The Progressive Mind

Greeks Are Challenging Austerity Measures in Court and Are Winning

LIBertea — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 20:35:05 GMT

Greece Wars With Courts Over Ways to Slash Budget

ATHENS — The Greek government has made a range of painful cuts to salaries, pensions and jobs for public workers over the last four years, saying they were needed to satisfy the demands of the international creditors that bailed the country out. But the Greeks hurt by those steps, and the nation’s courts, have a different idea.

Steadily, citizens groups — including police officers, university professors, cleaning workers and judges themselves — have challenged the cuts as illegal or unconstitutional. And in case after case, Greek courts have agreed, presenting a nearly existential question for the government: Can it actually shrink the state?

The mounting pile of judgments has now become a serious obstacle to the austerity drive of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, with the International Monetary Fund warning this week that the “adverse court rulings” threaten to undo the country’s reforms, which its creditors are scheduled to begin reviewing in July.

Coming just as an embattled Mr. Samaras tries to convince citizens and investors that Greece is finally turning a corner, the rulings threaten to punch a gaping hole in the finances of the government. Besides potentially having to reverse many of its public-sector layoffs, Greece could be obliged to scramble for one billion euros, about $1.35 billion, in back pay.

“They’re bigger than us, but we’re angrier,” said Despina Kostopoulou, 53, who worked at the Finance Ministry as a cleaning woman for 22 years before she was laid off last fall. In May, a court ruled that she and 396 of her fellow workers were unfairly dismissed. Since then, she has been sleeping in a tent outside the ministry’s offices, brandishing mops and demanding, along with her co-workers, that the ministry rehire them.

The David-and-Goliath-style standoff has turned the cleaning women into unlikely symbols of resistance to the austerity measures that Mr. Samaras insists have gradually allowed Greece to resume control of its finances, return to bond markets and report a primary surplus — a budget in the black before debt payments — of about $2 billion.

But those same steps have also slashed Greek incomes by a third, driven unemployment to around 27 percent and left the population fuming.

Other countries that have enforced austerity programs have witnessed similar popular challenges and clashes between the government and the judiciary. In Portugal, which recently emerged from its foreign bailout, a top court rejected cuts to salaries and pensions in May, prompting the government to scramble for alternative measures amid feverish speculation about tax increases.

Some of the rulings that have gone against the Greek government have yet to be officially announced or are being appealed. An initial appeal of the decision on the cleaning workers was rejected in May; a second appeal was upheld in a ruling on Thursday by the Supreme Court. A final decision is now expected in September, when many expect that the cleaning workers will be vindicated.

Many of the rulings against the government may ultimately be upheld by Greece’s highest courts, experts said. That would leave the government at a legal dead end and with little other choice, if it is to satisfy its creditors, than to defy the rulings or look for cuts in other places. Either option could further stoke public anger and spark fresh legal appeals by other groups of citizens.

“This is an avalanche that’s started,” said Jens Bastian, an economic consultant and former official on the European Commission’s task force for Greece. “It’s not going to stop.”

Already, the number of challenges to the government’s austerity efforts is growing, and its losses are accumulating.

In January, Greece’s top administrative court, the Council of State, deemed that the government’s cuts to the wages of police and armed forces employees violated the Constitution. In February, the same court ruled that a tax on benefits for university staff members and cuts to civil servants’ pensions were illegal. The same month, Greek Supreme Court judges found that a property tax introduced in 2011 as an emergency measure and later extended was unconstitutional. Another court rejected cuts to the salaries of state hospital doctors, university professors and, unsurprisingly, judges.

The country’s faltering privatization drive is also at risk. In May, the Council of State blocked the sale of the state’s majority stake in the Athens water company, with a current stock market value of around $813 million, out of concern that water quality could deteriorate under private control. The move raised questions about whether the government can meet a target to sell off $2 billion worth of assets in 2014.

According to analysts, the decisions could upend Mr. Samaras’s progress in putting the economy back on track. Achieving a budget surplus was a precondition for the start of talks in the fall among Greece and its euro zone partners on lightening Greece’s debt load.

In its report on Greece this week, the I.M.F. expressed concern about Greece’s “very high” debt, which stands at about 175 percent of economic output, and said a “dramatic improvement” in the efficiency of its public sector was still needed to avoid further austerity measures. If the courts roll back the government’s reforms, compensating measures will be necessary, it said.

In any case, European officials recently repeated their view that Greece is likely to need a third, much smaller, bailout in addition to the two loan agreements worth a total of $325 billion it has already been granted since 2010 by its so-called troika of creditors — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the I.M.F.

“The rulings have immediate implications for Greece’s fiscal strategy and revenue projections, which must be revised,” Mr. Bastian said.

“Privatization targets are constantly being revised downward and tax collection is difficult, as people can’t pay,” he added, referring to public debts to the state that have topped $89 billion and are rising by $1.35 billion every month.

The string of legal decisions has wrought political damage, too, on a government that has been left wobbling from the victory of the leftist opposition party Syriza in European Parliament elections last month. Mr. Samaras carried out a thorough cabinet shuffle on Monday, installing Gikas Hardouvelis, a respected economist and former government adviser, as finance minister in an attempt to breathe new life into an administration tainted by government austerity programs.

The resilience of the cleaning workers at the Finance Ministry has proved to be an embarrassment, and may signal complications to come.

A ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a reversal of the cleaners’ dismissals could gut the “central tenet” of the government’s plans to trim the public sector — its “mobility scheme” — that began last year. The measure requires placing 25,000 civil servants on reduced pay for eight months before dismissing them if they cannot find another public-sector job.

That plan is in addition to the layoffs of 15,000 public-sector workers, 11,000 of whom are supposed to be let go this year. Short of dismissing the cleaners, “the alternative was to dismiss tax collectors,” the official said, noting that a private firm is doing the cleaners’ job for a third of the cost.

Experts say the government’s imposition of these measures will probably result in more rulings in favor of public-sector workers, presenting it with the difficult choice of defying Greek courts to placate its foreign creditors or giving ammunition to austerity protesters.

“The government is in a state of emergency, so it is violating the Constitution,” said Aristides Hatzis, a professor of legal theory at the University of Athens. But the courts will continue to block measures that violate laws, he said, adding: “The judges are doing their job. The demands of the troika are not their problem.”

The World Cup’s massive inequality problem is about to blow up

LIBertea — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 14:25:24 GMT

The World Cup’s massive inequality problem is about to blow up

In a country where many are malnourished, why is the government spending $3.5 billion on stadiums?

There is, as media people like to say, a narrative emerging around Brazil’s upcoming World Cup. And it’s not about soccer, but about unfinished infrastructure, opulent stadiums, match-fixing, evictions and protests. The sordid business of hosting an international sporting event isn’t a back story; it’s the story.

There’s some irony in this, because soccer has for decades been Brazil’s best-known export, the seductive flair of the starting 11 closely linked to the nation’s image abroad. At home, too, the squad and the ritual of support have close ties to national identity. But the strong association between Brazil and the Beautiful Game has only heightened the contrast between the organizers’ cheery promotions and the open displeasure of Brazilians.

In taking on the World Cup, has Brazil exposed its own shortcomings — or those of the competition?

In part, the government has fallen short of its own expectations; a large number of infrastructure projects remain unfinished. A monorail connection to the Sao Paulo domestic airport will not be completed until 2015, and renovations to the terminals are running behind schedule. A light rail system in Cuiabá won’t be open in time; Rio’s Transcarioca bus system, which opened last weekend, still has stations under construction. Half the stadiums, meant to be equipped with luxury perks like free Wi-Fi, will not be fully finished by the time Brazil and Croatia kick off. The list goes on.

But most Brazilians aren’t angry about the unfinished projects so much as about the projects themselves. Why is a country with a high incidence of malnutrition spending some $3.5 billion on stadiums? Even the transportation infrastructure projects (especially those that are incomplete) can seem tenuously connected with the lives of ordinary Brazilians. For how many people will an easier connection to the airport constitute an important improvement? Many Brazilians view the general crackdown on the urban informal economy, such as the evictions of favela residents and the demolition of their homes, as an urban renewal project undertaken with the upcoming international exposure in mind.

What seemed a sure bet on a “national passion” has begun to look, to many Brazilians, like trickle-down economics. As Helen Jefferson Lanskyj, author of “Olympic Industry Resistance,” writes: “legacy benefits accrue to the already privileged section of the population.” The burdens go the other way.

To some extent, those perceptions are anchored in the remarkable contrasts of Brazilian society. Though income inequality here is declining quickly, and the country will soon have a more even distribution of wealth than the United States, the differing fortunes of the haves and have-nots are achingly visible in every Brazilian city.

But the protests that have roiled the country over the past two years and may continue to do so during the World Cup also mirror an emerging global consensus, from Sochi to Miami to Munich, that the professional sports industry has grossly manipulated the public interest.

In the United States, the announcement of a publicly funded sports event or facility is routinely accompanied by the prognosis that the handout will not pay off. The International Olympic Committee seems to have only two solid remaining candidates for the 2022 Winter Games: China and Kazakhstan. After Sochi’s colossal expenses and Beijing’s white elephants, who can be surprised that no democracy wants to put the money on the line?

But one-and-done international events – most recently the World Cup, for decades the Olympics, and before that the World’s Fairs and Expositions – have historically been important catalysts for cities’ development. It was the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris that prompted the city to finally construct an underground subway. Japan’s famous Shinkansen bullet train was inaugurated with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics; four Tokyo highways were constructed in preparation. Barcelona, often considered the gold standard for Olympic planning, introduced over 4 million square feet of public space in connection with the ’92 Games. More recently, South Africa built the celebrated Johannesburg-area Gautrain commuter rail for the 2010 World Cup.

Do the benefits of mega-events outweigh the costs? Though dozens of case studies haven’t furnished a conclusive answer, public opinion seems to have shifted. That the citizens in Krakow, Munich and Davos all voted against competing for the Winter Games confirms that the Brazilians are not alone in viewing a mega-event as a disruption and a waste.

The biggest problem today, perhaps, is not with the game but with the players: FIFA and the IOC.

Their pockets have gotten fat indeed. (And not merely with the bribe money that sent World Cup 2022, in an otherwise baffling decision, to Qatar.) The “positive result” that FIFA gets from the World Cup has doubled with each tournament, from $129 million in 2002 to $339 million in 2006 to $705 million in 2010. FIFA’s World Cup dividends this time around could surely pay for a handful of Brazil’s 12 new stadiums. The International Olympic Committee makes more than a billion dollars a year, and more and more each cycle. A former market director for the committee called the games “the world’s longest commercial.”

Sure, IOC and FIFA score lucrative endorsements and television contracts because they put on a good show. But they also require countries to protect their windfall at the people’s expense. At FIFA’s behest, the Brazilian congress passed a constitutionally questionable law that gave FIFA and its sponsors exclusive commercial control over zones surrounding stadiums. It also gives FIFA special trademark protection. Most important, it exempts World Cup sponsors – multinational corporations like Budweiser and McDonald’s – from Brazilian income taxes and industrial and import taxes until the end of 2015.

If FIFA and the IOC want their plans to pass muster with the world’s citizens, and not just its rulers, they ought to change the way they do business. They have no reason to reform because countries have, until now, competed to do their bidding.

In that regard, Brazil’s World Cup-Olympic combo may mark a tipping point. The possibilities of international sporting competitions are great; the practice is looking increasingly flawed.

[NT] Russia’s Gazprom signs Agreement to Abandon the Dollar

LIBertea — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:58:00 GMT

Grand Geopolitical Project: Russia’s Gazprom signs Agreement to Abandon the Dollar

By Umberto Pascali

“It’s only the tip of the iceberg. A grand geopolitical project is beginning to materialize…”

On June 6 2014, the official Russian news agency Itar Tass announced what many were expecting since at least the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis: Russian main energy company, Gazprom Neft has finally “signed agreements with its consumers” to switch from Dollars to Euros (as transition to the ruble) “for payments under contracts”.

The announcement that the agreement has been actually signed and not just discussed was made by Gazprom’s Chief Executive Officer, Alexander Dyukov.

Despite the pressures from Wall Street and its military, propaganda and political apparatus, 9 out of 10 consumers of Gazprom’s oil and gas agreed to pay in Euros. Of course, the big watershed was the Gazprom unprecedented 30-years $400Bl natural gas supply to China signed in Shanghai last May 21 in the presence of President Putin and President Xi Jinping in the middle of the Anglo-american sponsored violent destabilization of Ukraine. In fact it is improper to talk a dollar denominated $400Bl, because this “biggest deal” will not be using dollars but the Renminbi (or Yuan) and the Russian Ruble. It links China and Russia economically and strategically for three decades, de facto (and maybe later also de jure) creating an unshakable symbiotic alliance that necessarily will involve the military aspect.

The Russia-China agreement is a clear defeat of the obsessive geopolitical attempts by Wall Street to keep the two country in a situation of competition or, ideally, war-like confrontation. It changes the structure of alliances. It strikes at the historical foundations of British colonial geopolitics (Divide and Rule). Under escalating pressures and threats to their national security, Russia and China overcame brilliantly historical, ideological, cultural differences which had previously been been by the colonial powers (and their financial heirs in Wall Street and the London’s city) for their “Divide & Conquer” strategy.

Furthermore, to the horror of London and Washington, China and Russia concluded an agreement with India (the BRICS!) breaking the other holy tenet of British colonial geopolitics: The secret to controlling Asia, and thus Eurasia has always been to instigate a perennial rivalry between India, China, and Russia. This was the formula for the 19^th century “Great Game”. This was why Obama was selected to succeed George W Bush. The then vice Presidential candidate Joseph Biden announced it very openly on Aug 27 2008 at the Democratic Convention in Denver, explaining why the Obama-Biden duo had been chosen to take over the White House. The greatest mistake of the Bush administration and the Republicans, he said, was not their atrocious unchained warmongering, but their failure

“to face the biggest forces shaping this century. The emergence of Russia, China and India’s great powers”. Zbigniew Brzezinski’s protégé Barack Obama was to defeat this “threat”. Obviously they failed! But this explains the dogged, irrational, King Canute-style self-destructive arrogance that has taken over the present Administration.

The significance of these developments should be emphasized in relation to both the real economy and the underlying financial structures. These developments in Eurasia are likely to have weaken on “the chains that have tied the European Union to Wall Street and the City of London”. The end of the dollar payment system (Aka Petro-dollar) does not concern the currency of the United States or the United States as such. In fact overcoming this system could mean the restoration of a rational and prosperous economy in the United States itself. What is known as “dollar system” has been just an instrument of feudal financial centers to loot the economy of the world. These centers are ready to do anything to save their right to loot. It is well known that whoever tried, until now, to create an alternative to the dollar system, met a ferocious reaction.

It is fitting to remember in this moment of great hope, the words of one of the very few great living strategists, Gen. Leonid Ivashov. On June 15 2011, reflecting on the savage destruction of Libya, the general who is an unofficial spokesman of the Russian armed forces and has been Russia’s representative in NATO, wrote

“BRICS and the Mission of Reconfiguring the World.”

Whoever challenges the dollar hegemony, explained Ivashov, becomes a target.

He gave precise examples: Iraq, Libya, Iran:

“the countries which defied dollar dominance invariably came under heavy pressure and in a number of cases – under devastating attacks.” But the “the financial empires built by Rothschilds and Rockefellers are powerless against the five largest civilizations represented by the BRICS.”

Thus, Ivashov advocated a coordinated strategy by countries representing half of the world population to win their independence using their own currency.

“The shift to national currencies in the financial transactions between the BRICS countries should guarantee an unprecedented level of their independence…”

Since the collapse of the USSR, the countries which defied dollar dominance invariably came under heavy pressure and in a number of cases – under devastating attacks. Saddam Hussein –who banned dollar circulation in all spheres of Iraq’s economy including oil trade– was displaced and executed and his country was left in ruins. M. Gaddafi started switching Libya’s oil and gas business to gold-backed Arab currencies and air raids against the country followed almost immediately… Tehran had to put its plan to stay dollar-free on hold to avoid falling victim to aggression.

Still, even enjoying unlimited US support, the financial empires built by the Rothschilds and Rockefellers are powerless against the five largest civilizations represented by countries accounting for nearly half of the world’s population. BRICS is clearly immune to forceful pressure, its member countries do not appear vulnerable to color revolutions, and the strategy of provoking and exporting financial crises may easily backfire.

In contrast to the US and the EU, BRICS countries altogether own natural resources sufficient not only to keep their economies afloat in the settings of contracting availability of hydrocarbon fuels, food, potable water, and electric power but also to sustain vigorous economic growth. The shift to national currencies in the financial transactions between the BRICS countries should guarantee an unprecedented level of their independence from the US and from the West in general, but even that is only the tip of the iceberg. A grand geopolitical project is beginning to materialize

Now it’s the moment for Europe to decide the big step. The Ukrainian crisis is in reality a Battle for Europe.

The elites of Continental Europe — The Germany of Alfred Herrausen, the France of Charles De Gaulle, the Italy of Enrico Mattei and Aldo Moro, the Europe that tried to road of sovereignty and independence … have been until now terrorized and threatened exactly in the terms explained by Gen Ivashov. Now the Battle for Europe is raging. We will look in a coming article at the great European forces, the silent partners, still traumatized and scared, who are looking with trepidation and painful memories of the past defeats at the firm stand of Russia.

The Nuclear Zero Lawsuits: Who Will Speak for the People?

LIBertea — Fri, 23 May 2014 11:54:39 GMT

The U.N. just concluded the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Preparatory Committee with representatives from the 189 signatory nations and of civil society. The meeting was in preparation for next year's NPT conference and to discuss the current status of fulfilling the obligations under the treaty and in particular, the mandate of the nuclear weapons states for global disarmament. The outcome was a continued foot dragging by the nuclear states motivating a demand for meaningful steps and progress toward disarmament by the other 184 nations in view of current international events.

Recent scientific studies by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War on the humanitarian consequences of limited nuclear war have shed additional light on the danger these weapons pose. Describing a hypothetical conflict between India and Pakistan using less than ½ of 1 percent of the global nuclear arsenals, the studies confirm 2 billion people would be at risk of dying due to global climatic change.

Combined with recent scandals involving U.S. ICBM missile controllers and a growing accounting of nuclear mishaps and near misses in our nuclear forces over the years, the sense of urgency for disarmament is greater than ever. It has become a question of who will step forward and speak for humanity.

On April 24, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) filed the Nuclear Zero Lawsuits in the International Court of Justice against all nine nuclear-armed nations, as well as against the United States in U.S. Federal District Court. RMI claims that the nuclear weapon states are in breach of Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which entered into force 16,121 days prior to the filing. In this David vs. Goliath action this tiny island nation has found the voice to speak on behalf of the world and the other nations signatory to the Treaty.

The case for the Nuclear Zero Lawsuit comes directly from the NPT where Article VI states: “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”

This was the grand bargain that convinced many non-nuclear weapon states to sign the treaty and agree not to develop nuclear weapons of their own. Forty-four years later, with no meaningful negotiations on the horizon and no end in sight to the “step-by-step” process heralded by the permanent five members of the UN Security Council (P5), the RMI has stepped in to change the discourse on nuclear disarmament.

RMI is seeking declaratory relief from the courts that will compel the leaders of the Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) to initiate good-faith negotiations for an end to the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament. They are challenging the leaders of the NWS to answer, on the record, why 44 years have passed and nuclear arsenals continue to be modernized, national security strategies continue to place nuclear weapons at the top of the list, and the P5 don’t even expect to have a “Glossary of Key Nuclear Terms” to talk about nuclear disarmament until 2015.

In addition to the five Nuclear Weapon States named in the NPT, the lawsuit also includes the four nuclear weapon states that are not parties to the NPT – Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea – which, RMI argues, are bound to Article VI obligations under customary international law.

The RMI is a small sovereign nation, among the smallest in the world. However, their courage could not be greater. Having been a testing ground for 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, the Marshall Islanders have seen their land, sea and people poisoned from radiation. These tests had an equivalent explosive force greater than 1.5 Hiroshima bombs being detonated daily for 12 years. The Marshall Islanders paid a heavy price in terms of their health and well-being for these destructive tests. They have experienced firsthand the horrible destruction caused by nuclear weapons and those that possess them. They are willing to stand up to the nine nuclear giants and say, “Never again. We have seen the destructive impact of these horrific weapons and vow to do all we can so the world never sees such atrocities again.”

The RMI does not act alone in this action. A consortium of NGOs working to highlight the legal and moral issues involved in the Nuclear Zero Lawsuit has come together around the world coordinated by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara. Respecting the courage of the plaintiff in bringing these lawsuits against some of the most powerful nations in the world they have developed a call to action.

The consortium urges everyone to join them by raising your voice in support of the Nuclear Zero Lawsuit. Go to www.nuclearzero.org, where you can read more about the lawsuits and sign the petition encouraging leaders of the Nuclear Weapon States to begin good-faith negotiations.

Turkish Mine Explosion, Predicted in 2010 - Report Warned

LIBertea — Sun, 18 May 2014 13:08:10 GMT

Turkish Mine Explosion, Predicted in 2010

2010 Report Warned Dangerous Conditions Could Produce “Disaster”

Turkish police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against thousands of protesters Friday in the city of Soma, the location of a deadly mine explosion that has killed nearly 300 workers. Demonstrations have erupted throughout the country, as more details emerge exposing the disaster as preventable and caused by a lack of basic safety procedures.

The official death toll from the mine fire that occurred on Tuesday now stands at 292. Government and company officials report that up to 18 miners are still unaccounted for and may be trapped in the mine, while workers have said the true number could be far higher. Already, the Soma “massacre” ranks as the deadliest mine disaster in Turkish history.

The Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have responded to growing popular outrage with repression and riot police. (Video of demonstrators confronting riot police in Soma can be found here.)

Protests have been fueled by video and images showing Edorgan himself slapping one protester, who was subsequently beaten by police. An Erdogan aide has also been photographed kicking a protester on the ground.

Warnings about the dangerous conditions in the Soma mine have existed for years. In 2010, the Chamber of Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) produced a 152-page report, “Work Accidents in Mines,” that documented specific safety concerns that made a disastrous accident likely.

According to Hurriyet Daily News, the report concluded, “no production should be made [at the Soma mine] before the necessary research has been completed. Carrying out production with the lack of experience might lead to disaster.” The mine was particularly dangerous because of the high levels of methane, the TMMOB report concluded.

One worker told Halk TV on Friday, “The machines were whistling for two years. I knew the reason. They are digging areas that had methane where they should not have dug.” As for supposed safety inspections, the miner said, “Inspectors came, but they only reviewed the main tunnels. They didn’t look at the details.” Hurriyet writes that the TMMOB report also “draws attention to the lack of any alternative routes for breathing or escaping, which made the rescue of the workers almost impossible in case of an accident.”

“The ventilation in the mine pit is adversely affected since workers can’t be evacuated from the mine urgently and safely,” the report found. “Dangerous gasses cannot be tracked at any time, necessary measures cannot be taken at the right time and evacuation of the mine cannot be maintained immediately.”

On Friday, company officials acknowledged that there was no refuge chamber for miners to access in the case of a fire. Such a chamber existed during an earlier phase of production, but when the mining was extended deeper underground nothing was constructed for the new location. The owners of the mine have claimed that they were in the process of building a new chamber, and that these chambers are not required by law.

The precise cause of the fire on Tuesday has not been definitely determined. Officials initially said a power transformer exploded, cutting off electricity to elevators and suffocating hundreds of miners, who likely died of carbon monoxide poisoning. In order to cut costs, Soma manufactured its own transformers.

However, plant manager Akin Celik has since said that the cause of the fire remains unknown. “There is no negligence of ours in this incident,” he claimed in a press conference on Friday.

The manager’s retraction came after a statement from a local branch of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers called the disaster “murder,” stating that it was “not caused by an electrical situation as presented to the public.” The chamber reported that inspections after the explosion revealed “that the systems to sense poisonous and explosive gases in the mine and the systems to manage the air systems were insufficient and old.”

The engineers argued that the deaths were caused by a coal fire deep underground, with flames and smoke spread through the mine’s ventilation system.

Since the Soma mine was fully privatized in 2005, the company that owns the mine, Soma Komur Isletmeleri, boasted of having slashed costs by more than 80 percent, from $130 per ton to under $24 per ton. Miners are paid poverty wages, operations sped up and safety neglected in order to funnel profits to the company’s investors.

The disaster has exposed the brutal exploitation of the Turkish working class as a whole and miners in particular. Turkey has the highest rate of mine deaths in the world, with an average of 7.22 fatalities per million tons of coal. According to the Worker Health and Safety Assembly, 1,235 workers in all sectors were killed in 2013 and another 396 in 2014 so far.

Being gay in Pakistan: Where anti-gay killers are applauded

LIBertea — Mon, 12 May 2014 14:05:14 GMT

Being gay in Pakistan: Where anti-gay serial killers are applauded (via GlobalPost)

LAHORE, Pakistan — Sitting at a coffee shop in a posh Lahore neighborhood, two young men hold a heated debate over the serial killer caught killing gay men in their city last month. “Gay rights are human rights,” says one, arguing that gays have…

Radicals Shooting at People in Odessa’s Caught On Tape

LIBertea — Mon, 05 May 2014 18:15:28 GMT

Still from YouTube video/RomanDorogniyKontrol

New video has emerged online which shows a man shooting at the windows of Odessa’s burning House of Trade Unions. At least 39 anti-government activists died in the flames on May 2 in the building besieged and set ablaze by radicals.

A man in the video is wearing a bulletproof vest and is shooting several times in the direction of the burning House of Trade Unions.

Another video of the same man shows him speaking on the phone passionately arguing that he and his people are unarmed, while having to confront armed anti-government protesters. The man introduces himself as sotnik Mykola (“sotnik” is what Maidan group leaders in Kiev call themselves) He also says he was wounded in the leg by protesters, although he doesn’t look hurt in the footage.

Both the videos have gathered thousands of views on YouTube, stirring a wave of indignation at the man’s hypocrisy and his shooting at the people trapped inside the burning building.

Survivors of the fire say they had to barricade themselves inside the House of Trade Unions, to hide from an aggressive mob, which had torched their tent camp.

Radicals then began throwing Molotov cocktails at the Trade Unions building, setting it on fire. Witnesses say that those who managed to escape the fire, were severely beaten outside by the besiegers of the burning building.

“We couldn’t go down, we were seeing people from other floors being brought down and then those rioters down there attacked them like a pack of wolves,” a survivor of the fire, who was hiding on the roof of the building, told RT.

Afraid of falling into the hands of radicals, people didn’t leave the House of Trade Unions, where dozens eventually burnt alive, suffocated or jumped out of windows.

Handprints on walls; people tried to get out, while walls were melting #odessa #ukraine via @IrinaGalushkoRT pic.twitter.com/u8pgE4Lu4B

— Marko Veselinovic_RT (@marko_ves) May 4, 2014

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry however offers a different version of events, saying the victims of the violent unrest started the fire themselves, when they began throwing Molotov cocktails from the upper floor. Multiple videos of the incident, however, show Molotov cocktails flying from outside the building.

Several hundred people rallied overnight in Odessa outside the local police headquarters, demanding the release of the fire survivors who had been detained on May 2. People claim around 60 survivors of the Trade Unions House are currently being held in jails. The rally participants told journalists that anti-government activists who managed to get out of the burning building were first beaten by nationalist militants outside and then detained by police. Many of the rally participants were holding pictures of their relatives and friends, who have been missing since clashes broke out in Odessa two days ago.

Lavrov: Russia has info about Ukraine’s Right Sector Snipers

LIBertea — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 12:09:23 GMT

Lavrov: Russia has info about Ukraine’s Right Sector involved in Kiev sniper shooting

Russia will respond if the European Union issues Schengen visas to Crimean residents only on Ukrainian passports

Russia has some information about Ukrainian far-right movement Right Sector involved in the shooting of snipers in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Sunday Time programme anchored by Irada Zeinalova on Channel One on Sunday. Pettiness of foreign sponsors of new authorities in Kiev is astonishing, he added.

“We have some information about it. We shared our concerns and suspicions. I cannot affirm with absolute determination, but there is a good deal of facts that point to this. Certainly, it is needed to recheck them. I hope that an investigation which current Ukrainian leaders announced will be finalised and will not be swept under carpet,” Lavrov noted.

Russia will respond if the European Union issues Schengen visas to Crimean residents only on Ukrainian passports, Lavrov said.

“People who live in Crimea and who chose Russian citizenship are not related to geopolitics. They want to live in a country which meets their cultural and language request, their so-called “gene pool”,” Lavrov noted.

“If the European Union takes such steps, I am convinced that we will reply to this so that the EU will understand that blatant violation of human rights is unacceptable,” the Russian foreign minister added.

Russian language in Ukraine

Kiev authorities find Ukraine’s federalisation and the Russian language status as the second state language unacceptable, Lavrov said.

“Andrey Deshchitsa [interim Ukrainian foreign minister] stated that our proposal was unacceptable, because federalisation contradicts fundamental principles of state system in Ukraine,” Lavrov said. “This is unclear why it is so. I am not aware of such principles,” he added.

“Secondly, the idea to make Russian language the second state language is also unacceptable for him,” the Russian top diplomat went on to say in comments on results of talks with Deshchitsa in the Hague. “This was stated amid well-known statements by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and other officials of current Ukrainian authorities that Russians and Russian language are not system-forming factors of Ukrainian state in terms of ethnogenesis,” Lavrov added.

Russian troops in the Crimea

No one cancelled the right for moving armed forces in the homeland, Russian Foreign Minister said,

“Russian military forces are based on the territory of our country. From time to time they hold scheduled, unscheduled and surprise military exercises, as any countries respecting themselves do, because the latter are concerned so that their armed forces will be in combat order,” Lavrov noted.

The recent war games “were transparent and met fully criteria in effect in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).” “All required information about it was sent. In reply to requests made to us we have permitted foreign inspectors including the Americans and Ukrainians to monitor it,” the minister noted.

“Within the Treaty of Open Skies under which flights are made over the territories of signatory nations for air surveillance, such flights were made just a couple of weeks ago at Ukraine’s request,” Lavrov added. “In reports of foreign observers delivered upon results of these inspections we did not find any affirmations that Russia was involved in any dangerous activity during these military manoeuvres,” the Russian top diplomat said.

“We do not have any evil intent and are still open for honest talks. However, no one cancelled the right to move armed forces on your own territory,” the Russian foreign minister added.

Russia, US, EU dialogue

Russia, the United States and the European Union should urge Kiev authorities to launch a dialogue in all Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov said.

“We meet regularly with John Kerry [U.S. Secretary of State]. It is surprising for me that the Europeans gave a free hand to Washington to deal with Ukrainian issues regarding relations with Russia,” Lavrov noted. “Ideas of forming a contact group [on Ukrainian crisis] are being worked out, we have already said about this many times. A contact group is contemplated as a structure in which Europe and the U.S. will “supervise” how we and Ukrainians start to come to terms on something,” the Russian top diplomat said.

“This is unacceptable, because the problem is not in our relations with Ukraine, but in the fact that Ukrainian society is in a deep crisis of statehood,” he added.

Therefore, Russia proposed another approach. “If our Western partners are prepared Russia, the U.S. and the EU will be able to set up a group of support to Ukraine and to formulate general appeals to those who rule in Ukraine now so that they will put forward an initiative of a dialogue in the whole country and will invite all political forces without exception [naturally not armed radicals] and regions to enter in equitable talks,” the minister noted. “Their outcome will become a new Ukrainian constitution that will ensure a federal system of government that confirms and stipulates an off-bloc position of the country and will guarantee the rights of those who live in Ukraine, primarily, Russian-speaking population is surely important for us, but also the rights of Czechs, Hungarians, Germans and other nationalities living there,” the foreign minister added.

“If our partners are prepared for this, we are open for broadest co-operation,” Lavrov said. “But current Ukrainian authorities should make a first step to extend a friendly hand to all Ukrainian citizens, all regions, offer them enter in equitable, open dialogue on the future of their homeland. We will be completely prepared to co-operate closely on this path,” the Russian foreign minister added.

Neo Nazis and Freedom of Press in Ukraine

LIBertea — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMT

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Another great victory for freedom, courtesy of Imperialistic forces. The Video below shows Svoboda MPs (including the secretary to Freedom of Press of current Ukrainian government) attacking "First National" (Ukrainian: Перший національний) TV network CEO Oleksandr Panteleymonov and reportedly criticizing him for allowing his network to broadcast what is actually happening in Ukraine. MPs forced Panteleymonov to write and sign his resignation on the spot and later "shoved" him into an SUV to be taken to an undisclosed location

NATO airstrike 'accidentally' kills 5 Afghan soldiers

LIBertea — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:46:57 GMT

Reuters/U.S. Air Force/Bobbi Zapka/

Five Afghan soldiers have been killed in an airstrike by the NATO-led force in Afghanistan in eastern Logar province, according to a government official.

The reason for the airstrike on Thursday is not clear, Reuters quoted the provincial governor’s spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish as saying.

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan said it was aware of reports. However, it did not immediately provide any details.

Five Afghan soldiers have been killed and 17 people wounded in an airstrike by the NATO-led force in Afghanistan in eastern Logar province.

The airstrike, one of the deadliest friendly fire incidents in recent years, occurred at about 3:30 am local time and seriously wounded a further eight soldiers, bringing the total number of injured people to 17.

Dead bodies and wounded personnel have been transferred from the Chark district of Logar province to Kabul, the Afghan defense ministry said in a statement. It added that a delegation has already been sent to investigate.

Coalition forces operating in Afghanistan have said in a statement that the bombing was an accident, but did not give any further details of what might have been the cause of the deadly error.

“We value the strong relationship with our Afghan partners, and we will determine what actions will be taken to ensure incidents like this do not happen again,” the ISAF statement said, adding that they are conducting an investigation "to determine the circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident."

"Right now a discussion in the province is going on between Afghan officials and foreign forces to find out the reason for this attack," district governor Khalilullah Kamal said, adding that a new outpost of the Afghan army was targeted.

"The post is totally destroyed," he said. "The Americans used to be in that post but since they left, the ANA (Afghan national army) took over. The post is on a hilltop. The attack was conducted by drones."

Coalition airstrikes which lead to deaths among the civilian population and Afghan soldiers have created an ever widening rift between outgoing President Hamid Karzai and the United States to the point where he has refused to sign a bilateral security deal to allow US troops to remain in the country after 2014.

“We condemn the attack on the Afghan National Army in Logar. The president has ordered an investigation,” said Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Karzai.

Previously Karzai had ordered an end to all NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan unless they were cleared first by the Afghan defense ministry. Karzai has also issued a decree banning airstrikes in residential areas.

All NATO forces are due to leave Afghanistan at the end of this year.