The Free

Russian anarcho-syndicalists: ‘Neither Navalny nor Putin’

This statement was first published on aitrus.info

KRAS, a section of anarchist international the IWA, has come out swinging against the false choice of a right-wing bigot or a murderous autocrat posed by recent protests — in the following statement the group explains why.

Pic: The golden toilet brush has been used as a symbol by pro-Navalny protesters against corruption under Putin

We, anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists, consider it completely unacceptable for ourselves to take any part in political shows organized by supporters of the right-wing populist Navalny, who is sadly “famous” for his openly nationalist, anti-immigrant, anti-Caucasian and anti-Semitic statements.

To march in the ranks of the demonstrations they convened would mean – regardless of any excuses or “explanations” – to turn into the back of one of the political gangs waging a dirty and unprincipled struggle for power.

We, as anarchists, believe that both the current authoritarian regime in the Kremlin, which became the successor of Yeltsin’s neoliberal clique, and the opposing group headed by Navalny, which is now seeking to seize the leadership of the entire mass of disaffected, are just the spokesmen for the interests of the country’s true rulers – the dominant Oligarchy and its “Iron Heel”.

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‘I Am An Anarchist’: Remembering Anarchist Prisoner Brian McCarvill, who Died of COVID-19 in Prison on his 68th Birthday

A biography and obituary of Brian McCarvill, an anarchist prisoner in Oregon who was killed by a Covid-19 outbreak. This story was first published by Perilous Chronicle. The Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) does not publicly release the names of people who died from complications caused by COVID-19 while inside one of their prisons….
‘I Am An Anarchist’: Remembering Anarchist Prisoner Brian McCarvill, who Died of COVID-19 in Prison on his 68th Birthday — Derry Anarchist Black Cross

They say this is because of the desire for transparency while respecting the privacy of the deceased. They reiterate this policy every time another prisoner dies.

Break the Chains, a publication of the Anarchist Black Cross, which featured Brian McCarvill’s writings in the Summer 2003 edition (Source: The Freedom Archives).

According to ODOC’S official COVID-19 tracker, 26 of the thousands of people that have been infected while incarcerated in an Oregon prison have died of complications from the virus. Their spreadsheet does not say when or in which facility people have died. Those facts have to be found through newspaper reports, press releases, and social media. Most of their names are unknown. But not all of them.

On Nov. 1, a daily newspaper in Ontario, OR, obtained the names of nine people who had died with the virus while incarcerated at Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) in Malheur County. SRCI is the largest prison in the state and the site of the state’s worst outbreak.

To date, they are the only publicly named victims of the COVID-19 pandemic inside Oregon’s prison system.

One of the names published by the Argus Observer was Brian C. McCarvill, who died on Sept. 27, 2020–his 68th birthday. A single line notice of his death–a name, a date, and the word “pending”–does not give justice to McCarvill’s history of resistance from inside the system…..

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‘I Am An Anarchist’: Remembering Anarchist Prisoner Brian McCarvill, who Died of COVID-19 in Prison on his 68th Birthday — Derry Anarchist Black Cross