Updated Coverage: On December 30th, 2006, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging just hours after the Americans handed him over to the Iraqi authorities. In video footage of the execution, apparently captured on a mobile phone, the executioners are heard to taunting Sadam and chanting "Moqtada, Moqtada, Moqtada" and "Long live Sadr".

Many Muslim leaders, including the government of Saudi Arabia, criticised Iraq's Shi'ite leaders for executing former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during the Eid al-Adha religious feast.... Human Rights Watch also came out against the execution stating that the execution "following a deeply flawed trial for crimes against humanity marks a significant step away from respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iraq." Read full report with links >>

Founded in 1996 "to promote and support independent publications dedicated to social justice and a free press", the Independent Press Association (IPA) announced Dec. 27 that it was ceasing operations immediately. Based in San Francisco, IPA's demise follows more than a year of growing concerns about financial mismanagement of the organization's newsstand distribution service which in turn has wreaked havoc on dozens of small, independent publishers. IPA's New York office, which bears no responsibility for the crisis, will be spinning off as a project seperate from the national IPA (see update from IPA-NY director below). IPA-NY provides technical assistance for dozens of local ethnic and community papers, publishes a weekly online newsletter that features the best work of its member papers, sponsors the "Ippies" community journalism awards and runs the George Washington Williams Fellowship and the Campus Journalism Project || Other Press: The Independent Press Association is Dead || Indy Press Newsstand Services || SF Weekly Feature on IPA's Woes || The Ripple Effect: Clamor Goes Under || Just Seeds Struggles to Survive || Voices That Must Be Heard

NEW ORLEANS: The Common Ground Collective has reported that three of its volunteers were arrested Friday evening by two New Orleans police officers. The three had spent the day at the Woodlands apartment complex in Algiers helping residents who were being evicted move out of their homes. Read full release>>

The arrests come in the wake of a small victory in a 2-month struggle against eviction waged by the Woodlawn residents. Johnson Properties Group LLC, which assumed ownership of the complex just before Thanksgiving, agreed to delay its eviction date and review the case early next week. 18 families, including 40 children, live in the development.

Common Ground has managed the Woodlands Apartment Complex, a low-income community in Algiers, since May of 2006. Since then, they estimate they have put in approximately one million dollars in labor and material improvements to the complex. While rents across the city have skyrocketed, Common Ground management froze the rents at the Woodlands to pre-Katrina levels, fostered a strong tenants union and ran a workers' cooperative with paid skills training.

CGC expressed concern that the arrests intentional harassment of their volunteers. One of the officers involved in yesterday's incident was previously involved in another controversial incident at the Woodlands. Background on the Woodlawns | Photos from November Protest | Audio Interviews with Residents | Nov29: Malik Rahim on Democracy Now!

On Jan. 4th, Lt. Ehren Watada sat before a military judge in Ft. Lewis, WA, for a pre-trial hearing that defined what will be admissible during the court-martial which begins on Feb. 5th. Watada's defense attorney, Eric Seitz, argued that "the legality of the Iraq War is not merely a political question. Lt. Watada's specific intent was to avoid unlawful actions in Iraq... For the sake of due process, we need the opportunity to raise this issue." The Army's lead prosecutor, Captain Daniel Kuecker, repeatedly defended his subpoenas of civilian reporters Sarah Olson and Gregg Kakesako, and anti-war activists Phan Nguyen and Gerri Haynes, as "relevant" and "admissible" for the prosecution. These reporters and activists remain under order to take the stand on Feb. 5th. Report and photos

Meanwhile, Iraq Veterans Against the War Deployed established "Camp Resistance", an encampment outside the gates of Ft. Lewis to support Lt. Watada that will remain through the upcoming court-martial. Photos

Day 76 TakeBackTheLand: After initially sponsoring the item, city commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones pulled the "anti-shantytown" ordinance from the January 11 agenda. This means the new law will not be voted on and, therefore, the Umoja Village Shantytown is safe- for now.

Take Back the Land is organizing a press conference to announce the legal victory and next steps. See details at the end of this message.

There is no two ways about it: this is a clear and major victory for Take Back the Land and our supporters. This item was pulled due to the tremendous and overwhelming opposition to the ordinance. Read more

Prisoners on Death Row in Texas have started another hunger strike beginning on January 1, 2007. After a first attempt where not too many people joined in and only the man who called the strike, Steven Woods of the DRIVE movement, lasted 27 days. He decided to end the strike, regroup, organize, and have a go at it again. With more planning this time and preparation, he hoped more prisoners would join the nonviolent protest. Since the beginning of the year, approximately 15 men have been participating in the strike, subsisting only on water.

Steven issued this statement at the beginning of the initial fast in October describing the conditions at the Polunsky unit and why they are going on strike. "For the past several years, I and a few hundred others have been living out what can easily be called a nightmare...... Read More

On January 8th, Gabriel Meyers walked out of court victorious when all charges from his arrest at a 2005 anti-G8 demonstration were formally dismissed by a superior court judge. The SF District Attorney's Office decided not to pursue the case because of potential witness testimony and video footage that indicated that police had unsafely sped into a crowd of demonstrators, which Meyers was part of. Prosecutors were originally saying that Gabriel Meyers was arrested that night for placing a styrofoam sign under this patrol car's wheels.

Meyers was in final stages of jury selection when the decision to drop the charges was made. He had been awaiting trial for 15 months and had made some 40 court appearances in that time period. He made no statement as he left court, other than that he was glad and grateful to be free. Read Gabe's comment on indybay

Previous Coverage: Gabe Meyers Invokes Right to a Speedy Trial | Pre-trial Hearing for Gabriel Myers on July 20th | SF Grand Jury Targets G8 Protest | July 8th 2005 Anti-G8 Protest in SF

Cry Out -- Five Years of Imprisonment and Torture Must End

Thursday January 11, 2007 is the 5th anniversary of illegal detention at Guantánamo Naval Base. Thousands of people will act together to demand an end to torture and indefinite, illegal and immoral detention of over 400 men and boys. In concerted actions from Australia and Amsterdam to Amherst and Boise and Wichita, and in more than 40 other cities around the world, citizens heed the call for an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantánamo. Witness Against Torture Website

In Dallas, people from Bill of Rights Committee, Peace and Justice Network, Camp Casey Dallas, Women in Black, Dallas Peace Center, Amnesty International, and responsible citizens throughout the North Texas Region will gather... read more>>

Indybay Coverage | IMC-US Anti-War Coverage Archive

UPDATE -- post-action reports: Washington DC | New York City | Boston | Cleveland | Philadelphia | England

Four coordinated marches united against recent violent crime, consisting of more than a thousand outraged New Orleanian residents and supporters, converged on the City Hall steps around noon today. The crowd overflowed into the lawns, street and park surrounding the building. Several speakers, each from different neighborhoods in the city, spoke candidly about what actions police, politicians, communities and each of us need to take for the city to combat a decades-old issue resulting from New Orleans’ entrenched poverty, lack of quality education and drug culture.

As one speaker said, “shame” is, and has been, on all of us, especially city leaders who have concentrated power, for the recent murders, which are spread across many neighborhoods. Only ten days into 2007, nine murders occurred — six in a twenty-four hour span. [ Read more | Listen to the speeches | More photos from commongroundrelief.org ]

While US troops risk their lives in the war in Iraq, some private businesses are reportedly engaged in human trafficking. Worse yet, they may be building the new US embassy in Baghdad. Multiple sources have described the plight of workers tricked into Iraq to work on US bases. The workers, often far from their homes in Southeast Asia, find themselves held against their will through deceit, threats and violence. For years these workers have fed the hungry labor markets in the Middle East. The war on Iraq - and a subsequent jobs bonanza - has added a new country to the list.

Human rights group Free the Slaves has started a campaign called 'WarSlavery' to end taxpayer-supported trafficking in Iraq. --Read More--

Links: WarSlavery.org | Background | Free the Slaves | Human Trafficking in the San Diego/Tijuana Border Region: 1 | 2

On Dec 1, 2000, close to 600 people were arrested during the WTO protests in Seattle at several different times and different locations. Originally we tried to construct class action lawsuits for everyone negatively affected by police action during that time but that was too broad. Next we put all arrestees together in a lawsuit and stuck with that for a while. Ultimately, however, several sort of separate suits emerged. This one is the last unresolved case (that I know about.)

This case is for all those arrested in the morning at Westlake Park. Several other cases have been settled: the ACLU got a pretty good outcome and people arrested later in the day at First & Broad settled as well. The city paid protesters significant damages! Some arrestees (the largest group being arrested first thing in the am at 8th & Lenora, soon after departing from Denny Park) ultimately didn't fall into any of the lawsuits, even though I think their rights were tromped as well. !Arrest is NOT an acceptable crowd control method, right!?! read more >> | Jury Seated for WTO arrestee class action trial, Opening statements begin tomorrow

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers announces a major mobilization for farmworker justice, April 13 14, 2007, in the greater Chicago area. Make your plans to join us for historic actions that will usher in a new phase in the Campaign for Fair Food.

CIW: "Today, we are tired, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., of`relying on the good will and understanding of those who profit by exploiting us.'"

From Indymedia Miami: Martin Luther King Day is a United States holiday marking the birthdate of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's actual birthday, January 15th. It is the only US federal holiday commemorating an African American and one of only four to commemorate an individual person. Martin Luther King Day was founded as a holiday promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations. Read more>>

Local Indymedia Coverage: CA Central Valley: Marchers Honor Dr. Martin Luther King ||| Houston: Silent March in Honor of Martin Luther King ||| Los Angeles: Photos & Videos: Peace Activists at MLK Parade ||| Memphis, TN: National Conference for Media Reform Honors King's Legacy | Demands For Media Justice Echo Dr. Martin Luther King’s Calls for Equality and in Memphis ||| New Orleans: Occupation of Public Housing ||| New York City: MLK Day 2007 in NYC | Images from Times Square | Wobblies march, picket Brooklyn warehouse ||| Oklahoma City: Martin Luther King, Jr., events in Oklahoma City ||| Portland: Dr. Suzan D. Johnson Cook Honors MLK Jr.’s Memory ||| San Diego: Is The Official Martin Luther King Jr Parade Too Official? | Community Retakes Legacy Of Martin Luther King, Jr | Coalition offers alternative to militarized MLK day parade ||| St. Louis, MO: Pics from St. Louis MLK Day March 2007 Washington, DC: Protest Ouside Lockheed's HQ in Bethesda | Jazz and Justice - Dr. King Tribute |||

Related: Government Found Guilty of Martin Luther King Murder in Federal Court - 12/8/99

On January 15, 2007, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, over one hundred and twenty IWW union members, supporters and labor movement allies marched on and picketed the warehouse of Handyfat Trading Inc. in Brooklyn. Ten days earlier, Handyfat owner Dennis Ho illegally fired nine workers in retaliation for their union activity, but allegedly over immigration status. Monday, Ho shut down Handyfat’s operations rather than face the picketing workers, at a loss of tens of thousands of dollars in business. Photos and Video here

"As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq . Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home."

A press conference was held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Norfolk on January 15, 2007 (Martin Luther King Day) to formally announce a military "Appeal for Redress" in connection with the conduct of the Iraq War. Members of active duty military and National Guard, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Veterans for Peace (VFP), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) and the Virginia Antiwar Network (VAWN) were among those who spoke to the public and press. Read more>> | appealforredress.org

<< Photo: Jonathan Hutto, US Navy-Norfolk. More photos by Garrie Rouse

Activists have been after POM to stop needless animal testing for some time. POM used the testing to try to help bolster their marketing claims regarding pomegranate juice. But the heat was turned up lately by activists and POM Wonderful has relented and decided to stop conducting animal vivisection. This was a relatively quick and easy victory, although POM's intentions to not farm the experimentation of animals out to other firms remains unclear. Read More>>>

Related: PETA's Youth Activist Website's Can You Believe That Juice Is Tested on Animals? | PETA's POM Horrible campaign

Thursday's (Jan. 18) front page of the Miami Herald featured an article that called the most notorious terrorist in the western hemisphere, Luis Posada Carriles, an "anti-castro militant" without going over his long terrorist record. The Herald printed a sidebox with the article announcing the pro-posada "rally"; something that this newspaper has never done for the anti-war community. Faced with the Herald's most unethical coverage of this pro-terrorist group, we, the Bolivarian Youth, had to counter the rally firmly opposing all forms of terrorism.

On January 5th, members of the Twin Cities Indymedia Collective were contacted by an ally at the out-of-state university that hosts the site's server, informing us that "law enforcement" was demanding that we remove two posts from the site.

From the Collective's contact at the university:
"The Office of General Counsel at the university was contacted by federal authorities about the fact that an FBI agent was named publicly on this website, which is of significant concern as it could be a threat to national security and to the security of this officer." Read More>>

Past Coverage: 12/25/06: More State Repression | 9/13/06: FBI Continues to Harrass Activists

A new San Diego coalition offers an alternative to the militarized Martin Luther King Day parade. The event was organized by the King/Chávez Coalition for Justice and Unity, which was formed after last’s years King Day Parade. A diverse group of community members came together to discuss what to do about the parade, which had been moved out of the community and had become disturbingly militarized and completely co-opted by corporate interests. The King Day Parade has turned into a tourist attraction that represents everything that Martin Luther King was against. Organizers plan to return to this park in 2008, but to also have a march through the community to the park.

Related: Community Retakes Legacy Of Martin Luther King, Jr. | Is The Official San Diego Martin Luther King Jr Parade Too Official? | Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence: Audio and Text

January 23, 2007 - New York: Authorities in San Francisco today announced the arrests and indictments of former Black Panthers in the 1971 killing of police officer Sgt. John V. Young despite the use of torture to obtain confessions. Attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CRR) compared the documented torture by law enforcement of Black Panthers arrested in New Orleans in 1973 to the documented torture the U.S. government has practiced recently at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.

MayDay NOLA, a housing advocacy group, is entering the tenth day of the St. Bernard housing project occupation. The group is protesting plans to raze and then rebuild public housing developments and is calling on the Department of Housing & Urban Development and Housing Authority of New Orleans to call off the demolitions and negotiate with residents. HANO & HUD have responded by filing an injunction that alleges public housing residents and MayDay NOLA "...have trespassed upon HANO property at the St. Bernard Housing Development, have committed vandalism, and have damaged HANO property."

"We don't know how they think that it's illegal for people to come back to their own property," Bill Quigley, counsel for the public housing residents and MayDay NOLA. The residents have not received eviction notices or any communication from HANO or HUD regarding their leases. "The residents... have current leases and therefore have a legal right to enter their homes," says organizer Endesha Juakali of Survivors Village. Interview with Occupants | Take Action to Save Housing | Support the Occupation

"This is the moment freedom begins, the moment you realize someone else has been writing your story, and it's time you took the pen from his hand and started writing it yourself." - Bill Moyers

More than 3500 concerned citizens and activists met in Memphis during the weekend of January 12-14, 2007, for the third annual National Conference for Media Reform. A wide assortment of media and activism-related sessions and caucuses spanned the conference, ranging from building radio stations (high and low power), creating "viral" media, fighting to save the internet and local community access television, increasing diversity in media and media ownership, and critiquing and challenging dominant media paradigms and policies. Indymedia held its own conference caucus on Saturday, January 13, with more than two dozen participants from across the United States.

Indymedia Coverage & Commentary:
» TN-IMC: National Conference for Media Reform Honors King's Legacy | Bill Moyers in Memphis: Take Back the Media | Copps Unveils New American Media Contract | Report Back from the National Conference for Media Reform
» NYC-IMC: Demands For Media Justice Echo Dr. Martin Luther King’s Calls for Equality and in Memphis
» Philly-IMC: Citizens Take On the Media: Let's Form a More Perfect Union
» DC-IMC: Media Reform? audio from vox union | Wakeup Call Host Deepa Fernandes: Media Justice Speech on You Tube
» Urbana-Champaign IMC: Media Reform Activists Come Together in Memphis
» Audio from Pacifica | Democracy Now | Znet

Related: Jan 25 Action Alert: AT&T Proposal To Fayetteville | IMC-US Media Critique Archives

On Saturday, January 27th anti-war protests were held around the US against the war in Iraq. Tens of thousands called on the new Congress to "represent the truly nationwide peace majority." United for Peace and Justice organized the largest march in Washington DC, which drew contingents from cities across the country.

From the DC-IMC Newswire: Hundreds of Thousands Put Impeachment Back On the Table | Break Way March Rushes Capitol Building | Protestors lay siege to US Capitol, smash window at military recruiter | Radical Youth Contingent and Students for a Democratic Society March Overview | Code Pink Takes Capitol Hill... for 30 minutes | The Demo in DC: Chirpy Slogans, Empty City | Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio

Reports from Other Cities: Austin | Boston | Central Valley, CA | Estacada, Bend and MidGorge, OR | Houston | Los Angeles | Medford, OR | Miami: 1, 2 | Minneapolis/St.Paul | Oklahoma: 1, 2 | Olympia, WA | Oregon City | Philadelphia | Portland, OR | Sacramento, CA | San Diego | San Francisco | Seattle | Vancouver, WA

Related: Protests Planned for Fourth Anniversary of US-Led War in Iraq

With these hands I demand the future that poverty wages have stolen from me. Farmworkers returning from picking tomatoes bought by companies, such as McDonald's, show hands stained with pesticides and heavy with hard work.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is declaring that they are tired, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, of “relying on the goodwill and understanding of those who profit from exploiting us,” and are escalating their campaign to convince McDonald’s to end human rights violations in its supply chain. As their first major action in this new phase of the campaign, they are organizing two days of action in McDonald’s corporate backyard, Chicago. The CIW will hold a march and protest outside McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, IL, on the 13th to be followed by a day of colorful street protests in downtown Chicago in the Latin American tradition of “Carnaval” on the 14th. Read more>> | Coalition of Immokalee Workers | Student Farmworker Alliance | Watch the Video

Last week, attorney Bill Quigley, a distinguished professor of law, human rights and public housing rights defender, received a threatening "cease and desist" letter from the law firm representing the Housing Authority of New Orleans(HANO) and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The firm Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann claims Quigley's comments to the press on the housing situation in New Orleans--specifically mentioned is an interview posted on New Orleans IndyMedia--constitute "improper conduct." "We came across many reported statements by you to the press that prejudice HANO's position in this litigation, including but not limited to an audio recording of an interview you gave that is posted on the New Orleans Indy Media website," read the letter signed by Rachel Wisdom. More...

Read the letter | Listen to the targeted interview | Take Action

On January 30th, Army prosecutors of Lt. Ehren Watada dropped two charges of "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." These two charges-each of which carried a one year possible prison sentence-were based on interviews Lt. Watada held with Oakland-based independent journalist Sarah Olson and Greg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. In exchange for the dropping of the two charges, Watada agreed to testify that he made the comments attributed to him by the reporters.

Watada still faces up to four years' confinement on three other charges. With the dropping of the two charges against Watada, the Army no longer needs Sarah Olson or Greg Kakesako to testify.