sjedište tvrtke Combined Systems Inc. u Jamestownu, Pennsylvaniji ispred kojeg se vijore američka i izraelska zastavaU proteklih nekoliko dana svijet su obišle slike, poruke i novinski članci koji opisuju kako je egipatska policija na nenasilne pro-demokratske prosvjednike u Egiptu ispaljivala suzavac proizveden u SAD-u. Slične smo prizore već vidjeli tijekom nekoliko proteklih mjeseci u Tunisu, te u Palestini. Ono što je zajedničko Egiptu, Tunisu i Palestini su represivne vlasti koje američke tvrtke snabdijevaju suzavcem i drugim oružjem. Vlasti u Egiptu, Tunisu i Izraelu koriste ekstremno nasilje protiv nenaoružanih prosvjednika koji zahtijevaju svoja temeljna ljudska prava, sakate ih, pa čak i ubijaju bez da odgovorni ikada budu privedeni pravdi.
Suzavac marke CTS (kratica za Combine Tactical Systems), koji egipatske, tuniske i izraelske vlasti koriste kako bi ugušile prosvjede, kršile ljudska prava i održale se na vlasti, proizvodi američka tvrtka iz Jamestowna u Pennsylvaniji.
Suzavac CSI dostavlja se u Izrael, Egipat i Tunis u sklopu ogromne vojne pomoći koju SAD daju vladama tih zemalja, unatoč jasnim dokazima o teškim kršenjima ljudskih prava od strane tih vlada. Izrael godišnje od SAD-a prima 3 milijarde američkih dolara vrijednu vojnu pomoć, uključujući 1,85 milijuna američkih dolara vrijednu isporuku "suzavaca i sredstava za obuzdavanje nereda" tijekom 2007. i 2008. godine. Egipat godišnje od SAD-a prima vojnu pomoć u vrijednosti od 1,3 milijarde američkih dolara, dok Tunis u prosjeku godišnje prima vojnu pomoć u vrijednosti od 15 milijuna američkih dolara. Prodaju suzavca proizvedenog u SAD-u ovim vladama odobrilo je američko ministarstvo vanjskih poslova.
POŠALJITE PORUKU američkom ministarstvu vanjskih poslova i zatražite od njih da prekinu koristiti novac američkih poreznih obveznika za snabdijevanje represivnih vlada suzavcem i drugim oružjem, te odobravati prodaju vojne opreme i oružja represivnim vladama, poput egipatske, izraelske i tuniske koje američku opremu i oružje koriste za kršenja temeljnih ljudskih prava.
POŠALJITE PORUKU direktorima tvrtke CSI i njenih glavnih ulagača Point Lookout Capital Partners i Carlyle Group i zahtijevajte da CSI prestane prodavati suzavac koji represivne vlade, poput onih u Egiptu, Tunisu i Izraelu, koriste kako bi kršile pravo na prosvjed.
Da biste poslali već gotove poruke na engleskom potrebno je na linkovima (za američko ministarstvo vanjskih poslova i tvrtku CSI) upisati Ime i Prezime, e-mail adresu, grad, županiju/pokrajinu, državu i prepisati kod za zaštitu od spama, te kliknuti na Send.
Egipat: O jednom primjeru izvijestila je agencija Agence France Press 28. siječnja koja navodi da su "desetci patrona suzavca koje proizvodi Combined Tactical Systems iz Jamestowna u Pennsylvaniji, ispaljeni na prosvjednike na jednoj ulici u Kairu u petak [...] Mnogi su prosvjednici ozlijeđeni zbog udisanja suzavca i jer su pogođeni patronama, pri čemu su sigurnosne snage ponekad suzavac ispaljivale izravno u prosvjednike." Osoblje organizacije za ljudska prava Human Rights Watch tvrdi da su vidjeli mrtve prosvjednike u Aleksandriji s "velikim ozljedama glave od patrona suzavca za koje nam je bilo rečeno da su ispaljene izravno u glave prosvjednika iz neposredne blizine".
Tunis: Lucas Mebrouk Dolega preminuo je u Tunisu 17. siječnja, 3 dana nakon što je iz blizine pogođen granatom suzavca. Dolega (32) je radio kao fotograf za europsku fotoreportersku agenciju European Pressphoto Agency (EPA).
Palestina: Na okupiranoj Zapadnoj obali izraelski su vojnici tijekom 2009. ispalili patrone suzavca CSI izravno na Bassema Abu Rahmu iz sela Bil'in, što je uzrokovalo njegovu smrt, te također izravno u američkog državljana Tristana Andersona u selu Ni'lin, pri čemu je on teško ozlijeđen. Bassemova sestra Jawaher također je preminula od udisanja suzavca 1. siječnja 2011. na prosvjedu u selu Bil'in. Nakon tog prosvjeda zemlja u selu Bil'in bila je prekrivena ispaljenim patronama suzavca CSI. U svibnju 2010. jedan je izraelski vojnik izravno u američku državljanku Emily Henochowicz ispalio patronu suzavca pri čemu je Henochowicz ostala bez jednog oka. Više informacija o suzavcu CSI i uporabi suzavca protiv Palestinaca od strane izraelske vojske možete pronaći na linku.
Link na akciju: Send E-mails to CSI and the State Dept.
Izvor i više informacija na engleskom: Alert: End US tear gas & military aid to Egypt, Tunisia & Israel
DODATNI LINKOVI:
Egipat:
VIDEO: Revolutionaries on the rooftop (part one)
Young protesters occupying an apartment building near the site of fierce battles between pro- and anti-government crowds discuss their motivations, the events of the past two weeks, and the diverse make-up of Egypt's democracy movement.
VIDEO: Revolutionaries on the rooftop (part three)
A Call From Egyptian Socialists
As a dictator, Mubarak was a servant and client directly acting for the sake of the interests of America and Israel. Egypt acted as a colony of America, participated directly in the siege of the Palestinian people, made the Suez Canal and Egyptian airspace free zones for warships and fighter jets that destroyed and killed the Iraqi people, and sold gas to Israel dirt cheap while stifling the Egyptian people by soaring prices. Revolution must restore Egypt's independence, dignity and leadership in the region. ... This is not a revolution of the elite, political parties or religious groups. Egypt's youth, students, workers and the poor are the owners of this revolution. In recent days, a lot of elites, parties and so-called symbols have begun trying to ride the wave of revolution and hijack it from their rightful owners. The only symbols are the martyrs of our revolution and our young people who have been steadfast in the field. We will not allow them to take control of our revolution and claim that they represent us. We will choose to represent ourselves and represent the martyrs who were killed, their blood paying the price for the salvation of the system. ...The demonstrations and protests have played a key role in igniting and continuing our revolution. Now we need the workers. They can seal the fate of the regime. Not only by participating in the demonstrations, but by organizing a general strike in all the vital industries and large corporations. The regime can afford to wait out the sit-ins and demonstrations for days and weeks, but it cannot last beyond a few hours if workers use strikes as a weapon. Strike on the railways, on public transport, the airports and large industrial companies! Egyptian workers, on behalf of the rebellious youth and on behalf of the blood of our martyrs, join the ranks of the revolution, use your power and victory will be ours! Glory to the martyrs! Down with the system! All power to the people! Victory to the revolution!
Ali Abunimah: The danger to Egypt's revolution comes from Washington
US President Barack Obama and his national security establishment may be willing to give up Mubarak the person, but they are not willing to give up Mubarak's regime. It is notable that the US has never supported the Egyptian protestors' demand that Mubarak must go now. Nor has the United States suspended its $1.5 billion annual aid package to Egypt, much of which goes to the state security forces that are oppressing protestors and beating up and arresting journalists. ... Suleiman, long the powerful chief of Egypt's intelligence services, has served -- perhaps even more so than Mubarak -- as the guarantor of Egypt's regional role in maintaining the American- and Israeli-dominated order. As author Jane Mayer has documented, Suleiman played a key role in the US "rendition" program, working closely with the CIA which kidnapped "terror suspects" from around the world and delivered them into Suleiman's hands for interrogation, and almost certainly torture ("Who is Omar Suleiman?," The New Yorker, 29 January 2011). High praise for Suleiman's work has also come from top Israeli military brass. ... The US "policy" establishment seems only capable of viewing the region through Israeli eyes. This is why for so many officials and commentators the concerns of Israel to maintain a brutal hegemony trump the aspirations of 83 million Egyptians to determine their own future free from the shackles of the regime that has oppressed them for so long.
Suleiman: The CIA's man in Cairo
From 1993 until Saturday, Suleiman was chief of Egypt's General Intelligence Service. He remained largely in the shadows until 2001, when he started taking over powerful dossiers in the foreign ministry; he has since become a public figure, as the WikiLeak document attests. In 2009, he was touted by the London Telegraph and Foreign Policy as the most powerful spook in the region, topping even the head of Mossad. In the mid-1990s, Suleiman worked closely with the Clinton administration in devising and implementing its rendition program; back then, rendition involved kidnapping suspected terrorists and transferring them to a third country for trial. ... Under the Bush administration, in the context of "the global war on terror", US renditions became "extraordinary", meaning the objective of kidnapping and extra-legal transfer was no longer to bring a suspect to trial - but rather for interrogation to seek actionable intelligence. The extraordinary rendition program landed some people in CIA black sites - and others were turned over for torture-by-proxy to other regimes. Egypt figured large as a torture destination of choice, as did Suleiman as Egypt's torturer-in-chief. At least one person extraordinarily rendered by the CIA to Egypt — Egyptian-born Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib — was reportedly tortured by Suleiman himself. ... In Egypt, as Habib recounts in his memoir, My Story: The Tale of a Terrorist Who Wasn't, he was repeatedly subjected to electric shocks, immersed in water up to his nostrils and beaten. His fingers were broken and he was hung from metal hooks. At one point, his interrogator slapped him so hard that his blindfold was dislodged, revealing the identity of his tormentor: Suleiman. Frustrated that Habib was not providing useful information or confessing to involvement in terrorism, Suleiman ordered a guard to murder a shackled prisoner in front of Habib, which he did with a vicious karate kick. ... A far more infamous torture case, in which Suleiman also is directly implicated, is that of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi. ... He was sent to Bagram, and questioned by the FBI. But the CIA wanted to take over, which they did, and he was transported to a black site on the USS Bataan in the Arabian Sea, then extraordinarily rendered to Egypt. Under torture there, al-Libi "confessed" knowledge about an al-Qaeda–Saddam connection, claiming that two al-Qaeda operatives had received training in Iraq for use in chemical and biological weapons. In early 2003, this was exactly the kind of information that the Bush administration was seeking to justify attacking Iraq and to persuade reluctant allies to go along. Indeed, al-Libi's "confession" was one the central pieces of "evidence" presented at the United Nations by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to make the case for war. As it turns out, that confession was a lie tortured out of him by Egyptians. ... The use of al-Libi's statement in the build-up to the Iraq war made him a huge American liability once it became clear that the purported al-Qaeda–Saddam connection was a tortured lie. His whereabouts were, in fact, a secret for years, until April 2009 when Human Rights Watch researchers investigating the treatment of Libyan prisoners encountered him in the courtyard of a prison. Two weeks later, on May 10, al-Libi was dead, and the Gaddafi regime claimed it was a suicide. According to Evan Kohlmann, who enjoys favoured status among US officials as an 'al-Qaeda expert', citing a classified source: 'Al-Libi's death coincided with the first visit by Egypt's spymaster Omar Suleiman to Tripoli.' Kohlmann surmises and opines that, after al-Libi recounted his story about an al-Qaeda–Saddam-WMD connection, "The Egyptians were embarassed by this admission - and the Bush government found itself in hot water internationally. Then, in May 2009, Omar Suleiman saw an opportunity to get even with al-Libi and travelled to Tripoli. By the time Omar Suleiman's plane left Tripoli, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi had committed 'suicide'."
