As right-wing death squads reassert their presence and gangs and organised crime with links to the highest levels of government operate freely, campesinos (peasants) and organised youth are being persecuted and beaten in the streets. On February 27, while holding a peaceful and legal protest against the regional free trade agreement CAFTA and the government聮s crackdown on civil liberties, 27 young activists were detained, charged with civil disobedience and brutally beaten by the civil police. Meanwhile the Popular Youth Bloc is awaiting information on the fate of Edwar Contreras Bonifacio, who was forcibly disappeared when he left college on February 7. An international solidarity campaign is underway and people are urged to write to the nearest Salvadoran consulate or embassy demanding his safe return, as well as the release of the 27 arrested youth. The youth and popular organisations are responding to this campaign of state-sponsored intimidation with the call to 聯Answer more repression with more struggle!聰
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鈥淐omfort women鈥 survivors and their supporters will rally in Sydney on March 7, as part of a global day of action, to protest against the human rights abuses suffered by hundreds of thousands of women during World War II. An estimated 200,000 women in were forced into sexual slavery and continually beaten, tortured and raped by Japanese soldiers during the war.
On February 24, Hy Vuthy, a leader of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia (FTUWKC) was shot dead while driving home. The murder occurred shortly after Hy Vuthy successfully negotiated with a company for a one-day holiday for Khmer New Year. This was the third murder of a FTUWKC representative since the union聮s former president, Chea Vichea, was killed in 2004. On February 26, the International Trade Union Confederation called on the Cambodian government to investigate the crime, bring those responsible to justice, and to end the campaign of repression against trade unionists. For more information, visit .
On March 5, maintenance department workers employed at James Hardie Ltd聮s Rosehill site took protected industrial action for 24 hours. They were supported by activists from Worker Solidarity, who organised a community picket on the day
The South Korean anti-war movement is appealing for support in its campaign demanding the right to hold an anti-war demonstration on March 17, as part of the global weekend of action on the anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The government has banned the protest. Korean Action against Dispatch of Troops to Iraq, an anti-war coalition comprising 351 organisations, is calling on international anti-war and pro-democracy groups to send letters of protest to, and organise demonstrations outside of, the South Korean consulate or embassy in your country. Messages of solidarity can be sent to <antipabyeong@empal.com>.
The Israeli army continued to terrorise residents of the West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian National Authority鈥檚 International Press Centre (IRC) reported on February 28. IPC reported that at 2.30am that day, an Israeli occupation contingent of 120 armoured vehicles, jeeps and bulldozers stormed into the city for a second time, and began conducting house-to-house raids, removing dozens of residents for interrogation.
Most students started on campus a week after John Howard decided to send more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. With the government under growing pressure to bring David Hicks home, the surge against the war and the so-called war on terror is growing rapidly on all campuses.
The Howard government鈥檚 Work Choices laws 鈥渉ave had an overall negative effect for women in the work force鈥, Griffith University Professor David Peetz told 麻豆传媒 Weekly on February 27. 鈥淭he slow trend toward improvement in female compared to male levels of pay and conditions has been reversed under Work Choices, threatening much of the gains of the previous 10 years鈥, said Peetz.
The NSW Public Service Association and Unions NSW have called a rally on March 15, in the lead-up to the NSW elections, against job cuts. The PSA is highighting Liberal leader Peter Debnam鈥檚 threat to cut 20,000 public service jobs if elected, and is circulating a petition calling on all candidates to 鈥渕aintain public sector job levels in real terms as at 2006 state budget levels鈥.
On December 27, 2006, the Socialist Alliance, along with all other parties without representation in the national parliament, lost its federal electoral registration. If we do not regain registration, the name Socialist Alliance will not appear on ballot papers at the next federal poll.
The spirit of the radical movements of the 1960-70s was reignited at the Socialist Alliance鈥檚 鈥淪tand up for your rights鈥 election campaign concert on March 24. Performing classic hits from artists such as Bob Marley and John Lennon, plus original music and songs, a swathe of musicians and five of the Socialist Alliance candidates in the March 24 NSW election called for a united struggle against corporate greed and exploitative governments.
Strange times
What strange times we live in. In the 1970s, I disagreed with Malcolm Fraser's ideas and opposed his conservative government's policies. In the 1980s and '90s I agreed with Peter Garrett on a range of political and environmental
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