeguard the Andalusian music or Berber language or to support victims of floods, to create a journal, write an article...participate in the organization of city life, it seems that this is what POLITICS means.

Unsurprisingly for a regime so keen to stifle dissent, a number of bloggers
have been arrested by the Tunisian authorities.

Global Voices Online ranks Tunisia as the country which arrested the fourth highest amount of bloggers in the past few years.

Only China, Egypt and Iran arrested more.

Journalism in Tunisia is also under threat.

On October 29th, Taoufik Ben Brik was arrested last week on charges of assault, which Reporters Without Borders regard as "bogus".

Ben Brik recently published a number of articles critical of the government of Tunisia in the French press.

Journalist Slim Boukhdhir was also attacked by five men on October 20th, two hours after he gave an interview alleging a lack of press freedom in Tunisia to the BBC, Amnesty International reports.

Argentina's ex-President Reynaldo Bignone is on trial for torture and mass murder

The trial of former President of Argentina Reynaldo Bignone has begun in Argentina, according to the BBC.

Also on trial are five of his former army officers, including intelligence chief General Santiago Omar Riveros, and a Buenos Aires police commissione.

The seven are accused of the kidnapping,torture and murder of 56 people, committed in the Campo de Mayo dentention centre between 1976 and 1978, according to Momento24

Reynaldo Bignone was the last military ruler of Argentina, ending a long line of brutal dictators that began in March 1976 when the military junta first seized power.

Human rights groups estimate that 30,000 people died or went missing during purges of junta opponents between 1976 and 1983.

He had been under house arrest before the trial.

The case has taken six years to reach court and the ruling will be announced sometime in February 2010.

Taty Almeida, a member of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, an association of Argentine mothers whose children went "missing" during the junta's rule, told Al Jazeera: "When I see them there I feel repulsed but I also feel a great deal of achievement because they're being put on trial."

Amnesty laws prevented former junta officers from facing trial for human rights abuses until they were struck down in 2005 by Argentina's Supreme Court, during the rule of President Nestor Kirchner.

Global Day of Solidarity with Iran on November 4th (13 Aban)

Demonstrations will take place across the world on November 4th 2009 in support of those calling for democratic reform in Iran.

In London, there will be a demonstration outside the Iranian Embassy, 16 Prince’s Gate London, SW7 1PT, from 6pm until 9pm.

The nearest tube is South Kensington on the District, Piccadilly and Circle Lines.

November 4th is when students gather outside the former U.S. embassy.

Usually, according to Robin Wright of Time Magazine, they protest about American actions.

This year, they are protesting against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei.

The day is called 13 Aban on the Iranian calendar.

Other cities where I am aware of demonstrations are Paris (5pm until 7pm at the Place Saint-Michel,75006 Paris.The nearest Metro is Saint-Michel,Métro ligne 4 & RER B) and Frankfurt (at the Römerberg from 6pm).

If you know where other 13 Aban demonstrations are taking place, post below.

The year-long imprisonment of blogger Hossein Derakhshan, known as Hoder online, is but one reason to show solidarity.

Survivor of Sierra Leone's civil war Mariatu Kamara to have autobiography published tommorow

Tired of the latest whinging rubbish by a D-list celebrity?

Want to read about someone interesting for a change?

Mariatu Kamara, who was captured and mutilated by soliders during Sierra Leone's civil war when she was twelve, will have her autobiography Bite of the Mango published tommorow.

The book, written with Susan McClelland and published by Bloomsbury, is on sale at £9.99 and you can obtain a copy for £8.49 at the Mail Bookshop.

Kamara is now living in Toronto, Canada. She is a Unicef Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflicts and is also studying to be a counsellor for abused women and children.

She has also set up the Mariatu Foundation.

You can read an extract from Bite of the Mango in the Daily Mail.

Sierra Leone's civil war, which began in 1991, caused the deaths of around 100,000 people as well as the displacement of millions. It ended in 2002.

Soliders from the Revolutionary United Front, who wanted to depose the government, were responsible for countless murders and mutiliations, including cutting off Mariatu Kamara's hands.

Sadly, the news that a survivor of a brutal civil war, who has used her life to help others, has published her life story, has recieved far less prominance in the British media than Stephen Fry's Twitter spat or Lady Gaga's Hello Kitty shoot.

British National Party candidate used to supply execution equipment

What charming candidates the British National Party have.

David Lucas, a British National Party candidate for the East of England during the 2009 European elections and a Lakenheath Parish Council member, has been charged with various firearms offences.

Of even more interest is that Lucas used to make mobile execution chambers and said that he would: "sell them to whoever wants to buy them", until the European Union outlawed this trade in July 2006 when the European Commission Trade Regulation was brought in.

Lucas told the Newmarket Journal that he had not done business with Zimbabwe, but the People has alleged that a reporter posing as a representative of Robert Mugabe met Lucas in 2006 and was told: "They still use these [mobile execution chambers] in places like Libya and a few years ago I did some business with Zimbabwe so I know what your problems are."

We told him we wanted new gallows for provincial prisons in Zimbabwe and admired British craftsmanship. Lucas said proudly: "I have two systems - the traditional platform gallows or the mobile units which I have designed myself."

He pointed to an articulated lorry trailer and said: "I build trap doors into the bottom and you can have them with the sides open so people can see.

"Depending on the length of the trailer you could use five or six gallows at the same time.

"They are expensive but you can use them over and over again. Say you only have one execution team - that's all you would need.

Bringing back the death penalty is British National Party policy.

On their website, their webmaster Simon Bennett claims: "As most (if not all) of our readers will know, the British National Party have always supported the re-introduction of the Death Penalty in the United Kingdom."

However, I wonder how many British National Party members would support someone who has been alleged to have traded with Mugabe's Zimbabwe and Gaddaffi's Libya. I doubt the People story was part of his campaign literature.

It is rather disturbing that he sits on Lakenheath Parish Council.

I am glad the European Union has stopped the sale of mobile gallows, in particular when they are sold to despotic countries with little rule of law.

I would hope that anyone stupid enough to vote for the British National Party will at least consider David Lucas' former trade if he is a candidate again.