Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 28. Oktober 2005 / Time Line October 28, 2005
Version 3.527. Oktober 2005, 29. Oktober 2005
10/28/2005
Kent State Administration Threatens Iraq Veteran with
Expulsion
by Nikki Robinson, Campus Action Network
http://uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=9473
URGENT SOLIDARITY APPEAL : DEFEND FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS!
Tell Kent State to respect free speech
IRAQ WAR veteran and Kent State student, Dave Airhart, is under
attack for opposing the war he considers “unjust” and
attempting to stop any more students from being used as
“cannon fodder.”
On October 19, the Kent State Anti-War Committee (KSAWC) stood
around the Army recruiters, who had brought a rock-climbing wall to
entice students over to talk with them. A member of KSAWC and
former Afghanistan and Iraq War veteran, David Airhart decided to
show his opposition against the war by exercising his rights of
free speech. After filling out liability forms Airhart climbed the
rock wall. Once he reached the top he took out a banner, which he
held under his jacket, and draped it over the wall. The banner
read: Kent, Ohio for Peace. Airhart was forced to climb down the
back of the wall because a recruiter was coming up the front,
yelling at him. As he was climbing down another recruiter came up
the back and proceeded to assault Airhart both verbally and
physically by pulling his shirt, forcing him off the wall. Airhart
was fined $105. by city police for disorderly conduct and told that
he will have to go to judicial affairs at the university where he
will face probation or expulsion. When asked why he wanted to
counter-recruit against the military Airhart responded, “I do
not feel that the administration should allow the military to
recruit their students for an unjust war that is taking the lives
of innocent people. They should be protecting their students, not
using them for cannon fodder.” The recruiter who assaulted
Airhart was never charged with disorderly conduct; nor was the
bigot who came by screaming profanities and spitting at KSAWC
members fined for being disorderly. Somehow an Iraq War veteran
hanging a banner, which called for peace, was disorderly and the
others were not. Even after the atrocities of the May 4, 1970
massacre at Kent State University the military has the audacity to
come to campus and attempt to recruit students for their illegal
war. However, KSAWC, which is a member of the national grassroots
organization, Campus Antiwar Network (CAN), counter-recruits
against the military every time they are on campus. We stand around
the table of the military, hold signs, chant and pass out
literature exposing the lies of recruiters.
The administration’s blatant attack against the antiwar
movement will not be tolerated. We can clearly see that the
administration does not want its students and veterans practicing
free speech on this campus, especially if we are taking a stand
against the war in Iraq. However, we will continue to fight.
We believe in getting troops out of Iraq now, as well as assuring
that they have a voice to stand in opposition to the war when they
return. It is obvious that the Kent State administration does not
care about Iraq Veterans who attend their school. After everything
Airhart had to go through and see as a soldier, after viewing
thousands of innocent Iraqi lives being taken, he has every right
to exercise his opposition to this war. The administration may have
the audacity to punish an Iraq Veteran for speaking out against the
war, but the Kent State Anti-War Committee will continue to fight
back for all Veterans and students right to exercise free speech
against the war. We will continue to challenge our
administration’s role in recruiting for the war and demand
our right to a ‘recruiter-free’ school.
Call and e-mail the Kent State University administration and let
them know how you feel.
Carol Cartwright- University President: 330.672.2210
Carol.cartwright@kent.edu
Greg Jarvie- Dean of Undergraduate Students: 330.672.9494
Gjarvie@kent.edu
William Ross Executive Director of the Undergraduate Student
Senate: wross@kent.edu
10/28/2005
Manifesto against conscription and the military system open for
online signature
The "Manifesto against conscription and the military system" is now
available on the internet for online signature. The Gandhi
Information Center (Berlin, Germany) has created a new website for
this purpose:
http://www.themanifesto.info
On this new website, you have access to an online form to sign the
Manifesto. In addition, you can download the Manifesto in three
different languages (English, French, German) as a pdf-file which
can be printed and sent to the following address:
Gandhi Information Center, Postfach (P.O. Box) 210109, 10501
Berlin, Germany
Now that the new website has been published in English, the
Manifesto can be signed and spread by international signatories
world-wide. Up to this date, numerous indivuals and organisations
have signed the Manifesto, among them famous scientists and artists
from various countries.
A comprehensive, updated list of all signatories can be found on
the website as well as a list of all individual signatories in
alphabetic order. This Manifesto evidently deserves public
attention world-wide - as contribution to a global culture of
nonviolence.
sgd. Christian Bartolf (Chair, Gandhi Information Center)
http://home.snafu.de/mkgandhi - http://www.themanifesto.info
10/28/2005
Still Waiting After 60 years: Justice for Survivors of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery System
Amnesty International
Introduction
In war zones all over the world crimes of sexual violence have been and are committed against women. Women and girls "are exposed not only to the violence and devastation that accompany any war but also to forms of violence directed specifically at women on account of their gender."(1) For centuries, wartime rape was perceived as an inevitable consequence of war. Even today, in an era where global consciousness around human rights, specifically the rights of women, has risen, survivors of sexual violence are largely denied redress: there is widespread impunity for these crimes where perpetrators go unpunished and victims are denied any form of reparation. Sexual violence, including rape, is used as a weapon of war - it is used deliberately to demoralize and destroy the opposition and is used to provide 'entertainment' and 'fuel' for soldiers as part of the very machinery of war.(2)
Perhaps the most compelling example of the crime of sexual slavery and the denial of justice to victims was the system of institutionalized sexual slavery used by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II and subsequent denials of responsibility for the system by the Japanese government. The women forced into sexual servitude were euphemistically known as "comfort women".(3) Up to 200,000 "comfort women" were sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army from around 1932 to the end of World War II. Sixty years after the end of World War II, survivors of the sexual slavery system have been denied justice – they are still calling and waiting for full reparations...
10/28/2005
CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded an $8,352,545
cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract
(N00024-03-C-5448) for procurement of technical production support
of Evolved SEASPARROW Missiles (ESSM) and MK783 MOD missile
shipping container, including design agent tasks for ESSM and
associated test and handling equipment. Work will be performed in
Tucson, Ariz. (38 percent), Rocket Center, W.V. (8 percent),
Camden, Ariz. (5 percent), Minneapolis, Minn. (1 percent), and the
countries of Germany (13 percent), Australia (8 percent), Canada (7
percent), The Netherlands (6 percent), Norway (6 percent), Spain (4
percent), Turkey (2 percent), Denmark (1 percent), Greece (1
percent), and is expected to be completed by October 2006. Contract
funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The
Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting
activity.
 |
 |