The best of the best headlines brought to you by Richard Lemmer...

Community Youth Worker Receives Compensation For Wrongful Arrest:

Experienced community youth worker and a member of the Metropolitan Police’s Black Independent Advisory Group, Ken Hinds, has received £22,000 as a payout after he was wrongfully arrested by the British Transport Police. Hinds was witnessing eight police officers aggressively arrest a black teenager when an officer told Mr Hinds to move along. When Mr Hinds stated his right to witness the arrest, an officer decided to arrest Mr Hinds as well. Two officers have been formally warned for the wrongful arrest and one officer was deemed not to be a “credible witness.” Read the full story here

Mexican Police Continue To Hunt For Anarchists:

Mexican Police continue to harass and search students in relation to ‘anarchist’ bombings that occurred throughout September. Bombs destroyed banks, car showrooms, fast food restaurants and animal testing labs, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage but no casualties. The bomb sights where marked with the anarchist circled-A symbol and slogans denouncing capitalism and prison construction. Many believe Mexican authorities have used the explosions to harass politically active students; the most high profile case being the arrest of Ramses Gomez, a 27 year old student who was threatened with a 40 year sentence and was told his non-cooperation would lead to his wife being raped. Gomez was released three days later after the police admitted they had been “mistaken” about their initial evidence - a rifle, a pistol, explosives and documents linking Gomez to “subversive” political movements. Read the full story here and also here

UN Fails On Western Saharan Human Rights:

 
Over 30 petitioners including academics, politicians and human rights activists have confronted the UN over its failure to up hold human rights in Western Sahara. The region, officially governed as part of Morocco, endured decades of colonialism under Spanish rule until 1975, when Morocco gained control of the region using “brutal” militarism, perpetrating widespread human rights abuses. Sahil-Fadel Maya, a professor of international law at the Univervisty of Algeria, told the UN that it had “decisively failed” to address Morocco’s “illegal and brutal occupation.
Read the full story here

Oil Company Tries And Fails To Gag Guardian:

Oil company Trafigura has tried to gag the Guardian from reporting on an MP’s question regarding Trafigura dumping toxic waste in Africa. Trafigura’s lawyers, Carter-Ruck, prevented the Guardian from reporting that MP Paul Farrelly had questioned Jack Straw about an earlier case of Trafigura gagging the press. The Guardian reported that it had been gagged (although was unable to say anymore), which led to widespread internet activity that revealed the details of the gagging. The Guardian’s Leader Comment said, “It is scandalous that a law firm acting on behalf of a wealthy trading company should have thought, for a moment, that it could gag media organisations from reporting parliamentary business.”

Immigration Centres Full Of Sick Children:

A journal on child abuse has published a report that shows medical experts have clear evidence that children held in UK immigration centres develop mental and physical health difficulties. A team of paediatricians and psychologists found that 73% of children had developed significant emotional problems since being detained. Of the children - aged three months to 17 years old - three refused to feed themselves, and six had contemplated suicide, with two children being on suicide watch. Out of 225 children released from detention in the second quarter of this year, only 100 were removed from the UK. The authors of the report said there is “no clear evidence to indicate that detention is necessary in order to prevent families from absconding…more humane alternatives must be explored.” Read the full story here


Illegal Child Labour Rife In India:

The Times has revealed that despite having an estimated 60 million to 115 million child labourers, only 138 cases of child labour were reported to Indian authorities between 2006 and 2008. The National Commission for Child Rights, which was established in 2007 to be responsible for India’s 420 million children, has just 10 members of staff. Activists say the official figures represent less that one case for every three million Indian children kept in illegal labour. Bhuwan Ribhu, spokesperson for Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a child labour activist group, said, “This indicates a serious lack of political will and lack of preparedness on the part of the government to implement the law.” Read the full story here


UN Back Congo Offensive Declared A Disaster:

Over 84 local and international organisations have branded the UN backed offensive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as “unacceptable and disproportionate to the results it has achieved.” With 1,071 rebel soldiers giving up their arms since the start of the offensive in January, the effect on civilians means that one civilian has been killed, seven women and girls raped and 900 people displaced for every rebel disarmed. Read the full story here

Words: Ctrl.Alt.Shift news editor, Richard Lemmer.