IL PADRE DI UN HUNGER STRIKER DECLINA GLI AUGURI DELLA REGINA

Oliver Hughes, fratello dell'Hunger Strikers Francis Huges morto dopo 62 giorni di digiuno durante lo sciopero della fame del 1981, ha dichiarato che suo padre era stato contattato da Buckingham Palace all'inizio di agosto per sapere se avrebbe accettato un telegramma dalla Regina per festeggiare il suo 100esimo compleanno avvenuto il 20/08/08.

Questo è l'articolo pubblicato da Irish News

Hunger Striker's dad (100) 'politely declines' Queen's birthday message

The father of IRA Hunger Striker Francis Hughes has “politely declined” best wishes from Queen Elizabeth on his 100 birthday.

In 1981 Joe Hughes watched as his youngest son Francis died after 59 days on hunger strike.
Four months later Mr Hughes’s nephew Tom McElwee became the ninth prisoner to die after 62 days on hunger strike.
Mr Hughes is understood to have been a member of the IRA in the 1920s and has been a strong supporter of the peace process in Co Derry.
Speaking from his home last night Mr Hughes’s son Oliver confirmed that his father had been contacted by Buckingham Palace earlier this month to inquire about whether he would accept a telegram from the Queen to mark his 100th birthday today.
“We thanked them for their interest but politely declined the offer,” he said.
“My father has been a proud republican all his life so it wouldn’t have been appropriate,” he added.
Mr Hughes did, however, accept a telegram of congratulations from President Mary McAleese.
Oliver Hughes recalled his father’s reaction when Francis told him he was going on hunger strike.
“My father had a tear in his eye but told Francis that he would support him 100 per cent,” he said.
“My parents were heartbroken when Francis died but they were proud of his sacrifice and that of the other hunger strikers.
“My parents spoke about Francis every day.”
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who is due to visit Mr Hughes today, paid tribute to the veteran republican.
“During very difficult and dangerous times Joe and his late wife Maggie stepped forward at great personal loss to themselves and their family,” he said.
“He is a proud and strong Irishman and a solid republican who stood firmly behind his son as Francis and his comrades faced down Margaret Thatcher and her criminalisation policy in Long Kesh in 1981.”

OPINIONI DI UN EX-POW SULLA COMMEMORAZIONE DI DERRY

L'ex pow John Cassidy ha voluto così esprimere le sue opinioni in merito alla commemorazione degli Hunger Strikers organizzata dallo Sinn Fein a Derry.

As a former blanket man and Republican prisoner I would like to add some comments on the Sinn Fein organised Hunger strike commemoration in Derry. Like many ex-prisoners I see this commemoration as not gathering to honour the memory of the Hunger strikers but more a show of strength for the Sinn Fein political strategy.
The sad thing is that many of the people attending the Derry commemoration will be there to genuinely honour the memory of these brave men, but are unaware that this attendance will be interpreted by Sinn Fein as a huge mandate for them in a city where they have lost the political argument.
I was arrested and detained in the "H" Blocks along with Mickey Devine where we spent four years on the Blanket protest prior to Mickey going on Hunger Strike. On the 23rd september 1976,the first day we were remanded to the Crumlin road prison, I was beaten by provisional IRA Pow's and myself and Mickey were locked up for the full 24 hours in a day for 3 months on orders from the provisional leadership.
I take the present manipulation by Sinn Fein of the memory of the Hunger Strikers as an insult to all and I can categorically say now that Mickey Devine was always adamant to me in conversations the Northern state could not be reformed. But even all this treatment at the hands of the provisionals, I stood above it all and when I was released in August 1984 I continued to work outside with the Hunger strike commemoration committee in Derry.
This work by me on behalf of the memory of my dead comrades ended when Sinn Fein decided to endorse the RUC/PSNI and from that day to this I have been the victim of whispering campaigns and ostracized by these same people I had worked with in order to maintain the memory of our dead.
I firmly believe that many Republicans wish to honour the memory of our Hunger Strikers but like myself, object to Sinn Fein manipulation of the Hunger Strike for their own political reasons. Next year hopefully we can have a National unity Hunger Strike commemoration in Derry where all the various groupings can speak and pay genuine homage to our dead instead of seeking the political gratification that Sinn Fein presently seek.

John Cassidy
Ex-Pow

(Sunday Journal del 17 agosto)

COMMEMORAZIONE DEGLI HUNGER STRIKERS A DERRY

Commemoration for Hunger Strikers (Breaking ews.ie)

Thousands will gather in Co Derry today to commemorate the 1981 Hunger Strike.
Ten men died after the eight month long strike in the H Blocks of Long Kesh prison in Co Down.
Up to 50 people died in violent incidents outside the prison during the same period.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams will be the keynote speaker - around 20 bands, many from Scotland, will take part in the ceremony along with various campaign groups.

Migliaia di persone si raccoglieranno oggi nella Contea di Derry per commemorare gli hunger strikers del 1981. Dieci uomini morirono durante gli otto mesi dello sciopero della fame nelle famigerate carceri britanniche di Long Kesh, nella Contea di Down, denominate H-Blocks. Nello stesso periodo, più di 50 persone morirono negli incidenti scoppiati nelle strade.
Il Presidente del Provisional Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams sarà l’oratore principale. Venti bande musicali, la maggior parte provenienti dalla Scozia, prenderanno parte alla cerimonia insieme a numerose associazioni.
Ma il portavoce del Republican Sinn Féin per Derry, Richard Walsh, ha commentato che i sostenitori e coloro che rinforzano il dominio britannico (riferendosi al Provisional Sinn Féin ed a Gerry Adams) dovrebbero smetterla di legare le loro politiche attuali agli Hunger Strikers.
“Questa parata rappresenta un abuso della memoria di quei 10 coraggiosi soldati che hanno donato le loro vite per l’Irlanda negli H-Blocks di Long Kesh nel 1981″, ha detto Walsh.
“Coloro che sostengono di ononare il sacrificio degli Hunger Strikers questa domenica a Derry sono i responsabili della firma dell’accordo di Stormont del 1998. Quell’accordo era la negazione del diritto al riconoscimento dello status di prigioniero di guerra, ed anche la negazione del diritto all’autodeterminazione del popolo irlandese, ovvero le ragioni che portarono alla prematura e brutale morte di quei dieci uomini”.
“Nonostante gli auspici del Capo della polizia coloniale britannica nel Nord Irlanda (il RUC/PSNI), Hugh Orde, il repubblicanesimo irlandese non è in ‘agonia’. Il movimento repubblicano, che non si piega e non si spezza, continuerà a chiedere un ritiro completo e defintivo delle forze britanniche dall’Irlanda. Il raggiungimento di questo obiettivo sarà il giusto tributo agli Hunger Strikers e a tutti i patrioti caduti prima e dopo”.

(Grazie a Gaelico)

10° Anniversario dell'attentao di Omagh

more about "BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Ev...", posted with vodpod

PROTESTA CONTRO L'INTERNAMENTO PREVENTIVO NEL 2008

éirígí vuole rimarcare pubblicamente il 37° anniversario dall'introduzione dell'internamento preventivo nelle Sei Contee, internamento che di fatto è stato reintrodotto nel 2008.
In contrasto con quanto accaduto con l'introduzione dell'internamento nel 1971, la normativa emanata da nel giugno di quest'anno, che prevede l'estensione della detenzione finoa 42 giorni, è stata salutata con totale silenzio in Irlanda. Secondo questa norma, chiunque può essere detenuto nel regno britannico fino a 42 giorni, senza prove e senza accuse formali.
Numerose proteste avranno luogo in varie città dello Stato, tra cui quella che si terrà dinnanzi all'ambasciata britannica di Dublino il 9 agosto.

Protest against Internment in 2008 (éirígí)

éirígí is to publicly mark the 37th anniversary of the introduction of internment in the Six Counties by highlighting the reality of de-facto internment in the Ireland of 2008.
Protests will take place at a number of locations across the country, including the British Embassy in Dublin on August 9.
Before examining the current day situation, it may be helpful to first look back to August 9 1971. For it was on that day, at the break of dawn, that the British army and RUC smashed through the front doors of hundreds of working class nationalist and republican homes across the occupied Six Counties.
At first, many assumed that the raids were simply part of the ongoing campaign of terror that was at that time being waged by the forces of the British occupation. It wasn’t until later in the day that it became apparent that Brian Faulkner’s government in Stormont had introduced internment for the first time in more than a decade.
Within hours, many of the more than three hundred who were arrested that morning were on their way to the Long Kesh internment camp outside Belfast. For some, their detention would last days, but, for others, it would be months or even years before they would be released.
Reaction to the introduction of internment was as intense as it was widespread. All across the Six County state, mass protests and rioting broke out. The cycle of events that internment triggered included a widespread campaign of civil disobedience, Bloody Sunday in Derry and the subsequent burning of the British Embassy in Dublin, a massive surge in support for the IRA’s armed campaign and, ultimately, the creation of the prison struggle, which culminated in the Hunger Strike of 1981.
Such was the national and international outrage at the policy of indefinite imprisonment without trial that the British government soon moved to phase out its use. In its place, a ‘conveyer-belt’ system of injustice which, at least, had the appearance of justice, would be constructed.
By the time internment was ended in December 1975, the system of non-jury, single judge, Diplock courts was in place, which provided the British government with an effective, but less controversial, mechanism for the detention of those who sought to end its rule in Ireland.
In stark contrast to the introduction of internment in 1971, the introduction of 42-day detention legislation by the British government in June of this year has been greeted with near complete silence in Ireland. Under this legislation, anyone can be detained by the British state for up to 42 days, without charge and without trial.
Using the much-hyped threat of ‘global-terrorism’, Gordon Brown’s government has, with the swipe of a pen, eroded centuries of struggle for the most basic of human rights, including the right to individual freedom and the right to a fair trial. No one should be so naive as to believe that legislation nominally introduced to counter ‘Islamic fundamentalists’ and will not also be used against Irish republicans and any other dissenters that threaten the status quo.
Those in Ireland who have paid little attention to this latest step on the road to a British police state would do well to remember that roughly a third of Ireland’s population remains under the jurisdiction of that same state. The reaction of the vast majority of politicians in the Six Counties to this breathtaking erosion of the most fundamental of human rights has been strangely muted.
Those in the Twenty-Six County state, in particular, would do well to watch closely what is going on in British occupied Ireland and elsewhere, given the Dublin establishment’s propensity to ape the actions of their masters. In the southern state, the so-called special criminal court is increasingly being used for non-political offences. Legislation, initially introduced as an ‘emergency’ measure to protect the very existence of the state, is now being used against gangsters. Thus, the precedent of ‘emergency’ legislation being used for ‘non-emergencies’ has been established.
That same court has, in recent years and amid little publicity, been delivering its own form of detention without trial, through the use of highly questionable ‘membership of an illegal organisation’ legislation. This legislation, when combined with the removal of the right to silence without prejudice, can lead to jail sentences of up to seven years, with the only ‘evidence’ necessary being that of the word of a senior Garda.
Throughout the rich world, the events of September 11, 2001 in New York have been used to steamroll over every form of human right.
In the United States, the legislation establishing the Department of Homeland Security makes the world of George Orwell’s 1984 look like a progressive society. ‘Extraordinary rendition’, or kidnapping as it used to be known, and interment camps such as Guantanamo Bay have succeeded in lowering the bar of acceptability of government violations of human rights. Once again, it has fallen to ordinary citizens to ensure that those rights are upheld by governments.
On August 9 2008, éirígí will be holding a number of events across the country to highlight the reality of internment in modern day Ireland. Those who are concerned with the erosion of the human rights identified above should use the opportunity to come along and publicly register their opposition.
The Dublin city demonstration will take place outside the British Embassy, Merrion Road, Dublin 4 at 3pm on August 9.

I POW REPUBBLICANI NON SARANNO CRIMINALIZZATI

Comunicato dell'IRPWA in relazione agli ultimi accadimenti nella prigione di Portlaoise

IRISH REPUBLICAN PRISONERS WELFARE ASSOCIATION
27th July 2008

Republican POW’s will not be criminalised

The IRPWA are becoming increasingly concerned at recent events in Portlaoise gaol whereby attempts have been made by some within the Free State establishment to cause unnecessary friction between POW’s and the prison administration.

On Friday 25th July, shortly after lock up at 8pm seven members of the prison staff entered the cell of Derry republican Gary Donnelly and told him that they had been contacted by the gardai at 7.30pm and informed that he had a mobile phone and that they had been told to search the cell and strip search Gary. In turn the prison staff were told that they could search the cell but that he would be refusing to be strip searched. The prison staff relayed this message to the assistant governor who became highly agitated roaring through the radio to strip search Gary.

Gary Donnelly again refused and asked for his officer commanding who was duly sent for and arrived at Gary’s cell. The OC again informed the prison staff that they could search the cell but that as they had a metal detector they had no need to strip search Gary and that under no circumstances would it be tolerated. The prison staff searched the cell and needless to say found nothing.

The OC also demanded to see the assistant governor to whom he insisted that Republican POW’s and political prisoners would not be criminalised nor victimised. He also demanded a meeting with the Governor for the following day.

On Saturday 26th the Officer Commanding Republican POW’s on E3 and his adjutant met with the Governor and reiterated their position and also informed him that the Republican prisoners would be refusing to be locked up that day. The OC insisted that as political prisoners the men under his command would refuse to be treated like common criminals and told him if it was criminals he was looking for to search E1 where they were housed. The Republican prisoners then refused orders from the prison administration to lock up for head counts and stayed out of their cells until 9.30 that night.

The IRPWA are convinced that this political directive from the Free State elite is aimed at creating conflict within the prison by criminalising and victimising Republicans. It is undoubtedly intended to interrupt the organisation and smooth running of E3 wing that has no doubt caused concern among some. We are also extremely concerned at the attempts to victimise and target Gary Donnelly. In recent weeks the media have been attempting to link Gary to various things with which he has no connection whatsoever. The IRPWA also fear that as Gary is effectively being interned on a charge with no evidence that an attempt may be made to plant a mobile phone in his cell which is a criminal offence thereby bolstering their capability to hold him.

The IRPWA also are concerned at the increased incidents of petty harassment of visitors to the prison by prison staff, particularly female visitors. On a number of occasions females visitors have told of whistling and offensive remarks from both criminal prisoners and staff. In another incident visitors from Cork and Derry were refused entry at the front desk for not having photo ID, when a complaint was made to the governor he replied “ The fella on the desk must have been in bad form” clearly this is unacceptable.

The IRA POW’s and other political prisoners housed on E3 have worked hard to build a tolerable regime on that wing as befits their political status and they will not allow faceless figures from the Free State establishment, no doubt at the behest of their British allies, to create an atmosphere of conflict, friction and criminalisation. The IRPWA will support the prisoners in whatever action the deem necessary to undertake to protect themselves and their status.

DENUNCIA CONTRO LA RINOMINA DI UN PARCO GIOCHI IN ONORE DI UN HUNGER STRIKER

L'Orange Order, appoggiato dall'Ulster Unionist, ha presentato una denuncia formale al District Council di Newry e Mourne dopo che il parco giochi Patrick Street è stato rinominato in onore dell'hunger strike dell'IRA Raymond McCreesh.
Il parco giochi è stato rinominato in via non ufficiale in memoria di Raymond McCreesh nel 2001 e questo è stato formalmente approvato dal Consiglio un po 'di tempo dopo.
Ma MrKennedy ha dichiarato che la rinomina di un parco pubblico in memoria di "un hunger striker e terrorista repubblicano" è sempre stato considerato dalla minoranza protestante in Newry, come "profondamente offensivo e improprio dato legislazione in tema di parità".
L'Equality Commission aveva inizialmente sollevato perplessità, mesi prima della denuncia ricevuta dal Consiglio.
Un portavoce del Sinn Fein ha descritto l'atteggiamento degli unionisti come "profondamente deludente".
"Da un lato l'Orange Order insiste sul riconoscimento dei loro legami storici, culturali e di diritti civili e, dall'altro, rifiutano completamente di consentire gli stessi principi ai nazionalisti e repubblicani".

Vi rimando come sempre all'articolo, in questo caso pubblicato da Irish News