Twitter Campaign Today #JFTC2

After Spending several years incarnated in MagHaberry torture centre, based on secret evidence, Diplock courts,missing evidence and a trial that would only make sense in the darkest writings of Kafka, the Craigavon Two, political scapegoats sacrificed by the system for the sake of peace are still incarcerated in brutal conditions despite all the evidence that came out at their appeal demonstrating their innocence.

The appeal, which was heard over a year ago has not changed much for these republicans incarcerated in a British Gaol for no crime other than their love for Ireland. As they await a decision, and the courts drag their feet, the media and other “independent bodies” have pushed for a campaign of media blackout and silence in regards to their case, thinking that if they put this issue on the back-burner people will forget and the British Injustice machinery can carry out business as usual.

For those of us outside hearing and monitoring such cases we get a feeling of helplessness as we are told over and over again that there is nothing we can do about the case.

Today people across the world are going to prove these naysayers wrong and you can help them. While these two lads are languishing in MagHaberry for a political assassination that they did not commit, us as supporters and believers in human rights can do something to assist.

The Justice for the Craigavon Two Campaign is calling on all people to send tweets with the hashtag #JFTC2 to break the silence and let them and the Brits know that they are not forgotten. Please join in and send a tweet today demanding justice, let the Brits and other colonizing forces know that they can’t act with impunity and the whole world is watching

Chairman of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, Francie Mackay’s Address at the GPO in Dublin last Sunday

“The relevance of the events in 1916 for Ireland today is how relevant republicans of today can make them. No one else will do it for us. Indeed with the approach of the centenary in 2016 a massive state effort is underway to ensure that the core message of 1916 will be deeply buried under the rubble of revisionism.

Ingrained on the minds of republicans will be the
grotesque images emanating from the bosom of British

Imperialism. Here we were witness to the inevitable consequence of accepting British Rule in Ireland. Here was ‘Paddy in his place’, the ghost of John Redmond, dressed to please his masters, thanking them for a modicum of Home Rule.

And worse still, in this the Centenary of the founding of Cumann NaBán, a so called republican toasting the English Queen, the Commander in Chief of British Occupying forces in Ireland. Standing here today, and wherever Irish republicans stand and at whatever time, we wholeheartedly salute the courage, dedication and sacrifice made to this struggle by Irish women.

We salute all those who struggled for the rights of women, for the dignity of women and for the equality of women. We reiterate what their struggle was for, the struggle of Irishmen and Irishwomen, the struggle of Cumann Na mBán, a sovereign Irish Republic cherishing
all of the children of Ireland equally.

But for all their faults the political forces which seek to dilute the centenary milestone have recognised that they can only accomplish this if they combine with likewise revisionists. They have concluded that political and ideological diversities amongst them should not rob
them of an opportunity to once and for all remove The Proclamation from the discourse on Irish sovereignty.

Leinster House, Stormont, Westminster, Áras an Uachtaráin and Buckingham Palace are all as one in proclaiming that the Anglo Irish conflict is over, the constitutional question is settled and that Irish national sovereignty stops at the border.

And who are to say they are wrong if those who claim to say it cannot say it together? 2016 is a milestone for republicans: it will define whether republicanism is a discordant voice of rhetoric
or a disciplined movement of political action.

The most salient lesson of the Easter Rising is that without the political act of the armed rebellion the Proclamation would remain an obscure document. For republicanism to progress it needs republican actions to progress it. For socialism to progress it also
needs socialist acts to progress it. It’s not enough to be
historically true or ideologically pure, we need to be relevant through political action which makes our aims relevant to the people.

James Connolly perceptively observed:

“In Ireland at the present time there are at work a variety of agencies seeking to preserve the national sentiment in the hearts of the people.
These agencies, whether Irish Language movements, Literary Societies or Commemoration Committees, are undoubtedly doing a work of lasting benefit to this country in helping to save from extinction the precious racial and national history, language and characteristics of our people.

Nevertheless, there is a danger that by too strict an adherence to their present methods of propaganda, and consequent neglect of vital living issues, they may only succeed in stereotyping our historical studies into a worship of the past, or crystallising nationalism into a
tradition – glorious and heroic indeed, but still only a tradition.”

At the beginning of this year the 32 County Sovereignty Movement observed:
“Our people had the honest expectation that peace and justice would flow from Good Friday. They are entitled to this, but yet republicanism finds itself cast as the enemy of their peace and no matter how astute our political analysis was in predicting the failure of that process what we have to offer in providing that peace is still viewed as a violent negative.

This is largely due to republicans being seen as perpetual critics, obstructionists to any efforts that fail to satisfy the ghosts of republican history. In our people’s minds our definition of progress is a simple homage to historic events as opposed to a dynamic to shape events yet to come.

The answer to this negativity cannot be found in the past. The very act of seeking it there reinforces the people’s belief in this negativity. The simple truth is that our vision and proposals for a sovereign united Ireland are deemed irrelevant by the very people we hold this vision for.”

The ‘vital living issues’ which Connolly warned us not to neglect are those issues which rhetoric alone cannot resolve. They can only be addressed through socialist interaction within our communities. Connolly knew that the poverty and exploitation of the Irish people
could not be alleviated by pious ideology or the tinkering
with capitalism.

His active defence of workers rights was a means to removing the system which exploited those workers in the first place. One was not a pre-condition for the other but rather a mutual necessity to achieve both. His participation in the 1916 Rising, alongside those who were not at his level of socialist thinking, was indicative of his pragmatic political approach. He didn’t abandon his socialist beliefs; he augmented them with political action.

And this formed the basis of the challenges which the Sovereignty Movement posed to republicans and socialists at the beginning of the year. In the shadow of Good Friday and under the canopy of the capitalist crisis where was our pragmatism and where were our political actions to augment our beliefs?

If Connolly could elevate his socialism beyond tradition why can’t we? Why can’t we define our socialism beyond protest and into disciplined political action with a defined national objective? Can we
honestly say that the greatest tribute we can pay to James Connolly is to stand at the centenary of his execution and declare ourselves gloriously isolated?

Wouldn’t we have advanced the aims of Connolly far greater if we had gone into our communities, and having addressed their ‘vital living issues’, secured even one citizen to support us in our national objectives? This is the socialism that matters.

We cannot allow our socialism to be merely a critique of capitalism no more than we can allow our republicanism to be merely a critique of partition. We are not a protest movement, we are not a debating society, we are not a commemoration committee, we are a movement who must be defined by the changes we bring about.

The great period in our history between 1913 and 1922, and the great events of that time which shaped our struggle, were living expressions of Irish sovereignty. Our identity as a people, distinct in culture and language, was asserted in as broad a spectrum as possible. But the common thread which bound these expressions together was summed up in the Proclamation:

“The sovereignty of the Irish people is inalienable and indefeasible.”

This declaration is not a passive observation but a realisation that national sovereignty can only be preserved and nurtured by contemporary expressions of it. This is why the Proclamation is relevant today because it speaks to all generations. The Proclamation does not belong over the mantelpiece; it does not belong to the past, it is the guiding call on how and why a socialist
Republic must be built.

Republican unity can only be based on political pragmatism. The leaders of Easter Week have shown us this. We cannot put in place more pre-conditions on fighting for Irish unity than British pre-conditions for resisting us. The politics of the armed conflict demands a specific politics to end it.

There is only one issue between Irish republicans and the British Government and that is the issue of sovereignty. Our visions for a sovereign Ireland, valid and diverse, are irrelevant to them as they will have no part of it. Where is the logic in invoking ideological or
historical semantics as cause not to be unified in our fight against the British when such semantics are not relevant to them?

Only matters pertinent to a true negotiations process need form the basis for pragmatic republican unity.

We cannot overstate the importance of the 1916 Centenary. We cannot say to republican bereaved and republican prisoners that those dining at the Royal Banquet are the true voice of Irish nationalism. Redmond will never be right. How we mark this event will be a true reflection of our ability to secure our aims. So I say
this here today, in stark and direct terms, we either come
together for this occasion or we proclaim our failure for the century to come.

This cannot be an option for us.

Thoughts on Ireland

Before I start ranting I would like to tell all my KKKanadian comrades that contrary to the bets that have been placed etc. I have not gotten lifted, nor have I got lost and wandered in a Loyalist area, the lads have not yet taken me to a back alley and given me a beating, and my ranting and raving about politics, Cuba etc. have not yet driven anyone to the point of clocking me cause I wont shut up. As such, since you have all lost I think it is right and proper that I get whatever money was in the pool for political organizing coffee cigarettes etc.

In terms of my health eating properly etc, dont worry there are also people here who yell at me to eat, take care of myself etc. I am fine and the only reason I havent contacted any of youse is cause as you all know I know nothing about technology am always broke and running around losing track of time doing things.

To my Irish comrades that I have not visited, or wondering if I had a good experience due to some of the hiccups and issues that have come up, dont worry everything is grand and spot on, and every fuck up that happened has given me a better under of the true reality of Ireland and the nature of the occupation, I have not achieved what I set out to achieve (No Santiago I did not lose the camera it just doesnt work here), but I have achieved quite a few other things. As those who organize with me in KKKanada know we sit around spending hours making plans and dealing with every possibility that may come up, only to have life come in the way fuck up our plans and put us in a position to set new aims goals etc (thats me rationalizing the fact that we usually fly by the seat of our pants lol).

As Many of you know despite my ML politics and my ardent believe that social realism is the only true form of art, I do suffer from bourgoise sentimentalism, which sometimes blinds me from seeking truth from facts and unlike our Comrade uncle Joe who is a man of steel, the taints of humanism make it apt to call me the man of spaggetti and wet noodles, knowing this I have tried to forget everything I know from books and discussions on the nature of the occupation and look at things with new eyes attempting to analsize things by observing the material conditions and coming up an understanding of the reality by what I see, as oppossed to what I want to see.

Being here for about ten days, I have seen the most solid and heroic acts as well as acts committed by people who call themselves republicans so disgraceful that even the most fucked up goofs in KKKanada would not commit in Public. I have met the most solid comrades guided by principles with love in there heart for the people, as well as opportunistic peaces of shit that can be only called a waste of skin, I have seen a woman accosted and verbally attacked in a bar due to the fact that she is a solid republican by a peace of shit, and people in a community mobalizing to defend there parks from anti social elements, and yet I have not yet even scratched the surface of the reality of Belfast, much less the Occupied Six counties or the free state. Throughout all this meeting with those that want to bring what is new into existance, and dinasours who hold onto the past instead of trying to move forward based on material conditions I have realised that all these problems stem from the occupation and at the end of the day, I hold the Brits and those who have left a whole generation of youth adrift with no political leadership or continuity responsible for everything from the in fighting and political sectarianism to the growth of anti social elements.
Occupation is a brutal thing and there is no one I have met yet who has not lost family or friends to the occupation. The scars and blood drips through the streets as every mural or corner has a story, and despite the attempts of the revisionists to rewrite history these scars are etched into the psyche of the population and cant be erased and painted over like the murals in ardoyne.

Coming here I was directed to talk to everyone who is willing to talk to me meet everyone who is willing to meet with me ask any questions at all and come to my own conclusions, and I have done that to the best of my capacity.

As such I have done that trying to put away my prejudices and see things as they really are. In a bar in Derry, after the Easter commemorration of the 32CSM, I was granted an audiance with Francis Makey the Chair of the 32’s. Last time I spoke to him, was over skype right before one of our functions, where i first blaabed like an idiot starstruck, and later ranted and raved as the RCMPIGS fucked up or skype connection at the function (what can i say I always make3 good first impressions lol)

We went up stairs and this time while still in awe, I put my prejudices aside and asked hard questions about the reality
on the ground.

What really struck me was how he answered these questions. In the left there is a tendancy to depolitise things saying this person is good or bad, not taking in any of the material conditions or having a political analysis , which is one of the reason why the colonialists and the bourgoiseare in power

.Makey did no such thing. First of all it became clear to me that he knew who he was adressingand all his answers well thought out reflected this, our discussion was candid and frank and despite the “a political” nature of the questions all his answers reflected a political analysis of the problems in the movement and the issue that were addressed, despite being internal and none of my business, were addressed from the point of view reflecting the impact of the occupation on every aspect of life.

The other thing that struck me was the deep desire and understanding of principled unity based on reality as oppossed to the attitude that is so prevelant and makes the Brits dance with joy that I am right and all must bow and serve me because I have written a good position paper based on utopian thought and dreams.

This desire for principled unity with all forces and the need to move forward working with all who are genuine was also reflected in the thoughts and conversations of quite a few others I have met in Belfast who refuse to get involved in infighting and there answer to slanders and accusations os there work.
At a time period when the brits through there agents have divided the movement, through a policy of buying people off, charcter assasination and slander, internment by remand etc etc the call for principled unity seems to me as the correct and proper analysis. This desire of princled unity is the real threat to the brits and those who have carved out a niche for themselves as republican masquerades quisling who dine with the enemy while incarcerating there former comrades and as such those who push this forward are targeted by the state for political extermination.

As a new generation of Republicans grow up to fill the shoes of the old there is a desire to move forward and create something new leaving behind past diffrences for the sake of confronting a common enemy. Too much blood has been spilt here for political sectarianism to prevail and new ideas are emerging to deal with everything from the drug problem to the understanding of the true nature of the occupation, as I prepare to leave I feel sad leaving behind all those that I have met, but confident that those calling for unity will prevail, because as an outsider who has spent only a few days here I can say I truly believe that if principled unity is not achieved and the state forces and there agents and spliters win, dark days are the future for the 32 Countys

Easter speech delivered in Derry by Gary Donnelly: 32 CSM Easter Commemoration

Friends and comrades, it is a great pleasure and a great honour to be asked to say a few words at this Commemoration today. The republican plot in Derry, like others dotted across Ireland, is a piece of hallowed ground, sacred to the memory of our revolutionary leaders and of our patriot martyrs who gave their lives for the struggle. We commemorate their heroism today.
Today is the 98th anniversary of the Easter Rising. We salute the gallant men and women who struck that blow for freedom, we salute their audacity and their spirit, their determination to sacrifice everything in pursuit of the rights of the Irish people to a 32 county Republic. Today, we rededicate ourselves to that cause and to that struggle.
The enemy has not gone away. Oppression and brutality have not gone away. In fact, republicans face increasingly draconian legislation including internment by remand and daily harassment on the streets. Our friends and our families are also subjected to continuous and vindictive targeting by crown forces. However, the British have ever failed to realize that the injustices they inflict upon us only make us stronger in our resolve to resist and to challenge the occupation of our country.
For years now, we have been bombarded with lies, spin, and propaganda from media and state agencies. We have been deliberately misrepresented, misquoted and grotesquely demonized. One-time republicans, now in the pay of the enemy, mock us with labels like ‘micro-groups’ and self-importantly ask us “what’s you strategy?” It seems that their passion revives only when there’s an opportunity to condemn us in the name of a cause in which they have ceased to believe. For us the answer is quite simple, our strategy is to build our resistance to the illegal occupation of our country but we can only do that in proportion to our support and resources.

Today, I have a question for them: What’s your strategy? Will banqueting with the Queen of England achieve Irish freedom? Will flirting with pro-Israeli American war-mongers like Richard Haass advance a socialist Republic? Will passing the Welfare Reform Act and Bedroom Tax and stripping disadvantaged communities of benefits, help build an Ireland of equals? Will it help the 400, 000 people in the six counties who are living in poverty? Let’s not forget that the economic crisis for which we are paying was caused by the greed of the bankers. Yet, today Maghaberry is full of republican prisoners when it should be full of bankers. In Westminster and in Stormont, politicians are busy tending to a herd of cash-cows; none of them have any interest in upsetting the comfortable status quo.

Under the ongoing cuts being implemented by Stormont, working families are set to lose an average of £900 per working adult – hard pressed families who are already facing heat or eat choices and whose children are being forced to emigrate in droves.

1916 was not about tuxedos and toasting the Queen of England; prisoners on dirty protest and on hunger strike did not fight against the regime of Her Majesty’s Prison so that Martin McGuiness could sell their sacrifice for a fiddler’s invite to Her Majesty’s Royal Banquet. This most recent, sorry episode puts the infamous “traitors to the people of Ireland” remark in a clearer context. People will be able to draw their own conclusions.

So, seriously, Martin, what IS your strategy? Do you have a strategy or are you a pawn in someone else’s strategy? I’ll not hold my breath waiting for a reply.

In the meantime, we must rely on our own mettle and the nobility of our cause. It’s up to us – the men and women of no property – with the little we have, to rebuild and renew the struggle. In practical terms, that means standing with the people of our communities in the everyday battle to survive. It’s truly heartening to see genuine community organisations and activists doing this already and we should all support their efforts. To this end, I welcome the 32CSM’s Social Programme and the work of our members within their communities.

With two short years to go until the centenary of the Easter Rising, it’s time for all republicans to build greater comradeship, solidarity and unity. I call upon everyone here today to go out and begin this task in any way you can, it’s the least we owe to the heroes of 1916.

It seems appropriate to end by recalling the prophetic words of Padraig Pearse at the grave of O’Donovan Rossa. His challenge to the arrogance of the “Defenders of the realm” is as relevant today as it was in the run up to the Easter Rising:

“They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools! They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.”

Interview with ex Long Kesh POW on Normalization and Revisionism

give us a brief discription of who you are and what organization you are with

I am a true Irish Republican, I believe in the principles of the 1916 proclamation,
I believe that we as a nation have the right to Sovereighnty, therefore I would be
seen as an enemy of the state as it now exists. As such I am an activist with 32CSM.
As an activist I am tarnished by the powers that be as a dissident, a troublemaker,
but thats what I am here for, to make trouble for them.

Tell us a little bit about your history and introduction to Irish Republicanism

My history is simple, I came from an Irish Republican area, my father was interned by the British in the early 70’s
our home was radied on a weekly basis by British crown forces as such my family was alwaysn Republican.

Briefly talk about your experiance in Long Kesh.

I was imprisoned in Long Kesh for six years. The movements policy in relation to our incarceration
was that we educated ourselves in every way possible. The reason for this was that education can be used as a weapon.
Although we were behind the barbed wire, concrete, we were still using our time in a productive manner. This was as we were
not part of the armed struggle because we were in prison, at least through education and knowledge we could always beat them
no matter where they put us.

What is normalization today and what impact does it have on the Irish Psyche

The so called main stream Republican movement have now sided with the British, they are trying to make
the last 40 years of revolution as if it did not happenned.Because I dont adhere to the so called mainstream
arguement, I reject the Revisionism of our history.

What is historical revisionism and how is it reflected in day to day life

We use to have a whole network of rebel bands, and we had some fantastic murals
about the history of our struggle, some of these murals are now being painted over and being replaced, with
watered down versions of events, the ostrasization of other Republican movements, they try to criminalize and demonize us
they are trying to dismantle us bit by bit through there agents and such and you have something like 400 000 people in Ireland living in poverty
while our so called leaders in SF are having banquets with the queen of England, they have tried to normalize the state militia like the PSNI/RUC and
have them occupy our communittys where as once they (SF) kept them out of our communitys. The PSNi is full of old RUC men who participated in collussion and shoot to kill.
SF has now acceptted them as the law against the wishes of the Irish people.

what is the purpose of this

This is to marginalize us who are still revolutionary. While we as a nation are still occupied we who still struggle will not go away.

HCPDF Statement read at 32CSM Easter Commemoration Yesterday

Comrades and friends The Hugo Chavez Peoples Defense Front Send Revolutionary Greetings to the 32csm its membership , Leadership and Prisoners. HCPDF is a grassroots group of Venezeluans,Latin Americans, and Supporters aimed to defeat the attacks on Venezuela and its right to determine their own destiny. Like your struggle against British Colonialism the fighting for self determination has been going on since the time of Simon Bolivar.Since the Start of the new Bolivarian Revolution led by Hugo Chavez and Continued by Maduro the US has launched all sorts of attacks to once again drag us into their chains. the most recent attacks being the violent chile like coup that they are trying to orchestrate with the so called peaceful protestors armed and aided by the US. But like the coup that the used to try to remove Chavez this too will fail!!!We Send you fraternal solidarity, particularly to the international department that has been supportive in building bridges between our two movements, and wish you success on the anniversary of the Easter uprising. Long Live A Unified and Free Ireland, Long Live The 32CSM, Long Live The Bolivarian Revolution

Anti Colonialist Working Group Statement Read At 32CSM Easter Commemoration

Comrades and Friends from the 32CSM
ACWG sends you fraternal greetings on this glorious day when we remember those who fought
and died for the sake of a unifed Ireland free from economic political and military control by the British.

We stand with you in friendship and solidarity as you struggle against the normalization process
aimed to destroy the dreams of those who rose up today for the right to determine their own destiny.

We also send our greetings to all Republican prisoners who are being beaten tortured and humilated
because to them a unifed 32 County Socialist Republic is more precious then all the crumbs off the table
the British masters offer.

Here in so called canada we pledge to contiue our support for your movement and struggle
and work to strengthen our ties of solidarity and struggle.

TAL

Victory Belongs To The People

True (wo)men in Belfast

Dedicated to the Belfast Cumman and all Republicans who have made it possible for me to be here

Sitting down on a sunday morning, boiling hot water on a stove for coffee, freezing my ass off
due to the pecular way heating works, i light another ciggerrette and am just taking in all i have
seen and done in the last few days. Being in Belfast since monday has really opened my eyes to the level of repression
and impacts that colonization and occupation has on a city in a people.

The occupation is visible and impacts every aspect of the Irish life from going to walk around the city to the personal psyche of the people you speak to.
One cannot talk about Belfast without talking about the occupations. From the peacewall (that divide loyalist and nationalist communitys), to the PSNI/RUC Amored cars
that drive by, to what one can and cant talk aboutin acoffe shop, the occupation seeps into ones psyche. Belfast and the political climate here is one of deep hostility,
fear and control, despite the attempts of The British state to implement their process of normalization, it doesnt take one long to realize that nothing is normal.
Talking politics here is similar to attempting to talk politics in Romania, as there are deep suspisions of who is listening, what ones motivations ccould be
and what the consequenses of ones words are. Talking to my apolitical friends its quite obvious to me that to be seen with me and my friends could have deep consequences
to go to an event here, unaskable.

From the Catholic Church in Short Strand, where crosses lie to remember those shot simply for being catholic, to the streets in Ardoyne where there are plaques to remind
ones shot by loyalist violence, the conflict (which hasnt gone away you know) is visible for all that have eyes to see. Far from the tourist hotels, one sees the modern Graffitti
RIRA, CIRA ONH and other para names on the catholic side, as well as slogans that talk about the people aspirations for freedom and justice, and kill the Taigs (a racist terms for Nationalists),
Fuck the pope and of Course No Surrender on the Loyalist sides, as well as other similar intellegent and articulate political arguements.

Despite this, the stop and searches, the M15 agents, internment by remand secret evidence and every single dirty trick, from buying off revolutionarys, to jailing and assasinating others
the movement to resist the occupation is still not broken, and this is not from a lack of trying. As infights and fueds created by agent provactuers attempt to create further divisions,
to the repainting over murals to re write history, it is quite obvious that every weapon and dity trick in the British arsenol is being used to destroy and decimate the movement. As one explained to me
to be a Republican under the occupation means you will lose your job,by isolated marginalizaed and attacked, you will have to go to jail at least once in your life and you will be slandered have your name blackened.

Despite all this, the movement is still here and every day more and more people are disillusioned by what is going on, as the promiose of peace and the so called political process is discredited, and although
many peoplemay not openly support the movement, they will tell you in q uite rooms, or in the parks I hate SF, and if one has eyes to see one will know that no matter what the Brits will try, the people here are not fools
they know whats going and and as such wil never be beaten.

While it is true that the occupation has produced criminals, turncoats, sectariansm both politically and nationally, its has also produced people like Martin Corey, JP Wooten, Colin Duffy and Martin Meehan
people of the highest cailbre, principled and filled with love for there country, and while the damage and scares of the occupation has produced anti social elements, it has also produced people who are willing to give up
everything even there souls(this is a reference to excommunication of patriots that start shortly after 1916) for there country to be free.

The fact that groups of the calibre of 32CSM still exist and will continue to exist is in and itself a victory for those who are fighting, and as i wait for my cofee aka filth to cook on the stove I feel honoured to not
only be in there presence, but to be able to call them comrades and when I go home to my friends I go carrying in my heart the love and rage shown to me by people such as them and independent socialists, who no matter what
will never be broken. I go carrying with me tyhe understanding that no matter what the Brits and there agents do there will always be true (Wo)men in Belfast who are principled and armed with a love for the people
and I thank all comrades here for giving me this opportunity to see this.

Political Policing, Interview with 32CSM member on His experiance with the RUC/PSNI

Q.Tell us a little about yourself and your politics

A.Have been a member of the Belfast 32csm for a number of years involved in political activism.

Q.what happenned the night you ran into police

A.Have been stopped on nmerous occasions now by British police PSNI/RUC. latest attemp British security services as me did i want a phone number, when i refused they resorted to threatening me and my family.

Q.what do you think there motivation was,

 

Obiously im being targeted because of my political opinion and because i dont support Sinn Feins sell out process which results in continuing British rule within the six counties.

A visit to Maghaberry

Today some comrades of mine took me to visit a POW in Maghaberry. We woke up early and drove down and was dropped outside of the entrance. I go inside and hand the person my passport, they tell me to take my hat off for a picture for there file. I then put my finger in the scanner as they took my print and they handed my a card with my name and photo and such. After that we walked down the hall spread our arms while a dog smelled us for whatever reason, after which, we were put on a bus driven to the visiting area where we presented our fingers and the card again.

Finally we were taken to a common room, with other visiters, children running around, familys talking etc. The prisoner got up and shook our hands, we started chatting and it became apparent to me that despite all the attempts of the British imperialist system to punish him torture him and break his spirit they have failed.

The prisoner in question is in the SSU which to my understanding is the isolation wing. Isolation, a tool used by the British imperialists to break Republican prisoners spirits is recognized around the world as a type of torture known as sensory depravation and more then a month in isolation is known as cruel and unusual punishment due to the severe effects it has on a persons mental and physical well being. Despite this, the occupational forces have not only used in this on prisoners like Price and Corey, but rather it is one tool in there arsenal of tricks to break people down by trying to destroy there health and sanity and by doing this get them to renounce the one objective that they are fighting for……..recognition rthat they are not criminals but rather that they are political prisoners and prisoners of war and as such should be treated accordingly.

WE continueing chatting about all sorts of things and eventually the visit is over, and as punishment for his visit and demand to be threated with dignaty had to endure a beating and forced stripsearch just for seeing me.

As I drive down towards Belfast to enjoy the rest of the day with my friends I stop and wonder what the prisoner is going through and what is being done to him because of his convictions. I think about when I go back to KKKanada, or when i pick up the paper here how the ocupational forces will continue the torture not just by the acts that they are doing but by the fact that through the media blackout, they try to silence his screams of indignation by pretending that this does not exist.

When the state talks about peace that has been achieved here they are not just spreading misinformation but continuing the torture that he is enduring by adding insult to injury and denying his existance. When the media states that the prisoners are a block to peace they are continueing the torture by telling the victim of this brutal assault that he deserves what is happening to him because of who he is. When the state and its collaborators continue the process of normalization they are contiueing the torture by saying it will happenned again and again.

As I sit in an apartment in Belfast drinking filth that passes for coffee and having a smoke I think of the priveledge that I have here, as guest, as opposed to a victim of the occupation that I am observing, the priveledge that my KKKanadian passport gives me at a stop and search, and the priveledge I have to go back home and continue living my life.

Most people would stop here and not go any further, recognising priveledge and then play some mumbo jumbo philisophical game that means that we wallow in our guilt and go to workshops where we can beat ourselves like confession of old and be absolved of our priveledge.

The reality of the situation is that for us who know what is going on and have the priveledge that comes with being a benificiary of priveledge based on inequalty, we also have an obligation to speak out and do something about this injustice and use our voices and priveledge not to impose our will over the movement but actually do something to change the sitation, taking the lead from those who are struggling and rejecting the system of torture colonization, genocide and occupation, and putting whatever resources are available to us in the hands of those who are fighting, not out of guilt but rather out of an understanding of our obligation, that if we do not side with the oppressed, we are no better then those who sat outside the gates of Auschwitz and did nothing.