The Independent | 17 February 2006 | By Kim Sengupta

Three British residents held in Guantanamo Bay have won a legal battle which could lead to the [UK] Government demanding that they are freed by the US.

They were granted leave to seek a court order by a High Court judge with the comment that the United States' view of what constitutes torture "is not the same as ours and doesn't appear to coincide with that of most civilised countries."

Since Monday morning, February 20th 2006, a few dozen people occupy the building site for a youth prison (called EPM in french, standing for Établissement Pénitentiaire pour Mineurs) in Orvault, in the suburbs of Nantes, France.

Part of the activists are occupying trees, in which they have set up four tree-houses. Meanwhile, others gather on the ground in solidarity. By this action, activists intend to prevent the construction of this new prison, since occupied trees are to be cut for the building work to start.

On Monday 13/2/06 around 12 noon, anarchist comrades burnt 2 cameras in Athens city centre at Mihalakopoulou and Feidippidou st. in the Goudi area.

ALL OUR MOVEMENTS ARE BEING RECORDED, IT'S TIME TO SEE ALL CAMERAS DESTROYED

The poor bashing Victoria Police Department have long been engaged in the social cleansing of homeless and marginalized people in the capitol city, who they view as a blight on Victoria's squeeky-clean, tourist-friendly image. Apparently, they also don't like being held accountable for their misdeeds, as Victoria filmmaker Andrew Ainsley discovered when he was himself arrested for videotaping the arrest of two homeless dumpster divers.

An account from the mainstream press is followed by one from Victoria activist and anti-poverty ally Janine Bandcroft. Finally, there's a web link where you may view Andrew's video of the incident.

The Daily Telegraph | February 13th.

A United Nations inquiry has called for the immediate closure of America's Guantanamo Bay detention centre and the prosecution of officers and politicians "up to the highest level" who are accused of torturing detainees.

The mother of a Houston man shot dead by police says news the bullet struck the back of Ian Bush's head is difficult to comprehend..."It would have been one thing if it was an accident. This is hard to see as an accidental thing. It's very hard," said Linda Bush.

|By Ann Harrison|Open Flows|04-01-06|

BERLIN - When the Austrian government passed a law this year allowing police to install closed-circuit surveillance cameras in public spaces without a court order, the Austrian civil liberties group Quintessenz vowed to watch the watchers, employing a whole manner of tactics they've tried to push back the unprecedented onslaught of surveillance technologies.

Former premier Mike Harris testifiing about the occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park by Stoney Point First Nations.

MURRAY CAMPBELL | Globe and Mail | February 16, 2006

Dudley George, 38, died within 12 hours of [a] meeting [between] Mr. Harris and his ministers [who] have been dogged ever since by allegations that their aggressive response to the park occupation contributed to that tragedy.

Charles Harnick, his attorney-general, said he arrived late at the meeting to hear Mr. Harris say, "I want the fucking Indians out of the park." The former premier denies the allegation. [duh]

Justice for Girls

We are writing to inform you that the Ministry of Children and Family Development, which is responsible for youth prisons in BC, orders all youth to be put in ankle restraints during the Sacred Sweat Lodge Ceremony at the Burnaby Youth Secure/Open Custody Center – the youth prison.

From the Burnaby Youth Secure Custody Cenre's operations manual.

I was heading out my front door on a sunny April afternoon, thinking only of catching the next bus downtown, when an overwhelming sense of dread nearly stopped me in my tracks. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. I turned my head and slowly scanned the street. It took a few moments before I realized I was surrounded by plainclothes police officers, and they were watching me.

Three new SUVs with tinted windows were lurking outside my apartment in a quiet residential neighbourhood near Vancouver. Inside the nearest, a clean-cut man wearing dark glasses was in the driver's seat, staring at me. I turned to find a man in his early forties walking toward me on the sidewalk. Pasty face, navy blue suit, black shoes, black briefcase, dark glasses and a Tom Selleck moustache: all that was missing was the badge. The agent was carrying two cups of coffee from the McDonald's two blocks away. Glancing up, he caught my eye. His mouth dropped open and he flinched, almost spilling the hot coffee. Then he lowered his eyes, clenched his jaw, and strode briskly past. I stared after him.

The US National Counterterrorism Center maintains a list of 325,000 names of alleged international terrorism suspects or people who aid them.

|Associated Press|Technology Review|February 13, 2006|

The Homeland Security Department ran a mock Internet attack last week. The biggest-ever exercise of its kind to test how it would respond to devastating attacks over the Internet from anti-globalization activists, underground hackers, and bloggers. The results are due out this summer.

Innocent people are often targeted by security agencies based solely on their political beliefs or association with other radicals. This report presents a snapshot of the tactics the police like to think of as "secret,” like spying on individuals and infiltrating groups. These tactics can be extremely dangerous and destructive, even for activists who have never committed a crime. By studying these incidents, we can start to dispel the mystery surrounding covert operations and begin to understand the big picture.

JURIST Guest Columnist Brian J. Foley of Florida Coastal School of Law says that the greatest threat posed by President Bush's domestic surveillance program is not to the privacy of ordinary Americans but rather to the independence of potential political rivals, journalists, and activists who would balance, constrain or oppose executive power...

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY | The Associated Press | February 7, 2006

Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program Monday and said he believes the president has broken the law.

"Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision _ we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Carter told reporters. "And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act."