english
nederlands
Indymedia NL
Independent Media Centre of the Netherlands
Indymedia NL is an independent free communication organisation. Indymedia offers an alternative approach to the news by using an open publishing method for text, images, video and audio.
> contact > search > archive > help > join > publish news > open newswire > disclaimer > chat
Search

 
All Words
Any Word
Contains Media:
Only images
Only video
Only audio

Dossiers
Agenda
CHAT!
LINKS

European NewsReal

MDI's complaint against Indymedia.nl
Courtcase Deutsche Bahn vs. Indymedia.nl
Topics
anti-fascisme / racisme
europa
feminisme
gentechnologie
globalisering
kunst, cultuur en muziek
media
militarisme
natuur, dier en mens
oranje
vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten
wereldcrisis
wonen/kraken
zonder rubriek
Events
G8
Oaxaca
Schinveld
Schoonmakers-Campagne
Help
Tips for newbies
A short intro into Indymedia NL
The policy of Indymedia NL
How to join?
Donate
Support Indymedia NL with donations!
Lawsuits cost a lot of money, we appreciate every (euro)cent you can spare!

You can also direct your donation to Dutch bank account 94.32.153 on behalf of Stichting Vrienden van Indymedia, Amsterdam (IBAN: NL41 PSTB 0009 4321 53)
Indymedia Network

www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa
ambazonia
canarias
estrecho / madiaq
kenya
nigeria
south africa

Canada
hamilton
london, ontario
maritimes
montreal
ontario
ottawa
quebec
thunder bay
vancouver
victoria
windsor
winnipeg

East Asia
burma
jakarta
japan
manila
qc

Europe
alacant
andorra
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
bristol
bulgaria
croatia
cyprus
estrecho / madiaq
euskal herria
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
lille
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
netherlands
nice
norway
oost-vlaanderen
paris/île-de-france
poland
portugal
romania
russia
scotland
sverige
switzerland
thessaloniki
toulouse
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia
west vlaanderen

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
brasil
chiapas
chile
chile sur
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso

Oceania
adelaide
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
oceania
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india
mumbai

United States
arizona
arkansas
atlanta
austin
baltimore
big muddy
binghamton
boston
buffalo
charlottesville
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
danbury, ct
dc
hampton roads, va
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
idaho
ithaca
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
omaha
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
seattle
tallahassee-red hills
tampa bay
tennessee
united states
urbana-champaign
utah
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
armenia
beirut
israel
palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
discussion
fbi/legal updates
indymedia faq
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech
volunteer
Credits
This site is produced by volunteers using free software where possible.

The system we use is available from:mir.indymedia.de
an alternative is available from: active.org.au/doc

Thanks to indymedia.de and mir-coders for creating and sharing mir!

Contact:
info @ indymedia.nl
To defend the right of social protest!
El Libertario, Venezuela - 06.12.2009 20:25

* From Venezuela, a group of social organizations and human rights, students and academic groups as well as different individuals, launch this call for a campaign to defend the right to protest, which today is being systematically violated by the government of Hugo Chávez. This document was originally published in Spanish in El Libertario newspaper, # 57 (www.nodo50.org/ellibertario).





According to figures revealed by trade unions, peasants and student leaders, there are currently 2200 people in Venezuela under schemes of presentation in court for exercising the constitutional right to protest for their basic demands. The vast majority of people suffering from these processes belong to workers unions, peasants, students and people communities, being the most dispossessed and vulnerable the ones who suffer the infringement of their rights. What was an isolated and eventual policy has become a state policy. On the one hand, police officers, the prosecutors and judges, on the other, hired killers led by landowners and business sectors, plus shock troops allied with national, regional and local governments regardless their political orientation, all form the triangle of repression to the social fight.

Such criminalization, encouraged by different branches of the government, businessmen and landowners, is made in a context of rising demonstrations for social rights so the government has been applying several regulations to those who occupy lands to demand their right to land and housing, to communities that close the streets to seek or improve public services, the workers that pressure to defend their source of work, achieve better wages and achieve collective hiring, to students demanding resources for their schools, users of primary health services and several other sectors in struggle for their social and political rights. Therefore, the above is an evidence of the strategy applied by the state and some private sectors to restrict legitimate protest and the enjoyment of human rights enshrined in the Constitution.

As a counterpart we have the situation of impunity for crimes occurred against social fighters, where the signs of participation of businessmen and landowners in the assassinations of workers’ leaders and peasants have not been investigated and punished at all, and neither the political responsibility of regional leaders in some of the cases. This impunity has encouraged the hired killers as a method to silence and intimidate the sectors in struggle for their rights. While in this mode there is a high percentage derived from the feuds between trade associations for the control of jobs, as happens in the construction sector, there have been several cases where the contract killing aims to fulminate and dissolve unions who dare to move for their claims and the more radical workers' struggles.

For this reason a group of social organizations and human rights, student and academics groups as well as different individuals, promote a campaign to defend the right to protest, as lies in the universal declaration of human rights and the Constitution, and condemn the opening of trials, the use of hired killers and other mechanisms against this right such as legal measures that ban the execution of assemblies and strikes within SOEs. In this regard, we want to make the present statement to raise public awareness about this serious restriction of the rights, and urge all unions, peasants, community and students organizations, as well as the alternative media to join actively this national campaign to defend the legitimate right to social protest.

We ask for:

1) The repeal of sections 284, 286, 297 and 358 of the Penal Code; 47, 48, 49, 50, 53 and 56 of the Organic Law of the Nation Security and Defense, 139 and 141 of the Law for the protection of individuals with access to goods and services, as well as 20, 24 and 25 of the Special Law of popular Defense against hoarding, the boycott and any other conduct that affects the consumption of food or products subject to price controls; all of which penalize the right to protest.

2) The unbiased and clear investigation of all crimes of hired killers and other crimes against peasants, workers and other social actors as well as the prosecution and punishment for the offenders.

3) The full and immediate freedom for all the social activists in detention for protesting, the suspension of the scheme of regular reporting to the courts and other measures prohibiting union work in the working centres.

4) No use of the security forces against demonstrations for social and political rights. Banning the use of firearms and tear gas by police and military during protests, and when they execute eviction proceedings against actions demanding the right to housing and public services.

Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea); Unidad Socialista de Izquierda (USI); Corriente Clasista Unitaria Revolucionaria y Autónoma (CCURA); Sindicato de Trabajadores del Inces (SINTRAINCES); Acción Solidaria; Convite; Periódico El Libertario; Espacio Público; COFAVIC; Colectivo Socialismo Revolucionario (CSR): Liga de Trabajadores por el Socialismo (LTS); Movimiento Solidaridad Laboral; Sinergia; Comité de Víctimas contra la Impunidad Lara (CVCI-Lara); Indubio Pro Reo; Domingo Alberto Rangel.

More info in the blog  http://protestarnoesundelito.blogspot.com (in Spanish), and in  http://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario (in Spanish, English & other languages).

Translation: Julio Pacheco


- E-Mail: ellibertario@nodo50.org
 

Read more about: globalisering militarisme vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten

supplements
> indymedia.nl > search > archive > help > join > publish news > open newswire > disclaimer > chat
DISCLAIMER: Indymedia NL uses the 'open posting' principle to promote freedom of speech. The news (text, images, audio and video) posted in the open newswire of Indymedia NL remains the property of the author who posted it. The views in these postings do not necesseraly reflect the views of the editorial team of Indymedia NL. Furthermore, it is not always possible to guarantee the accuracy of the postings.