Stray Bullets - A New Russian Law, An Old Bangladeshi Injustice, And The Same Greek Tragedy

Greece Strikes Again:
Greek fuel tank drivers, air traffic controllers and parliamentary workers have all gone in strike in protest at the Greek government’s austerity policies [1]. As over 30,000 drivers refused to work [2]last Tuesday (July 27), huge queues formed outside petrol stations as fuel reserves were nearly depleted, and over 80% of petrol stations were forced to close. Wednesday (July 28) saw the government resorting to emergency civil conscription powers [3], which meant that any striking drivers could face imprisonment. The emergency powers also authorised the army to intervene and distribute fuel. Some striking drivers decided to take direct action to disrupt the distribution of fuel [4], with a truck blockade being formed around the oil refinery in Thessaloniki and Athens. On Thursday (July 29), protesters held a demonstration outside the Ministry of Transport in Athens, with clashes between riot police and striking drivers [5]. The strikes have hit tourism especially hard; over 100,000 are reported to have been left stranded due to grounded airplanes and other transportation links. The drivers’ union called off the strike on Sunday (August 1). Simeon Asimakos, a driver from northern Greece, said, “We’re going back to work because people are starting to suffer from food and fuel shortages, not because of political threats.”

 

Russia To Arrest People Before Becoming Criminals:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a new law giving the Russian Security Service (FSB) the right to caution people suspected of preparing acts of extremism [6], as well the right to imprison or fine anyone who obstructs the work of FSB agents. There is widespread worry amongst journalists and human rights activists that the new law will be used to silence and intimidate dissidents. The Guardian compared the law to the Pre-Crime style of policing seen in the film Minority Report [7], in which people are arrested before they begin to commit a crime. A statement from Memorial, a human rights organisation based in Russian and numerous ex-Soviet states, said the law was “partly pointless and partly dangerous for social freedoms.” Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist, told the Independent, “Previously the FSB needed a legal reason to talk to journalists; now they don’t need this - they can just say that they are making enquires as a preventative measure… it could be especially dangerous in the regions where journalists are still very much controlled by local administrations. This could make things very hard for local journalists and human rights activists.”
 

No More Cluster Bombs:
The Convention on Cluster Munitions [8] has been officially ratified as legally binding, with 108 states pledging to adopt the ban [9] - with the USA, China and Russia yet to sign. The charity, Handicap International, estimates that 98% of cluster bomb victims are civilians and nearly one third are children. The UN estimates that over four million cluster bomblets were dropped on southern Lebanon in 2006, during the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Even years after conflicts, cluster bombs continue to destroy innocent lives; Saleumaxay Kommasith, director general of the Laos Foreign Ministry, told Radio Australia that there could be still be over 200,000 bomblets left unexploded [10] in Laos after US bombing campaigns during the 1960s and 1970s. Thomas Nash, co-cordinator of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, told the BBC, “This is a triumph of humanitarian values over a cruel and unjust weapon… at a time when concern over civilian deaths in conflict is in the news, this treaty stands out as a clear example of what governments must do to protect civilians and redress the harm already caused by cluster bombs.”

Bangladeshi Sweatshop Workers Protest Low Pay:
Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers have protested their low wages [11] in the capital city of Dhaka. Unions of garment workers have rejected the government’s offer [12] of doubling the minimum wage to £27 a month, not the £45 a month the workers had demanded. Campaigners in the UK have calculated the living wage in Bangladesh is £98 month. Over 3.5 million people are employed as garment workers in Bangladesh, making clothes for Wal-Mart, H&M, Zara and Marks & Spencer’s. Over 80 people were injured during the protests [13] as police fired rubber bullets and used batons to clear away the protesters. Mohammad Sohel, a 21 year old worker from Tejgaon, told the Guardian, “I have been in this service for the past eight years and have never protested before, despite the difficulties in living with such low pay. My pay is only 3,500 takas and my rent is 2,300 takas. What do I have after paying for somewhere to live?”

Words: Richard Lemmer
Photo: Flickr user PIAZZA del POPOLO