South African Police ‘Trigger Happy’:
South African police shot dead 556 people last year - including 32 bystanders - making the highest annual total for a decade. The figure was announced as police are still dealing with the shooting of Olga Kekana, a 30 year old hairdresser who was killed when police opened fire on her car, mistaking Kekana for a hijacker. Kekana’s father blamed the police’s actions on the rhetoric of the president, Jacob Zuma. The president has supported measures making it easier for the police to open fire on suspects without fear of the consequences.

Claims Of Abuse From Deported Iraqi Men:
Three Iraqi men have claimed they suffered assault and racist taunts when the UK Border Agency tried to deport them. The men reported that no Arabic translator’s were available during the whole ordeal. Speaking to The Guardian from an immigration detention centre, deportee Kawa Ali Azad said, “It was like a kidnapping. We had no food for 12 hours… I was called all sorts of words… they slapped me on the mouth and handcuffed me.”

Climate Protest At  Ratcliffe-On-Soar Power Station:
Over a thousand protesters have descended on the Ratcliffe-On-Soar power station to protest global warming. Ratcliffe is a coal powered station and is Britain’s third largest emitter of carbon. The protesters were split into four separate groups; Take Back the Power (aiming to get to the control room), False Solutions (trying to climb the coal heap), Footsteps to the Future (surrounding the power station) and Capitalism in Crisis (decentralised, independent direct action). Fifty-six protesters were arrested for “conspiracy to aggravated trespass.”

Report Warns Of Oil Crunch: 
World oil prices have hit their highest point for a year, as a major report urged governments around the world to take drastic action to head off an approaching oil supply crunch. A report from NGO Global Witness stated that an impending supply shock could be so severe that many of the world’s poorest countries would be simply shut off from the world of energy due to extortionate prices. The report’s author, Simon Taylor, said, “There is a train crash about to happen from an energy point of view. But politicians everywhere seem to have entirely missed the scale of the problem.”

Amnesty International Criticises BAE Over Abuses In Guinea:
Amnesty International has claimed that brutal attacks on demonstrators in Guinea have involved the use of British-supplied armoured cars. Amnesty has published footage which shows the use of Mamba armoured cars against protesters. Amnesty claims that a subsidy of arms-trade company BAE sold the cars to Guinea. The human rights organisation is calling for a freeze on all ammunition and riot gear exports to the military junta in Guinea.

Words: Richard Lemmer
 

Photo: Flickr user pixel.eight