| <<<JANUARY 2004 | HOME | NOVEMBER 2003 >>> |
| 12 30 03 | |
| 12 29 03 | |
| 12 23 03 | |
| 12 20 03 | |
| 12 12 03 | |
| 12 10 03 | |
| 12 09 03 | |
| 12 08 03 | |
| 12 06 03 | |
| 12 05 03 | |
| 12 02 03 |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: Irish POW's message to International Symposium on Isolation, Florence Italy Date: Tuesday December 30, 2003 The following is a message of solidarity issued by the Officer Commanding IRA prisoners, Maghaberry gaol and delivered by Irish republican prisoners’ rights delegate Marian Price, at the recent International Symposium on Isolation in Florence, Italy (19-21 Dec). ------------- A message of solidarity from the Republican prisoners of war, Maghaberry gaol, Ireland. The republican prisoners incarcerated here in Maghaberry prison send Christmas and new year greetings and also solidarity to all gathered, and to all revolutionary prisoners and combatants represented by the attending delegates. As always our deepest thoughts are with those political prisoners currently involved in campaigns or protests for human rights. In particular we pay tribute to our DHKC comrades who have died recently in the death fasts in Turkish jails. Their tragic example of self-sacrifice has captured the minds of other revolutionary activists throughout the world. On behalf of the Irish republican prisoners and combatants we want tell you that you have gained our lasting admiration. As we mourn your loss we pledge resistance to the fascist machine that has murdered and continues to murder so many of you. We would also like to pay tribute to the many civilian activists internationally, who have campaigned on our behalf in recent years. The past year has been one of struggle for Irish republican prisoners in British gaols. Since 1998 the British Government have insisted on treating Irish republicans as criminals and have forced us to live along side members of various right-wing pro-British death squads and hostile criminals. Vastly outnumbered and separated from each other we had become victims of countless brutal physical assaults and murder attempts. Our situation came to resemble earlier struggles and was clearly intolerable. Following three years of demanding our right to be segregated in our own living quarters, negotiations and peaceful protest had come to nothing. At the beginning of July 2003 we began a no wash protest which succeeded in bringing chaos to the entire prison. In the full knowledge that we were only willing to live in our own excrement for so long, and that we were preparing for a hunger strike, the British government conceded. Republican prisoners know have their own wing, separate from pro British paramilitaries and criminals. The British authorities are as determined as ever to crush our spirits but they are losing the battle as our morale is as high as it has ever been. The nine weeks that we spent on the dirty protest has won for us the ability to remain active politically, albeit behind bars. Our time is spent in political discussion and debate on strategy and ideology. Real Republicans see this conference today as a change to invite correspondence and unity from other anti-imperialist, revolutionary and socialist activists and prisoners throughout the world. The nature of imperialism and capitalism is international and crosses national borders, so too should the nature of our resistance. If our resistance, comrades, is as to be as global as their economy, we must use events such as this conference to forge links. Political prisoners have ample time to maintain contact offering advice, support and encouragement to our respective struggles. Once again we pay tribute to our comrades’ world wide and we wish them success in future campaigns. We hope that this conference is a success and can be utilized in full to the benefit of all involved. We salute you Comrades! Is mise le meas Republican prisoners, Maghaberry gaol. ************************************************ WRITE TO IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS www.irishfreedomcommittee.net - click on “POWs” ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: With A Whisper, Not A Bang - Sweeping new powers for FBI Date: Monday December 29, 2003 Bush signs parts of Patriot Act II into law - stealthily ----------------------------------- San Antonio Current 12/24/2003 With A Whisper, Not A Bang By David Martin On December 13, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, President George W. Bush not only celebrated with his national security team, but also pulled out his pen and signed into law a bill that grants the FBI sweeping new powers. A White House spokesperson explained the curious timing of the signing - on a Saturday - as "the President signs bills seven days a week." But the last time Bush signed a bill into law on a Saturday happened more than a year ago - on a spending bill that the President needed to sign, to prevent shuttng down the federal government the following Monday. By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere footnote. Consequently, while most Americans watched as Hussein was probed for head lice, few were aware that the FBI had just obtained the power to probe their financial records, even if the feds don't suspect their involvement in crime or terrorism. By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere footnote. The Bush Administration and its Congressional allies tucked away these new executive powers in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, a legislative behemoth that funds all the intelligence activities of the federal government. The Act included a simple, yet insidious, redefinition of "financial institution," which previously referred to banks, but now includes stockbrokers, car dealerships, casinos, credit card companies, insurance agencies, jewelers, airlines, the U.S. Post Office, and any other business "whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters." Congress passed the legislation around Thanksgiving. Except for U.S. Representative Charlie Gonzalez, all San Antonio's House members voted for the act. The Senate passed it with a voice vote to avoid individual accountability. While broadening the definition of "financial institution," the Bush administration is ramping up provisions within the 2001 USA Patriot Act, which granted the FBI the authority to obtain client records from banks by merely requesting the records in a "National Security Letter." To get the records, the FBI doesn't have to appear before a judge, nor demonstrate "probable cause" - reason to believe that the targeted client is involved in criminal or terrorist activity. Moreover, the National Security Letters are attached with a gag order, preventing any financial institution from informing its clients that their records have been surrendered to the FBI. If a financial institution breaches the gag order, it faces criminal penalties. And finally, the FBI will no longer be required to report to Congress how often they have used the National Security Letters. Supporters of expanding the Patriot Act claim that the new law is necessary to prevent future terrorist attacks on the U.S. The FBI needs these new powers to be "expeditious and efficient" in its response to these new threats. Robert Summers, professor of international law and director of the new Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University, explains, "We don't go to war with the terrorists as we went to war with the Germans or the North Vietnamese. If we apply old methods of following the money, we will not be successful. We need to meet them on an even playing field to avoid another disaster." "It's a problem that some of these riders that are added on may not receive the scrutiny that we would like to see." - Robert Summers Opponents of the PATRIOT Act and its expansion claim that safeguards like judicial oversight and the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, are essential to prevent abuses of power. "There's a reason these protections were put into place," says Chip Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates, and a historian of U.S. political repression. "It has been shown that if you give [these agencies] this power they will abuse it. For any investigative agency, once you tell them that they must make sure that they protect the country from subversives, it inevitably gets translated into a program to silence dissent." Opponents claim the FBI already has all the tools to stop crime and terrorism. Moreover, explains Patrick Filyk, an attorney and vice president of the local chapter of the ACLU, "The only thing the act accomplishes is the removal of judicial oversight and the transfer of more power to law enforcements agents." This broadening of the Patriot Act represents a political victory for the Bush Administration's stealth legislative strategy to increase executive power. Last February, shortly before Bush launched the war on Iraq, the Center for Public Integrity obtained a draft of a comprehensive expansion of the Patriot Act, nicknamed Patriot Act II, written by Attorney General John Ashcroft's staff. Again, the timing was suspicious; it appeared that the Bush Administration was waiting for the start of the Iraq war to introduce Patriot Act II, and then exploit the crisis to ram it through Congress with little public debate. The leak and ensuing public backlash frustrated the Bush administration's strategy, so Ashcroft and Co. disassembled Patriot Act II, then reassembled its parts into other legislation. By attaching the redefinition of "financial institution" to an Intelligence Authorization Act, the Bush Administration and its Congressional allies avoided public hearings and floor debates for the expansion of the Patriot Act. Even proponents of this expansion have expressed concern about these legislative tactics. "It's a problem that some of these riders that are added on may not receive the scrutiny that we would like to see," says St. Mary's Professor Robert Summers. The Bush Administration has yet to answer pivotal questions about its latest constitutional coup: If these new executive powers are necessary to protect United States citizens, then why would the legislation not withstand the test of public debate? If the new act's provisions are in the public interest, why use stealth in ramming them through the legislative process? . ©San Antonio Current 2003 http://www.sacurrent.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10705756&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=482778&rfi=6 ************************************************ CONTACT YOUR U.S. CONGRESSPERSON BLOCK THE US/UK EXTRADITION TREATY More HERE http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/extradition_treaty_ACTION.htm ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: New prisoner transfers to be challenged Date: Monday, December 29, 2003 ----------------------------- http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=476768 Belfast Telegraph 29 December 2003 Prisoners Transfer May Face Challenge By Michael McHugh New law may face court test on rights PROPOSED powers allowing the Secretary of State to order the transfer of a prisoner to an institution in England or Wales could be challenged in court under European human rights legislation, a campaigning lawyer said today. Jane Winter, from British/Irish Rights Watch, was speaking after it emerged that the Justice (NI) Bill will give the Secretary of State new powers to move convicted or unconvicted remand prisoners from Northern Ireland to England or Wales to maintain "security or good order". In the past, troublesome prisoners whom the authorities believed could engineer discontent have been isolated in a separate wing of prison, like former UDA C Company chief Johnny Adair. Ms Winter said the prison administration should be able to deal with potentially damaging situations without removing a prisoner from the jurisdiction and creating difficulty with family contact. "I can foresee a challenge to this through the courts if this measure goes ahead. Article 8 of the European Human Rights Act protects the right to family life," she said. "When somebody is sent to prison by the courts it is not only the person who does the sentence, it is their family who will find it much harder to stay in contact. "Quite often IRA prisoners who were convicted in England and served their time in English prisons lost touch with family members. "You also had situations where aged relatives were not able to travel to see the prisoners and were deprived of any contact with them at the end of their lives." The Bill received its first reading in the House of Commons on December 4 and should become law during this parliamentary session. Most of its provisions were agreed in the Hillsbrough negotiations earlier this year, but measures to tighten bail conditions and prison transfers were not contained in the Joint Declaration which emerged from those government discussions. Ms Winter said the transfer policy would be akin to blaming individual prisoners for a failure by the prison administration to keep order and observed that if the Home Secretary moved prisoners from England to Northern Ireland there would be an outcry. "It seems to me that moving prisoners elsewhere in the prison is he easier way of dealing with the matter," she added. "It would be better to adopt that system as it does not prevent prisoners from having family visits and does not move them to a completely foreign environment." A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said: "This is about making provision for a transfer so that it can happen. Every case will be looked at in an individual basis." ************************************************ WRITE TO IRISH REPUBLICAN POLITICAL PRISONERS www.irishfreedomcommittee.net - click on ‘POWs’ ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: ACLU Opposes US/UK Extradition Treaty Date: Tuesday December 23, 2003 The American Civil Liberties Union has added its name to the roster of organizations opposing the US/UK Extradition Treaty, which was signed under great secrecy by John Ashcroft and David Blunkett on March 31st, 2003. The Treaty is still before the US Senate for ratification. It is URGENT that you continue to contact your US Senator, particularly if she or he is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and persist in urging them to oppose this draconian and anti-American Treaty. For sample letter/talking points, and contact information for the US Senate and US Senate Foreign Relations Committee members, go here: http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/extradition_treaty_ACTION.htm We also urge you to SIGN THE PETITION, if you have not already had the chance, at: http://www.petitiononline.com/ia_ax/petition.html The Irish Freedom Committee® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ ACLU Opposes British-American Extradition Treaty; Says Measure Removes Crucial Due Process Protections FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, December 19, 2003 Contact: Shin Inouye (202) 675-2312 WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today weighed in against the ratification of a new extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States, saying that the measure contains a number of ill-considered erosions of judicial review and would threaten the due process rights of Americans and others accused of crimes by the British government. Most troubling, the ACLU said, is the treaty’s evisceration of the judiciary’s role in reviewing whether a defendant would receive a fair trial in the UK and whether an extradition request was prompted by political, rather than criminal, reasons. “As a beacon of freedom in the world, our courts must retain the ability to deny requests for the extradition of political figures targeted because of dissent against their home government,” said Timothy Edgar, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. “Unfortunately, this extradition treaty vests that authority in the Justice Department, not an objective judiciary that can ensure the United States renders up terrorists and criminals, not dissidents”. The new treaty was signed by Attorney General John Ashcroft and British Home Secretary David Blunkett on March 31, 2003 and now must be considered by the U.S. Senate before it could take effect. Attorney General Ashcroft announced at the signing ceremony that the new treaty “should serve as a model to the world” and could lead to revising other extradition treaties. The ACLU contends that Senate ratification of this treaty would encourage the administration to pursue extradition treaties with other nations that diminish due process and meaningful judicial review, and urged the Senate to reject ratification. Specifically, the new treaty eliminates the American judiciary’s role in determining whether an extradition request should be denied on the basis of the political offense exception. This centuries-old exception protects Americans and others from political, religious or other impermissible persecution, and prevents the extradition of individuals who would become political prisoners in their home countries. The exception also safeguards American interests by maintaining neutrality in the political affairs of other countries. The current extradition treaty with the UK was adopted in 1972, and was amended in 1986. The new change narrows the political offense exception to exclude serious violent crimes, but ensures that the accused will receive a fair trial in the UK. Notably, the original version of the 1986 amended treaty contained the same provision as the measure pending in the Senate 2003, but because of it was unable to initially pass Congressional muster. If the new treaty were ratified, an American who opposed British policy - for example, an investigative journalist who wrote of police abuses in Northern Ireland for an Irish American newspaper - could face arrest and extradition without having any ability to challenge, in an American court, whether the criminal charges are really a pretext for the punishment on account of race, religion, nationality or political opinion. The treaty contains other contentious measures. These include provisions that eliminate the statute of limitations as a defense against extradition, allow for “provisional arrests” and detentions, which can last for as long as sixty days with no formal extradition request providing supporting details -- and for the treaty to be applied retroactively. “America is not a haven for terrorists and those who use violence against innocent civilians,” Edgar said. “But the elimination of judicial review for these political offense exceptions is unnecessary to ensure that suspected terrorists face extradition, and would unfairly erode due process protections in America.” The ACLU’s letter on the extradition treaty can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/ImmigrantsRights/ImmigrantsRights.cfm?ID=14610&c=22 ----- Shin Inouye Legislative Media Liaison ACLU Washington Legislative Office tel: 202-675-2312 (Press Line) fax: 202-546-0738 Help protect your civil liberties - http://www.aclu.org ************************************************ FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE US/UK EXTRADITION TREATY AND HOW TO FIGHT IT GO HERE: http://members.freespeech.org/irishpows/bb3/extradition_treaty_ACTION.htm ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Secret dossiers filed on Irish during Soham investigation Date: December 20, 2003 Double child murder used as cover to "profile" Britain’s Irish community. - Soham Irish Files Scandal (The Sun, Dec. 20, 2003) |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Defend the Irish Language Date: Friday December 12, 2003 We apologize for any cross-posting on this issue but we urge you to please sign this petition today. The EU has not recognized the ancient language of the Irish people and the Free State government apparently has no comment on the matter. Please leave yours here: http://www.petitiononline.com/gaedhilg/petition.html Go raibh maith agat; The Irish Freedom Committee® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Republican Prisoner attacked in Young Offenders Center Date: December 10, 2003 ********Please forward widely******** ------------- SEE ACTION REQUEST BELOW STATEMENT Or go to: IFC ACTION REQUEST – Prevent Another Tragedy for Republican Prisoners! ------------ Loyalists attempted to hang 17 year old Republican prisoner Joseph Barr this weekend at Hydebank Young Offenders Center. -------------- The Northern Ireland Prisons Service is continuing to house Republicans alongside loyalist death squads. ------------- The following statement released from Marian Price and Martin Mulholland in Belfast yesterday: DECEMBER 9, 2003 PRESS RELEASE. Republican Prisoner attacked in Hydebank YOC. “A republican prisoner from Strabane was attacked by six loyalist youths on Sunday night past (7th Dec) in Hydebank Young Offenders Centre outside Belfast. 17 Year old Joseph Barr was in his cell when the loyalist youths attempted to hang him; luckily they were disturbed before any serious damage was done. “(We) have consistently called for James Barr’s transfer to the republican wing in Maghaberry where he will be safe from attack but are told that this is against the European convention of human rights for children because of his age. “The Northern Ireland Prison Service knows full well the implications of leaving a single republican prisoner surrounded by hostile loyalists and criminals and we call on them to provide security for Joseph Barr until he leaves the institution. “Joseph Barr turns 18 at the end of December and any procrastination on his transfer will be viewed as a deliberate attempt to endanger his life further. “(We) are also wary of attempts to move two women prisoners from Maghaberry to Hydebank. The two republican women have stated their intention of staying put and we demand they receive adequate protection and amenities rather than the 23 hour lock up they are currently forced to endure. “(We) believe that it would be a pity if after a protracted prison struggle has just finished, another is embarked upon for the same basic principals that the government have already conceded.” - Statement ends. ************************************************ IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE ACTION REQUEST Please send an email or letter to the Northern Ireland Prisons Service and the Northern Ireland Office today!! 5 EASY STEPS! >>>>Or GO
HERE for a simple form<<<< |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Sectarian “Justice” -- Loyalist prisoner to walk free tomorrow? Date: December 9, 2003 Illustrating once again the enormous discrepancy in the type of “justice” Republican prisoners receive versus loyalists, a leading UDA man who was caught last year with a handgun and 30 rounds of ammunition will likely walk free tomorrow after serving only six months of an already greatly reduced sentence. Andre Shoukri has been shown extraordinary leniency throughout his arrest and detention, being bailed home to his family almost immediately after his arrest and given his freedom until his court case was heard. In contrast Republicans are often remanded in prison for up to and beyond two years before sentencing and are effectively interned without trial. Shoukri was acquitted of the more serious charges which a republican in similar circumstances would more than certainly have faced, and is now in the process of appealing the lenient and reduced sentence of two years after the additional six-year sentence was thrown out. It is expected that he will be freed tomorrow after spending negligible time in prison for the incident. While he was at Maghaberry Prison Shoukri issued death threats to Republican prisoners and threatened the lives of any prisoner who assisted Republicans who were on protest for segregation from loyalist death squads. He has previously served two jail terms, one for malicious wounding, and one for extortion. The UDA under his command murdered 19-year old Irish father-of-one Gerard Lawlor. In what it claimed was a "measured military response", loyalists mowed down the young man with five bullets as he walked home from a pub, because he was wearing a Celtic jersey. More below. The Irish Freedom Committee® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ Andersonstown News Dec. 8, 2003 UDA Thug Shoukri Likely To Receive Reduced Sentence by Jarlath Kearney The UDA's leading member in North Belfast, Andre Shoukri, is scheduled to receive a full judgement tomorrow (Friday) in his Court of Appeal case, the Andersonstown News can reveal. Shoukri - a notorious loyalist thug - was arrested on September 21, 2002, in possession of a Walther pistol and thirty rounds of ammunition. After a prolonged period of freedom on bail, Shoukri's trial took place at the end of June and he was sensationally acquitted of intent to endanger life. Shoukri was, however, found guilty of possessing the gun and ammunition in suspicious circumstances and without a firearms certificate. He was concurrently sentenced to six years imprisonment on the first count and two years imprisonment on the second count. In a move that caused outrage in the nationalist community, Shoukri's appeal against both convictions was 'fast-tracked' and began on September 21 - just ten weeks after his conviction. This meant that Shoukri was arrested, charged, remanded, bailed, convicted and had his appeal begun, all within twelve months of his original offence. Handing down its initial decision three weeks ago, the three-man Court of Appeal - led by Lord Chief Justice Robert Carswell, sitting together with Justice Nicholson and Justice Kerr - upheld Shoukri's appeal against his conviction of possessing the weapon in suspicious circumstances and quashed the six-year jail sentence. Lawyers for the leading loyalist had argued during his appeal that he obtained the weapon after a number of death threats for reasons of self-defence and in order to protect his life. The full reserved judgement to explain that Appeal Court decision is due to be delivered at Friday's hearing. Legal sources now expect Shoukri to receive a reduction in sentence for his final conviction of possessing a weapon without a firearms certificate. It is possible that any significant reduction tomorrow in that two-year sentence could see the leading loyalist thug walking out of court a free man because of time already served. ************************************************ Andersonstown News -- ireland.click November 17, 2003 Shoukri's Six-Year Sentence Overturned Journalist:: Staff Reporter Leading Westland loyalist Andre Shoukri has had his conviction overturned for having a firearm in suspicious circumstances during the bitter feud between the UDA and Johnny Adair's C Coy. The convicted extortionist appeared at the Appeal Court in Belfast yesterday to challenge his six-year sentence for having a firearm when his car was stopped and searched by the PSNI outside Rathcoole in September 2002. Appeal Court judges reserved judgement on another charge of possessing a firearm without a certificate which Shoukri is currently serving a two-year sentence for. As the handcuffed loyalist left court yesterday he claimed "justice had been done". ************************************************ MORE:
IFC NewsList – August 12, 2003 |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Important victory - Key Provisions of Anti-Terrorism Statute Declared Unconstitutional Date: December 8, 2003 "This decision will mitigate the substantial chilling effect that this statute has cast over those who seek to provide humanitarian aid to conflict-ridden areas." - David Cole, Center for Constitutional Rights To read the decision in full go to: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/044DE357BD726D7288256DF10063BDE4/$file/0255082.pdf?openelement Or go to Or go just to http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ and look for Court of Appeals decisions, or HLP v DOJ. The Irish Freedom Committee® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 3, 2003 3:33 PM CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights, David Cole 202-362-6473 Nancy Chang 212-614-6420 Key Provisions of Anti-Terrorism Statute Declared Unconstitutional WASHINGTON - December 3 -The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today declared unconstitutional significant parts of a criminal statute barring "material support" to terrorist organizations, and rejected the government's interpretation of the statute as imposing liability on "moral innocents." The statute at issue, 18 U.S.C. 2339B, has been a central tool in the Bush administration's criminal "war on terrorism" cases, and the decision calls into question the legality of several convictions, including those of the Lackawanna 6, the first of whom were sentenced today. The case, Humanitarian Law Project v. Ashcroft, involved a challenge by brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of a human rights organization in Los Angeles and several groups of Sri Lankan Tamils to a statute that criminalizes "material support" to any group designated as "terrorist" by the Secretary of State. The Adminstration has argued that the statute makes it a crime to provide material support to terrorist organizations without regard to whether the donor knows that the organization is a designated group, and the statute includes within the ambit of "material support" the provision of "personnel" and "training." Reaffirming an earlier decision in the case, the court of appeals held unconstitutionally vague the statute's prohibition on the provision of "personnel" and "training" to terrorist organizations These are the very terms that the Lackawanna 6 have pleaded guilty to violating by attending an Al Qaeda training camp. In addition, the Court firmly rejected the government's broad interpretation of the "material support" statute. The government argued that the statute permitted a conviction even where a donor was unaware that a recipient organization was designated, and unaware of the organization's unlawful acts. The Court held that this interpretation would unconstitutionally punish "moral innocents" in violation of due process, and therefore interpreted the statute to require the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the donor knew the organization was designated or was aware of the unlawful activities that led to its designation. The Court reasoned: Without the knowledge requirement described above, a person who simply sends a check to a school or orphanage in Tamil Eelam run by the LTTE could be convicted under the statute, even if that individual is not aware of the LTTE's designation or of any unlawful activities undertaken by the LTTE. Or, according to the government's interpretation of 2339B, a woman who buys cookies from a bake sale outside of her grocery store to support displaced Kurdish refugees to find new homes could be held liable so long as the bake sale had a sign that said that the sale was sponsored by the PKK, without regard to her knowledge of the PKK's designation or other activities. The court also upheld prior rulings that the material support statute's prohibitions on the provision of "personnel" and "training" were "void for vagueness under the First and Fifth Amendments because they bring within their ambit constitutionally protected speech and advocacy. David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor and lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, who argued the case, said: "Today's decision means that central parts of this "material support" statutes are unconstitutional, and that the government's interpretation of the statute cast an unconstitutionally broad net over innocent persons. This decision will mitigate the substantial chilling effect that this statute has cast over those who seek to provide humanitarian aid to conflict-ridden areas. In our view, however the statute's flaw is even more fundamental it imposes guilt by association. People should be held responsible for their own acts, and for any acts of terrorism that they support, not for their mere "support" of a group the government has placed on a blacklist." Nancy Chang, the Center for Constitutional Rights staff attorney who is working on the case, said, "The First Amendment protections that the Ninth Circuit has put into place are especially important now that the Patriot Act was amended to increase the penalty for the provision of material support from ten years to 15 years and possibly a sentence life." The decision is available at http://mailhost.groundspring.org/cgi-bin/t.pl?id=55310:134751BDE4/$file/0255082.pdf ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Christmas Card signing – Chicago Area Date: December 8, 2003 For those of you in the Chicago or Illinois area, please join the Irish Freedom Committee this Sunday for a bit of Christmas cheer and a chance to sign holiday cards for Irish Republican political prisoners. Come meet some old friends, or make some new ones, and help let the prisoners and their families know that they are in our thoughts and prayers this holiday season. Please CONTACT US for more information about other local card signings this week across the US. Nollaig Shona Daoibh!! (Merry Christmas to you all!!) The Irish Freedom Committee® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ ANNOUNCEMENT |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: RUC/PSNI EVIDENCE TAMPERING: CASES DROPPED Date: Monday December 8, 2003 "What happened in this case is that the security forces tried to pervert the course of justice and I am calling for a full judicial inquiry." - Defense Solicitor Paddy MacDermott The cases against MARTIN BROGAN and MARK CARROLL have collapsed amidst discoveries of widespread evidence tampering. More below from the Sunday Business Post. The Irish Freedom Committee® ************************************************ Sunday Business Post Sunday, December 07, 2003 PSNI asked forensics lab to alter report By Eamonn MacDermott The British army and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have intervened in the workings of the North's Forensic Science Laboratory to such a degree that all convictions based on forensic evidence over the last 30 years could be called into question, solicitors have claimed. The allegations follow the collapse of the case against two alleged dissident republicans after it was revealed that the British army had tampered with evidence and the PSNI had asked a scientist to "modify" his findings to protect an informer. The two men, Martin Brogan and Mark Carroll, were charged with having an explosive device. During a routine investigation by their solicitors, Kevin R Winters and Co, a lawyer visited the forensic science laboratory to assess the evidence. The solicitor came across a letter from one of the scientists in the case outlining a request he had received from a PSNI detective chief inspector. The scientist said the police chief had asked him to "modify" his statement and omit "a number of sections". According to the scientist, the chief inspector provided a copy of the original statement with the areas he wanted modified clearly marked.The result would have been that the report would have omitted any reference to traces of explosives being found on a third man, believed to have been an informer. The solicitor also found a memo which said that, after the evidence had been collected but before it was sent to the forensic science laboratory, a British army search organisation had gone to Newry police station and opened the bags of evidence. The memo noted that the soldiers' examination involved "opening bags in the exhibits room . . . and rubbing a gloved hand over the surface of the contents, in this case items of clothing". Last week, in what Winters described as "a carefully orchestrated stunt to coincide with the election count", the two men were found not guilty and were released. The solicitor said the case was of huge significance and he called for an inquiry. He said: "Many areas have to be considered. The whole issue of disclosure to defence solicitors, routine refusals by the Crown to disclose material that they say is not relevant and the issue of public immunity certificates all have to be looked at." This is not the first time that the Forensic Science Laboratory has come under pressure from the PSN I. Several months ago a leading forensic scientist told a Belfast court that scientists were coming under pressure from the police in relation to evidence in certain cases. Winters said that the case highlighted the tensions between the PSNI and the forensic scientists. He added that any "cosy relationship" that might have once existed was long over. Solicitor Paddy MacDermott, who is representing a Derry man charged on the basis of DNA evidence, which he claims was planted by police, said: "This case could call into question all convictions based on forensic evidence over the past 30 years. "Forensic evidence has always been presented as some sort of objective measure, yet here we have a blatant attempt to interfere with the evidence itself and with the findings. "In view of what has happened, it is difficult to refute the assertion that all forensic evidence in this case has been tainted. "What happened in this case is that the security forces tried to pervert the course of justice and I am calling for a full judicial inquiry." ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Act of Conscience to Spark an Act of Congress Date: December 6, 2003 ---------- The Blanket December 4, 2003 Act of Conscience to Spark an Act of Congress “In our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either.” - Mark Twain “If intimidated, speak up louder than before.” - Howard Zinn Matthew Kavanah • 4.12.03 As a citizen of the United States where elected officials frequently herald our democratic values, freedom and liberty, social tolerance, jurisprudence and the Bill of Rights, does it stand to reason that I should harbor a degree of trepidation as I write the following essay? Although I am aware that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled on the very issue that I will provide further explication for in this essay, am I justified in fearing potential governmental retribution solely because of my political viewpoint and sensibilities? As Howard Zinn wrote, “I suggest that free speech does not become a reality until people insist on it, struggle for it, practice it, because corporate wealth, governmental power, judicial decisions all limit that right.” At the outset of this piece, let me state with no equivocation, that what I pen here I write as an individual of conscience, neither in an overt nor a veiled attempt to solicit support for any organization and not to serve as an endorsement of any organization. My words are primarily directed to those who would deny the freedoms of association, press, speech, and due process and those who would deter the forward march of liberty, equality and fraternity. In May 2001 the US Department of State, in conjunction and collaboration with the US Department of the Treasury and the US Department of Justice [although Attorney General Ashcroft oftentimes seems more preoccupied with his sense of law as opposed to justice…hmm, a topic for a future article?] proscribed the Real IRA and included the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, 32 County Sovereignty Movement [hereafter referred to as 32 County] and the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association [hereafter referred to as IRPWA] as aliases of the Real IRA. These organizations were thus designated as [FTO] foreign terrorist organizations. According to State Department guidelines, the legal criteria for designation is as follows: (Reflecting Amendments to Section 219 of the INA in the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001) It must be a foreign organization. The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)),* or terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)(2)),** or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism. The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States. Furthermore, the legal ramifications of the designation on US citizens and other persons under US jurisdiction are as follows: It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide "material support or resources" to a designated FTO. (The term "material support or resources" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b) as "currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or religious materials.) Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from the United States (see 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182 (a)(3)(B)(i)(IV)-(V), 1227 (a)(1)(A)). Any U.S. financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which a designated FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The 32 County and IRPWA organizations as well as their US members and
supporters secured the pro bono legal services of a Washington, DC based |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: IFC Christmas Card Drive for IPOWs Date: December 5, 2003 The Irish Freedom Committee is hosting a series of CHRISTMAS CARD SIGNINGS across the US this weekend and throughout the following week. For more information on how you can join one in your area, or host one yourself-- or for a current list of IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS wanting Christmas cards and suggestions for Air Mail posting your cards, please email us at the address below. Nollaig Shona Daoibh!! (Merry Christmas to you all!!) The Irish Freedom Committee® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENT DEC. 1, 2003 JOIN A CHRISTMAS CARD CIRCLE IN YOUR AREA!! The Irish Freedom Committee is hosting Christmas Card Signings for Irish Political Prisoners in a variety of US cities during the next two weeks. For more information on how to join one in your area, or to host a signing of your own, please contact us at the email address below. Go raibh maith agat; IFC POW Dept. email us ************************************************ WRITE TO IRISH POWs www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ----------------------------- Subject: Deportees – Anthony McIntyre Date: December 2, 2003 ---------------------- http://lark.phoblacht.net/ The Blanket November 30, 2003 Deportees Anthony McIntyre • 30.11.03 Malachy McAllister, or ‘Mock’ as we knew him was a close childhood friend; one of those types that made youngsters not related by way of family consider becoming blood brothers through cutting hands and letting the blood mingle. We never got to that stage, thinking it a better demonstration of our fidelity to each other to share in the spilling of the blood from the heads of some loyalist kids from the Donegall Pass Tartan gang, achieved with a few well-aimed stones. For my sins the Tartan aimed better and split my own, leaving me stitched and sore. Looking back, it was all childhood nonsense but it was how we gave meaning to our world. Mates were mates and loyalty to each other was a big factor in our lives. That was before the opposite sex stopped looking gawky and it suddenly seemed better to have a girl than a blood brother. Chasing no longer meant pursuing the Tartan. But until the intervention of the opposite sex we lived what we thought was a Tom Sawyer type of life – troublesome and adventurous but never really dangerous. We drank the cider together, played football and handball, fought each other, rioted with the Brits and cops - everything that many others of a young teenage subculture become immersed in as they sail through those often turbulent formative years. And of course we ended up in jail together - he as a member of the INLA and myself a volunteer in the Provisional IRA. He arrived in the jail about six years after me, having married Bernie before he heard the cell door clang behind him. It was good to see him again although not so good to see him under such circumstances. Mock was released from jail in the mid-1980s. I thought his troubles were over, or at least the worst of them. But things just didn’t work out so easily. In October 1988 loyalists, rearmed and directed by the British, launched a gun attack on his home. Neither he nor Bernie were there. But Bernie’s mother was minding the couple’s children. All were lucky that none of the 25 rounds fired found their target. A short time later Mock and Bernie learned that the guns used to attack their family had been recovered in a loyalist area along with personal details of Mock which came from British State security force files. Shortly after that he fled to Canada and then on to New Jersey, where a federal judge found that Bernadette and the children had suffered "severe persecution". Three years ago a US judge, while ordering the deportation of Mock on the grounds of his previous conviction, granted asylum to Bernie, finding that she had ‘suffered extreme past persecution based on her religion, her political opinion, and because she is Malachy McAllister's wife.’ Now we learn that Mock is the subject of a manhunt instigated by the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), under the authority of Attorney General John Ashcroft. According to legal representative Russell Smith the DHS ‘defying a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals’ has laid siege to the family’s home. On November 19th, Bernie McAllister and her children, Sean and Nicola, were about to celebrate Thanksgiving in the New Jersey town of Wallington when she learned that she and her four children were to be stripped of their political asylum status and would be deported back to Belfast within 30 days. 20 DHS agents congregated outside their front door. Although their 26-year-old son Gary is married to an American citizen he too has been included in the deportation order. The two youngest children have no memory of Belfast and are said to be terrified that they will be shot if compelled to return to the city. According to Russell Smith: Despite the fact that the Court of Appeals immediately issued a temporary stay of removal pending its decision on this case, the DHS remains staked out at the McAllister home and continues, unlawfully, to treat Malachy McAllister as "fugitive" from the very removal order which the Court has stayed! Both Russell Smith and the Ancient Order of Hibernians of which Mock is a member, have called on concerned bodies and individuals to make their views known to John Ashcroft. The family also has support from Irish American Unity Conference and many Congressional leaders. Ancient Order of Hibernians National President Ned McGinley pledged a "supreme effort" on the part of the AOH throughout the U.S. in an effort to halt the deportation. This harassment is not an isolated event but is part of a developing pattern. In the past year we have saw the expulsion from the US of Bernadette McAliskey; the detention of former republican prisoner Ciaran Ferry who had married a US citizen and was living in the country with both her and their child; the deportation of John Eddie McNicholl. A cold wind is blowing through the country, shaking down anybody who may be considered ‘undesirable’. Human considerations are being trampled under the juggernaut of national security. Malachy McAllister asked, ‘what is the purpose of going after me … what does it solve?’ John Ashcroft knows. But he doesn’t care. A trenchant supporter of government strategies that lead to the slaughter of Israeli, Palestinian and Iraqi children, why would he display sensitivity for kids from the backstreets of Belfast? Ní síocháin go tuiscint ************************************************ © The Irish Freedom Committee® NewsList - IFC Updates |
| IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST ----------------------------- Subject: Malachy McAllister released pending asylum appeal – PLEASE HELP Date: December 2, 2003 Please continue to phone and write your US Senators to urge that asylum be granted to Malachy McAllister and his family. Items below: - Press Release: Law Offices of Dornan and O’Shea – MALACHY McALLISTER RELEASED - Sign Petition: Relief for Irish Deportees and Political Prisoners in the US - Press Release: NJ Sen. Rothman Obtains Freedom for Irish Political Asylum Seeker - New Jersey Resolution NJ SR 42: Malachy McAllister Find your US Senator here Please help Malachy and his family obtain political asylum in the United States. The Irish Freedom Committee® www.irishfreedomcommittee.net ************************************************ Press Release: December 1, 2003
THE LAW OFFICES OF SMITH DORNAN & SHEA PC |