Two Mexicans face up to 30 years in prison for what are being called some "terrorist" tweets in one of the most serious incidents to face the micro-blogging network Twitter since its launch.
Gilberto Martinez Vera, a maths tutor, and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola, a former teacher turned radio commentator, tweeted that armed men were attacking schools, causing widespread panic amongst parents in the violence stricken Mexican city of Veracruz.
Martinez Vera tweeted, "My sister-in-law just called me all upset, they just kidnapped five children from the school." This was untrue, and yet he subsequently tweeted, "I don't know what time it happened, but it's true."
In addition, he reported that a few days earlier, "They mowed down six kids between 13 and 15 in the Hidalgo neighborhood." An incident did occur in Hidalgo, but did not involve children.
The tweets caused such panic as parents rushed to save their children, who were in no danger, that there were 26 car accidents, cars were left abandoned in the middle of streets, and the emergency numbers collapsed due to the panic about the false warnings, which put genuine emergencies in danger.
According to the Associated Press, the interior secretary for Veracruz state, Gerardo Buganza said the incident was worse than the panic cause by Orson Welle's radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" in 1938, when many listeners believed that there really was an alien invasion.
It's understandable why the people of Veracruz believed the Twitter reports, however, as the city has already been the victim of extensive violence at the hands of drug traffickers.
Both defendants claim that they were only relaying what others had told them. Martinez Vera expressed incredulity at being branded a 'terrorist' over a 140 character message.
This is the biggest issue to face Twitter since the "bomb joke" incident, where Paul Chambers tweeted that he would blow a UK airport sky high if it was not reopened soon after extensive snowfall. Chambers did not intend to act on his threat, but it was immediately picked up by anti-terrorism forces scouring the internet. He was fined £2,000, but gained the support of many celebrities, who subsequently retweeted his comments in defiance of the ruling.
A relatively small fine is nothing compared to 30 years in prison, however, and there are already calls for the charges against these two people to be dropped. Amnesty International said the real problem is the atmosphere of fear and mistrust in the region, where people are likely to believe any reports on Twitter without validating them with genuine news outlets.
The Inquirer
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Neo-Nazi Village Features 'Happy Holocaust' BBQ (Germany)
Much has been written about the village of Jamel near Wismar in the far northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Hitler salutes in the streets, firing practice in local forests and outsiders chased away. The small run-down settlement has become a dark symbol of the growing reach of neo-Nazi ideology.
In the run-up to Sunday's local ballot in the state, a journalist from the website VBS TV arrived in Jamel. Although she was familiar with the village's larger-than-life reputation, she was shocked to see a large rusty barbeque inscribed with the phrase "happy holocaust."
The grill was in the barbed-wire encircled garden of the office of the far-right extremist National Democratic Party (NPD). The backyard was overlooked by a watchtower and a red, black and white old German Reich flag of the type used by the far-right scene.
'Stupid or Provocative?'
"I was shocked and I just couldn't believe what I saw. It felt really surreal," VBS TV journalist Barbara Dabrowska told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "It was like in a bad American movie that tries to come up with the most ridiculous idea for how to make Nazis look really terrible. ... They probably meant it as a joke, but I was annoyed by their either stupid or incredibly provocative approach."
In her news report, Dabrowska interviewed Stefan Köster a politician for the NPD, a party dubbed "racist, anti-Semitic, revisionist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Köster stressed his party's social outreach, explaining how his party distributes CDs in school yards and promotes German folk dancing. Asked about the happy holocaust barbeque in the garden behind his office, he said he hadn't noticed it before.
"Maybe someone is making fun of the political class because of how they repress open discussion," he said. "After all, if someone has an opinion about the holocaust, they should be able to express it," he stated, adding that he didn't find it to be funny.
"It must belong to someone in the building, but to me that matter is unimportant," he said.
The NPD party won seats in the state parliament for the second time in Sunday's state election.
Spiegel
Silent march in Poland protests anti-Semitic incidents
A silent "March of Unity" was held in the Polish city of Bialystok to protest recent anti-Semitic and racist incidents in eastern Poland.
Bialystok's mayor and several members of parliament were among the participants in Sunday's march, which was organized by officials of the governing Civic Platform party.
The Polish news agency PAP said that about 130 people took part in the march, which was staged to protest recent incidents that included the defacement last week of the monument in nearby Jedwabne to the hundreds of Jews killed there in 1941 when their Polish neighbors herded them into a barn and set it alight.
Carrying orange roses and ribbons, the marchers walked in silence to the downtown monument to Ludwig Zamenhof, a Jew from Bialystok who invented the Esperanto language, and gathered signatures for a "manifesto of unity and tolerance" against a wave of "mindless hatred."
PAP reported that about 30 far-right protesters shouted racist and nationalistic slogans in an attempt to disrupt the march.
Also Sunday, several dozen people gathered at the monument in Jedwabne for a ceremony organized by the Polish Jewish community. Polish media said no local officials took part in the ceremony.
JTA
Bialystok's mayor and several members of parliament were among the participants in Sunday's march, which was organized by officials of the governing Civic Platform party.
The Polish news agency PAP said that about 130 people took part in the march, which was staged to protest recent incidents that included the defacement last week of the monument in nearby Jedwabne to the hundreds of Jews killed there in 1941 when their Polish neighbors herded them into a barn and set it alight.
Carrying orange roses and ribbons, the marchers walked in silence to the downtown monument to Ludwig Zamenhof, a Jew from Bialystok who invented the Esperanto language, and gathered signatures for a "manifesto of unity and tolerance" against a wave of "mindless hatred."
PAP reported that about 30 far-right protesters shouted racist and nationalistic slogans in an attempt to disrupt the march.
Also Sunday, several dozen people gathered at the monument in Jedwabne for a ceremony organized by the Polish Jewish community. Polish media said no local officials took part in the ceremony.
JTA
Forced repatriation staff 'racist and unprofessional' (UK)
Private security guards removing detainees from UK used force and restraint unnecessarily, says prisons chief
Private security officers employed to remove detainees from the UK showed "a shamefully unprofessional and derogatory attitude", using unnecessary force and racist language, according to the chief inspector of prisons.
In two reports Nick Hardwick said most guards worked sensitively but added that some had an "unacceptably unprofessional attitude", raising concerns about how they would react if a more serious incident occurred.
The reports are based on the findings of inspectors who accompanied 104 staff escorting 35 detainees to Jamaica, and 131 escorts who were removing 53 detainees to Lagos, Nigeria, in March and April this year. The flights were chartered by the UK Border Agency and private security firm G4S provided the guards.
Hardwick said some security guards on the flights raised tensions by using force and restraint unnecessarily, while others used "highly offensive and sometime racist language" when talking to each other.
"Inspectors were very concerned at the highly offensive and sometimes racist language they heard staff use between themselves," said Hardwick.
"Quite apart from the offence this language may have caused to those who overheard it, it suggested a shamefully unprofessional and derogatory attitude that did not give confidence that had a more serious incident occurred, it would always have been effectively dealt with."
The flights took place six months after Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan deportee, died on a British Airways plane preparing to depart from Heathrow for Angola. Passengers on BA flight 77 in October later said guards forcibly restrained Mubenga, who had been complaining that he could not breathe. Three guards employed by G4S, which was contracted to escort deportees until May, were arrested over the case, and have been bailed to appear later this month.
Hardwick said some detainees were spoken to in patronising terms while in other cases guards used "extremely offensive racist language". One senior officer used "wholly unacceptable terms", including "gyppos", "pikeys" and "typical Asians", to describe minority groups, while others used crude national stereotypes.
Hardwick said: "This was not in the hearing of detainees, but it could be heard by other officers and communicated a disrespectful and racist attitude."
Handcuffs were used on detainees who appeared upset, or who were moving too slowly, despite there being no signs of any violent behaviour which might have justified the use of such restraints, the report found. The reports also questioned the decision to screen a violent film during one of the coach transfers.
The reports criticised the security team's uniform of "quasi combat-style clothing" and said not letting detainees close the door when using the toilet "was undignified and embarrassing".
Hardwick said: "Escorted removals are a difficult and distressing process. On these inspections, most escorts, most of the time, performed their duties well and dealt sensitively with the needs of individual detainees. However, tensions were sometimes raised when force or restraint was used unnecessarily and some staff demonstrated an unacceptably unprofessional attitude."
David Wood, the border agency's head of criminality and detention, said: "Those with no right to remain in the UK are expected to return home voluntarily. Where they do not we will seek to enforce their removal. Removals contractors operate within a clear legal framework and to exacting standards set by the UK Border Agency. We expect the highest levels of integrity from our staff and contractors and racist and unprofessional behaviour will not be tolerated."
The Guardian
Private security officers employed to remove detainees from the UK showed "a shamefully unprofessional and derogatory attitude", using unnecessary force and racist language, according to the chief inspector of prisons.
In two reports Nick Hardwick said most guards worked sensitively but added that some had an "unacceptably unprofessional attitude", raising concerns about how they would react if a more serious incident occurred.
The reports are based on the findings of inspectors who accompanied 104 staff escorting 35 detainees to Jamaica, and 131 escorts who were removing 53 detainees to Lagos, Nigeria, in March and April this year. The flights were chartered by the UK Border Agency and private security firm G4S provided the guards.
Hardwick said some security guards on the flights raised tensions by using force and restraint unnecessarily, while others used "highly offensive and sometime racist language" when talking to each other.
"Inspectors were very concerned at the highly offensive and sometimes racist language they heard staff use between themselves," said Hardwick.
"Quite apart from the offence this language may have caused to those who overheard it, it suggested a shamefully unprofessional and derogatory attitude that did not give confidence that had a more serious incident occurred, it would always have been effectively dealt with."
The flights took place six months after Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan deportee, died on a British Airways plane preparing to depart from Heathrow for Angola. Passengers on BA flight 77 in October later said guards forcibly restrained Mubenga, who had been complaining that he could not breathe. Three guards employed by G4S, which was contracted to escort deportees until May, were arrested over the case, and have been bailed to appear later this month.
Hardwick said some detainees were spoken to in patronising terms while in other cases guards used "extremely offensive racist language". One senior officer used "wholly unacceptable terms", including "gyppos", "pikeys" and "typical Asians", to describe minority groups, while others used crude national stereotypes.
Hardwick said: "This was not in the hearing of detainees, but it could be heard by other officers and communicated a disrespectful and racist attitude."
Handcuffs were used on detainees who appeared upset, or who were moving too slowly, despite there being no signs of any violent behaviour which might have justified the use of such restraints, the report found. The reports also questioned the decision to screen a violent film during one of the coach transfers.
The reports criticised the security team's uniform of "quasi combat-style clothing" and said not letting detainees close the door when using the toilet "was undignified and embarrassing".
Hardwick said: "Escorted removals are a difficult and distressing process. On these inspections, most escorts, most of the time, performed their duties well and dealt sensitively with the needs of individual detainees. However, tensions were sometimes raised when force or restraint was used unnecessarily and some staff demonstrated an unacceptably unprofessional attitude."
David Wood, the border agency's head of criminality and detention, said: "Those with no right to remain in the UK are expected to return home voluntarily. Where they do not we will seek to enforce their removal. Removals contractors operate within a clear legal framework and to exacting standards set by the UK Border Agency. We expect the highest levels of integrity from our staff and contractors and racist and unprofessional behaviour will not be tolerated."
The Guardian
EDL leader ‘on hunger strike’ in custody (UK)
The leader of the English Defence League, Stephen Lennon, is on hunger strike and is claiming to be a “political prisoner of the state”, following his arrest after a protest in London on Saturday.
Mr Lennon, who also calls himself Tommy Robinson, was remanded in custody at Luton Magistrates Court this morning (Monday, September 5) after appearing charged with breaching bail conditions imposed on him by Blackburn Magistrates Court, where he is due to go on trial on September 29.
The trial relates to an EDL protest in the Lancashire town on April 2, during which it is alleged he assaulted a man, a charge he denies.
In response to an enquiry from Luton Today, EDL spokesperson Helen Gower said: “Tommy is on a hunger strike and will only be accepting water.”
She added: “He is now a ‘political prisoner’ of the state and isn’t prison food halal, something which Tommy feels very strongly about and campaigns against.”
Mr Lennon addressed EDL members in London on Saturday after travelling to the event disguised in a beard and hat, which the Jewish Chronicle website said was intended to make him look like a rabbi.
A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said he was arrested yesterday afternoon after going to Luton police station by appointment.
The EDL had been banned from marching through Tower Hamlets by Home Secretary Theresa May, and instead held a protest near Aldgate Tube station.
A counter-protest took place in Whitechapel Road, and the Metropolitan Police said a total of 60 people were arrested during the day. There were 16 people initially arrested for a variety of offences including affray, drunk and disorderly and assault on a police officer, and 44 people on a coach were later arrested on suspicion of violent disorder. The vehicle first stopped in Whitechapel Road and it is alleged passengers were involved in an altercation with local youths. Shortly after, the coach broke down outside Stepney Green Underground Station, and a further disturbance took place, a Met Police spokesman said.
Luton Today
Mr Lennon, who also calls himself Tommy Robinson, was remanded in custody at Luton Magistrates Court this morning (Monday, September 5) after appearing charged with breaching bail conditions imposed on him by Blackburn Magistrates Court, where he is due to go on trial on September 29.
The trial relates to an EDL protest in the Lancashire town on April 2, during which it is alleged he assaulted a man, a charge he denies.
In response to an enquiry from Luton Today, EDL spokesperson Helen Gower said: “Tommy is on a hunger strike and will only be accepting water.”
She added: “He is now a ‘political prisoner’ of the state and isn’t prison food halal, something which Tommy feels very strongly about and campaigns against.”
Mr Lennon addressed EDL members in London on Saturday after travelling to the event disguised in a beard and hat, which the Jewish Chronicle website said was intended to make him look like a rabbi.
A Bedfordshire Police spokesman said he was arrested yesterday afternoon after going to Luton police station by appointment.
The EDL had been banned from marching through Tower Hamlets by Home Secretary Theresa May, and instead held a protest near Aldgate Tube station.
A counter-protest took place in Whitechapel Road, and the Metropolitan Police said a total of 60 people were arrested during the day. There were 16 people initially arrested for a variety of offences including affray, drunk and disorderly and assault on a police officer, and 44 people on a coach were later arrested on suspicion of violent disorder. The vehicle first stopped in Whitechapel Road and it is alleged passengers were involved in an altercation with local youths. Shortly after, the coach broke down outside Stepney Green Underground Station, and a further disturbance took place, a Met Police spokesman said.
Luton Today
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