The Free

In Assange’s Darkest Hour, CPJ Journalists Defense Committee Excludes Him From their Jailed Index

from thefreeonline by Kevin Gosztola at The Dissenter. via Friedensstifter

For another year, CPJ excluded the imprisoned former WikiLeaks editor-in-chief from their database of jailed journalists.

A demonstrator wearing a whistle mask gestures during a protest outside of Westminster Magistrates Court, where a case management hearing in the U.S. extradition case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is held, in London, Britain, October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls – RC1A6C22C390

Assange is a member of the International Federation of Journalists, which is the world’s largest federation of journalists.

If Assange is brought to trial that will “effectively criminalize journalists everywhere.”

Assange is and will always be a detained journalist so long as the Justice Department pushes onward with this political case.

It is too bad CPJ staff cannot get past their professional hangups and include him in their annual index.

It would strengthen their opposition to the prosecution in a way that would give their advocacy even more clarity.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released its census report for 2023.

Three hundred and twenty detained or imprisoned journalists were counted by the press freedom organization, as of December 1, 2023.

As indicated, that number is not far from the record high of 360 jailed journalists that was set in 2022.

The 2023 census takes on greater significance given the Israeli government’s war on Gaza and the military attacks and crackdown on Palestinian journalists.

Seventeen journalists were jailed by Israel, the “highest number of arrests” since CPJ began tracking arrests in 1992. It is the first time that Israel has “ranked among the top six offenders.”

But at this moment, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his legal team are preparing for a major hearing on February 20 before the High Court of the Justice in the United Kingdom.

They view the hearing on 2o Feb 2024 as a final opportunity to save him from extradition to the United States, where he was charged with violating the Espionage Act in 2019.

Assange needs press freedom organizations, especially those with U.S. headquarters, to strengthen their stand against the charges from the Justice Department.

However, for another year, CPJ excluded the imprisoned former WikiLeaks editor-in-chief from their database of jailed journalists.

Free Julian Assange- Journalist jailed forever for exposing US terrorist State –

I emailed CPJ a request for comment and asked why Assange remains excluded from the organization’s annual jailed journalist census, especially given CPJ’s methodology. The response that a CPJ communications person sent me was disappointing.

“After extensive research and consideration, CPJ chose not to list Assange as a journalist, in part because his role has just as often been as a source and because WikiLeaks does not generally perform as a news outlet with an editorial process,” CPJ answered.

The statement was copied-and-pasted from a 2019 post that then-CPJ executive editor Robert Mahoney authored, where he defended the exclusion of Assange.

John Pilger: The Betrayers of Julian Assange – The Free

I pointed out to CPJ that this “extensive research and consideration” was completed in 2019, and I did so because perhaps it is time for CPJ to reassess their determination. To that, CPJ replied, “Yes, there have been many articles about our position on Assange. While you’re free to disagree, our position has been clear, transparent, and consistent for years.”

Indeed, CPJ’s position has been clear. The organization has been consistent in their exclusion of Assange from the press freedom organization’s annual census.

It is debatable whether the organization has been transparent. To my knowledge, the “extensive research and consideration” that they did to decide that Assange is not a journalist has never been shared with the public.

Also, it remains puzzling how a press freedom organization led primarily by journalists with experience in news gathering can insist that Assange is a source.

Pink Floyd legend urges ‘British poodle’ to free Assange –

He has never held a security clearance or a position in the U.S. government that would give him access to classified documents.

The source of the documents at issue in the Espionage Act prosecution against Assange was a U.S. Army intelligence analyst known as Chelsea Manning.

The Last Flurry: The US Congress and Australian Parliamentarians seek Assange’s Release – The Free

She had access to the classified military and government documents, submitted over 700,000 files to WikiLeaks, and Assange published them in 2010 and 2011.

Why is the West’s mainstream media ignoring the farmers’ revolt?

from thefreeonline via stuartbramhall by László Bogár and Magyar Hírlap at The Most Revolutionary Act

The farmers’ protests are akin to the peasant wars that have deep roots in European history

Farmers parked their tractors in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Jan 15, 2024. ( Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Although the global media used all its weapons of opinion to make the “peasant war” that shook Germany seem nonexistent, the world was still treated to dramatic images of the mass farmers’ demonstrations through the new era of social media.

“No fuel, no food, no future” — that is the slogan most often used by German farmers, obviously in English because it was the only way to get mass exposure of their current plight.

French fury: Farmers sowing seeds of revolution against elites in Paris

By Rachel Marsden |
The French government is scrambling to get a whole lot of…

However, you’d be forgiven for missing the protests raging across Germany — and in many other countries this past week, including Romania and France — due to the mainstream media’s apparent disinterest in the farming revolution, with producers seemingly given particularly strict instructions on what to, and what not to report.

French farmers protest as government prepares to announce new measures –

The existence of protests unfolding throughout Europe appeared to be under some form of media embargo. Perhaps it might be worth considering why.

Belgium: Farmers herd cows and pigs into Brussels and spray milk at EU …

It is true in general, but in post-WWII Europe in particular, which was in a rather dire situation, it has proven true many times over that food supply is perhaps an even more delicate and important strategic sector than heavy industry.

Although in macro statistics, which give a false picture, agriculture’s share could be only a few percent, or even “negligible,” it is not only not negligible, but it turns out to be more important than anything imaginable.

Thousands Of Farmers In Mass Tractor Protest In Berlin

The great peasant wars of the 15th and 16th centuries were fought for exactly the same reasons as today.

In that century and a half, in addition to literally “pulling the rug out from under the peasantry,” the average peasant’s daily working hours doubled, and the income he received for those hours was cut in half.

Polish farmers join Europe-wide protest movement –

It is understandable (though not excusable) that the brutal cruelty of the somewhat frustrated peasant masses knew no bounds. Nor, indeed, did the reprisals that followed.

The global power economy and the collaborationist power structures of Europe, increasingly subordinated to it and forced into a pariah role, are now doing the same, shifting onto peasant society the costs of prolonging the agony of the U.S. world empire.

India’s historic farmers strike scores a win against Modi government on …

The outcome of the conflict is, as of yet, unpredictable, as the entire European system of domination is on the verge of collapse.

Just as the rebel leaders who led the peasant wars many centuries ago had no “adequate narrative” of what an acceptable settlement looked like, today, we are still living through a whirlwind of emotions, with little sign of an amicable solution being reached anytime soon.

Farmers’ protests reach Brussels as discontent with EU grows

War Propaganda Intensifies as US Mainstream Media Calls for War on Iran to Stop the “Axis of Resistance”

from thefreeonline on 26 Jan 24 via Luther Blissett By Timothy Alexander Guzman at Silent Crow News

Another Day in the Empire: The corporate media, reflecting the talking points of the insane depraved US warmongers

Remember when the mainstream media especially FOX News was calling for an attack on Iraq because Saddam Hussein and the Bath Party was developing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)?

FOX News was the main cheerleader for the US and its European allies to invade Iraq and take out Saddam Hussein.

To be fair, CNN and MSNBC and other news outlets were also cheerleading for war, but FOX News was clearly, the loudest voice.

Today, FOX News is at it again with other right-wing media networks who have been also calling for the US and its allies to bomb Iran to stop the Axis of Resistance that includes Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, Syria, Iraqi resistance groups and now Yemen, with the Houthi rebels who have been launching missile attacks against Israeli and Western commercial ships in the Red Sea in support of Gaza.

Fox News senior strategic analyst, who a former General with the US Army, Jack Keane, a war hawk who served as an advisor to manage the US occupation of Iraq and a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee.

Keane is also chairman of AM General, a heavy vehicle and automotive manufacturer that produces military Humvees for civilian and military use.

These unhinged nazi idiots forget that the US no longer has world hegemony- Iran today is integrated in BRICS with Russia, China, Brasil, Sth Africa- It may lack nuclear weapons but does now possess unstoppable hypersonic missiles that would blow US Carriers out of the water.

Recently, Keane spoke on FOX News regarding the 60 + strikes conducted by US and British fighter aircraft on Yemen.

The main points he made on the FOX network was that US and its British allies already had their targets pinpointed due to Centcom, the US central command, “they were likely tracking the Houthis were trying to hide some of this capability for the last few days.

But we got excellent surveillance there, and likely we will, we are able to determine whether they are moving a lot of this, they will finish the assessment, believe me, I think if there is capability there, that is still significant, we should reattack and then we got to remind ourselves what’s really happening here.”

Keane went on to say that Iran is “the center of gravity”, therefore it must be attacked to stop its proxies in the region:

“The center of gravity for the aggression in the Middle East that we’re experiencing is Iran. We have said this time and time and time again, and to deter the proxies themselves by hitting them will not be sufficient.

“We have got to go after Iran themselves by hitting them will not be sufficient. We have got to go after Iran, they are, as I mentioned, the center of gravity, Centcom has a table of targets that they have provided to the administration in how to go about doing that comprehensively to shut down their support for these proxies that has got to be high on our list.

Sen. Lindsey Graham told the far-left ‘Squad’ in Congress to ‘shut the hell up’ as they were lambasted for statements ..

Keane is not the only psychopath who wants World War III, another frequent quest on FOX News, Lindsey Graham who is South Carolina’s Republican Senator and a Pro-Israel activist was quoted in a FOX News article, ‘Lindsey Graham calls for warning Iran of retaliation if Hamas escalates, tells ‘Squad’ to ‘shut the hell up’ reported that the “South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham castigated the far left’s “appeasement” of Iran’s regime, which he said has not prevented attacks by Hamas against Israel, telling the Palestinian-friendly “Squad” contingent in Congress to “shut the hell up.”

Israeli HQ “ordered own troops to massacre Israeli captives on 7 October”

from thefreeonline on January 25, 2024 by Luther Blissett at Desultory Heroics by Electronic Intifada

note: atrocity denial? -We share this NOT to hurt the bereaved but to lessen Israeli propaganda used to justify Gaza Genocide

Vehicles stacked up near the southern Israeli town of Netivot, near Gaza, in November. They were destroyed soon after Palestinian fighters began taking captives on 7 October. A new investigation by Israeli journalists has concluded that 70 such vehicles were blown up by Israeli fire.

At midday on 7 October Israel’s supreme military command ordered all units to prevent the capture of Israeli citizens “at any cost” – even by firing on them.

The military “instructed all its fighting units to perform the Hannibal Directive in practice, although it did so without stating that name explicitly,” Israeli journalists revealed last weekend.

The revelations came in a new investigative article by Ronen Bergman and Yoav Zitun, two journalists with extensive sources inside Israel’s military and intelligence establishment.

They also revealed that “some 70 vehicles” driven by Palestinian fighters returning to Gaza were blown up by Israeli helicopter gunships, drones or tanks.

We need to expose how Israeli false flag gave cover for genociding 2,4m in Gaza- and saved Netanyahu’s career-

Many of these vehicles contained Israeli captives.

The journalists wrote that “it is not clear at this stage how many of the captives were killed due to the operation of this order” to the air force that they should prevent return to Gaza at all costs.

“At least in some of the cases, everyone in the vehicle was killed,” the journalists explain.

The Hebrew piece has not been translated into English by its publisher, Yedioth Ahronoth, a newspaper which translates many of its articles. You can read HERE The Electronic Intifada’s full English version, translated by Dena Shunra.

The secretive “Hannibal” doctrine is named after an ancient Carthaginian general who poisoned himself rather than be captured alive by the Roman Empire.

The order aims at stopping Israelis from being taken captive by resistance fighters who could later use them as leverage in prisoner swap deals.

“Overpowered”

The latest revelations confirm The Electronic Intifada’s reporting since 7 October that many – if not most – of the Israeli civilians killed that day were killed by Israel itself, not Palestinian fighters.

A home in Kibbutz Be’eri, demolished by the IDF on October 7th to ‘get Hamas militants’

Initial claims stated that 1,400 Israelis were killed by Hamas in the Palestinian assault that began on 7 October. But Israel has repeatedly revised this figure downwards, so that it now stands at “over 1,000.”

It was also clear from the outset that hundreds of the dead and captured were in fact Israeli soldiers. (All Israelis are obliged to do military service and become army reservists. The border area is heavily militarized, with gated subsidized settlements and individual ‘safe room’ bunkers. ..)

Hamas maintains that they targeted military bases and outposts, and that their aim was to capture rather than kill Israeli civilians, and to kill or capture Israeli soldiers, and that they knew nothing of the music festival moved there just 2 days before.

Based on interviews with those present, the new article says that top officers at Israel’s underground military headquarters in Tel Aviv on 7 October declared in shock that “the Gaza Division was overpowered.”

One person present that day – referring back to earlier Israeli shocks such as the surprise counterattack by Egypt and Syria in October 1973 – told the journalists that,”We thought that this could never happen again, and this will remain a scar burnt into our flesh forever.”

Collective Action is the Only Answer to a Global Garment Industry Driven by Debt, Wage Theft and Coercion

from thefreeonline on January 25, 2024 by MASSolidarity.org

These are the findings from an investigation carried out between 2022 and 2023 by Transparentem, a US-based organisation that investigates workers’ rights.

factory full of lady garment workers sitting in front of sewing machines, one woman in front looks directly towards the camera

Alessandra Mezzadri, SOAS, University of London

Major fashion brands including Barbour and PVH (the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger) have agreed to pay over £400,000 in compensation to migrant workers in Mauritius. These workers from Bangladesh, India, China and Madagascar had been forced to pay illegal recruitment fees and, alongside other indicators of forced labour, were allegedly subject to deception and intimidation.

Migrant workers across several Mauritian factories reported agreeing to pay fees ranging from a few hundred to several thousand US dollars to secure a good job. But, upon arrival, they discovered the job was poorly paid and expenses were higher than promised.

Exploitative practices like this are actually quite common. The Mauritius case is the latest example of the use of forced labour (the most commonly identified form of modern slavery) within company supply chains. But all garment workers – free and unfree – can experience unacceptable forms of exploitation that can only be countered through sustained labour organisation.

The coloniality of our wardrobe

In 2013, an eight-storey commercial building called Rana Plaza collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Over 1,100 people – mostly garment workers – lost their lives, leading to widespread protests and international scrutiny on working conditions in garment factories.

Since then, multiple reports have uncovered labour abuse in the garment sector, including several instances of forced labour.

Third-party labour contractors are also prevalent in many global supply chains. Contractors recruit and supply local or international migrant labour, and garment factories rely on them to manage and control their workforce.

But contract labourers are vulnerable to abuse. In the lower rungs of the supply chain (in informal workshops and homes), workers often work based on a system of advanced payments.

The labour contractor pays the worker an “advance”, which locks the worker into their employment. It prevents them from negotiating better salaries or working for others until the debt is repaid.

In India, there is evidence that this debt-based system is spreading to garment factories. In Bengaluru, for instance, women in garment factories work under constant debt to their employer. Missed daily targets, lost productivity or time off are turned into debt that workers must compensate through future labour.

Many forced labour practices have a long history, dating back to colonial relations. Both labour contracting and indebtedness characterised the indenture labour system that dominated the production of textiles for centuries. In 19th-century India, for example, indenture workers were managed by labour contractors who paid them advances.

Under this point of view, the contemporary garment supply chain is a modern avatar of the colonial labour plantation.

Illegal terminations and wage theft

Not every worker that stitches our clothing is forced to do so. In fact, the majority are not. But even workers that we would consider to be “free” – those who are not tied to an employer or labour contractor – can experience harsh forms of exploitation.

I recently wrote a report for the International Labour Organization (ILO) with labour activist and colleague Rakhi Sehgal that documents some of the industrial grievances garment workers filed individually or via unions in India.

The report is based on a project that contributes to the ILO’s Work in Freedom programme.

This programme aims to reduce vulnerability to forced labour in south Asia and the Middle East, particularly for women in the garment sector.

We analysed a total of 75 grievances across three of India’s export hubs – Gurugram, Bengaluru and Tiruppur – and found shocking patterns of labour abuse.

We discovered the widespread use of illegal terminations by employers, either through factory closures or relocation. We also found evidence of wage-theft. This usually involves not paying the worker’s final wages – a practice that escalated during the COVID pandemic. But it can also be the result of managerial tactics like imposing impossible targets or paying overtime rates that are lower than the legal threshold.

Our report also highlighted gender differences in labour abuse. Sexual harassment was consistently deployed as a tool to discipline women working on the assembly line. We found widespread evidence of sexual harassment in Bengaluru, but it was also present in garment factories surrounding Delhi.

Social justice on the shopfloor

Cases like the labour abuse in Mauritius are conspicuous and show new connections between modern slavery and migration. But these cases are enabled by centuries of colonial and neo-colonial organisation of production that has involved unacceptable forms of worker exploitation.

The analysis of the disputes in our study clearly suggests that social justice is only achievable through collective action. Most of the industrial grievances that were won by workers and their representatives were, unsurprisingly, collective grievances filed by unions.

In light of yet another sweatshop scandal, let us remember that upholding the freedom of association (the right to form and join trade unions) stands as the most effective means of fighting all forms of labour unfreedom – from Mauritius to India or Bangladesh.

Alessandra Mezzadri, Reader in Global Development and Political Economy, SOAS, University of London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Houthis win missile battle as Maersk turns back US war supplies for Gaza.

from thefreeonline on 25 Jan 2024 by Support SouthFront

The Houthis (Ansar Allah) replied after yet another illegal US bombing attack and announced late on January 24 that they damaged a United States warship and forced two American commercial vessels to retreat after a two-hour missile engagement in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently stationed with its group off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea .” A ‘sitting duck’ for a hypersonic missile”…Locations Of US Carrier Strike Groups – January 23, 2024

The shipping company Maersk admitted both its ships attacked were carrying cargo belonging to the U.S. Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies.

The Maersk Detroit: fled the Red sea carrying US arms after Houthi attack, 24/1/24

The company also announced that it had suspended the operations of U.S.-owned ships in the Red Sea and nearby waters.

“In solidarity with the Palestinian people and in response to the American-British aggression on our country, clashes occurred with a number of American destroyers and warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait,” Houthi military spokesman Brigade General Yahya Saree said in a video statement.

The spokesman said that the engagement occurred while the ships were providing protection for two American commercial vessels and lasted for more than two hours.

“The US Navy has turned both ships around and is escorting them back to the Gulf of Aden,” a Maersk statement said, adding that “following the escalation of risk, MLL is suspending transits in the region until further notice.”

2 US-Flagged Ships with Cargo for US Defense Department Come Under … 1 day ago The attacks on the container ships Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake further raise the stakes of the group’s ongoing attacks on shipping through the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The U.S. and the …