Anti-Frontex days planned in Poland

A WEEK of activities against the European border agency, Frontex, is being staged in Poland from May 15 to 23.

Says the campaign website: "The agency has their seat in Warsaw, Poland, from where it directs its activities.

"It is a common misconception that Frontex is an actual border police, with a staff in uniform tasked to physically police the borders of the EU.

"Rather, Frontex is a coordinating mechanism of the European Union organizing the cooperation of the border police bodies of the member states of the EU.

"In this respect, Frontex is like a meta border police: it is both above and behind the everyday practices of border guards.

"To this end, Frontex combines a lot of tasks and activities in one body that in the traditional nation state have been kept separate.

"There is an intelligence service component: Frontex actively monitors and pools data about all that is going on at the external borders of the EU, so that predictions to movements of migration can be made.

"Frontex refers to this as risk analysis, a whole department at the headquarters in Warsaw is busy with this and well connected to its national counterparts in Europe.

"There is also a research division, which – in cooperation with military industries and universities – pushes for the high-tech-sci-fi border of the 21st century.

"Current plans include real-time surveillance of the border on all levels, including live satellite imagery, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV aka drones, usually deployed in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq) for close-ups, and all other tools at the disposal of a border guard: radar, cameras, etc. Another project is the introduction of biometric identity checks at all border crossings.

"The main focus of Frontex, however, is the coordination of cooperation at the actual border, as they refer to it. Since the agency became operational, Frontex has organized so called 'joint operations', in which EU member states invite other EU member states to send border guard personal and equipment for a joint policing of the borders.

"Recently, Frontex has also been more involved in the organization and financing of mass deportations, where a whole plane is chartered and refugees from all over Europe are collectively deported to their assumed countries of origin. In 2009, Frontex did more than 30 such flights, removing more than 1.500 people from European territory."

Activists hold up oil work

FOUR eco-campaigners were arrested at Rossport in Eire this week as work was stopped at Shell's compound in Aughoose for over seven hours.

Says a report on UK Indymedia: "At 7am on May 4, two people from the Rossport Solidarity camp locked their arms together inside a plastic and concrete barrel, which had been placed directly in front of the gates of of the Shell compound.

"This was eventually removed by 1pm by the Garda protest removal team. Following the removal of the lock-on, a tractor bringing borehole drilling rig to the Shell compound was stopped and two people climbed up on the tractor cab and the borehole drilling rig.

"The Gardaí who had been mostly calm during the lock-on, became very aggressive and reckless, immediately climbing on the borehole drilling rig and dragging one of the people down in a dangerous and foreful manner.

"The second person who was on the tractor cab was taken down about 30 minutes later again in a dangerous manner by having her hands handcuffed and her legs cable-tied and then being handed down a ladder by Gardaí. None of the Gardaí involved wore any ropes, harnesses or any safety equipment."

Banksy art backs Bristol uprising

ARTIST Banksy has backed the Bristol uprising against capitalism and police repression by producing a controversial new image.

Reported the right-wing Daily Mail: "The anonymous street stenciler has produced limited edition prints of a brown bottle emblazoned in the food giant's blue and white 'value' colours.

"The smoking device is stuffed with a flaming rag and labelled 'Tesco Value Petrol Bomb'. The artist will put the work up for sale just days after bloody battles over a new Tesco Express in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol - his home city.

"It is believed profits from the £5 poster will go towards funding the legal defence for more than 30 rioters arrested following the two nights of violence.

"Details of the drawing were released on the Banksy Forum website today, accompanied by a statement of behalf of the illusive artist. It also appeared on his own website - a sign the work is authentic.

"The statement read: 'After the recent Tesco riots in Bristol, Banksy has produced this fine commemorative souvenir poster.

'It's available exclusively from Bristol's Anarchist Bookfair this coming Saturday. All proceeds go to the Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft and associates'."

Jury says police unlawfully killed Tomlinson

BRITISH police unlawfully killed bystander Ian Tomlinson during the anti-G20 protests in 2009, an inquest jury has ruled.

The Guardian reports that the jury's verdict said Tomlinson's death came after he was "fatally injured. This was as a result of a baton strike from behind and a push in the back by a police officer which caused Mr Tomlinson to fall heavily.

"Both the baton strike and the push were excessive and unreasonable. As a result, Mr Tomlinson suffered internal bleeding which led to his collapse within a few minutes and his subsequent death."

The paper adds that their finding noted Tomlinson, a father of nine, was walking away from police, obeying orders and posed "no threat" when he was struck by PC Simon Harwood.

Although the state is now reviewing the evidence for a possible prosecution of Harwood, perhaps for manslaughter, this may still not happen.

It is clearly not in the interests of the authorities to punish cops for doing what they are told to do - ie, intimidate opponents of the neoliberal regime and frighten them off the streets.

There seems even less likelihood that any action will be taken regarding the lies deployed by the police and their accomplices to hide the truth about Tomlinson's death from the public.

The police habit not just of violence, but of of fibbing through their teeth and getting away with, it is well known to much of the public, hence the wave of online anger directed at Harwood after the verdict.

Cops attacked in Paris suburb

RIOTS broke out in a suburb of Paris over the weekend, after youths ambushed police.

The cops and the fire brigade turned up in Sartrouville at 3am on Sunday to deal with three burning cars.

French media explained this was a "trap" and they were set upon by 40 youths, who threw stones at them and damaged vehicles.

Police then used teargas and "flashball" rubber bullets against the rioters.

Does the British state fear an insurrection?

Bristol Stokes Croft Riot 28/4/11 from Culturfied on Vimeo.

A SECOND night of anti-Tesco and anti-police rioting in Bristol has raised hopes of a long overdue insurrection against the neoliberal nightmare.

Reports The Independent: "Police launched an eviction raid on a Bristol squat yesterday after riots raged for a second time in a suburb that has become a focal point for anger against heavy-handed policing.

"More than 30 people were arrested after another night of violence in Stokes Croft, a bohemian suburb of Bristol that is vehemently opposed to the opening of a Tesco store.

"Last week, a protest against the supermarket giant turned into running street battles as demonstrators clashed with baton-wielding riot officers. Somerset and Avon Police claimed they had uncovered a petrol bomb plot to attack the store but locals rubbished this and accused officers of using wildly disproportionate force to quell a peaceful anti-Tesco movement."

State attacks against centres of dissent confirm the authorities are worried that a wave of resistance could sweep the streets of the UK this summer.

Says a report on the threatened UK Indymedia site: "With future May Days under threat, policing in the build up to this May Day has been particularly pernicious.

"Operations were mounted against social centres, projects and activists as the MET and other forces engaged in a series of pre-emptive arrests.

"In London raids took place at the Rat Star Social Centre, Offmarket Social Centre, nearby Petrosiege and The Community Project in Sipson (Grow Heathrow).

"The Met were also involved in raids on squats in Brighton, and Telepathic Heights in Bristol - where a police raid caused last week’s Battle of Stokes Croft - was evicted, causing further disturbances. Indymedia reported that an arrest was made in Cambridge and one in Edinburgh after groups and individuals were raided in Scotland in relation to March 26."

Afghans rise up against US empire

MASS resistance against Western occupation is increasing in Afghanistan, nearly ten years after the US-led invasion.

The Voice of America website admits that at least nine people were killed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday in a second day of protests.

The catalyst for the latest uprising has been a Quran burning by a right-wing Christian church in the United States.

Says the report: "Security forces fired shots to disperse an angry group of protesters as they marched through the streets of Kandahar city, setting cars and buildings on fire.

"The riot in Kandahar came a day after protesters stormed the United Nations complex in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing seven foreign workers, following a demonstration against the Quran burning.

"Also Saturday, NATO officials say insurgents wearing women's clothing attacked a coalition base in Kabul.

"NATO says three militants - two of them suicide bombers - were killed when they attacked Camp Phoenix in the Afghan capital. Three NATO service members were slightly wounded."