I thought this was worth flagging up and publicizing:
from the F word:
“A quick reminder to London readers: Abortion Rights is calling for people to come out in force this evening, for a protest against efforts to restrict access to abortion.
This is a protest against Ann Widdecome’s ‘Not on your life…’ roadshow, which the Tory MP is dragging up and down the country to promote ‘pro-life’ amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill which would chip away at women’s rights.
Similar protests will take place when the roadshow hits Liverpool, Coventry and Cardiff - please see the Abortion Rights website for more info. The group has also produced a detailed briefing on the bill’s progress through Parliament, and efforts to tack on anti-abortion amendments. “
Flyer here
Thanks for reading this and please pass on the good word!
p.s. the F word:is a brilliant site - take a look
via Pickled Politics ( thanks Sunny!)
“Prominent journalist and fellow blogger Tasneem Khalil has been arrested by the military police in Bangladesh, a serious attack on press freedom in the country.
An editor and outspoken journalist for the English daily newspaper Daily Star, he also worked for CNN and Human Rights Watch in the country. Of late he has been documenting the military’s attempts to take over Bangladesh and restrict political rights and free speech in the country.
Mash says:
Apparently Mr. Khalil’s crime is that he did his job. He spoke truthfully about the current situation in Bangladesh. He was interviewed by Nora Boustany of the Washington Post last month - that interview may have cost him his freedom and now possibly his life.
I have been speaking out over the last month about the military takedown of the democratic system in Bangladesh. One by one the fundamental rights of Bangladeshis have been taken away. But, Bangladeshis have recently started to fight back against the military. The press, the people and the courts have begun speaking out. The military now aims to silence them. Their thuggery is now plain to see.
Other bloggers covering: Drishtipat, Global Voices, Rezwanul, Golmal Sid, Salam Dhaka, Keep me honest, My dear Bangladesh, Adda, Deshi Voice and Butterflies and Wheels.
Human Rights Watch has also issued a press release. SD says this has also been elevated to the US State dept and Washington Post should be doing a story.
We need to organise joint protests in Washington and London in front of the Bangladeshi embassies to raise the profile of this arrest and highlight human rights abuses there. “
Please check out the discussion on Pickled Politics ..where we”re figuring out what we can do. Any ideas are welcome and much appreciated.
The CNN story is here - I can”t find anything on the BBC”s site ..or Amnesty International - see that”s the problem with all these big institutions - they can”t move quickly! Hopefully the blogosphere will be quicker in spreading the news.
Urgent human rights alert from the Women”s Learning Partnership:
“Thirty-four of our colleagues and partners in the Iranian women”s movement were arrested on Sunday, March 4 outside of Tehran”s Revolutionary Court. They were staging a peaceful protest against the increasing government pressure on civil society activists and, in particular, the trial of five women activists charged with “endangering national security, agitating against the government, and taking part in illegal gatherings” because they had organized a peaceful protest for women”s rights on June 12, 2006. Four of them who were present at the trial were arrested with the demonstrators as they were leaving the court.
There are varying reports of police violence at the protest. One woman said that the police tried to intimidate the activists, using obscene words and insulting gestures. The thirty-four women leaders were detained in Eshratabad Prison for ten hours before being transferred to Section 209 of Evin Prison. Eight of the youngest detainees were released without charges on March 6. The detention occurred just ahead of the planned gathering in front of the Parliament on March 8, in honor of International Women”s Day.
In August 2006, Iranian women”s rights activists launched the “One Million Signatures” campaign to demand an end to discriminatory laws against women. Please support the campaign by going to our website here.
To express your solidarity with the activists and to demand the immediate release of the detainees, please write to:
Ayatollah Sayed “Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Iran
Email: info@leader.ir and istiftaa@wilayah.org
Salutation: Your Excellency
Dr. M. Javad Zarif
Ambassador to the United Nations
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10017
Email: jzarif@un.int
Salutation: Your Excellency
More on this from the BBC, Latest Iran News, and Global Voices
A photography exhibition at St. Paul”s Cathedral which documents the ordinary lives and everyday locations caught up in human trafficking and calls for an end to this illegal 21st century trade. The exhibition seeks to expose the reality of trafficking and the action needed to tackle it. Running until the 29th March, produced by Panos Pictures, in partnership with Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, Eaves and UNICEF UK. Photographs by Karen Robinson and David Rose.
Calling all modern-day abolitionists! Please sign the petition to urge the UK government to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, bringing help and protection for all trafficked people in the UK a step closer. Tony Blair announced in Jan 2007 that he would do so - the petition requests that this be done so as a matter of urgency.
Hi everyone : Very important news:
Please - if you can - go to the THE SQUARE Occupied Social Centre, 21 Russell Square, London - tomorrow morning before 9 a.m. * yes i realize this is a bit difficult for all of us late risers.. still it’s a very good cause*
THE SQAURE Occupied Social Centre is due to be evicted on Friday morning and they have asked anyone who has used or supports the space to gather outside to resist the eviction. The space has been invaluable for events, meetings, campaigns, film showings, benefits etc. and having access to a central space and resource like this has been of immense value to a very large number of groups working for positive social change. Please help them by turning up on Friday morning and/or forwarding this message on.
21 Russell Square
London WC1B 5EA
( North west Side of Russell Square)
Map
thanks josef
***
Also in Sheffield - the Matilda Social Centre are facing similar trouble - eviction ( boy authorities suck don’t they - don’t help anyone organize, just swoop in when something good is happening and then try and dismantle it). If anyone can help or has any ideas, please get in touch.
I”d like to draw attention to the uniteddiversity site - which is currently boasting a new look and being jazzed up. it”s funky, it”s hip, and it”s worth your-surfing-the-net time..
Even you bots ought to take a look ( you know i wonder how many humans ever read this blog - by any chance if you”re passing through and you”re not a bot - i”d appreciate a shout.) i sometimes wonder why more people don”t comment? is it because they”re worried they haven”t got something “pertinent” or interesting to say.. well don”t let that worry you people - i”m interested in anything you have to say. why i”ve even allowed some of these bots who slip through my spam filter (and that seems to number in the hundreds these days!!) a pat on the back for saying amusing things. still most of them nowadays appear to restrict themselves to something like “hi jane i like your site” - couldn”t they even get my name right!
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