annalist

Man fragt sich, warum so intensiv anderswo nach welchen gesucht wird, wenn sie selber soviele haben..

Die US-amerikanische Bürgerrechtsorganisation ACLU hat heute gemeldet, dass inzwischen eine Million Namen auf der Terrorist Watch List der Vereinigten Staaten stehen und ruft Menschen, die davon ausgehen, dass sie auf der Terror-Liste stehen und etwa Probleme beim Fliegen hatten, dazu auf, sich über das Watchlistformular zu melden.

 (weiter)

Manchmal liebe ich Amerika. Es gibt da so wahnsinnig komische Dinge, da kommt die staubtrockene deutsche Innenpolitik einfach nicht mit, nicht mal BKA-Ermittlungsakten.

Zum Beispiel das hier - was ist das?

Das ist das U.S. Patent 6844817 für die Anti-Terroristen-Flugzeugfalltür! Ein völlig ernstgemeintes Patent, gefunden von Bruce Schneier bei Neatorama. Da gibt's auch den Anti-Terror-Truck (und noch viel mehr):

Problem: Terrorists can pop up at any time, leaving local authorities totally defenseless against their raging attacks.

Ok, das stammt nicht aus dem Original-Patent, aber erklärt präzise die Ausgangsfragestellung.

Die ACLU beschäftigt sich ernsthafter, aber auch sehr plakativ mit Terror-Hysterie:

Gefunden bei und Bild von ravenhorst.

Das Land ist offensichtlich voller TerroristInnen. Der oder die 100.000ste wird am 14. Juli bekannt gegeben, allerdings ist es gerade wieder einer weniger geworden, weil Nelson Mandela endlich gestrichen wurde. Andere Beispiele finden sich auch auf der Seite zum Zähler. Zusammengestellt wird die Liste vom Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) des FBI.

Von da kommt man schnell zum MIPT, dem Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. Während das TSC nicht besonders aktuell ist, abgesehen von der 'Most Wanted'-Liste, hat das MIPT Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 (1,7mb pdf) und darin auch einen Länderbericht zu Deutschland. Ich hätte ja mindestens mal eine kurze Erwähnung von mg- oder gar G8-Verfahren erwartet, aber die kommen nicht vor. Offenbar nehmen die wirklichen VerteidigerInnen der Demokratie unsere Bundesanwaltschaft nicht recht ernst?

Der G8 taucht nicht etwa als Anschlagsziel auf, sondern so:

During its G8 Presidency, Germany placed a particular emphasis on supporting UN counterterrorism activities and topics such as terrorist use of the Internet, protecting critical energy infrastructure, and countering radicalization and recruitment to terrorism. These priorities were reflected in the G8 Heiligendamm Summit Statement on Counterterrorism and the Report on the G8 Support to the UN Counterterrorism Efforts. Germany's chairmanship of the G8 Roma-Lyon Anti-Crime and Counterterrorism Subgroup saw a record number of project proposals being addressed and new initiatives being agreed upon to tackle issues such as bulk cash smuggling used to finance terrorism.

Brav.

Nochmal zurück zu Schneier: In Random Stupidity in the Name of Terrorism listet er ein paar ziemlich bizarre Resultat von Terrorismus-Hysterie:

An air traveller in Canada is first told by an airline employee that it is "illegal" to say certain words, and then that if she raised a fuss she would be falsely accused:

When we boarded a little later, I asked for the ninny's name. He refused and hissed, "If you make a scene, I'll call the pilot and you won't be flying tonight."

Und was war nochmal Terrorismus? Hier die Antwort des MIPT, die ich vollkommen unterschreiben würde, mit Heribert Prantl im Hinterkopf ("Der Terrorist als Gesetzgeber")

Terrorism is violence, or the threat of violence, calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm. These acts are designed to coerce others into actions they would not otherwise undertake, or refrain from actions they desired to take. All acts of terrorism are crimes. Many would also be a violation of the rules of war if a state of war existed. This violence or threat of violence is generally directed against civilian targets. The motives of all terrorists are political, and terrorist actions are generally carried out in a way that will achieve maximum publicity. Unlike other criminal acts, terrorists often claim responsibility for their acts. Finally, terrorist acts are intended to produce effects beyond the immediate, having long-term psychological repercussions on a particular victim audience. The fear created by terrorists may be intended to cause people to exaggerate the strengths of the terrorist and the importance of the cause, to provoke governmental overreaction, to discourage dissent, or simply to intimidate and thereby enforce compliance with their demands.

 

* Der Titel "Drop the pilop" stammt übrigens von Joan Armatrading, die auch viel Sinn für Humor hat:

Es gibt so schöne Dinge:

Über solche Fundstücke freue ich mich immer.

In den Kontext passt, dass ich keine begnadete Grafikerin/Designerin bin, aber gern ein paar Banner beim Bannertausch von Bannervista unterbringen würde. Wenn also jemand da draussen Lust hätte, mich mit Banner-Entwürfen in diesen Formaten zu unterstützen, würde ich mich freuen. Ein möglicher Text: "Über Terrorismus im Allgemeinen und Besonderen", aber auch da bin ich für Vorschläge offen. Die schönsten werden auf jeden Fall hier vorgestellt.

Und noch ein bisschen was zum Thema:

Terrorismus als legitime Strategie

Geheimdienste haben zusammen mit der Nato in Europa terroristische Anschläge verübt, belegt Daniele Ganser in seinem Buch "Nato-Geheimarmeen in Europa". Im Freitag erläutert er, dass es dabei unter anderem darum gegangen sei, Angst in der Bevölkerung zu verbreiten. Denn der Tod von Unschuldigen führe dazu, so Ganser, dass die Bevölkerung eines Staates nach mehr Sicherheit rufe. Gleichzeitig seien solche Anschläge dazu genutzt worden, den politischen Feind zu diskreditieren, indem man sie ihm in die Schuhe geschoben habe.

Daniele Ganser forscht an der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule (ETH) Zürich seit einigen Jahren zu diesen so genannten Stay-Behind-Armeen der Nato in Europa. Ende 2004 erschienen in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung erste Ergebnisse seiner Arbeit. Sein Augenmerk lag dabei zuerst auf Italien, da es dort 1990 eine offizielle Untersuchung gab. Sie offenbarte, dass Terroranschläge durch Geheimdienste gegen die italienische Bevölkerung als legitimes Mittel galten, die italienische Linke zu bekämpfen.

weiter mit Interview und Texten von Ganser bei pickings.de.

Police, Firefighters, Utility Workers Among Hundreds Trained as “Terrorism Liaison Officers”

Colorado is one among of handful of states where hundreds of firefighters, paramedics, police, and even corporate employees are being trained to hunt down and report a broadly defined range of “suspicious activities.” They’re called Terrorism Liaison Officers. The federally supported initiative trains them to look out for “observed behavior that may be indicative of intelligence-gathering or pre-operational planning related to terrorism.” The list of suspicious behaviors includes taking photographs or videos of no apparent aesthetic value; making measurements, drawings, or taking notes; and conversing in code.

 

.. sagte Mark Bartlett, Bundesanwalt im Verfahren gegen Briana Waters, die heute zu sechs Jahren Haft verurteilt wurde. Eine 32-jährige Frau, die eine dreijährige Tochter hat und darauf besteht, unschuldig zu sein, obwohl genau das im us-amerikanischen Justizsystem zu höheren Verurteilungen führt.

Vorgeworfen wird ihr, bei einem Brandanschlag auf ein Gentechnik-Institut Schmiere gestanden zu haben. Ich bin keine Expertin, was dieses Verfahren angeht, aber es kommt mir sehr seltsam vor, dass in den USA in solchen Verfahren Deals möglich sind, die sich darum drehen, zu weniger oder gar keinen Strafen verurteilt zu werden, wenn man gegen die Mitbeschuldigten aussagt und sich selbst als schuldig bekennt. Im Umkehrschluss bedeutet das, dass die, die darauf bestehen, unschuldig zu sein, die höchsten Strafen bekommen. Und dass Terrorismus-Bekämpfung in den USA eher grobschlächtig betrieben wird, wundert wahrscheinlich auch niemanden.

Nochmal aus dem eben erschienenen Bericht das gesamte Zitat plus: 

"Terrorism is the antithesis of America," Bartlett told the court. "It is the polar opposite of how democracy works in a free and open society. Terrorists attempt to impose their elitist views .... As a result, terrorists are treated more harshly by the law, and they should be."

But Waters' attorney, Neil Fox, questioned the government's use of the term "terrorist." And he asked the court to sentence his client to no more than 18 months behind bars.

"The court should be cognizant of the misuse of the term 'terrorism.' The term clearly has been manipulated by those seeking to advance their own political agendas," Fox said in a filing with the court. "It is the scare word of the day, and the consequences of the expansion of the use of the term to brand defendants can lead to grave injustice."

(Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Waters gets 6 years for UW firebombing)

Wer's genauer wissen will: Seattle Weekly, 6. Feb. More Details Emerge in UW's Eco-Arson Case oder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Scare.

The international competition to define 'Terrorism' was officially just closed, but entries keep trickling in. One of my current favourites is a video made in Amsterdam in front of the Central Station last week by Eleonora Oreggia, aka xname. Seeing the latest entries I think the panel is going to have a difficult time chosing the best ones.

"What is terror?"
A collection of opinions on terror and its derivatives, the real voice of random passengers.

Question to the viewers: Can you identify the three key-words missing in the video?

The 12min ogg file is best viewed with VLC player (for Linux/Firefox there is this nice vlc plugin).

If you still want to participate: don't waste time, send your contributions now: upload isn't closed yet.

Chapter European Union

EU states show an increasing willingness to categorize as terrorism actions only remotely connected to the planning and commission of violent attacks, with damaging consequences for expression, privacy, and in some cases liberty.

Germany

The arrest of two academics in July raised questions about academic freedom and free speech in the context of counterterrorism. The federal police arrested Andrej Holm, a professor from the University of Humboldt, and another academic identified only as “Mattias B.,” citing their academic writings and accusing them of being intellectual supporters of a militant left-wing faction allegedly responsible for a series of arson attacks since 2001. Neither of the men is a suspect in the arson investigation, but Holm is accused of meeting with one of the suspected arsonists earlier in 2007. Holm was detained and placed in solitary confinement until bail was granted in August. Charges of membership in a terrorist organization are pending against both men.

 

And elsewhere?

In Denmark an activist who unexpectedly returned home interrupted a secret house search by the police recently. Now who believes this is a singular event that would take place only in Denmark?

In the UK, if you're of muslim origin, admittely anarchist and e.g. have taken part in protests against the G8 summit in Germany, be ready to expect to regularly be questioned by the Special Branch at the airport. At least. Regular surveillance measures included.

 

I talked to xname (who is this week blogging the Transmediale 08 in Berlin) already in December during the 24c3.

Our conversation touched questions such as who or what the 'war on terror' is really aiming at (in Germany) and how it is used to create more fear in order to create public acceptance of more control. We talked about the history of anti-terror legislation in Germany, whether control actually makes sense from the point of view of those who exercise it - can all the data be evaluated or does full-scale surveillance rather create chaos? What sense does it make?

What possible strategies are there against being controlled by fear and what can blogging do for you? We also talked about some details of the case against Andrej - why was he made a terrorist by the police and what role did 'conspiratorial behaviour' play in the investigations. Rather than panicking and thinking that now anyone will be made a terrorist - at random, so to say - it's important to realise who is being targeted to understand what is going on. And finally we touched privacy and why it should be protected, precisely because some people are subjected to police action because of it.

Download 9 min ogg | mp3

In the last days some material was produced that gives a lot of background to what is happening to Andrej and the six others accused of being terrorists.

See this new video on Current TV that also covers the Berlin demonstration Sept 22 against data retention and surveillance:

http://uk.current.com/watch/197704272

(I am still struggling with code for this site, for the moment you can just as well watch it on uk.current.com. Don't forget to register and vote for it!)

A long piece describing and analysing the case and terrorism jurisdiction in Germany in general will be publised shortly on Statewatch, it's already on the Einstellung website: 

Crime by association - Terrorist law used to criminalise critical research

  (weiter)

Florian Opitz was arrested in Nigeria by the Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) and has to appear in court today. He is accused of 'endangering national security' and faces up to 14 years in prison.

Florian Opitz is a freelance documentary filmmaker, author and journalist. His last very successful documentary "The Big Sell-Out"

"is a political film. In various episodes the abstract phenomenon of privatisation is depicted in stories about very concrete human destinies around the globe. The documentary tells tragic, tragicomic but also encouraging stories of the everyday life of people, who day by day have to deal with the effects of privatisation politics, dictated by anonymous international financial institutions in Washington D.C. and Geneva, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO)."

Arrested with him were filmmaker Andy Lehmann (Berlin), Danjuma Saidu (Nigeria) and Judith Asuni (US/Nigeria), doing research in the Niger delta for their next film. They were alledgedly taking pictures of oil refineries, pipelines and ships. The Niger Delta has seen many bloody conflicts about resources, oil revenue and distribution of wealth, often depicted as 'ethic conflicts' by neighbouring tribes.

Judith Asuni has lived in the region for 36 years and works with the peace work NGO Academic Associates/PeaceWorks.

Update: According to Reuters, Florian Opitz and Andy Lehmann were released on bail today. Judith Asuni and Danjuma Saidu are still in prison in solitary confinement. All four pleaded non-guilty.  (weiter)