by IIFOR 29.09.2007, updated 16.12.2007

We have found a use of the anarchist economical-political map at a (no longer existing) webpage on internet. It is an attempt to put some economical-political organizations on the map. We don't agree to everything, but this could be discussed more. We have first put up the original map of the Anarchist International, then the other.

 

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*) The stars indicate the position of the Norwegian economical-political system after the revolutionary change in 1994/95.

Fig. 1. Picture of the Anarchist Economical-Political Map

Fig. 2. An attempt to use the map on several economical-political organizations

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Very Interesting friends & companions!!!! - But, where do you put the eco-anarchists? Cheers & Hugs! + Piedro (From CHILE, Southamerica)

Answer from IIFOR: Quoting the eco-anarchist manifesto: "There will be a) no real anarchism without ecology sufficiently integrated, just market orientated half-anarchism, and b) no real ecology without anarchism in a societal perspective, only authoritarian or pseudolibertarian half-environmentalism." Thus the eco-anarchist perspective should be accounted for in all forms of anarchism, and a green anarchist society may  be social-individualist anarchy, collectivist anarchy, individualist anarchy, or communist anarchy  (see map). However, as an economical-political tendency the eco-anarchists are probably typically found to the left in the sector of social-individualist anarchism, in the anarchist quadrant, on the AI's map. This means a bit to the left of the "democratic socialists" on the other map.

Many Thanks for Your response Friends - I'm very interested in the Eco-Anarchist Manifesto - Please take a look at the following Website of the Australian Eco-Anarchist Ted Trainer: TSW-index-site Yours, + Piedro (From Chile, Southamerica).

Answer from IIFOR: We agree that the Eco-Anarchist Manifesto, see EAM , is very important in these days of man-made global warming. However we think Ted Trainer is a bit too negative with respect to the benefits from development of new, environmentally friendly, technology. It is possible to have environmentally sustainable economic growth in the economy, if we do the right things.

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Eu penso q no seu mapa político existem equívocoa a sanar: 1) não vejo como correto a divisão do anarquismo em correntes, que nunca se concretizaram - até a queda do muro de Berlim (quando o movimento libertário mundial foi invadido por ex-marxistas q nos trouxeram seus defeitos!); 2) ME PARECE CORRETO DEFINIR O @ COMO UMA CONCEPÇÃO DE SOCIALISMO QUE GARANTA A AUTONOMIA, MAS ME PARECE UM ABSURDO COLOCAR A SOCIAL-DEMOCRACIA NO MESMO QUADRANTE; 3) não existem anarquistas e socialistas libertários (!): se você é pela revolução com a destruição do Estado é anarquista e/ou socialista libertário,  q são sinônimos, não dois pensamentos diferentes. da mesma forma, desde Kropotkin, ou do início do século XX - com a formalização do sindicalismo revolucionário - o anarquismo se define como "COMUNISTA LIBERTÁRIO"! 4) TAMPOUCO VEJO LIBERTÁRIOS, OU ANARQUISTAS, EM MEIO AOS LIBERAIS - entre a autonomia e o capitalismo [que é inimigo de toda autonomia!]!
no mais, concordamos! SAÚDE E ANARCOSINDICALISMO - Renato Seixas

Answer from IIFOR: Thank you for the respons. We however cannot see that social-democrats are put in the quadrant of anarchism at the economical political map. The social democrats are put in the marxist quadrant of the maps of both fig.1 and fig. 2. We think that what is meant with the  expression "democratic socialists" on the map in fig. 2., in the social-individualist anarchist sector, is a form of libertarian socialism, real democracy, i.e.anarchism, not social democracy, or marxists. We agree that the organizations put in the anarchist quadrant of the fig. 2 map may be some what misleading. Say, in the original fig.1 map commune or communist anarchism is in the sector at the top of the map, and in general it represents the different anarchist tendencies in a much better way than the fig. 2 map. Furthermore "anarchists" are put on the top on the fig. 2 map. This is misleading. We think all tendencies within the anarchist quadrant (see fig. 1) are anarchist and represent anarchists of different kinds. The social-individualist sector of anarchism of the fig. 1 map, represents anarchism of a low degree. It is not communist anarchism, but still it is a form of anarchism.

THE 25 HIGHEST RANKING COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO LIBERTARIAN DEGREE ETC.
SYSTEM ANALYSIS

The estimates are approximately figures. © IIFOR/IJA ISSN 0800 – 0220 2007 and later.
Anarchy = here social-individualist anarchism; Soc. dem. = social democrat marxism; Populist = here moderate parliamentarian democratic fascism; Cons. lib. = Conservative liberalism. See economic-political map at System theory and EP-map . Ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, estimates of the libertarian degree in general, and information on methodology, see Ranking and System theory - Chapter V.B. .

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The Bush-administration and neoconservatives are rather authoritarian, but I don't think they are fascists, as suggested at fig. 2. I think both these tendencies are liberalists, however quite authoritarian. What do IIFOR mean? Another question, where do you place mutualists on the maps? Best regards D. Dorn

Answer from IIFOR: Regarding mutualists, the updated followers of Proudhon, they may be placed a bit to the right and upwards of "democratic socialists" on fig. 2., i.e. they are typically placed in the upper part of the social-individualist sector of the anarchist quadrant of anarchism on fig. 1. We agree that the Bush-administration and neoconservatives are not fascists, but liberalists, located in the conservative sector of the liberalist quadrant of the fig. 1. map. Thus, the fig. 2 map is misleading in this case. By "libertarians" on the fig. 2 map is meant right "libertarians", say, the so called Libertarian Party of USA and Ron Paul, located in the right liberalist sector of the fig. 1 map. The so called Libertarian Party of USA and Ron Paul are not libertarian in the ususal meaning of anarchist/anarchism = significant socialism and autonomy. The "Libertarian" Party and Ron Paul are not anarchist or close to at all, but most likely extremist liberalist.

USA on the economic-political map - new president 2009 but no significant change in the system's coordinates

Once the well known anarchist Noam Chomsky was asked : "Would you describe the US as it is now as a fascist state?" Chomsky  answered: "Far from it. In many respects it is the most free country in the world." It is true that the USA is far from fascist, and rather free. USA is ranked as no 22 among the countries in the world according to libertarian degree. Thus it is among the 25 most libertarian countries in the world.

The US' system is not fascist, but liberalist, located in the conservative sector of the liberalist quadrant of the economic-political map, see System theory and EP-map, at about 57%-60% authoritarian degree, the point estimate for USA at ca 57,5%, i.e. a libertarian degree at ca 42,5%.

The degree of capitalism in USA is estimated to ca 75,5%, i.e. very significant (the degree of socialism is only ca 24,5%). The gini-index is estimated to 40.8, i.e. significantly above 35.0. As a rule of the thumb a gini-index below 35.0 indicates socialism, while a gini-index equal to or above 35.0 indicates capitalism/economical plutarchy. Also several other indicators point to a high degree of capitalism, although a relatively high efficiency indicates an opposite tendency.

The degree of statism is estimated to ca 30,2%, and thus the degree of autonomy is ca 69,8%, i.e. very significant. This relatively high degree of autonomy is partly due to USA's strong regional and international position, partly due to the domestic situation, i.e. relatively low taxes and "small government", much NGOs, a functioning political/administrative democracy, also with primary elections, and tendencies of direct democracy in some states, etc.

However, these economical-political tendencies seen all in all are clearly authoritarian, but far from totalitarian, i.e. more than 67% authoritarian degree. These coordinates of the US system are average long term structural estimates, and today we see no tendencies of a significant change. Some people fear a development of the USA in fascist, ultra-authoritarian, direction, but the Anarchist International and IIFOR see no clear tendencies in this direction at the moment, although the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and /or income, should always be on the alert against fascist, ultra-authoritarian tendencies.

2008: The president election 2008 is a choice between neo-conservatives (Republicans) and conservatives (Democrats) and will probably not change the system in USA significantly. We have thus no expectations to the demagogue Barack Obama regarding significant change of the US system's coordinates. 2009: The president of USA, since 2009, Barack Obama, has limited influence, a powerful lobby of the military-industrial complex has most of the power, and the fundamental domestic and international aims of USA are not changed. We will probably see some marginal, mostly cosmetical changes, but no significant change of the system's coordinates on the economic-political map. As far as this issue of the new president, president Obama, having taken over and this continuing, the AI has always been saying that policies don't change much with personalities. Policies have national interests, and policies depend on an environment. The environment and national interests of the United States are the same. Obama has said USA shall lead, i.e. rule, the world. The anarchists strongly oppose this megalomaniac approach.

28.04.2009. The Obama-government's first big mistake. A YouTube video showed panicked New Yorkers scrambling as a Boeing 747 followed by a fighter plane flew frighteningly close to the lower Manhattan skyline. The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft, which functions as Air Force One when the president is aboard, was taking part in a classified, government-sanctioned photo shoot. Fran Townsend, who advised President George W. Bush for more than three years, called the move "crass insensitivity" in the wake of 9/11: "I'd call this felony stupidity." The half-hour flight triggered the evacuation of a number of office buildings in the city - Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was "furious" he had not been warned. On Tuesday, Obama told reporters, "It was a mistake. It was something we found out about along with all of you. And it will not happen again." 08.05.2009. White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera has resigned amid controversy over a low-altitude flyover of New York. So Obama seems to put the blame on his subordinates. Obama should take the full responsibility himself.

15.05.2009. Anger at Obama Guantanamo ruling. Civil liberties groups and anarchists have reacted angrily to US President Barack Obama's decision to revive military trials for some Guantanamo Bay detainees. 18.11.2009. US President Barack Obama has for the first time admitted that the US will miss the January 2010 deadline he set for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison. Mr Obama made the admission in interviews with US TV networks during his tour of Asia. Also this time civil liberties groups and anarchists have reacted angrily. 15.12.2009 The Obama administration said it will move some Guantanamo Bay detainees to an Illinois prison, the Thomson Correctional Center, and hold US military commission trials there. Anarchists and others criticized Obama's plan as a.o.t a security risk. This move seems to create more problems than it solves, anarchists say. 23.12.2009. Rebuffed by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy an Illinois prison, the Obama administration is unlikely to close the Guantánamo Bay prison until 2011 at the earliest. 05.01.2010. Obama says he remains committed to closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, but not in January 2010 as promised.

10.11.2009. Anarchist comment to US President Barack Obama's response to last week's killings of 13 people at an army base in Texas, that of course the anarchists condemn.

Mr Obama's comments came in an address to a memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood shootings, after he met relatives of those who died. Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, who was carrying out the massacre, was shot by police and remains in hospital. US intelligence authorities have said they knew Maj Hasan had been in contact with a cleric sympathetic to al-Qaeda.

Mr Obama said "It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy, but this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favour," he continued. "And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next."

Anarchists at large are atheists, with a small dash of agnosticism, and thus believe about zero in "the next" world be it heaven, limbo or hell or something else, and we find it strange that Obama and his "we", "know" so much about "the next" world. How can Obama be certain that "the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next "? The anarchists at large are not among Obama's "we". He does not speak for us.

Anarchists are against capital punishment and other barbaric and authoritarian punishment "in this world" and believe about zero of punishment and justice in "the next", see Anarchism and Human Rights, Libertarian Human Rights . This is justice. Obama is a) for capital punishment and thus at odds with justice and should b) leave the practically certain lies about justice in "the next" world to a professional lier, and real beast, as the catholic pope. Obama's comments in this case confirm the megalomaniac tendency of  Obama's ideas. The anarchists don't trust Obama and we warn others about this dangerous authority, practically certain at odds with justice and reality. Obama may be worse than Bush... What will be the next???

14.01.2010. About the earthquake in Haiti. "This is one of those moments that calls out for American leadership," according to US President Barack Obama who has announced fresh help for Haiti. Help is of course OK and supported by the anarchists, but "American leadership", i.e. ruler of the world - NO - the Anarchist International declares.

25.04.2010. Obama is obsessed with ruling the world, and is thus clearly opposed to the anarchists' real-democratic approach. An Internet search for "Obama lead world" gave the following headlines: "Obama lead world nuke talks", "Obama pledges to lead world into nuclear-free future", "Obama promises to lead world on climate change", "Obama: US will lead world in building next-gen clean cars", "US President Barack Obama has announced plans to invest billions of dollars in new nuclear power stations, should Australia follow Obama's lead," "We must lead the world:  'The Obama doctrine'", "Obama to world: 'We're ready to lead again'", and many more!!!  "American leadership", i.e. ruler of the world - NO - the Anarchist International repeats.

The extreme capitalism/economical plutarchy in USA makes violation of fundamental workers' rights

There is a poor record on worker protection, particularly in the areas of trade union rights and child labor, areas in which serious violations continue to take place. US law excludes large groups of workers from the right to organize. These include agricultural workers, many public sector workers, domestic workers, supervisors and independent contractors. Moreover, for most private sector workers forming labor federations is extremely difficult and anti-union pressure from employers is frequent. There is a huge union-busting industry which aims at undermining trade union organizing. Some 82 per cent of employers hire such companies that employ a wide range of anti-union tactics. Employers also force employees to listen to anti-union propaganda and threaten workers with company closures if they vote to form a labor federation. The US administration, rather than leading the way on protection of the rights of working people and on decent pay and conditions, has been intent on denying the freedom to join a union and bargain collectively to millions of American workers. This hurts America's working people and has a negative impact on workers' rights in other countries as well. Figures from the US Department of Labor show that the Bush Administration has been cutting back even further on labor law enforcement, now spending an average of only US$26 per employer, while spending on rigorous oversight of trade union activities amounts to an average of $2,500 per union/local union. This will probably not change much under the Obama Administration.

The Employee Free Choice Act, which would redress some of the imbalances workers are subject to, was blocked by Senate Republicans last year despite passing the House of Representatives and gaining majority support in the Senate. Moreover, the National Labor Relations Board took a number of decisions in 2007 which withdrew various workers' protections and weakened already ineffective remedies. Among these decisions was one that makes it harder for workers who are illegally fired to recover back pay and another to make it easier to discriminate against employees who are union representatives. Child labor is in many cases not effectively addressed in the US, particularly in agriculture and not least because of the hazardous conditions that children are exposed to. Many of the children are migrant farm workers, often Latino. Not enough urgency is being shown with the Children's Act for Responsible Employment (CARE) currently before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the House of Representatives, which would bring standards for children working in agriculture in line with standards for other sectors.  Moreover, child labor inspections are falling. 

Concerning discrimination and remuneration it should be noted that women continue to earn less than men (80.8%), and that for most women of color this gap is even larger. Women earn less in every occupational category, even in occupations where they outnumber men.  Nurses and middle school teachers earn 10% less than their male colleagues even though over 80% of the employees are female. Forced labor remains a problem in the US, in particular with forced labor in agriculture for migrant workers, and manufacturing (garments) in US overseas territories, in particular the Northern Mariana Islands. Working conditions are severe, and recruitment practices often result in indentured servitude.

14.01.2010. Social dumping. Immigrant sheepherders endure harsh work, low pay. Alone and thousands of miles from home, the immigrant sheepherder roams some of the West's most desolate and frigid landscapes, tending a flock for as little as $600 a month without a day off on the horizon. Colorado Legal Services, a Denver-based nonprofit legal assistance network, visited sheepherders with temporary work visas in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and found they sometimes toil more than 90 hours a week, can't leave the isolated sites where they work and are grossly underpaid by US standards. Rep. Daniel Kagan, a Democrat from Denver, said sheepherders often don't speak English, don't know where they are, and depend entirely on their employers for food, water and contact with the outside world. "It struck me as a situation rife with the possibility of abuse, and I was afraid that we were looking at a situation of indentured servitude, of near slavery, right here in Colorado, and that troubled me a lot," Kagan said. The struggling US sheep industry argues the immigrants - and the current pay scale - are crucial to its survival and that the jobs give foreign workers opportunities for a better life back home. That is how the US capitalism works.

1 in 6 went hungry in America in 2008

Forty-nine million people in American households — one in six — went hungry or had insufficient food at some point in 2008, the highest number since the government began tracking the problem in 1995. The biggest increases were among households with children and people who were hungry most often. The report, issued by the US Department of Agriculture, found that 17 million people in the US went hungry or did not eat regularly for a few days of each month over seven or eight months last year. That's a 45% increase from 12 million people in 2007. In 2008, 16.7 million children did not eat regularly at some point, up from 12.4 million in 2007. 17.11.2009.

USA has still not ratified United Nations' ILO Convention 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining

The United Nations' International Labour Organization, ILO's Convention 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining has still not been ratified by countries such as USA, Canada, China, India, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam. Thus, approximately half of the world's economically active population is not covered by this worker friendly Convention, with USA up front. ILO Convention 98 was established in 1949, and among many other countries the Anarchies of Norway, Switzerland and Iceland have ratified this convention.

Unenlightened plutarchy

The system in USA is what economic Nobel Prize winner and anarchist Ragnar Frisch called an "unenlightened plutarchy", see the basic ideas of Frisch. For the World Economic Council's program against unenlightened plutarchy for the USA, see the WEC resolutions. USA has a long road to go before it becomes an anarchy, socialist and autonomous. It will probably not happen while Obama is in charge.

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Unenlightened plutarchy, plutarchy in general and plutocracy

In the American Webster's unabridged dictionary second edition the word plutarchy is mentioned, and also plutocracy. Plutarchy means rule by the rich or rule of money, a form of archy [by finance-lords and similar, enronism, etc.]. Plutarchy may be economical and/or political/administrative. Economical plutarchy is the same as capitalism. Capitalism has two main forms, liberalism and fascism, economical plutarchy is significant in both. The economical plutarchists are the capitalists, the relatively rich, superiors in income.

Plutocracy is a form of "cracy", as in democracy, the word plutocracy may 1. mean the same as plutarchy, 2. but also just mean management by the rich or related to money. In an anarchism vs other -isms context, to be precise, the concept plutarchy is in general used, not the more diffuse plutocracy. The term "unenlightened plutarchy, "uopplyst pengevelde", was used by Ragnar Frisch about liberalism, the typical unenlightened plutarchy, but it may also be used about fascism. As a tendency in a bit curtailed form the unenlightened plutarchy may also be present in marxist, mainly social-democratic, systems.

"Unenlightened" in this context just underlines that plutarchy is not in the interest of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income. Plutarchy is practically always "unenlightened", a bad form of system/management seen from the people's perspective. In practice "enlightened plutarchy" does not exist, although there may be more or less of the unenlightened tendency. IIFOR

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Failed States - Comment from IIFOR - Contributions from Noam Chomsky, etc.

To Henrik Thune

I have of course read your review as well as the book. You have not directly said Chomsky's book is marxist-leninism, but says he "sees red", and also that he is somewhat similar to the marxist-leninist Sigurd Allern. Chomsky's economic-political tendency is anarchism, not marxism of any kind. You should have mentioned this in your ariticle, not indicated he is red (marxism) and similar to marxist-leninism. Besides I don't think your  review is very representative for the book.

Best regards P. Johansen - Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:10 AM

PS. Noam Chomsky is a dedicated anarchist - not liberal. Chomsky has written several works on anarchism - you should call a spade a spade Thune! The work Manufacturing Consent is not at all a neo-marxist analysis. It is clearly an anarchist analysis. You are insulting Chomsky and anarchists in general by calling this book and TV-program neo-marxist. - Tuesday, June 24, 2008 12.10 AM

Dear P. Johansen:

I read in your comments to Chomsky on my review of his book Failed states that I have described Chomsky or his work as marxist-leninism. That is a total misreading of my review, as you probably are well aware of, if you read the piece.

Best regards

Henrik T - Monday, June 23, 2008 9:07 PM

The expression "sees red" is something the paper decided to use. I also believe that self-description is a false criteria for any definition. That also goes for Chomsky and his political camp. Take for instance Manufacturing Consent with Herman. That is a classic neo-marxist analysis of the media. 

all the best  Henrik T - Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:19 AM

PS1: One has to, I believe, differentiate between marxism as an analytical/theoretical view and marxism as a political/ideological position.

PS2: I did explicitly describe Chomsky as a (radical) liberal. That is my reading of him, anyway. My main problem with failed states is that is empirically tendentious. Many of his point would have been made much strong if the empirical work was more systematic and precise. In this regard I see a clear weakening in Chomsky's political writing.

cheers

Henrik  T - Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:31 AM

----- Original Message -----
From: Noam Chomsky
To: IIFOR
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 4:50 PM
Subject: Re: Failed States - Comment from IIFOR- Answer from Chomsky, etc

Thanks for the information. Sorry to hear about that.  I don't pay much attention to translations -- don't have time -- but I'll make a note about this. Update 6:45 PM: I didn't intend to react to this piece of nonsense, just as I don't respond to the screeching of the commissar class elsewhere. What I meant is that I'll make a note to myself to pay attention to Norwegian translations in the future, thanks to the information you sent, appreciated.

Noam Chomsky

To  Noam Chomsky

1. Yes, the publisher is the marxist-leninist (maoist) Oktober Forlag,  named after the october revolution in Russia, founded by the maoists (and stalinists) in the party AKP-ml, now the main part of the revolutionary marxist communist and leninist party Rødt (Red) (also including trotskyites). It was however later sold to Aschehoug because of economic problems, but has still mainly marxist-leninist authors and tendency. See http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forlaget_Oktober .

2. There is no reference to your anarchism, in the newspapers here, but as mentioned a parallel to the maoist marxist-leninist Sigurd Allern.

3. And you are quite correct that this article is a hysterical rant.

Best regards P. Johansen

---- Original Message -----
From: Noam Chomsky
To: IIFOR
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 3:50 AM
Subject: Re: Failed States - Comment from IIFOR

Thanks for sending.  I could read enough of the article to see that it is a hysterical rant.  Are you saying that the book was published by a maoist marxist-leninist publisher?  That's news to me, and a surprise.

Noam Chomsky

----- Original Message -----
From: IIFOR
To: Noam Chomsky
Cc: Anarchists and syndicalists etc
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 6:56 PM
Subject: Failed States - Comment from IIFOR

To Noam Chomsky

Your book "Failed States" is now published in Norwegian. I have some comments. It is referred in Morgenbladet by a researcher from the Norwegian Institute for Foreign Politics, Norsk utenrikspolitisk institutt (Nupi), which draws parallels to the maoist marxist-leninist Sigurd Allern, and it is published on the maoist marxist-leninist publishing house Forlaget Oktober. Bad company. Quoting:

Trekker sløret vekk og ser rødt. Noam Chomsky: En skrivende Michael Moore, en amerikansk Sigurd Allern.

Av Henrik Thune. Forsker ved Norsk utenrikspolitisk institutt (Nupi)

Det tydeligste, og jeg tror også det mest utfordrende, ved Noam Chomskys enorme forfatterskap som politisk aktivist og USA-refser, er hans totale insistering på at nesten alt det vi mener å vite om verden, ikke er virkelig, men et produkt av systematisk propaganda for å tilsløre helt banale maktinteresser.

Dette er også essensen av Chomskys siste utgivelse på norsk, Mislykkede stater . For eksempel: Den liberale avisen New York Times er ikke liberal, men et propagandainstrument som forleder amerikanere til å tro at USA er et liberalt og folkestyrt samfunn. Det frie økonomiske markedet er ikke fritt, men skalkeskjul for et økonomisk system der staten kanaliserer enorme ressurser til elitene og etablerte storselskaper. Og vestens utenrikspolitikk for menneskerettigheter og frihet er ikke forankret i etikk, men er retorikk for å usynliggjøre global dominans og maktmisbruk.

Elitemakt. Vi er alle ofre, mener Chomsky, for en høyttravende, amerikansk liberal samfunnsretorikk. Den kamuflerer realitetene, og fornekter kritikk. Eller som han sier det, inspirert av franskmannen Alexis de Tocquevilles møte med USA på 1800-tallet: «USA klarte 'å utrydde den indianske rasen […] uten å bryte et eneste grunnleggende moralsk prinsipp i verdens øyne'.»

På denne måten, må man si, er Chomsky en typisk representant for et velkjent samfunnssyn, og en ikke usedvanlig USA-kritisk posisjon: Flertallsstyret er en myte. Elitemakten beskyttes av tilsynelatende liberale institusjoner som media og akademia. Og all politikk og fremferd på den internasjonale scenen vil til syvende og sist dreie seg om «enkeltmoral»: «Alt til oss selv, og ingenting til andre.»

Ingen politisk teori. Forskjellen på Chomsky og mange av hans antatt nærmeste politiske sympatisører i Europa og Norge, er likevel påfallende. Chomsky er ikke spesielt ideologisk anlagt, nesten tvert om. Chomsky er empiriker. Det vil si, han er nærmest som en amerikansk skrankeadvokat. Han formulerer ikke tydelige læresetninger eller nye politiske teorier – ingen politiske programmer utenom helt allmennmenneskelige menneskerettighetsprinsipper. Isteden ønsker han å overbevise juryen (som er leserne hans) ved å løfte frem etablerte fakta, for så å forsøke å mane frem et nytt og annet perspektiv.

Det er akkurat dette som er det utfordrende og styrken ved Chomskys beste bøker om samtidspolitikk. For å si det knapt: Hos Chomsky handler alt om fakta og virkelighetsgjengivelse. At systemet er udemokratisk og elitestyrt, og at den eneste formen for meningsfull samfunnskritikk i USA er å møte propaganda med anti-propaganda.

Fiffig. Sånn sett er det mye hos Chomsky som kan minne om dokumentarfilmene til Michael Moore. Kanskje har vi å gjøre med en særegen form for amerikansk samfunnskritikk? En samfunnskritikk som har vinket farvel til det siste århundrets høyre/venstre-rivaliseringer i vestlig politisk historie, og isteden nesten utelukkende handler om å bedrive mediekritikk: Å tvinge sannheten frem overfor en befolkning som, i alle fall for Chomsky, er paralysert av en monoton medievirkelighet, ute av stand til å gjøre seg opp sine egne meninger.

Mislykkede stater har akkurat de kvalitetene og skavankene man kan forvente seg av et slikt politisk anti-propaganda-prosjekt. På en side er boken fiffig og smart. Innledningsvis tar Chomsky tak i et av de aller mest populære begrepene i amerikansk utenrikspolitikk de siste årene, såkalte «mislykkede stater», eller i Bushs definisjon, fiendtlige «røverstater». Deretter snur Chomsky perspektivet 180 grader rundt, og forsøker å vise hvordan disse definisjonene passer på USA vel så mye som på Nord-Korea eller Iran.

Retoriske triks. På en annen side er boken til tider nesten umulig å lese. Den er tett, full av sitater, opplistinger av tall og hendelser. Og i tråd med all den politiske retorikken Chomsky ønsker å avsløre, er boken også full av retoriske triks og selektiv bruk av fakta og sitater. Chomskys anti-propaganda minner innimellom stygt om propaganda i anti-propagandaens navn. Igjen finnes det paralleller til Michael Moore og hans dokumentar Fahrenheit 9/11 , eller til den australskfødte tv-journalisten John Pilgers mange kritiske filmer om amerikansk utenrikspolitikk. Hos dem alle er overbevisningskraften mer en funksjon av retoriske grep, enn etterrettelighet og kildekritikk.

Sigurd Allern. En parentes til slutt: Jeg skrev over at Chomsky representerer en særegen form for amerikansk samfunnskritikk, som har forkastet ideologi til fordel for mediekritikk. Men dette er kanskje ikke helt riktig. Man finner en lignende orientering også i Norge. Jeg tenker på rekken av tidligere venstrerevolusjonære med medieprofessor Sigurd Allern i spissen, som har erstattet fortidens revolusjonslære med medieanalyse og med rollen som læremestere for norske journaliststudenter. Kampen utkjempes ikke lenger i samfunnet, men om medienes virkelighetsgjengivelser.

Og her må man si at Allern et al har et taktisk fortrinn fremfor Chomsky. For riktignok er Chomsky en viktig skikkelse i deler av amerikansk offentlighet. Men noen direkte innflytelse og makt over de institusjonene som utdanner fremtidens mediefolk – og som dermed skal forvalte det den store italienske marxisten Antonio Gramsci kalte samfunnets «kulturelle hegemoni» – det har nok Chomsky ikke tilkjempet seg.

anmeldelse
Noam Chomsky
Mislykkede stater
Maktmisbruk og angrep på demokratiet
Oversatt av Morten Hansen.
354 sider. Forlaget Oktober. 2008 (original utgave 2006)

Anarchy is real democracy

There are only three real democracies in the world: Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. USA is not a real democracy, but a semi- or pseudo-democracy, but it is not totalitarian or a failed state, according to IIFOR's standards.

1. Anarchy and anarchism mean "system and management without ruler(s), i.e. co-operation without repression, tyranny and slavery".

Briefly defined anarchy and anarchism are coordination on equal footing, without superiors and subordinates, i.e. horizontal organization and co-operation without coercion. This means practically or ideally, i.e. ordinary vs perfect horizontal organization respectively. Thus, anarchy and anarchism mean real democracy, economical and political/administrative, in private and public sector.

Anarchies are systems with significantly small rank and income differences, plus efficiency, i.e. significantly horizontally organized.

2. Briefly defined State/authority/government in a broad societal meaning is systems with significantly large rank and/or income differences and inefficient, i.e. significantly vertically organized.

(This is opposed to Max Weber's definition. The crucial point is horizontal vs vertical organization, not whether there are one or several law and order agencies in a local area. More about Max Weber's outdated definitions of state and anarchy, and the modern definitions, see Concepts - Begreper.)

We are for anarchy and anarchism as defined in 1, and against State/authority/government as defined in 2.

A bit simplified: Society is private sector plus public sector, both significantly horizontally organized in anarchy.

* Real democracy means one vote per head, participatory, plus anarchist basic rights that secure that the majority cannot decide that the minority must slave for them one way or the other, or worse. Thus the case that the majority "two wolves" decide that the minority "lamb" should be dinner, or similar is avoided. The anarchist rights can be brought for the anarchist law and order system, in case of disputes.

In some cases, say, at which side on the road we should drive, right or left, simple majority > 50% is ok. In other cases general consent - a lot for, and no-one against, is necessary. In some cases 2/3 or 3/4 majority is ok.

As for private sector, based on markets, there is one dollar (or labor notes credit) one vote, and it is real democratic, anarchist, only if the income-distribution is significantly horizontally organized (and the economy is efficient). If the income-distribution is significally hierarchical it is economical plutarchy, not anarchy/ism

As for public sector, it will be organized according to *.

Countries that are not real democracies, i.e. anarchies, are States according to 2. i.e. semi- or pseudo-democracies, or even worse, totalitarian with more than 67% authoritarian degree, among them failed states. Since USA has an authoritarian degree of ca 57,5%, its is not totalitarian, with more than 67% authoritarian degree, and thus USA is not a failed state. See Fig.1, the table "THE 25 HIGHEST RANKING COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO LIBERTARIAN DEGREE...", and the note "USA on the economic-political map" above, and the note "ANARCHY VS ECONOMIC-POLITICAL CHAOS - FAILED STATES ARE STATES - ARCHIES - NOT ANARCHY" at Anarchist Press Tribunal - International Branch .

Best regards P. Johansen of IIFOR

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Argentina, Chile and Brazil on the economic-political map

Other conservative liberalist economic-political systems are found in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Bolivia. Argentina is ranked as no 45 of countries according to libertarian degree, with a point estimate of ca 37,8% libertarian degree, i.e. ca 62,2% authoritarian degree. It is more authoritarian than the USA, with ca 42,5% libertarian degree and ca 57,5% authoritarian degree. It is also more capitalist than the USA, with a gini-index at 52.2, while the USA has a gini-index at 40.8. The degree of capitalism in Argentina is estimated to ca 77%, i.e. very significant (the degree of socialism is only ca 23%). The degree of statism is ca 42,5%, and thus the degree of autonomy is ca 57,5%, i.e. clearly significant. Argentina is located in the conservative sector, a little to the left, and a bit downwards, of USA, in the quadrant of liberalism on the economical-political map. Thus, Argentina has left the populist chaos of Duhalde with more than 67% authoritarian degree. The president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is ideologically a left populist, but this is not the tendency of the economic-political system of Argentina, seen as a whole. The authoritarian degree is less than 67%, thus Argentina of today has not a totalitarian system.

Chile is located to the right of Argentina and USA, a bit more downwards on the map than Argentina, and a little more authoritarian. The point estimate of the libertarian degree is ca 37,6%. i.e. the authoritarian degree is ca 62,4%. The degree of capitalism is ca 81%, i.e. very significant, with a gini-index at 57,1 (the degree of socialism is thus ca 18%, i.e. far from significant). The degree of autonomy is ca 65%. i.e. very significant, and the degree of statism is only ca 35%. Chile is ranked as no 46, behind Argentina, on the ranking of countries according to libertarian degree. Chile was earlier, under Pinochet, a fascist system, but is now a parliamentary democracy, and that contributes to the significant autonomy. The authoritarian degree is less than 67%, thus Chile of today has not a totalitarian system.

Brazil has a totalitarian liberalist-capitalist system, also located in the conservative sector in the liberalist quadrant of the map. The authoritarian degree is thus more than 67%, with a point estimate at 67,6%, and a libertarian degree at only 32,4%. The degree of capitalism in Brazil is ca 81,8%, i.e. very, very significant, with a gini-index at 59,3 ( the degree of socialism is only 18,2%). The degree of autonomy is 50,5%, i.e. significant, and the degree of statism is 49,5%. Brazil has a parliamentary system, it is not a dictatorship, and this contributes to the significant degree of autonomy. The extreme high degree of capitalism makes it however to a totalitarian system, seen as a whole. Brazil is located very little to the left of the Argentinian system, and a bit downwards, on the economic-political map. The system is as mentioned located within the conservative sector of the quadrant of liberalism on the map (see fig.1) , but it is not very far from the right fascist sector, in the quadrant of fascism on the map. All in all a very authoritarian system, ranked as no 69 on the ranking of countries according to libertarian degree.

The situation in Bolivia

16.12.2007: Bolivia by now has a totalitarian liberalist-capitalist system, located in the conservative sector in the liberalist quadrant of the economical-politcal map, see System theory and economic-political map. The authoritarian degree is thus more than 67%, with a point estimate at ca 72,6% and a libertarian degree at only ca 27,4%. The degree of capitalism in Bolivia is estimated to ca 90%, i.e. very, very significant, because of a high gini-index, at 44,7, and very low economic efficiency, i.e. the GDP per capita (2003) is only 892 US $ ( the degree of socialism is only ca 10%). The degree of autonomy is 50,5%, i.e. significant, and the degree of statism is 49,5%. Bolivia has a parliamentary system, it is not a dictatorship, and this a.o.t. contributes to the significant degree of autonomy. The extreme high degree of capitalism makes it however to a totalitarian system, seen as a whole. Bolivia is located to the right of the Brazilian system, and quite a bit downwards, on the economic-political map. The system is as mentioned located within the conservative sector of the quadrant of liberalism on the map, but it is not very far from the right fascist sector, in the quadrant of fascism on the map. All in all a very authoritarian system, ranked as no 116 on the ranking of countries according to libertarian degree.

Historically Bolivia has had some anarchosyndicalist unions, and there are today some libertarian tendencies among women and indigenous people, but they have little influence on the system seen all in all. The most well known anarchist activist (and professor emeritus in sociology of UMSA) is Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui.

Now the president has proposed more centralization and heavier taxation, thus the system will have less autonomy, and become fascist if it is implemented, i.e. if the degree of socialism is not improved considerably. There is no reason to believe that. This proposal will most likely not make the system significantly socialist.

Facing fascism, four Bolivian regions declare autonomy from government.  Tensions were rising in Bolivia on Saturday 15.12.2007 as members of the country's four highest natural gas-producing regions declared autonomy from the central government. Ruben Costas, center, governor of Santa Cruz, celebrates as the Bolivian region declares autonomy Saturday. Thousands waved the Santa Cruz region's green-and-white flags in the streets as council members of the Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando districts made the public announcement. The officials displayed a green-bound document containing a set of statutes paving the way to a permanent separation from the Bolivian government. Council representatives vowed to legitimize the autonomy statutes through a referendum that would legally separate the natural-gas rich districts from President Evo Morales' government. The move also aims to separate the states from Bolivia's new constitution, which calls for, among other things, a heavier taxation on the four regions to help finance more social programs. "The statutes will be ratified," said Oscar Ortiz, Santa Cruz senator. "With a public referendum, the people of our region will legitimize their will." About 35 percent of Bolivia's 9.5 million people live in the four states, according to The Associated Press. In the meantime, Bolivian network ATV showed what appeared to be armed, pro-government protesters creating blockades around the town of Yapacani, on the outskirts of Santa Cruz.

Some indigenous pro-Morales groups claim Bolivia's richer, white-ruled Eastern regions want to control the country's natural resources. Bolivia has South America's second-largest natural gas reserves, behind Venezuela. Most of it is produced in the Eastern regions. In the capital city La Paz on Saturday, Morales addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters in the Plaza Murillo, defending the new constitution and lashing out against what he called the racist policies of Bolivia's elite. "They must give back the money they took from us," he told a cheering crowd, which included members of the Quechua and Aymara tribes. "We will retroactively investigate all the big fortunes, and the corrupt are now trembling with fear." Morales also cautioned those who he said want a "a division, a coup d'etat," the AP reported. "We won't permit Bolivia to be divided," he warned. Morales -- who belongs to the Aymara indigenous group -- nationalized the country's oil and natural gas reserves when he took power in 2006, creating what became known as the "gas wars." Running on a platform of redistribution of wealth among Bolivia's poor, Morales has defied countries such as Brazil and the United States for the exploration of Bolivia's natural reserves. He has also protested the country's racial divide. "Bolivia is a nation among nations," he said Saturday, referring to the diversity of Indian nations whose traditions date back centuries. "We are not a country of blue-eyed, green-eyed folks only. It's a plurinational country made of dark-skinned and white-skinned. This new constitution will unite us."

We see a problem with the relatively rich areas' autonomy, perhaps it will increase the degree of capitalism in the country even more. From anarchist point of view this is bad . However fascism is no solution . The anarchists propose other measures to reduce the degree of capitalism, i.e. more autonomy in general combined with income transferring measures ( from the rich to the poor) and more efficiency, based on decentralization . Thus, the anarchists partly support the autonomy movement, but it must be more general, with socialist elements, to be really libertarian.

05.05.2008: Bolivia vote shows depth of divisions. The referendum with a clear majority vote for more autonom in Santa Cruz has placed the biggest obstacle yet in front of Mr Morales's planned reforms to re-orient Bolivia with a socialist twist, giving a greater share of the land and resources to the country's indigenous majority. This is something the draft constitution of Morales - yet to be approved - is supposed to do. Before thousands of exultant "crucenos" - as the people from Santa Cruz are called - Ruben Costas, the now self-declared governor of Santa Cruz, claimed that the victory meant, "initiating the path towards a new republic". Supporters of more autonomy for the region want to loosen what they term the "totalitarian and hegemonic centralism" of the central government in La Paz. "I am happy because we are now free to manage ourselves, with Santa Cruz's own resources," autonomy supporter Charito Cardenas told the BBC as she waved her "autonomy" flag. "Autonomy represents freedom, independence, living tranquil, living in peace - the freedom for Santa Cruz and for the whole of Bolivia which is what we want", she said. But not all areas of Santa Cruz were celebrating as effusively. 

In a country where ideological confrontation is commonplace, violent clashes between pro-Morales and pro-autonomy supporters in some of Mr Morales' strongholds left one dead and more than 20 injured. Some people were prevented from voting, ballot boxes were burnt and roads were blocked. But in the end, Bolivia's wealthiest region passed a statute of autonomy that would grant the department more local decision-making and more control over land, taxes and gas and oil revenues. For some analysts, the autonomy movement was instigated by the region's wealthy elite, with a good deal of economic self-interest and racism as fuel. That is something some residents of Santa Cruz also feel. "Why did these oligarchs that are pushing for autonomy want our vote now?" asks Marina, a woman of the Aymara indigenous group who has been living in Plan 3000, a humble neighbourhood of mud roads on the edge of Santa Cruz city, for the past 45 years. "They always hated us, the indigenous people, they still do and they will always will. We suffer because of them. "The autonomy they are proposing is nothing more than a trick to keep strangling the poor," she added. On the floor, a pamphlet from the pro-Morales supporters asking the people not to vote shows a swastika and calls the opposition a (Masonic) "lodge". For Gabriela Montano, the president's delegate in Santa Cruz, "this is not a result in favour or against autonomy, because this process, for various reasons, it is fragmenting the country." For many, this pits the elite in Santa Cruz, who are of European descent, against Mr Morales' peasants and indigenous supporters, and squeezes his beleaguered attempt to change the course of South America's poorest country.

"I hope the government will hear the call of its people now, and not the call of Venezuela's left-wing President Hugo Chavez, and will start choosing its own course and accept this autonomy and decide it's time to sit down and talk", former president and leader of the opposition Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga told BBC. For Mr Chavez, who is an unconditional ally of Mr Morales, this autonomy hides a "Kosovo-style plan" to destabilise the government and divide Bolivia. At least three more departments may follow Santa Cruz with their own autonomy votes. Conscious that the autonomy debate is proving deeply divisive, Mr Morales has called for dialogue even though he declared the vote to be illegal after knowing the results. The Organisation of American States and the catholic church also called unsuccessfully for dialogue in recent weeks. "We have always been willing to hold dialogue and we will always push for a national pact," the president of Santa Cruz's Civic Committee, Branko Marinkovic, told. "Bolivia will now start to march on a new path called autonomy. It won't be a short one, it might be a rocky one, but it will be the one Bolivia has democratically chosen," he added. All over the centre of Santa Cruz city that choice is being cheerfully celebrated by the many who wanted autonomy. Now, both parts agree they should start a dialogue. What comes next has a big question mark. In the meantime, Santa Cruz is enjoying a long night of celebrations as the rhythmic chant of "autonomy, autonomy" resounds across the city.

02.06.2008: Bolivia grabs control of gas firm. The Bolivian government has taken full control of a key gas pipeline company after talks with the foreign firm that held a controlling stake broke down. President Evo Morales said Transredes had been seized after US company Ashmore Energy International failed to agree to a share buy-back. Transredes transports Bolivia's natural gas to clients in Brazil and Argentina. It is the latest move in the Bolivian president's recent effort to nationalise key industries. Ashmore has yet to comment on the move. President Morales said Ashmore had agreed to sell some of its 25% share in the firm but that these talks had not led to a deal. "We waited patiently all month, but the actions they took were totally different," the president said. "They wanted to be bosses, and have us be the employees. We're a small country - sometimes they call us underdeveloped - but we have lots of dignity. Partners are welcome, but we will not accept bosses." Officials said Royal Dutch Shell, cited as another foreign in investor in the pipeline, had wanted to work with them. President Morales came to power two years ago promising his country's poor a greater share in revenues from the oil and gas industry. The president's radical plans have upset foreign companies and threaten to split the country. Three regions in Bolivia's east, where most of the oil and gas is found, have recently voted for greater autonomy and oppose sending more revenues to the central government. Parts of Bolivia's energy industry was privatised in the 1990s, with foreign companies taking 50% stakes. Last month Bolivia's state energy company bought a majority stake in Spanish-owned Andina, one of the country's biggest energy companies which exploits oil and gas fields, and owns a 50% stake in two giant gas fields. It has also taken over, by state decree, the control of Chaco from BP and Pan American Energy. Mr Morales is an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has also taken back control of a number of industries from foreign control, including oil, electricity and cement.

Colombia - A right-fascist system with severe ochlarchy

Columbia on the economic-political map. With a Gini-index at 57.6 and relatively low efficiency, the system is very significant capitalistic, the degree of capitalism, economical plutarchy, is estimated to ca 75,7%. As a rule of the thumb a Gini-index above 35 indicates capitalism. The system is also significant statist, the degree of statism is estimated to ca 59,1%. Thus the system is located in the right fascist sector in the fascist quadrant of the economic-political map, see System theory and economic-political map. Right fascist systems have 75-100% degree of capitalism and 50-75% degree of statism. As explained below, the system also has severe ochlarchy, with much murders of labor activists. Ochlarchy is mob rule broadly defined.

The authoritarian degree is estimated to ca 67,9%, i.e. the system is totalitarian and extremist. Systems with more than 666 per thousand, ca 67%, authoritarian degree are totalitarian and extremist. The libertarian degree is estimated to ca 32,1% ,and Colombia is ranked as no 72 of countries in the world according to libertarian degree. The estimates of the coordinates of the economic-political system are based on UN-statistics and other sources and are considered as long term average structural estimates, see chapter V.B. at System theory and economic-political map especially about "Statistics and estimation methods", and Ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, search for Colombia and see also the footnotes in this file.

03.06.2008. Murders of labor activists - severe ochlarchy - a consequence of the extreme capitalism/economical plutarchy and significant statism. The Colombian government appeared today in Geneva before the Committee on the Application of Standards at the ILO's annual session of the International Labour Conference. During the debate, workers' delegates from around the world referred to the violations of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights in Colombia. Since the beginning of 2008, 26 labor activists have been murdered, a 71 per cent increase from the same period last year. For all of these murders impunity persists, as for some 97% of the more than 2,500 murders of Colombian labor activists since 1986. The Colombian government appeared before the committee as the result of the extraordinary pressure from the international labor movement, anarchists included, which rejected its attempts to avoid coming before the committee. The outcome of the discussion on Colombia will be included in the full conclusions and recommendations of the committee.

14.03.2010. Allies of the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe face a key test as the country votes in parliamentary elections ahead of May's presidential race. The Uribe alliance is seeking to strengthen its position in Congress, building on the president's popularity for tackling left-wing rebels and cocaine traffickers. Uribe himself is barred from running again for the presidency, after a court ruled against a referendum to amend the constitution and allow him to stand. The decision opens up the field for May's election. The parliamentary vote features candidates ranging from former hostages to footballers and beauty queens. A strong showing from pro-Uribe forces will benefit the former defense minister vying to succeed the president and continue the tough line against guerrillas. The parliament was tarnished during Uribe's second term by a scandal linking MPs, including the president's allies, to drug-smuggling paramilitaries who massacred peasants. It is feared that armed groups could influence voting in many rural areas. The Uribe-coalition maintained the majority in the Congress, both in the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives.

30.04.2010. Mass grave. The Anarchist International (AI/IFA), International Workers of the World (IWW), The Anarchist Confederation of Latin America (ACLA) and The Anarchist International Embassy (AIE) have expressed grave concern over the discovery of a mass grave in the town of La Macarena, in Colombia, as well as condemning the assassination of Johnny Hurtado, a human rights activist who denounced the mass grave's existence. Hurtado, a former syndicalist activist, had already been forced to move away from his home after receiving death threats.

The Attorney General's office estimates at 2000 the number of unidentified bodies in the mass grave. The figure is particularly worrying given that well over a hundred Colombian syndicalists have disappeared in recent years. Recent revelations regarding extrajudicial executions, including from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Special Rapporteur, have uncovered the Colombian army's involvement in what the UN has described as the "systematic" killing of Colombian civilians. The mass grave is located next to the largest military base in the region.

11.06.2010. The International Workers of The World has in the report '101 syndicalists murdered in 2009 world wide. Pressure on workers' rights grows. Direct actions by IWW' especially a focus on Colombia, see the IWW- Website.

20.06.2010. Presidential runoff election. Former defense minister won Sunday's presidential runoff election in a rout over an eccentric outsider. The victory for Juan Manuel Santos, an ally of Uribe and a three-time government minister from a Colombian political dynasty, was a ringing endorsement of outgoing conservative President Alvaro Uribe, whose security policies he helped craft. The persistence of the ultra-authoritarian marxist rebel threat was a central issue in the campaign to succeed Uribe, who was barred from running for a third term. Santos, a 58-year-old economist, won the endorsement of most of the country's political establishment after the first round. He promises to build on Uribe's security gains, but also vowed to help the poor in a nation notorious for income inequality where more than two in five of its 44 million people live on less than $2 a day.

Violence marred Sunday's vote as seven police officers and three soldiers were killed in separate attacks blamed on marxist, leftist rebels. The police were killed when a roadside bomb ripped apart their truck on a routine patrol in Colombia's northeast, authorities said, while the soldiers died in an ambush on an army patrol carrying election material to a town in the eastern plains. Defense Minister Gabriel Silva blamed the marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, for the ambush and the smaller, also marxist, National Liberation Army was believed responsible for the bombing. Independent electoral observers said rebels burned ballots and disturbed voting in isolated municipalities in eight of Colomia's 32 states. The right fascist system will probably prevail and the Colombian system's economic-political coordinates will probably not change significantly under the new president, unless massive international and domestic pressure, protests and direct actions against the system become a reality.

07.07.2010. Two more syndicalists assassinated in Colombia. IWW, AI, ACLA and AIE: Do away with the totalitarian right-fascist system in Colombia! To international newsmedia! Put more focus on Colombia!!!

The syndicalist world is again in mourning after the assassination of two more syndicalists*) in Colombia. The Anarchist International (AI/IFA), International Workers of the World (IWW), The Anarchist Confederation of Latin America (ACLA) and The Anarchist International Embassy (AIE) have roundly condemned the murders, expressing a deep shock at the news of the killing of Nelson Camacho González, a member of the oil industry's united workers' syndicate USO (Unión Sindical Obrera) and of Ibio Efrén Caicedo, an activist from the Antioquia teachers' association ADIDA (Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia). Ibio Efrén Caicedo, who had a strong track record as a syndicalist activist, was assassinated on the day before the 20 June presidential elections. The murder of Ibio Efrén brings to seven the number of unionized teachers assassinated in Antioquia in 2010 so far. Three days earlier, Nelson Camacho González died after being shot at repeatedly at the bus stop on his way to work. 

The murder of Nelson Camacho González is another in a series of systematic attacks and threats against members and mandated persons of the oil workers' syndicate during industrial disputes. This workers' syndicate has been in conflict with the multinational very capitalist/economical plutarchist British Petroleum in Casanare, with Ecopetrol-UT on the Andean pipeline, with TGI on the departments of Boyacá y Casanare, and with Ecopetrol over various other labor disputes. 

In an international direct action protest to the Colombia authorities, the IWW, AI, ACLA and AIE demand that the Columbian government immediately initiate a full investigation to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these two murders that have further weakened the credibility of the so called Colombian "democracy". The economic-political system of Colombia is an evil and extremist variant of the unenlightened plutarchy, as mentioned with more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree.

The so called Colombian "democracy" is as mentioned above in reality an ultra-authoritarian right fascist system, totalitarian and extremist and very far from real democracy, i.e. anarchy. The IWW, AI, ACLA and AIE call for continual and lasting direct actions, international and domestic, by the people as opposed to the superiors economical and/or political/administrative, against the Colombian government, to a) end the deadly ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined) against syndicalists and others, b) do away with the totalitarian right-fascist regime, and c) move the system in libertarian direction - more and more.... For anarchy in Colombia!

PS. Later: To CNN - thank you for highlighting the Noriega-Colombia connection on TV. Colombia - A right-fascist system with severe ochlarchy. To international newsmedia! We hope for more focus on Colombia in general!!!

10.07.2010. Former rebel hostage asks for $7M from Colombian government, CNN reports: Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt is asking for about $7 million from the country's government for the years she spent as a hostage of leftist rebels. In documents submitted to the Colombian government last month, Betancourt and her family members say the government did not do enough to protect her. From story highlights: Colombia's defense ministry expresses "surprise and sorrow" at request. Former presidential candidate was part of group rescued by helicopter in 2008. marxist rebels had held her hostage since 2002.

11.07.2010. Colombia forces kill 12 rebels in early morning raid, Swissinfo.ch, an international newsagency located in the Anarchy of Switzerland - the Swiss Confederation, reports: Colombian forces killed 12 leftist [marxist] guerrillas on Sunday in an attack on a group of fighters assigned to protect Farc leader Guillermo Saenz, known as Alfonso Cano, the defence ministry said. Local media reports have said that Colombia's army is closing in on Cano. His death or capture would give political momentum to President-elect Juan Manuel Santos, who is to be sworn in as head of state next month. While serving as defense minister before stepping down to run in the presidential election, Santos directed key military strikes against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, rebels. He easily defeated Green Party candidate Antanas Mockus in a run-off last month and has pledged to continue the market-friendly [read: unenlightened plutarchy] policies favoured by investors as president.

12.07.2010. Colombia's government took Ingrid Betancourt's bodyguards away, Swissinfo.ch reports: Betancourt accuses Colombia of failing to protect her. Colombia's government took Ingrid Betancourt's bodyguards away as she was about to drive into a jungle area filled with guerrillas, the former hostage said on Sunday, outlining the reasons for her multimillion-dollar [$6.8 million (4.5 million pound] demand against the state. She played that down in a television interview on Sunday, saying the money was "symbolic." But she insisted the state failed to protect her while she was running for president. "They took my bodyguards from me and let me continue by road," Betancourt, 48, told Caracol television. "They did not meet their responsibility to protect me as a presidential candidate ... I was not irresponsible."

16.07.2010. Chavez + Farc = True? An echo of the Hitler - Stalin pact? The nazi-light Chavez-regime has rejected Colombia's accusation that Caracas tolerates Colombian marxist guerrillas on its territory. The charge was "a desperate attempt" to undermine relations between the two countries, the Venezuelan foreign ministry said. It later recalled its ambassador to Bogota for consultations. The Colombia government had said that it has clear evidence that five rebel leaders are sheltering in Venezuela. The findings showed Venezuela's "continued and permanent tolerance" of guerrillas on its soil, Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said on Thursday. He added that Bogota had video recordings and the exact grid co-ordinates not only of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) camps, but those of the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN). A spokeswoman for ACLA says to AIIS that "without further, independent investigations, it is difficult to say who speaks the truth, the nazi-light regime in Venezuela or the right fascists in Colombia." More information about Chavez + Farc = True? An echo of the Hitler - Stalin pact, at the article about Venezuela below.

21.07.2010. CNN-TV continues to mention the Colombia vs Venezuela conflict reported 16.07.2010...

22.07.2010. Venezuela severs ties with Colombia. President Hugo Chavez severed Venezuela's diplomatic relations with Colombia on Thursday over claims he harbors guerrillas, and he warned that his neighbor's leader could attempt to provoke a war. Chavez said he was forced to break off all relations because Colombian officials claim he has failed to act against leftist rebels who allegedly have taken shelter in Venezuelan territory. He acted moments after Colombian Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos presented a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington with photos, videos, witness testimony and maps of what he said were rebel camps inside Venezuela and challenged Venezuelan officials to let independent observers visit them, echoing ACLA's call for independent investigations 16.07.2010.

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See also Note to the Colombian Embassy in Oslo from the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, about freedom of expression etc. This AIE-resolution is also connected at Links. NB! Underlined words and phrases in the resolution above are links to click on!

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*) The concept 'syndicate' is defined in general as 'an association of people formed to promote a common interest', and is especially related to the labor movement. The concept 'syndical' broadly defined means 'of a labor union or labor confederation, i.e. of a syndicate of workers'. Thus, a 'syndicalist' broadly defined is any man or woman 'of a labor union or labor confederation, i.e. of a syndicate of workers', thus including all labor union or labor confederation members and activists, i.e. 'union men and women', members and activists of syndicates of workers. 'Syndicalist' narrowly defined is one who believes in or advocates 'syndicalism', a theory and movement of trade unionism originating in France, in which all means of production and distribution would be brought under control of syndicates of workers, i.e. labor confederations and labor unions, by direct action, such as general strike. The AI, IWW, ACLA and AIE above, and often, make use of the term 'syndicalist' broadly defined, as 'union men and women', i.e. members and activists of syndicates of workers.

Belize's place on the economic-political map

Belize is an example of a right fascist state. The country is quite authoritarian, and a democracy in the name only. Population below powerty line 33,5 % (2002 est.), inefficient with just 3 612 US $ per capita income/GDP (2003), and falling adult literacy rate from 89,1 % in 1990 to 76,9 % in 2003. The degree of capitalism is estimated to ca 79,0 % and the degree of statism to 59,9 %, and thus the system is located in the right fascist sector (close to right populism) of the fascist quadrant of the map. All in all a totalitarian capitalist state with ca 29,9% libertarian degree, i.e. ca 70,1 % authoritarian degree.

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I think the maoists, bolsheviks, and trotskyites are more authoritarian than what are suggested on fig. 2. They are all marxist-leninists and will produce a somewhat rich bureaucracy, and advocate dictatorship of ( i.e. over), the proletariate. What do IIFOR think about this? Anarchist greetings P. Gordon

Answer from IIFOR: The fig.2 map is quite misleading in these cases. Both maoists, bolsheviks and trotskyites are ideologically totalitarian state-communists, not located far left and not so very authoritarian, as suggested on fig. 2. They are all ideologically located in the state-communist sector of the marxist quadrant of the fig.1 map.

China's place on the economic-political map

The maoists are ideologically totalitarian state-communists. They are all ideologically located in the state-communist sector of the marxist quadrant of the economic-political map, see System theory and economic-political map .

However in practice, as now in China, the maoists are left fascists. A gini-index of 0 represents perfect economic equality, and a value of 100 perfect inequality, the most top heavy income pyramid. As a rule of the thumb a gini-index below 35 indicates socialism and a gini-index above 35 indicates capitalism, i.e. economical plutarchy, but the degree of socialism is also dependent of economical efficiency, indicated by GDP per capita. Socialism means economic equality - fairness - plus efficiency, capitalism the opposite.

Thus China, with a gini-index at 44.7 is clearly capitalist, and it is not very efficient, with GDP per capita at only 1,100 US $ per year. Thus it has very significant economical plutarchy, about 62 1/3% degree of capitalism. Furthermore it is a dictatorship, with a very high degree of statism, included a very top heavy rank-pyramid, see a.o.t. Anarchist class analysis etc. . The degree of statism is about 76%. Thus it has both significant amount of capitalism as well as statism, and thus it is a fascist country, see System theory and economic-political map and Ranking of countries according to libertarian degree . It is no 88 on the ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, i.e. it is clearly very authoritarian.

The point estimate for China is ca 30,5% libertarian degree, i.e. 69,5% authoritarian degree, located in the left fascist sector of the fascist quadrant of the economic-political map. The system is totalitarian, with more than 67% authoritarian degree. Norway and Switzerland are ranked as no 1 and 2 respectively, they are anarchies of low degree. USA is ranked as 22, being significantly autonomous and capitalist, i.e. liberalist. If we look only at the gini-index, the USA seems less capitalist than China, with a gini-index of 40.8 in USA, compared to 44.7 in China. But we have also other indicators, i.e. a.o.t. economic regulations, the very large agricultural sector is not very capitalistic, etc., and thus, for the system seen all in all as a whole, the degree of capitalism in China is less than of the USA. But still the degree of capitalism, economical plutarchy, in China, is clearly significant. Conclusion: The system in China is left fascist, in practice not state communist, on the economic-political map.

Let us not be dazzled by percentage economic growth. China has a very weak income-development compared to Norway. China has as mentioned a real income (GDP) at 1 100 US $  per capita per year. Ten percent growth is 110 US $ income increase per year. In Norway the real income per capita is 48 412 US $ per year. A growth at 3% means 1 452 US $. Thus the growth in income per capita is 13 times as high in Norway, compared to China. The very high gini-index in China shows that the small income-growth in US $ is not benefiting the people (as opposed to upper classes), the grassroots and working class broadly defined, significantly.

01.10.2009. 60 years of brutal repressive communist party rule in China is marked by putting  together its biggest-ever military parade: hundreds of thousands of marchers, batteries of goose-stepping soldiers and weaponry from drone missiles to amphibious assault vehicles. The "People's Liberation" Army in its newspaper early this year said the event's meaning was clear: "This military parade is a comprehensive display of the Party's ability to rule and of the overall might of the nation." Except for an especially invited audience, everyone else, though, was asked to stay home. President Hu Jintao inspected China's defense forces in Beijing on Thursday. "Greetings, comrades," Hu said as he saluted the troops, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. "Greetings, leader [i.e. ruler]," the soldiers responded.

The buoyant mood glosses over the country's gut wrenching twists - the ruinous campaigns of revolutionary leader Mao Zedong that left tens of millions dead - in 1989 after six weeks of heady demonstrations, the Tiananmen movement for freedom and democracy was brutally suppressed - as well as its current challenges: a widening gap between rich and poor, rampant corruption, severe pollution and ethnic uprisings in western areas of Tibet and Xinjiang. The Anarchist International calls for democracy and freedom in China, a movement of the system towards significant socialism and autonomy, away from the ultra-authoritarian left fascist system of today, and supports solidaric the people in China that fight for such a development.

23.12.2009. The Anarchist International, AI : Release Liu Xiaobo immediately! A high-profile Chinese dissident accused of subversion was tried at a two-hour hearing Wednesday, a case that reflects the in the name only communist, in practice left fascist, government's deep suspicion of calls for political reform. Liu Xiaobo was detained a year ago, just before the release of an unusually direct appeal for more civil rights in China he co-authored called Charter 08, signed by scores of China's top intellectuals. He faces up to 15 years in jail. The verdict is due Friday. Anarchists, international human rights groups and Western nations have heavily criticized Liu's detention. Liu, 53, a literary critic and former professor, spent 20 months in jail for joining the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square that were crushed in a military crackdown.

In his writings, most published only on the Internet, he has strongly called for civil rights and political reform. Liu is charged with inciting to subvert state power, a vaguely worded charge that is routinely used to jail dissidents and carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. Liu admitted "to practicing his freedom of speech, but did not admit to trying to overturn the state's power." The Anarchist International calls on the government of China to release Liu Xiaobo immediately! 25.12.2009. Liu Xiaobo has been jailed for 11 years by the ultra-authoritarian, totalitarian left fascist extremist regime in China, for so called "inciting subversion of state power". The Anarchist International condemns the trial for not being fair and being the opposite of social justice and again demands: Release Liu Xiaobo!

05.03.2010. China vows to tackle social divide. According to the latest official figures, China's rural-urban wealth gap was the widest last year since the launch of economic reforms three decades ago. In 2009 urban per capita income stood at 17,175 yuan ($2,500), or more than three times the average rural income of 5,153 yuan. Speaking at the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, premier ruler Wen Jiabao said China faced "major problems" that "urgently require solutions". "Everything we do, we do to ensure that the people live a happier life with more dignity and to make our society fairer and more harmonious." "We will not only make the pie of social wealth bigger by developing the economy, but also distribute it well on the basis of a rational income distribution system," Wen said. He promised more fairness, less corruption and steady economic progress. 

"This is easier said than done in this ultra-authoritarian and corrupt regime - we demand deeds - not words - in these matters!" a  spokesperson of The Anarchist Confederation of Asia and the Middle East - ACAME said to AIIS, and added: "ACAME demands a development toward Libertarian Human Rights and Real Democracy , a bottom - up approach - in China." China's National People's Congress is formally the country's top legislative forum. The NPC, which meets every year for 10 to 12 days, is a legislature "with Chinese characteristics." Its members come from every corner of the country and there are "representatives" of every ethnic and religious group, but it does not have the power to reject government proposals, so it is often rightly dismissed as a rubber stamp assembly. "Representatives" to this Chinese joke of "parliament" are selected by the top rulers, not elected, but in his speech Premier Wen indicated that he does listen to those outside the government. The meeting of the NPC is expected to last around 10 days and will be closely watched for signs of any political power shift.

10.05.2010. Lack of labor rights in China. China has ratified only four of the eight core ILO labor Conventions. Chinese trade and syndicalist unions have to be affiliated to the ACFTU, the "All China Federation of Trade Unions", and any effort to establish independent unions is repressed. ACFTU is a state organ, closely subordinated to the Chinese Communist Party. Although there are some efforts to promote collective wage consultation systems, the right to collectively bargain is severely restricted and many Chinese workers are not covered by collective agreements. Despite the lack of a right to strike except in cases of "health and safety work stoppages", many workers undertake industrial action to pressure for long standing unresolved issues, claim unpaid wages and demand better working conditions and wages. Industrial actions and protests have increased in recent years.

Institutionalized discrimination against migrant workers from rural areas remains a serious problem, despite recent legislation. Immigrant workers who live unregistered in the cities do not have access to public services such as education for their children. Discrimination on the grounds of gender is prohibited by law but, in practice, women are not equally remunerated and tend more often to find employment in unskilled and labor-intensive sectors. Moreover, ethnic minorities and persons who live with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B frequently suffer from discrimination in remuneration and in access to employment, education and public services.

While national legislation stipulates that no children younger than 16 years old are allowed to work, child labor is a serious problem in China. Children are sometimes employed in the worst forms of child labor. Work-study programmes, run under school auspices, frequently result in forced child labour. Forced labor is prohibited but occurs in commercial enterprises. China imposes forced prison labor as a form of "re-education through labor", and a similar forced labor system for "rehabilitation" is in force for drug addicts.  Trafficking in human beings is prohibited by law but remains a serious problem. There has not been much progress in prosecuting traffickers and in protecting and assisting victims of trafficking, which affects women, men and children. The lack of labor rights in China confirms that the country for the time being has a left fascist, and not a socialistic system, a spokesperson for ACAME said to AIIS.

Cuba's place on the economic-political map

Castro! Release all political prisoners!

Cuba, with a) a degree of socialism at ca 52 1/4%, i.e. significant (and thus a degree of capitalism at ca 47 3/4%) and b) a degree of autonomy at ca 18% (and thus a degree of statism at ca 82%, i.e. very significant), and c) a libertarian degree of only ca 32,9% and thus an authoritarian degree of ca 67,1%, i.e. more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, is located in the state communist sector of the marxist quadrant of the economic-political map. Cuba is ranked as no 65 on the ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, see System theory and economic-political map and Ranking of countries according to libertarian degree.

The Anarchist International supports 1. all libertarian tendencies in Cuba, 2. the fight for less authoritarian degree, 3. doing away with the communist regime, and 4. establishing anarchy.

The AI also regularly receives information from the group Galsic Tribuna Latinoamericana, with address in France, that publishes the Bulletin Cuba Libertaria. At new year 2010 AI received the following e-mail: Adjunta va en archivo pdf esta edición especial del Boletín CUBA libertaria con la "Carta en rechazo a las actuales obstrucciones y prohibiciones de iniciativas sociales y culturales" en CUBA que hemos recibido para su difusión y para la cual recabamos tu apoyo. Saludos libertarios - GALSIC . Click on the link to the following pdf-file for more information: www.anarchy.no/cubalibertaria.pdf .

06.03.2010. Cuban hunger striker 'prepared to die'. A Cuban dissident who has spent nine days on hunger strike says he will starve himself to death unless authorities release political prisoners. Guillermo Fariñas has refused food and water since the death of jailed Cuban political activist Orlando Zapata, late last month. Zapata died after a two and a half month hunger strike. Fariñas, a 48-year old psychologist and journalist, said from his home: "I want to show the world that political assassinations carried out by the state are an everyday occurence in Cuba. I am willing to follow through with this hunger strike to its ultimate consequences - even to my death." There has been both a diplomatic and public condemnation of Cuba's government since Zapata's death.

The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist Confederation of Latin America, ACLA [La Confederación Anarquista de Iberoamérica - A Confederação de Anarquista da América Latina], EU and the USA have called for Cuba to release political prisoners. On Friday around a hundred people joined a rally in front of the Cuban embassy in Mexico. One protestor said: "We have citizens here who are convinced now more than ever that we need to speak up for our Cuban brothers. It's important to show solidarity, to support human rights. We're not just working for a free Cuba but for a free Latin America."

Cuba, as ultra-authoritarian regimes often do, falsely denies it has political prisoners, and claims Zapata was a common criminal, who became a political dissident because of the material support he would receive from abroad. AI & ACLA declare: Castro! Release all political prisoners! For a development toward Libertarian Human Rights and Real Democracy , a bottom - up approach - in Cuba!

05.07.2010. The number of political prisoners in Cuba has fallen from 201 to 167 since the beginning of 2010, the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission says. This is almost half the number of political prisoners compared with when Fidel Castro handed over power to his younger brother Raul four years ago. But the commission's head Elizardo Sanchez says the fall reflects a change in the manner of political repression. He says harassment and intimidation are now replacing long prison sentences, according to BBC.

12.07.2010. A few political prisoner released. Cuba last week announced it would release 52 Cuban political prisoners following negotiations with the Vatican and Spain. The move may indicate a small step forward for Cuba, which is being pressed to take greater steps toward democracy by anarchists and others. The 52 prisoners include opposition leaders, journalists and activists who were jailed following a broad crackdown on dissent in 2003 that resulted in lengthy prison terms on treason and other charges. Spain last week said it would accept any of the 52 prisoners who want to live in Spain. The release of a few political prisoners may mainly be seen as a cosmetic trick, AI and ACLA declare, and the authoritarian degree of Cuba is not changed significantly by this move. AI & ACLA repeat: Castro! Release all political prisoners! For a development toward Libertarian Human Rights and Real Democracy , a bottom - up approach - in Cuba! Also stop the harassment and intimidation, and political repression in general.

17.07.2010. News from Fariñas - Euronews reports: One prominent dissident, who is in hospital recovering from a 134 day hunger strike, spoke exclusively to Euronews about his hopes and fears for the future. "The brothers Fidel and Raul Castro are going to stop the changes right here, with the release of these 52 political prisoners of conscience. And we don't want that. We must try to broaden the reforms and that depends on us, the peaceful opposition. It depends on the Cuban people but also on the international media, the governments, parliaments, political organizations all over the world," said Guillermo Fariñas... The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist Confederation of Latin America, ACLA today launch a world wide direct action for a development toward Libertarian Human Rights and Real Democracy , a bottom - up approach - in Cuba!

29.07.2010. Guillermo Fariñas released from hospital. Prominent Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas, who recently ended his four-month hunger strike, has been released from hospital. Mr Fariñas began his protest in February to demand the release of imprisoned opposition activists in poor health. He called off his hunger strike earlier this month following the decision by the Cuban government to free 52 dissidents. Doctors said he had been near death. Mr Fariñas said his goal now was to continue writing articles. Doctors said it would take time until Mr Fariñas was fully recovered. AI and ACLA continue the direct action launched 17.07.2010...

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The situation in the Central Asian countries

Estimates of the libertarian degree etc. for the six Central Asian countries are found in the following table:

CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO LIBERTARIAN DEGREE ETC

The estimates are approximately figures. (c) IIFOR/IJA ISSN 0800-0220, 2007 a.l.
For the ranking of countries according to libertarian degree in general, see Ranking .

All of the Central Asian countries have totalitarian, ultra-authoritarian, systems, with more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree. All of these countries are significant statist, the degree of autonomy is less than 50%. Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are also capitalist countries, located in the fascist quadrant of the economic-political map, see System theory and economic-political map , Turkmenistan is a right-fascist country, while Azerbaijan is a left-fascist country. The four other countries are socialist, located in the state-communist sector of the marxist quadrant of the map. Not much have changed since the Soviet era. As a rule of the thumb, a gini-index above 35,0 indicates capitalism. Kazakhstan, the least authoritarian of the countries, has a small anarchist group, Almaty Liberta . No anarchist groups are known by IIFOR in the other even more authoritarian countries.

Kyrgyzstan had elections late in 2007: Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's party has won a resounding victory in the country's general elections. But foreign monitors say the poll failed to meet international standards. Mr Bakiyev's Ak Zhol party has won every parliamentary seat, with no other party able to secure the necessary distribution of votes. Opposition groups have accused Mr Bakiyev of a power grab, and a move towards authoritarianism. Mr Bakiyev called the snap election after voters approved plans to revise the constitution in an October referendum. Turnout in the polls was reported at more than 60%, and Mr Bakiyev praised the elections as a "historic day" for the former Soviet nation. But in a statement the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the polls. "The 16 December parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan failed to meet a number of OSCE commitments," it said."Overall the election represented a missed opportunity and fell short of public expectations."

Pluralism undermined : Mr Bakiyev insists the new system agreed during the referendum - whereby MPs are elected on a party-list basis - will give the people more power and help end two years of upheaval. But the OSCE has criticized the new electoral system on the grounds that it could "defeat the objective of proportional representation and might lead to an endless cycle of elections." The official in charge of the OSCE mission in Kyrgyzstan, Kimmo Kiljunen, said: "Political pluralism, which I have seen develop, is undermined by this missed opportunity". The OSCE was also critical of the role of the media in the election, particularly the state broadcaster, saying it "did not provide adequate and balanced information for voters."

Historic day: Only one other party, Ata Meken, cleared the 5% threshold needed to gain seats in parliament. But while it gained 9.2% of the votes, Ata Meken was unable to reach a requirement to take 0.5% of the vote in each of Kyrgyzstan's seven regions, and its two main cities. The opposition says the poll was hit by irregularities including the stuffing of ballot boxes, bribery and intimidation. Ata-Meken's deputy leader Kubatbek Baibolov accused the government of "flagrant fraud", the French news agency AFP said. Sunday's poll was the first parliamentary vote since 2005, when allegations of a rigged ballot led to mass protests that drove then President Askar Akayev from power and gave Mr Bakiyev the top job. Since then, the country has been hampered by a political stand-off between the president and parliamentary deputies elected during the Akayev era. The BBC's Natalia Antelava says that many people in Kyrgyzstan want an end to continued street protests and government in-fighting. But leaving strong opposition outside the government could prove to be a dubious recipe for stability.

07.04.2010. Chaos, i.e. violent ochlarchy with rivaling oligarchy rules Kyrgyzstan. The government in Kyrgyzstan is struggling to retain power as deadly clashes escalate between police and thousands of protesters. The protesters are angry at rising prices and accuse President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of failing to curb corruption. Spokespersons of the people say they don't believe the opposition leaders will rule in a different way if they come to power. The anarchists declare: "Same shit in new wrapping", and "we are shocked by the reported deaths and injuries that have occurred today in Kyrgyzstan. We urgently appeal for dialogue and calm to avoid further bloodshed!"

08.04.2010. Kyrgyz opposition leaders form interim government backed by the army. An opposition coalition proclaimed a new interim government Thursday in Kyrgyzstan and said it would rule until elections are held in six months. It urged the president to resign. The new interim defense minister said the armed forces have joined the opposition and will not be used against protesters. Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva, the former foreign minister, said parliament was dissolved and she would head the interim government. The new rulers of this totalitarian, extremist state will probably not move the system significantly in libertarian direction, from the long term structural estimate at ca 29,1 % libertarian degree, i.e. ca 70,9 % authoritarian degree, more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree. The present dip of the libertarian degree, with chaos and bloodshed, seems however mainly to be over.

Kyrgyz president refuses to resign. A Kyrgyz news agency says President Bakiyev is refusing to resign despite the bloody uprising and the formation of a new opposition government. The news agency 24.kg says Bakiyev sent his statement in an e-mail. The news agency quotes Bakiyev as stating that "I have not relinquished and will not relinquish power." The anarchists repeat: "We urgently appeal for dialogue and calm to avoid further bloodshed!"

The violent chaos is not entirely over, heavy shooting breaks out again in Kyrgyz capital. The president of Kyrgyzstan as mentioned declared from hiding Thursday that he would not surrender to the violent uprising that put the opposition in control of much of the country. Just after he spoke, automatic weapons fire broke out in the capital. It was not clear if Kyrgyz forces controlled by the opposition in Bishkek were battling loyalists of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, or simply firing to deter looters after nightfall. There appeared to be little evidence of armed men loyal to Bakiyev in the capital before dusk. People could hear sustained shooting every few minutes from different directions in Bishkek, along with some single shots. Lights in most buildings including hotels were put out over fears they would attract gunfire.

The opposition has seized vital official buildings in Bishkek and elsewhere and was giving orders to at least some security forces, declaring it controlled four of the nation's seven provinces. Bakiyev, who has fled the northern capital for his stronghold in the south, told a Russian radio station that "I don't admit defeat in any way." But he also said he recognized that "even though I am president, I don't have any real levers of power." 

This mountainous former Soviet republic exploded Wednesday after protesters furious over corruption and soaring utility bills stormed government buildings in Bishkek. Riot police fired straight into crowds. The Health Ministry said at least 74 people were killed and 400 people hospitalized. After hours of clashes the opposition seized vital official buildings in the capital and elsewhere and was giving orders to significant numbers of security forces. Bakiyev was emphatic Thursday that he was still the elected leader of the nation of 5 million people that has been courted by China, Russia and the US for its proximity to Afghanistan and resource-rich neighboring nations. "I do not intend to relinquish power. I see no point," he said, adding that his re-election nine months ago proved he still had popular support.

Since coming to power in 2005 amid street protests known as the "Tulip Revolution", in reality more of a coup d'état than a revolution, Bakiyev had ensured a measure of stability, but the opposition said he did so at the expense of democratic standards while enriching himself and his family. He gave his relatives, including his son, top government and economic posts and faced the same accusations of corruption and cronyism that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Askar Akayev. Even though his security forces fired into crowds of demonstrators a day earlier, killing dozens and wounding hundreds, Bakiyev seemed to rule out further violence. "You think the president elected by the people will take up arms against the people? What nonsense," he said. Asked why he fled Bishkek, he said: "I wouldn't have left, but when they started firing on my windows, it was only by chance that I avoided injury."

Roza Otunbayeva, the former foreign minister and also with a career as a Communist Party official in Kyrgyzstan in SSSR, said the president was in the southern region of Jalal-Abad, the heart of his political stronghold. This raised concerns that Bakiyev could try to secure his own survival by exploiting the country's traditional split between the more urban north and the rural south. People in southern Kyrgyzstan said that the situation there was tense and unstable, and the region had both armed men who appeared to be still supporting Bakiyev along with opposition supporters. The new interim defense minister as mentioned said the armed forces had joined the opposition and will not be used against protesters. "Special forces and the military were used against civilians in Bishkek ... and other places," Ismail Isakov said. "This will not happen in the future."

It's hard to predict what is going to happen because Bakiyev hasn't stepped down. The situation is still tense. Kyrgyzstan, which shares a 533-mile (858-kilometer) border with China, is also a gateway to other energy-rich Central Asian countries where China, Russia and the USA are competing fiercely for dominance. It is a predominantly Muslim country, but it has remained secular. In Bishkek, most of the government buildings in the capital, as well as Bakiyev's houses, have been looted or set on fire and two major markets were burned down. A paper portrait of Bakiyev at government headquarters was smeared with red paint. Obscenities about him were spray-painted on buildings nearby. It is clear that if Roza Otunbayeva and her associates take over and rule the country, it is a coup d'état, and not a revolution, i.e. by the people, as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income! The anarchists repeat: "We urgently appeal for dialogue and calm to avoid further bloodshed!"

09.04.2010. Kyrgyz mourn revolt victims - new unrest overnight. Anarchist resolutions. Thousands of grieving and defiant citizens of Kyrgyzstan are gathering in the capital's main square to mourn victims of this week's protests that left at least 75 people dead and forced the president to flee. New unrest broke out overnight in Bishkek with gunfire throughout the capital city, apparently from clashes between looters and security forces backed by vigilantes. A mourning ceremony for clash victims was planned for later Friday in Ala-Too Square near the government headquarters and security was likely to be heavy amid the intense emotions there.

On Thursday, details emerged of the composition of the interim government, which has been drawn from a broad spectrum of opposition leaders, whose differences in the past have undermined attempts to weaken Bakiyev. One area of consensus was on the decision to repeal sharp increases in heating and electricity bills that provoked widespread anger and helped precipitate this week's violence. Azimbek Beknazarov, a populist taking over a broad justice portfolio, vowed that the incoming authorities would hunt down those responsible for deaths in deadly clashes Wednesday between security forces and protesters. "We are looking for those people that gave the order to open fire on demonstrators," he said. "We must find these criminals, we will not allow anybody to open fire on their own people."

Opposition leaders are moving to solidify their control of the country, but President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has still refused to relinquish power. He has as mentioned fled Bishkek for the south, where he has strong clan support. Roving bands of armed marauders trawled the streets of the capital overnight, despite warnings from the opposition leadership that looters would be shot. Newly appointed security officials warned they would use every means to restore calm. The Anarchist International demands that Libertarian Human Rights are respected. The anarchists as always support the people seen as a class, in contrast to the superiors in rank and/or income, and not the ochlarchs and the rivaling oligarchs, in Kyrgyzstan, and repeat: "We urgently appeal for dialogue and calm to avoid further bloodshed!"

USA's and Russia's bases in Kyrgyzstan. The US military says normal flights had resumed Friday afternoon at its Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan after being halted during the country's violent political unrest. By the evening however military passenger transport flights were temporarily diverted. Manas is a key support center for the international military campaign against the Taleban in Afghanistan, a transit point for troops and refueling spot for warplanes. Some 1,100 troops are stationed there, including contingents from Spain and France, in support of NATO operations in Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan also hosts a Russian military base and is the only nation where both Cold War foes have bases. Opposition figures in the past have said they wanted the US base, at the international airport serving the capital, to close. But the new top ruler Roza Otunbayeva said the base agreement will be continued at least for the near future. "We have no intentions whatsoever to deal with the American base now. Our priority is the lives of the people who suffered. A top priority is to normalize the situation, to secure peace and stability," she said. The deputy head of the interim government, Almazbek Atambayev, was flying to Moscow on Friday to talk with Russian government officials.

Grieving. Interim government officials in Kyrgyzstan declared Friday and Saturday days of mourning as relatives began burying victims from the deadly clashes. Thousands of grieving, angry mourners flooded Bishkek's main square Friday to honor victims of Kyrgyzstan's protests - with many blaming the country's absent president for ordering troops to fire on those attacking his government. They gathered on the sprawling Ala-Too Square, where protesters were shot dead at an opposition rally as some stormed the main government building in this Central Asian nation. Covering their eyes and folding their hands in prayer, families and friends sobbed for the lives that were lost. The anarchists demand an independent investigation about the killings. The Anarchist International expresses its deepest condolences to all those affected by killings.

New interim ruler will not negotiate with Bakiyev. The health ministry of the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation said Friday that 76 people had died in the violence and more than 1,400 injured. That figure included 67 people injured overnight Thursday and early Friday in clashes between looters and security forces backed by vigilantes. Roza Otunbayeva, the former foreign minister who once backed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and now is the top ruler of the interim government, visited a Bishkek hospital on Friday and said she and her comrades would not negotiate with Bakiyev, who has fled to the country's south where he has substantial clan support. Bakiyev has still not admitted defeat, and has said "What has taken place is a veritable orgy carried out by armed groups and I do not believe this is a defeat for me." He spoke from southern Jalal-Abad region, where Bakiyev's popularity is said to remain high. The anarchists declare: "We urgently appeal for dialogue, negotiations and calm to avoid further bloodshed!"

Friday evening the situation in Kyrgyzstan is slowly getting back to normal. The self-declared interim government under Roza Otunbayeva is now in control in the north of the country. She said Mr Bakiyev had the opportunity "to leave the country". "We will guarantee his security, only his personal security, if he resigns," Ms Otunbayeva said.

Kyrgyz president 'fears for life'. Mr Bakiyev told the BBC that armed opposition supporters had targeted his office during Wednesday's uprising. Speaking from a secret location in the southern city of Jalalabad, he insisted he was still the legitimate president. The BBC's Richard Galpin says that in order to avoid being followed he was taken in several different vehicles by the ousted president's security guards to Mr Bakiyev's modest new home in Jalalabad. The small city is in southern Kyrgyzstan, Mr Bakiyev's power base. Mr Bakiyev said he feared those responsible for the uprising in the capital on Wednesday were trying to track him down. He said his office in Bishkek had been riddled with bullets on Wednesday in an attempt to kill him and that although he regarded himself as the legitimately elected president, with widespread support, he could not go back.

Still a tense situation. "If I were to turn up in Bishkek today I would not be safe. I would be killed, or they would throw me into the crowd saying, 'this is the man who ordered the police to open fire; he is responsible for the bloodshed'," he said, fearing a lynch-mob. Mr Bakiyev said he would stay in the country to prevent civil war that could erupt because of the deep divide between the north and the south of the country. He also poured scorn on the interim government, saying it was unable to restore law and order. He added that he and his ministers were continuing to work in order to stabilize the country. Mr Bakiyev has offered to talk to the opposition but Ms Otunbayeva says she has no plans to do so and says Mr Bakiyev must resign. She has accused Mr Bakiyev's supporters of continuing to orchestrate "incidents of violence" around the capital. She said "several bombs" had been planted in Bishkek.

The interim government's state coffers are almost empty. The chief of staff of the interim Kyrgyz government accused the president Friday of stealing the country's money when he left. "The state coffers are almost empty," Edil Baisalov told CNN. "Some funds have been transferred somewhere, which is why we've frozen the banking system, because we are anxious that the banks controlled by the former President Bakiev might take the funds out of the country." Baisalov said all that's left in the country's bank accounts is the equivalent of 16 million euros ($21.5 million). At the same time, criminal charges were brought against the two sons of President Bakiev, as well as his brother, who used to be the chief of security, acting Prosecutor-General Baytemir Ibrayev said. It is believed the president's brother gave orders to open fire on the demonstrators, he said.

More anarchist resolutions. The Anarchist International calls for: 1. Libertarian Human Rights , including law and order in general; 2. Dialogue, negotiations and calm to avoid further bloodshed; 3. A movement of the system towards Real Democracy , i.e. in libertarian direction, the basic interest of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income.

10.04.2010. Tense calm. Security forces, army and police, are in full control in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek for the first time since this week's uprising. On previous nights, vigilante groups backed by the self-proclaimed new government were on patrol. But, as voluntary youth brigades prepared to take to the streets once again to battle looters, news arrived that their services were no longer needed. Violent armed clashes have killed at least 79 people in Kyrgyzstan, where a third of the population live below the poverty line. More than 1,600 were injured. The death toll from the riots is increasing, because some persons in critical condition die.

With the Central Asian country's future uncertain, the US military has suspended troop flights out of its Manas air base there. Forces will instead be transported to and from Afghanistan via Kuwait. Russia, which also has a military base in Kyrgyzstan, will be watching events closely. Under interim ruler Roza Otunbayeva, the former Soviet republic, at least the part she controls, has moved closer to Moscow. She has as mentioned offered President Kurmanbek Bakiyev safe passage from Kyrgyzstan. Having fled to the south, he says he fears he will be killed if he returns to the capital. Reports say he is to be stripped of his immunity from prosecution. As a struggle for power and influence unfolds inside and outside the battered country's borders, for now a tense calm has descended on Kyrgyzstan.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke with Kyrgyzstan's interim ruler to convey support from USA. The State Department says Clinton telephoned Roza Otunbayeva on Saturday to offer humanitarian aid and to discuss the need for stability in the region. Clinton also discussed the important role of the US air base in Kyrgyzstan, and Otunbayeva reaffirmed the country would abide by previous agreements to help the US seek stability in nearby Afghanistan. Clinton will send Assistant Secretary Robert Blake to Kyrgyzstan to follow up on the discussion. That US air base is a key element in the international military campaign against the Taleban in Afghanistan.

Stalmate. In the stronghold of Kyrgyzstan's elected president, residents clustered on the streets Saturday, holding intense discussions on whether to follow the figures who claim to be the new government, the self-proclaimed rulers - or not. Some said Kurmanbek Bakiyev did a lot of good for the country and dismissed the complaints of the opposition members who drove him out. Many however appeared weary of the country's turmoil and were willing to support anyone who can bring them a measure of stability and comfort. The violence was the culmination of weeks of discontent over rising prices and allegations of corruption in Kyrgyzstan.

Bakiyev as mentioned fled the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday after a protest rally against corruption, rising utility bills and deteriorating human rights exploded into gunfire and chaos. Speaking from a secret location in the southern city of Jalalabad, he told the BBC that armed opposition supporters had targeted his office during Wednesday's uprising, and were still trying to track him down. It is so far unclear who shot first, security forces or armed protesters. Perhaps armed protesters shot at Bakiyev and his government first, but it is clear that his security forces shot and killed many protesters. The question of legitimate self defense or not is not answered. The anarchists have called for an independent investigation about the killings. Bakiyev was believed to be in his home in the Jalal-Abad region on Saturday. He has so far made no public sign of capitulation. That stalemate leaves Kyrgyzstan's near-term stability in doubt.

"He built the economy. He built schools, roads and kindergartens. The protesters were just a minority," said Aizat Zupukharova, a health worker in Jalal-Abad to Associated Press. But, she added, "People are afraid to come out." "Bakiyev did some good things, but his family led him astray," said another resident, Sapar Usmonov, referring to widespread allegations that Bakiyev's relatives profited hugely and improperly from his nearly five years in office. Those claims echo those made against Bakiyev's predecessor, Askar Akayev, who was driven out of office in protests in 2005.

Kyrgyzstan's society is strongly clannish, but there are perhaps few overt signs that Bakiyev's fellow southerners would coalesce into support for him against the self-declared opposition interim government even though they think well of him. Jalal-Abad is on the southern side of the soaring mountain massifs that divide Kyrgyzstan into often-rival sections. Usmonov expressed fatigue with such jockeying for power. "It doesn't matter where the president comes from - he just has to be a fitting man," he said.

Across the mountains in the capital, lots of people gathered in one of Kyrgyzstan's most prestigious cemeteries for the burial of some of those who died Wednesday. The self-proclaimed new rulers made the most of the sad event. Interments tacitly conferred national hero status on the dead. "For the sake of the future, for the power of the people, young people gave their lives," Roza Otunbayeva, the top ruler of the self-declared interim government, said at the Ata-Beit cemetery. "The people who came into power five years ago on the wave of revolution turned out to be criminals."

"We won't let Bakiyev come back; the people won't let him back into Bishkek," vowed mourner Mehlis Usubakanov. The memorial site was the scene of a massacre by Soviet forces in the 1930s of Kyrgyz noblemen. According to BBC, in the early hours of Saturday morning, hundreds of cars drove to a memorial site some 20km (12 miles) outside Bishkek for the funerals of 15 of those who died during last week's violence. Thousands of mourners watched as 15 coffins draped in the national flag were carried through the burial ground. Solemn music played as families and friends laid name plates and pictures of the victims. The funerals marked the second day of mourning in the country, where calm appears to have largely returned. Other victims were being buried at private family funerals.

Neither Roza Otunbayeva nor Kurmanbek Bakiyev, but grassroots organizations. The anarchists declare that "power of the people", when "power" and "people" are properly defined, is logically an oxymoron, similar to the "dictatorship of the proletariate", and persons, as Roza Otunbayeva and her comrades, using the phrase, practically certain mean their own power, i.e. over the people. Properly defined 1. economical and/or political/administrative power means domination, ruling - say, measured by the authoritarian degree, and 2. the people are the societal class of persons seen in contrast to the superiors in rank and/or income. It is clear that the people never can have the power, i.e. over others - domination, measured by the authoritarian degree. Maximally the people can reduce the power wholly, so the societal power, the power of the superiors, if any, is zero, the authoritarian degree is zero - no domination. The people can logically not have any power, they may only reduce the societal power of the upper classes more or less. Power is only for the superiors in rank and/or income, it may be from 0 % to 100% authoritarian degree, dependent on the situation.

Thus persons talking about "power of the people" are manipulating and are liers, as Roza Otunbayeva and her comrades. She is probably only supported by a minority of the people, and Bakiyev is also probably only supported by a minority of the people. The anarchists are warning about more chaos, i.e. violent ochlarchy with rivaling oligarchy in Kyrgyzstan. The Anarchist International calls on the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank/and or income, to make strong grassroots-organizations, based on workers, farmers and students, and protest without ochlarchy against both the rivaling gangs of oligarchs, with Roza Otunbayeva vs Kurmanbek Bakiyev as top rulers. The grassroots organizations should work for: 1. Libertarian Human Rights , including law and order in general; 2. Dialogue, negotiations and calm to avoid further bloodshed; 3. A movement of the system towards Real Democracy , i.e. in libertarian direction, the basic interest of the people. Neither Roza Otunbayeva nor Kurmanbek Bakiyev deserve the support and backing of the people!

11.04.2010. News after the riots, coup d'état and second day of mourning. The AI reminds about the libertarian resolution, "Neither Roza Otunbayeva nor Kurmanbek Bakiyev, but grassroots organizations", of 10.04.2010!

Death toll of protest actions reaches 81 in Kyrgyzstan. The death toll of protest actions of April 7-8 reached 81, the Public Health Ministry, PHM, said. Two people died of injuries last night in the hospital. 1,651 persons were affected in the protest actions according to PHM. US Chargé d'affaires meets with OSCE special envoy to discuss coordination of activities to restore stability in Kyrgyzstan, the US ambassador said support of economic and democratic development of Kyrgyzstan will be continued, and the US Embassy said it does not provide shelter, asylum seekers should apply to UNHCR. The self-declared interim government's vice chairman Tekebaev meets with OSCE officials. The OSCE has called on the interim authorities to hold talks with president Kurmanbek Bakiyev who fled the capital, Bishkek, on April 7 after the bloody uprising, Interfax reports. Kyrgyzstan's provisional government however expresses it may begin the process of bringing criminal charges against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev soon..

The UN will help the interim government in establishment of law and order in Kyrgyzstan. Its economy in ruins after the riots and coup d'état last week, Kyrgyzstan's self-proclaimed interim government on Sunday awaited news of financial aid from Moscow, following talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The deputy head of the interim government, Almazbek Atambayev a.k.a. Atambaev, will tell about the results of his meeting with Vladimir Putin tomorrow. Governor election held in Jalal-Abad. Prosecutor's Office seizes AsiaUniversalBank assets, property. The administration of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan has vowed that all budget funds remain in the country, Interfax reports. Public utilities tariffs will be revised in nearest time, claims Bishkek acting mayor. The Anarchist International reminds about the libertarian resolution, "Neither Roza Otunbayeva nor Kurmanbek Bakiyev, but grassroots organizations", of 10.04.2010!

Defiant Kyrgyz president vows to fight on. Bakiyev calls for an independent investigation and UN peacekeeping forces to prevent "continuing chaos". Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev told Reuters on Sunday he would not resign and that any attempt to kill him would "drown Kyrgyzstan in blood." He spoke to Reuters on condition his exact location be kept secret. The top ruler of the new interim government, meanwhile, said Bakiyev could be put on trial for responsibility for the killings of at least 81 people during the rebellion against him. The April 7 riots in the Central Asian nation forced Bakiyev to flee to his southern home region, locking him in a standoff with the self-proclaimed government in Bishkek. Speaking in a traditional "yurt" tent in Jalalabad region, Bakiyev, 60, told Reuters he did not recognize the legitimacy of the interim government but was prepared for talks. "I would like to warn those who are now hunting for me: don't be contract killers, because this will only bring huge tragedy to the country," he said. "We will drown [Kyrgyzstan] in blood if they opt for physical elimination. If they use force, then those people surrounding me will not let it happen, and this will mean bloodshed."

A mountainous Muslim nation bordering China, Kyrgyzstan's $4.7 billion economy has attracted little foreign investment since winning independence from the Soviet Union, but the United States and Russia are jostling for influence in Central Asia. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as mentioned spoke by phone on Saturday with the interim government's top ruler Roza Otunbayeva, in the first high-level US contact with the new rulers. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was the first world leader to recognize Otunbayeva's authority, holding a phone conversation just hours after the opposition took power. Once a key Bakiyev ally who helped propel him to power in the earlier coup d'état in 2005, Otunbayeva told Reuters in an interview she would not use force against Bakiyev but spoke of arresting him to put him on trial for the deaths. "Bakiyev has to understand that he is stuck in a deadlock," Otunbayeva said on Sunday. "When he is arrested then ... it will be possible to carry out an investigation and question him within the framework of law." She added: "What he did calls for a serious trial." Otunbayeva has also accused Bakiyev's supporters of stoking violence in the aftermath of the uprising.

Violence - self defense? The self-proclaimed government has said Russia is its key ally and some leading ministers have said the US lease on its base could be shortened, raising speculation that Moscow could try to use the base as a lever in relations with Washington. Pentagon officials say the Manas air base is key to the war against the Taleban, allowing round-the-clock flights in and out of Afghanistan. Some 50,000 troops passed through it last month. As mentioned, in the call with Clinton, Otunbayeva pledged to honor agreements on the Manas base.

During the night of April 7-8, troops loyal to Bakiyev shot into crowds of thousands of protesters besieging the Kyrgyz presidential White House, killing dozens. Many protesters, armed with weapons seized from Bakiyev's security forces, fought back, and witnesses said some people may have been killed in the ensuing crossfire. Bakiyev said he had not ordered the shootings of protesters and that his troops had retaliated immediately after a sniper shot at him in his office in the presidential White House. "I only stayed alive by lucky accident. I stood up from my usual place and went to a separate room to stretch my legs when two shots were fired. The sniper specifically targeted me. "He shot at my windows and I was only saved because the blinds were shut. If there had been no blinds on the windows and visibility had been better, then I would be no more," he said. "When there is an armed attack on a facility under the protection of the state guard, the state guard is not waiting for any orders. They just take to arms and shoot."

"I have not fled [the country] because, first of all, I do not feel any guilt," he said. He added, however, that he felt regret as president for being unable to prevent the deaths. "I invite an independent, international commission to investigate these tragic events of April 7-8, because there cannot be any trust in all these investigative bodies that have launched criminal proceedings against me," Bakiyev told Reuters, suggesting the independent commission could perhaps be chaired by the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. "If this international commission were to find the president guilty, I am prepared to bear full responsibility before my nation," he said. Bakiyev accused the new leadership of trying to discredit him, but said they were both "duty-bound" to negotiate. "They have smeared me with dirt from head to toe," he said. "I am ready to lead negotiations with Otunbayeva about what they are ready to propose, about what they want to do next, because this just cannot continue like this any more."

Bakiyev said UN peacekeeping forces were necessary to prevent "continuing chaos" in Kyrgyzstan. "Criminal structures [mafia] have jumped out of the shadows. They are starting openly to roam around with weapons in their hands and the redistribution of property is again taking place, as well as the seizure of private businesses," he said. "The provisional government is unable to put an end to all of this." Bakiyev said he was convinced outside forces orchestrated the uprising. He declined to identify who he thought was behind it, saying he enjoyed good relations with China, the United States and Russia. "I can tell you with all certainty that an external force was involved in this," he said. "A very experienced hand and a well-organized structure that can do things like this acted." Outside Bakiyev's yurt, young men in civilian clothes patrolled with pistols and Kalashnikov rifles. Asked whether he would resign, he answered firmly: "No."

But Otunbayeva warned that her government could not vouch for Bakiyev's security against those seeking revenge. "To be honest we can hardly restrain those who are ready to rush there [to Bakiyev's stronghold] with rifles," she said. "Everyone among those killed has relatives and friends. There are people who want revenge. It's a very sensitive situation. You must understand that we won't be able guarantee his security ourselves."

12.04.2010. More than 2000 supporters rallied behind Bakiyev. New rally tomorrow! The Anarchist International and the Anarchist International Embassy recognize neither Bakiyev's nor Otunbayeva's governments.

More than 2000 supporters rallied behind Bakiyev. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev emerged from five days of hiding on Monday to address a crowd of followers in his southern stronghold, and warned of bloodshed if the new government tried to arrest him. It was Bakiyev's first public appearance since he fled the capital on April 7 as opposition protesters seized control in the face of security forces who fired into the crowds, killing dozens. Bakiyev struck a defiant tone as he spoke to least 2,000 supporters at a rally in his home village of Teyyit, saying his opponents in the capital were out for blood and calling on followers to join rallies across the south. "I am the president and no one can depose me," Bakiyev told the rally in a 25-minute speech that was interrupted by chants of "Bakiyev, Bakiyev, Bakiyev" and loud applause.

"I appeal to all of you who gathered here, to those who travelled from the regions, please convey all of my words to locals and please tell them I am here in Kyrgyzstan, that I have not fled anywhere," Bakiyev said. During the turmoil, which has opened up the spectre of conflict in an impoverished Central Asian country where the United States operates an air base, Bakiyev fled to his stronghold in the southern region of Jalalabad. When asked by reporters about a special operation that the interim government said it planned against him, Bakiyev warned that it would end in bloodshed. "Let them try to seize me. Let them try to kill me," he said outside his family tent, or yurt. "I believe this will lead to such a great deal of bloodshed, which no one will be able to justify."

New rally tomorrow! "Tomorrow we plan to hold a rally in the central square of Jalalabad where I will be meeting my people," he told supporters to rapturous applause. Bakiyev, who was guarded by about a dozen armed men, spoke in Kyrgyz on a podium under a green tarpaulin and was watched by locals including bearded village elders. He said rallies would be held across the southerly regions of Osh, Jalalabad and Batken. Traditional plov -- spiced rice with meat -- was handed out to supporters. "My main goal is to stay with my nation. If you support me, I will continue working," he said. "I turn to those leaders who have not yet been replaced. Hold on. You are the legitimate authorities."

Supporters said people from the south would rally. "Kyrgyzstan's south is entirely for Bakiyev. He worked well and honestly and he will improve Kyrgyzstan," said Meder, an 18-year-old finance student in Teyyit. Bakiyev has denied ordering riot police and troops to shoot into crowds of opposition protesters and says he was nearly killed several times on April 7 by a sniper and by protesters who attacked his car as he fled the government compound. "The opposition is out for blood because their rallies and pickets have failed to topple me. I was saved by my armour-plated car. Otherwise I could have been killed," he said. He said that he had been forced to disband some of his guards because of threats against their families, but that he was still surrounded by a core of loyalists. "I do not intend to step down merely at the whim of this gang of bandits," he said. "I am still surrounded by armed people, but when these tragic events are over, they will turn in their weapons."

Force against Bakiyev? The self-proclaimed interim government raised the specter of using force against Bakiyev but also hinted at a way out of the deadlock by offering him a way to leave the country. "We are preparing a special operation [against Bakiyev]," Almaz Atambayev, the first deputy leader of the interim government, told reporters in Bishkek. We hope we can carry it out without the deaths of civilians." Later, Roza Otunbayeva, the top ruler of the interim government, said Bakiyev must leave the country, a move that would help cool the turmoil and pave the way for the formal recognition of her government by global powers. "Everyone is calling on him to leave the Kyrgyz people alone, for Bakiyev to find himself a place outside Kyrgyzstan," she said. "Bakiyev has certainly raised the question - 'what will I get in exchange?'... We are working on the question right now to a certain extent." Atambayev accused Mr Bakiyev of "hiding behind a human shield" in his home region in the south of the country, BBC reported.

Specter of conflicts. The interim government has said Russia is its key ally and some leading ministers have said the US lease on its air base could be shortened. The transit of troops to and from Afghanistan through the air base, halted earlier due to the political upheaval, has resumed, said the US embassy in a statement. It added it had no plans to shelter Bakiyev or help him leave Kyrgyzstan. The United States is sending a senior diplomat to Bishkek on Wednesday and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as mentioend spoke to interim leader Otunbayeva on Saturday. But Washington, which previously supported Bakiyev, has been slow to court the new self-declared government.

Both sides,  Bakiyev  and Otunbayeva, have said they want to avoid civil war in a country traditionally divided between north and south along clan lines. The south, densely populated and agrarian, is also ridden by centuries-old ethnic tensions between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Major powers have called for calm in the Muslim nation of 5.3 million. One of the poorest ex-Soviet countries, it has also seen a rise in radical Islamism in past years. From Teyyit outside the southern city of Jalalabad, Bakiyev said that he had spoken to an envoy from the United Nations to ask for peacekeepers to be sent to Kyrgyzstan to prevent an escalation of the situation.

Bakiyev, who in 2005 became the first Kyrgyz leader from the south of the country since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, has refused to resign, though Russia has recognized the interim government's authority. He said he had not spoken to world leaders because they did not know his exact whereabouts and thus were unable to contact him. He said he was still open to speak to those who ran the country, though he branded them "bandits." "I am the president and no one can depose me," Bakiyev told supporters on Monday in a 25-minute speech which was interrupted by chants of "Bakiyev, Bakiyev, Bakiyev" and loud applause.

Bakiyev, who was guarded by about a dozen armed men, spoke on a podium under a green tarpaulin and was watched by locals including bearded village elders. Bakiyev has denied giving the order to riot police and troops to shoot repeatedly into the crowds of opposition protesters who gathered to demand his resignation. The indiscriminate shooting and the uprising in Bishkek could shift the balance of great power rivalries in Central Asia, which holds vast reserves of gas and lies between China, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea. Kyrgyzstan's interim government said that Russia had pledged to provide financial aid to the new leadership. "We reached agreement on a solid grant," said Atambayev, who visited Moscow at the end of last week. He said that more than $150 million in aid had been requested. "Kyrgyzstan, for Russia, is a brother country."

US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake is to travel to Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday for talks including the base status. Atambayev, echoing previous statements by interim government leader Roza Otunbayeva, said the base's status will be discussed with the United States and "we shall decide everything in a civilized way." Many Kyrgyz oppose the base and Atambayev expressed deep ambivalence. "This base is our common cause to provide stability in Afghanistan," he said. But then he launched into criticism of the United States for allegedly cutting deals with Bakiyev's family for contracts at the base. Alleged corruption by members of the Bakiyev family, including enriching themselves through fuel contracts for the base, was one of the top issues that brought out protesters last week. "While trying to preserve the base, you lost the respect of the people," Atambayev said of the United States.

The Anarchist International and the Anarchist International Embassy recognize neither Bakiyev's nor Otunbayeva's governments, and reminds about the libertarian resolution "Neither Roza Otunbayeva nor Kurmanbek Bakiyev, but grassroots organizations", of 10.04.2010!

Initiated criminal proceedings. Kyrgyzstan's self-declared interim government has as indicated above initiated criminal proceedings against the presidents's brother Zhanybek Bakiyev and his two sons, Marat, and Maxim, on charges of illegal use of firearms and the killing of two or more people. Zhanybek Bakiyev denied the charges saying his subordinates fired only at armed rioters who stormed the government buildings and attacked law enforcement officers. "I ordered my men to open fire only on those who carried weapons. My conscience is clear. I radioed orders to shoot those who were running with weapons because they were shooting at us," he said. "Shots were fired at the president's office and we were protecting him... If a person steps over the line, he becomes a target; everyone knows this very well," Bakiyev said, adding that he was willing to face a fair investigation by an independent international commission. The International Anarchist Tribunal doubts these criminal proceedings will be fair.

13.04.2010. Rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy: Bakiyev said the Otunbayeva-government is "bandits", Otumbayeva said the Bakiyev-government is "criminals". Both are right. The Otunbayeva-government tells Bakiyev: surrender...

Kyrgyzstan's self-declared new rulers on Tuesday gave President Kurmanbek Bakiyev until the end of the day to surrender, threatening otherwise to launch a special operation against his stronghold in the south. Bakiyev as mentioned fled to the Jalalabad region of the mountainous Central Asian state from the capital Bishek after violent clashes with protesters on April 7. Bakiyev, who swept to power five years ago in the so called "Tulip Revolution", in reality a coup d'état and not a revolution, that ousted the country's first post-Soviet ruler Askar Akayev, warned the self-proclaimed interim government that any attempt to detain him would result in bloodshed.

"We have abolished his presidential immunity... We expect him to show up voluntarily [to resign formally]. But he continues rallying with his supporters in Jalalabad," said Azimbek Beknazarov, the interim minister in charge of security. At least 82 people died and hundreds more were wounded after the firing on April 7. Bakiyev has been mustering supporters in the south and has brushed aside demands from the interim government to resign or leave the country and led a rally in the city of Jalalabad on Tuesday. Around 3,000 supporters gathered, waving banners and shouting "Down with the bloody interim government." There were no signs of heavy security, with Bakiyev guarded only by a handful of security personnel dressed in dark sportswear and armed with AK-47 rifles. The new security minister said he should surrender. "We have opened a criminal case against the former president. If he does not show up today after the rally we will hold an operation to detain him," Beknazarov said.

The drama of the standoff in Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished nation of 5.3 million people, is important to the United States because of the Manas air base which it rents to support the war in Afghanistan. The United States says the interim government has pledged to abide by its agreements on Manas, the last remaining US military base in Central Asia after Uzbekistan evicted the United States from a base in 2005. US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake will visit Bishkek this week to meet with the interim government, the highest level US visit since Bakiyev fled the capital. Blake said there were no plans to meet with Bakiyev and stressed the dispute must be resolved constitutionally.

He added that the United States was not yet formally recognizing the self-proclaimed government. But a US military official said in Washington that Manas would not be used as a hub for sending troops into Afghanistan in the near term, citing the need to free it up for possible humanitarian aid or other logistical purposes. In his first public appearance since he fled the capital during the rebellion, Bakiyev told thousands of supporters on Monday that any attempt to kill him would result in bloodshed. "I believe this will lead to such a great deal of bloodshed which no one will be able to justify," he said. "Let them try to seize me. Let them try to kill me."

Bakiyev has said the Otunbayeva-government is "bandits", Otumbayeva has said the Bakiyev-government is "criminals", recently. Both are right. The anarchists as always support the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income, and a) call for a velvet revolution in libertarian direction, b) based on grassroots-organizations in Kyrgyzstan, c) via mass-demonstrations and/or a referendum about the system. Do away with the rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined)! Remove all the top rulers, criminals and bandits, of the rivaling oligarchy, and replace them with a confederal council, from the grassroots and upwards.

Kyrgyzstan's president will go if security guaranteed. The Kyrgyz president says he will resign if the interim authorities guarantee security for him and his family. The country's security service head says he's ready to make such a promise. The statements Tuesday could point to a resolution of the tensions that have gripped the strategically significant Central Asian country for the past week since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev fled the capital during a bloody uprising. Bakiyev told a news conference Tuesday in the southern village where he took refuge he would step down if security was guaranteed for him and close relatives. The head of the security service of the interim government, Keneshbek Duishebayev, says, "we are ready to guarantee security to him and his family."

Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who fled the capital amid bloody protests last week, made the statement hours after holding a rally with about 3-5,000 supporters that seemed aimed at gauging his ability to resist the self-declared provisional government. Later, at a news conference in his home village of Teyit, he said "I will go into retirement if security is guaranteed for me and my relatives." Although the crowd of supporters that greeted Bakiyev on Tuesday was highly emotional, there have been persistent doubts about how much backing he has and whether he commanded enough loyalty in the security forces to mount serious resistance. In turn, Bakiyev appeared unwilling to push the stalemate into new violence, warning his supporters that "the whole world is watching us."

The bloodshed in Bishkek last week, in which at least 83 people died after a protest in the capital exploded into gunfire and chaos, severely stained Kyrgyzstan's world prestige, which already had declined under Bakiyev as pressure grew against independent news media and opposition activists. Azimbek [a.k.a. Azymbek] Beknazarov also said Tuesday that his government has ordered Bakiyev stripped of the usual presidential immunity. He also said the country's constitutional court has been suspended because of unspecified violations and that the chairman of the Supreme Court had been dismissed. The tensions in the impoverished, strategically important former Soviet Central Asian country worry the United States and Russia, both of which have military bases in Kyrgyzstan.

US: No troops flights for now through Kyrgyzstan. The US military does not know when troop flights vital to the war in Afghanistan will resume through a key Central Asian air base after being suspended last week because of a political revolt in Kyrgyzstan, a US Central Command spokesman said Tuesday . Major John Redfield, a spokesman for the Florida-based command center in charge of US military operations in Afghanistan, said the troop transport flights were temporarily suspended last week at the air base, known as the Transit Center at Manas.

Redfield told Associated Press that flights were suspended last Wednesday when the civilian airport - which the US base shares space with - was shut down by Kyrgyz officials for 12 hours. As indicated above some flights resumed briefly Friday during a "short period when things were back to normal," Redfield said, but then were suspended again the same day. Also, a few hundred troops were flown back to the US Monday after being stuck at Manas by the shutdown, Redfield said. Other than that, flights to and from Afghanistan remain indefinitely suspended. "When they will resume, I don't know yet," said Redfield. "It will continue to be reevaluated constantly." Kyrgyzstan's interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, told Associated Press on Tuesday that her government will extend the lease allowing the US to use Manas after the current one-year deal expires in July. "It will be automatically extended for the next year," she said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to call Otunbayeva after her appointment as the interim leader and offer help, prompting speculation that Moscow was jockeying for greater clout in Kyrgyzstan at the US expense. Otunbayeva said Tuesday that she expects the US to wrap up its campaign in Afghanistan, which would remove the rationale for the US base, but added that "it's not an issue yet." She said that her government would look at the contracts for supplying fuel to the US base, but wouldn't immediately say that they would seek their revision. The opposition has alleged that Bakiyev's entourage has profited from those contracts.

The bandits in the self-declared new government cheating on the criminals of the elected old government? Kyrgyzstan's president Bakiyev said Tuesday he would resign if his safety and that of his family was guaranteed - a guarantee the country's interim leader told Associate Press in an exclusive interview she would give, but only for him, and only if he left the country. This is less than what the new security boss Keneshbek Duishebayev promised earlier Tuesday. In the interview with AP, Otunbayeva said her government is offering security guarantees for deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev if he steps down and leaves the country, but she declined to offer immunity to his family. "We will provide security guarantees which he's entitled to under the constitution," she said, dodging a question about guarantees for the president's family. The opposition figures who formed a self-declared interim government after Bakiyev fled the capital had previously offered him safe passage out of the country, but Bakiyev has shown no intention of leaving Kyrgyzstan and there are doubts about whether any country would accept him.

When asked specifically Tuesday about Bakiyev's brother and son, the security chief in the interim government, Keneshbek Duishebayev, declined comment. Those men are among the Bakiyev relatives most often accused of reaping massive wealth through improper channels; complaints about corruption were a prime issue in the events that drove Bakiyev out of the capital. Otunbayeva indicated that her government's patience with Bakiyev is running out. "His stay in Kyrgyzstan is posing a problem for the nation's future," she told the AP. "It's becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee his security as people are demanding to bring him to justice." Asked where Bakiyev might go, she said she didn't know but then added that Bakiyev would probably like to join his sons, who are currently in Latvia.

No response from the self-declared interim government late at night. Kyrgyzstan's elected President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has as mentioned said he will be willing to step down in return for security guarantees for him and his family. According to BBC the interim government has yet to give a response to his offer. Its leaders held a late-night meeting in Bishkek, the capital, but made no announcement.

14.04.2010. More rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy? Otunbayeva: Kyrgyz president 'must stand trial'. The top ruler of the new self-declared government of Kyrgyzstan has expressed that the elected President Kurmanbek Bakiyev should stand trial over the recent deadly political unrest. Roza Otunbayeva said Mr Bakiyev had "blood on his hands" and had missed his chance to leave the country. Mr Bakiyev, currently in the south of the country, as mentioned had said he was willing to resign if his safety was guaranteed. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned Kyrgyzstan is "on the brink of civil war".

Ms Otunbayeva was speaking after talks in the capital, Bishkek, with US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake. "Bakiyev has exceeded the limits of his immunity by spilling blood and now he must be brought to trial and answer before the law," she said. Mr Blake is the most senior US official to visit Kyrgyzstan since the fighting on 7 April. He told reporters he felt "optimistic" about the steps the interim government was taking and offered US assistance. On Tuesday as indicated above, Mr Bakiyev said he would consider resigning if the self-declared interim government could put an end to unrest in the country and guarantee the safety of him and his family. But the new administration in Bishkek has yet to give a clear response.

'Second Afghanistan'. Its leaders held a late-night meeting in Bishkek but made no announcement afterwards. Mr Medvedev has warned that Kyrgyzstan is "on the brink of civil war" and in danger of becoming a "second Afghanistan". Speaking to a think tank in Washington, he said: "Some political leaders will have to make a decision about their fate." He did not elaborate, but correspondents say the Kremlin has been quick to offer assistance to Ms Otunbayeva since she became interim leader. Mr Bakiyev is currently in his home town of Jalalabad in the south of the country, where he has been trying to unite support. The BBC's Rayhan Demytrie in Jalalabad says Mr Medvedev's statement is strong but that while the situation in the city is tense, it does not appear war-like. The self-appointed interim government planned a large rally in Jalalabad to demonstrate it has support in the south as well as the capital. But there appear to be many Bakiyev supporters in the crowd of about 1,000, says BBC's correspondent.

Reuters reports: At an anti-Bakiyev rally in Jalalabad's central square on Wednesday that had been advertised on national television, several women grabbed the microphone and shouted pro-Bakiyev slogans, denying the local Uzbek leader the chance to speak. Support for the ethnic Kyrgyz Bakiyev is not necessarily split along ethnic lines, but the incident carried uncomfortable echoes in an area that has been a cauldron of ethnic and tribal tension in the past. About 2,000 ethnic Uzbeks made up the bulk of those protesting against Bakiyev. They did not resist being sidelined by the 1,000 or so Bakiyev supporters, and local Uzbek leader Kadyrzhan Batyrov, who had expected to address the crowds, left the scene quietly.

Uzbeks comprise 14.5 percent of Kyrgyzstan's population, although the proportion is nearer 40 percent in Jalalabad region and at least 50 percent in the neighboring region of Osh. Uzbek leader Batyrov told Reuters on Sunday that local people wanted peace, and that he doubted Bakiyev's supporters could stage a rebellion. Bakiyev himself planned to attend a rally in the city of Osh on Thursday, said his brother and security chief, Dzhanibek Bakiyev. "We have enough forces to defend ourselves and the president," he told Reuters. "I am still officially the head of the presidential guard."

Umar Satkankulov, a 45-year-old handyman of Kyrgyz origin, said he and many others were undecided on whether to support Bakiyev or the interim government, led by Roza Otunbayeva, which has assumed power in the capital, Bishkek. "In Jalalabad everyone is for peace, but we are still thinking about whom we should trust. Everyone appears to be doing everything the wrong way," said Satkankulov. Satybayev, an out-of-work dentist, earning his living doing odd jobs, said the interim government's biggest mistake had been allowing Bakiyev time to settle in Jalalabad region. "They should have arrested him on the very first day, sent 200 protesters from Bishkek, and that would've been all. But he has now been allowed to dig in at his family home," he said.

Human rights activists: Kyrgyz president ready to cede power. Kyrgyzstan's deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is ready for a peaceful handover of power as long as his safety is guaranteed, a group of human rights activists said on Wednesday after meeting him. Aziza Abdirasulova, a rights campaigner who flew to meet Bakiyev in his village in the south as part of a delegation, said he looked exhausted and ready for compromise. "He looked depressed. He had a tragic feel about him. He looked tired," she said by telephone from Jalalabad region. "He understands how tragic the situation is, that he has no right to remain president. He said: 'I will not cling to the presidential seat'. "He expressed readiness to meet [interim top ruler Roza] Otunbayeva and discuss how to bring the situation back into the legal framework, to hand over his power and add legitimacy to the new government."

At least 84 people died in the violence last week when troops opened fire on protesters in the capital Bishkek. Bakiyev fled to the Jalalabad region on April 7 in the ensuing chaos. The provisional government says he must step down and stand trial for the killings. Bakiyev so far has been defiant but there have been signs he may be ready to give in. He has hinted he might leave the country if the government guaranteed his and his family's safety, in remarks made after the new rulers threatened to send forces to arrest him. The human rights delegation, comprised of local representatives, is there to discuss ways to set up an independent commission to investigate the events of April 7. Tolekan Ismailova, another activist who met Bakiyev as part of the delegation, confirmed his loss of defiance. "He understands he is not president any more," she told Reuters from the region. "He is ready to sign documents to legitimize the [new] government. ... He said: 'I need security, and a fair investigation, but not lynching'." The anarchists back grassroots organizations, as rights groups etc.

Associated Press reports: Kyrgyz opposition says it may talk with president. The head of the [self-declared] provisional authorities in Kyrgyzstan said Wednesday that talks could be held with the deposed president, backing off previous rejection of the idea. Although Roza Otunbayeva did not specify what could be discussed, such talks would likely focus on terms for President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's resignation. Bakiyev claims he's still the legitimate ruler, but would be willing to resign in exchange for security guarantees for him and close relatives. Bakiyev, who has taken refuge in his home village far from the capital Bishkek, has repeatedly offered to engage in talks, but the interim government had refused.

Asked about the prospect of talks after meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, Otunbayeva said "We will see. We would have to determine a format for such a meeting." Blake's visit to meet with the interim authorities underlined Washington's strong concern about stability in Kyrgyzstan, where the United States [as mentioned] has an air base that is key to military operations against the Taleban in Afghanistan. There has been little violence in Kyrgyzstan since the uprising and some subsequent clashes between looters and security forces. Both sides appear to be maneuvering for advantage without setting off new bloodshed, but tensions and defiance are rising amid the stalemate.

The acting vice-premier on Tuesday had warned that special forces would mount an operation to arrest Bakiyev if he did not return to the capital. One of Bakiyev's brothers, Akhmat, told The Associated Press in the family stronghold village of Teyit on Wednesday that "we are in full combat readiness ... If they shoot, I'll start shooting." The head of a civil-society group that visited the deposed president on Wednesday warned against any force to seize him. "Bakiyev has armed his guards with military weapons. This means that in a special operation there could be victims from the side of Bakiyev's supporters, the security structures and peaceful citizens," Aziza Abdrasulova told the AP by telephone.

Among the most difficult issues in a possible Bakiyev resignation are whether he would stay in the country. Bakiyev has shown no inclination to leave, and there are no obvious countries for him to go to for asylum. But the [self-declared] interim authorities have ordered him stripped of presidential immunity. "If he is in our hands, we will take him to court," Otunbayeva said. She also said security guarantees for his family members would be "impossible." One of Bakiyev's brothers, Zhanybek, was [and formally still is] head of the state security guard service and is accused by the opposition of ordering his men to open fire on peaceful protesters. "I don't consider myself guilty of what happened. I say as a lawyer that all my actions were lawful," Zhanybek Bakiyev told AP. The anarchists repeat that they back grassroots organizations, as rights groups, civil-society groups, etc. in Kyrgyzstan.

The United States offered help to Kyrgyzstan's new self-declared rulers, and Russia pledged $50 million to replenish empty state coffers of the self-appointed interim government on Wednesday in a show of support that put pressure on President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

Brown Card to Asel Otorbaeva and Kyrgyz news agency "24.kg", that report about mob rule broadly defined - ochlarchy - in Kyrgyzstan, and falsely call it "anarchy":

"Anarchy – mother of disorders. 12/13.04.2010. Six days Kyrgyzstan is fluctuated feverishly. Outskirts acres of Bishkek had been usurped boisterously and joyfully. If yesterday new inhabitants of the most democratic county in the world marked their future acres by cobblestones then now in spite of heavy rain they are settling tents. Helpless policemen standing at roadside stare at beauties of the new life. Situation in the other regions of the country is optimistic as well. Brisk redistribution of portfolios is made in the old and new bodies of local governing and administrations. Funny things are occurring. The press receives within several minutes interval press-realizes on behalf of old and just appointed heads.

Shootouts are continuing in the country. There are killed. But they are not heroes and it is incomprehensible who they are. It is unclear because the new power does not pay attention on that and waves away the mass media. At the same time alarming information about numerous usurpations has come. The interim government denies its belonging to that as it works by the sweat of brow. They are holding press-conferences and assure that everything is under the control, including acre's usurpation, post's redistribution and even budget of Kyrgyzstan. Nevertheless journalists complain on the catastrophic lack of information. The interim government promises to strength work in this direction. Then journalists asked the interim government to substantiate their resolutions because nine of tenths approved usually causes bewilderment.

Journalists ask the interim government to say clearly and loudly to WHOM they can refer to avoid disclaimers. Otherwise someone says about starting negotiations with Kurmanbek Bakiev while others refute that. The third promises to prison the president of the country while fourth guarantees him safety. It is time for the interim government to think and come to the common opinion. Dears! Earnest request to tell the press and the international community as soon as possible WHEN and WHOW you are intending to legitimize your current state. Deflect your attention from important issues of the new country's development and look what is happening under your nose! Otherwise tomorrow (with such paces) you (and we - thanking to you) will have no country you are starting to govern. It is needed to admit you are starting absurdly consequently anarchy – mother of disorders is ruling Kyrgyzstan. 30 minutes ago near hotel "Dostuk" strangers shot the car "Mazda" without any fear and conspiracy. The man was killed. He is lying down till now. Surely this horrible crime is not concern of the interim government. It is working after all."

Chaos, disorder, mob rule (narrowly defined), lawlessness, the law of the jungle, criminality, riots, vandalism, arson, theft, corruption, drugs, mafia, terrorism, autocratic rule, the right to the strongest, antisocial tyrannic behavior, etc. i.e. different types of superiors and subordinates, a top - down approach, and thus not anarchy - a bottom up approach. The Greek rooted word for mob rule is ochlarchy. Ochlarchy is also used as a common word for all the authoritarian evils mentioned above i.e. mob rule broadly defined. Ochlarchy is clearly authoritarian, a top down approach - the opposite of anarchy, a bottom up approach - optimal order included.

To mix up opposites as anarchy and ochlarchy,  as outdated dictionaries and media often do, this time Asel Otorbaeva and Kyrgyz news agency "24.kg", is equally authoritarian as mixing up opposites as peace and war, as Big Brother did in Orwell's "1984" newspeak. It should be stopped, and the IAT-APT in such cases hands out a Brown Card, as free criticism of this authoritarian tendency, this time to Asel Otorbaeva and Kyrgyz news agency "24.kg". The Anarchist International, AI, and the International Anarchist Tribunal included the Anarchist Press Tribunal, IAT-APT, call on the international newsmedia and mandated persons to report fairly and objectively, and not with authoritarian newspeak, about anarchy, anarchism, anarchist and anarchists. More information about the Brown Card and anarchy vs chaos/ochlarchy, see the Oslo Convention and search for anarchy vs chaos at Anarchy-debate - Anarkidebatt . The IAT-APT homepage: Tribunal .

15.04.2010. Kyrgyzstan's elected president, the criminal, flies to Kazakhstan, the self-declared new government, the bandits, now rules mostly alone. Now the system is oligarchy with ochlarchy, not rivaling oligarchy. Anarchist resolution. The deposed president of Kyrgyzstan left the country Thursday for neighboring Kazakhstan, just hours after gunfire erupted at a rally where he was speaking to supporters. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's motorcade pulled up to the airport in southern Jalal-Abad before a plane was seen taking off, witnesses said. Bakiyev flew to the neighboring Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said, calling it an "important step toward stabilization of situation," according to a statement on its Web site.

Earlier Thursday, Bakiyev himself had told the Associated Press he had met with a representative of the interim government controlling the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek and insisted further talks be held on neutral territory, suggesting Kazakhstan. The provisional government has urged him to leave Kyrgyzstan, warning he would be prosecuted if he did not. Gunfire broke out earlier Thursday at a rally in the southern city of Osh, where Bakiyev was trying to marshal support among those in his clan power base. Witnesses said the shots came from his bodyguards who may have been frightened by a group of approaching Bakiyev opponents. Although there were no reports of injuries, the gunfire underlined the tensions that persist in the second week of the crisis in the ex-Soviet Central Asian country.

The Anarchist International, the Anarchist International Embassy and the International Anarchist Tribunal declare: The elected president Bakiev, the criminal, has fled from Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan, the self-declared new government, the bandits, now rules mostly alone. Now the system is oligarchy with ochlarchy, not rivaling oligarchy. The new rulers of this totalitarian, extremist state, the bandits, will probably not move the system significantly in libertarian direction, from the long term structural estimate at ca 29,1 % libertarian degree, i.e. ca 70,9 % authoritarian degree, more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree. The present dip of the libertarian degree, with chaos and bloodshed, seems however mainly to be over. It will probably soon be "business as usual" in Kyrgyzstan, and that will not be much in the interest of the people, seen as a class as opposed to the superiors in rank and/or income... The anarchists will however continue to support the people in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia in general, and world wide! Unite and fight! Among others the international anarchists will keep an eye on Kyrgyzstan, the new self-appointed oligarchy with Roza Otunbayeva as top ruler, is not operating in vacuum...

PS. A member of Kyrgyzstan's self-declared interim government says it has ordered the arrest of the brothers of the ex-president, who has stepped down. Almambek Shykmamotov said Thursday that a special operation is under way in southern Kyrgyzstan to apprehend Kurmanbek Bakiyev's brothers. He says that Bakiyev left the country for neighboring Kazakhstan Thursday after signing a resignation statement. Bakiyev's departure has raised hope that the unrest gripping the impoverished ex-Soviet Central Asian nation will end soon. Bakiyev as mentioned was driven from the capital, Bishkek, on April 7 after a protest boiled over into gunfire; protesters then stormed government buildings. At least 83 people died in the violence. The opposition has accused one of Bakiyev's brothers of ordering to fire on protesters in Bishkek. Another member of Kyrgyzstan's self-appointed interim government confirmed that the nation's deposed president has stepped down. Topchubek Turgunaliyev said that Kurmanbek Bakiyev has signed a formal resignation statement. Bakiyev as mentioned left the country for neighboring Kazakhstan Thursday. Turgunaliyev said that Bakiyev was accompanied by only his wife and two children, while his other relatives located in Kyrgyzstan apparently have stayed behind. He says Bakiyev's former defense minister was arrested while trying to escape.

16.04.2010. Relatives of Kyrgyzstan's ousted president were submitting weapons to officials Friday in their home village, a day after the president himself fled the country. While the moves appeared to reduce the likelihood of resistance by Kurmanbek Bakiyev backers, Kyrgyzstan's interim authorities were still searching for one of his brothers after issuing a warrant for his arrest, and it was unclear if Zhanybek Bakiyev would submit peacefully. President Bakiyev as mentioned flew to neighboring Kazakhstan Thursday under a plan negotiated by the US, Russian and Kazakh presidents, the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It was unclear how long he would remain in Kazakhstan. Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said Friday the country would push for an international investigation of the violence and that "Bakiyev won't evade justice." Bakiyev's departure raised hopes for a quick settlement of the crisis in the former Soviet republic, which hosts a US air base at the capital's airport. The Manas base has resumed full operations, the U.S. Embassy said Thursday. "Refueling operations continue as usual, and the transit of troops has resumed," the embassy said in a statement.

17.04.2010. A Kyrgyz interim leader says US base unjustified. A top official in Kyrgyzstan's interim government told The Associated Press on Saturday that a U.S. air base supporting operations in Afghanistan is "not justified," the first sign of significant divisions over the facility. Azymbek Beknazarov, the acting prosecutor general, is deputy leader of the interim government and is likely retain a position of power when the permanent government is formed, giving him significant sway over the Manas base. Since a bloody uprising that culminated in the toppling of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the interim government's leader has announced the Manas air base can remain open for a year after the lease expires in July. Beknazarov and others in the interim government charge the U.S. with ignoring their oppression when they opposed Bakiyev because it wanted to protect Manas.

"All the Americans care about is that the military base stays," Beknazarov said. "They forgot about freedom, about democratic values. They forgot about Kyrgyzstan - they are only looking at their military base." "In my opinion, the presence of the Manas center is not justified," he said. Beknazarov declined to comment on whether he or anyone in the interim government will attempt to initiate the closure of the base. The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek declined to comment. At Bakiyev's presidential compound near the southern village of Teyit, special forces on Saturday cordoned off the area to allow prosecutors to enter and search for weapons.

Elections. Jan Kubis, the U.N. envoy, who was sent to Kyrgyzstan as a special envoy of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said Friday at U.N. headquarters in New York that the new government lead by Roza Otunbaeva promised to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in the next six months, ITAR-TASS informs.

21.04.2010. Still some rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy. The ousted leader of Kyrgyzstan said Wednesday from exile in Belarus that he is still president of his Central Asian country. Kurmanbek Bakiyev was as mentioned deposed in an April 7 uprising that left 85 people dead in the Kyrgyz capital. He fled last week to neighboring Kazakhstan and arrived in the Belarusian capital earlier this week. In his first comments from exile, Bakiyev was defiant and said he has not resigned. He told reporters Wednesday in Minsk that he is still "the legitimate president of Kyrgyzstan," and described the interim government controlling Bishkek as "a gang of impostors." Interim authorities in Kyrgyzstan claim Bakiyev signed a letter of resignation before leaving the country. The United States and Russia helped broker the agreement for his departure.

"Aware of my responsibility for the future of the people and the preservation of the integrity of the state ... I herewith submit my resignation," the letter shown to journalists by interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said. But on Wednesday Bakiyev retracted any resignation. "I don't recognize my resignation. Only death will stop me," he said. "As the president of Kyrgyzstan and the guarantor of the constitution, I don't give up responsibility." Bakiyev said he was "ready to bear legal responsibility," but it was unclear if he meant he would answer for the violence in Bishkek, as the new authorities are urging. The provisional authorities have said they expect Belarus to protect Bakiyev until extradition proceedings can be initiated. Bakiyev also called on the world community to refrain from recognizing the provisional government, which has announced parliamentary and presidential elections in six months and the drafting of a new constitution.

Bakiyev, wearing a suit and accompanied by a Belarusian presidential security detail, lamented that back home "robberies and violence have become the norm." Bakiyev's supporters at his stronghold in southern Kyrgyzstan also refused to admit defeat, and on Wednesday clashed with hundreds of activists loyal to the interim government. Witnesses told The Associated Press that scuffles broke out on Jalal-Abad's central square. The town, near a village that hosts the presidential compound, is one of the few remaining towns where support for the toppled leader is still visible. The shaky interim coalition is struggling to restore stability, and developments are being watched with concern by Russia and the United States, both of which have military bases in Kyrgyzstan.

22.04.2010. Significant ochlarchy continues. Elections, US base, etc. Kyrgyzstan will decide on the US base after voting. "This question is unlikely to be considered before the elections," Omurbek Tekebayev, a deputy prime minister in charge of constitutional reform, told Reuters in an interview. He said a parliamentary election would be held on October 10. "The provisional government considers that such important questions must be looked at by a legal government, that is to say by the new government which will be formed after the parliamentary elections," he said. The self-appointed interim government also plans to cut the power of the presidency with constitutional changes that will be put to a referendum on June 27, Tekebayev said.

"We want to create a parliamentary republican form of governance and are looking at mechanisms to really support a parliamentary opposition," he said. "The president is the commander-in-chief and the head of state but full executive power including foreign affairs will be with the prime minister and parliament," he said. "The election result will determine who becomes prime minister. We don't know which party will get into parliament or how many seats they will occupy." Both Russia and the United States, which are vying for influence in Kyrgyzstan, have held talks with the self-declared interim government, and both have called for new elections. But diplomats and anarchists say that the new leaders of Kyrgyzstan face an uphill battle to create a functioning democracy in Central Asia, a region dominated by authoritarian leaders.

Kyrgyzstan's new rulers have been struggling to a) do away with the rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy after Bakiyev fled the country last week, and b) establish a functioning central administration. Elections could consolidate their position, but they could also prolong instability as rival clans and ethnic groups vie for influence. Five people died on Monday and Tuesday in attacks on ethnic Russians and Meskhetian Turks by looters trying to exploit the post-revolt turbulence to seize land. Bakiyev's allies last week briefly seized a regional government building in the south of the country, where there is a large minority of ethnic Uzbeks.

Bakiyev -- in exile in Belarus -- says he remains president and has urged world leaders to boycott the new government. Russia rejects his claims to the presidency. "I know only one thing: that Mr. Bakiyev faxed his resignation back to Bishkek, so this document cannot be rejected by a verbal statement," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow. The anarchists demand an end to the ochlarchy. Kyrgyzstan's interim government should immediately initiate impartial investigation into April events, says Human Rights Watch, echoing the anarchists demand of 09.04.2010.

23.04.2010. Kyrgyzstan's ousted president vows not to return. Kyrgyzstan's ousted president said from exile Friday he does not intend to return to his homeland as its leader, but that his resignation was invalid because officials there are reneging on a promise to protect his family. Kurmanbek Bakiyev fled last week to neighboring Kazakhstan and arrived in the Belarusian capital earlier this week, where he is now staying. Bakiyev said his resignation, signed before he left Kyrgyzstan, was not in force because interim officials reneged on a promise to protect his relatives. "I don't intend to return to Kyrgyzstan as president," he told reporters in Minsk, but added that "the other side has not fulfilled its conditions. They guaranteed the safety of my family, but my family is being persecuted, therefore I do not recognize my resignation."

While at his stronghold in the south of Kyrgyzstan, where he went in the heat of the uprising in Bishkek, Bakiyev said he was told by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he would not be blamed for the violence of the revolt but would face justice if he tried to regroup and reclaim power militarily. "There was the threat to me and my relatives and a threat of civil war," Bakiyev said. "So I submitted my resignation and left." Bakiyev said one of his brothers has been kidnapped and that authorities are seeking to prosecute other members of his extended family who have remained in Kyrgyzstan. Some other members of Bakiyev's close circle have fled to Kazakhstan, and authorities have voiced hope that Kazakh authorities would hand them over.

Kyrgyzstan's interim government accuses Bakiyev's brother Zhanybek, the chief of the presidential guards, of issuing the order to fire at protesters in Bishkek. The US and Russia helped broker the agreement for Bakiyev's departure from Kyrgyzstan, which hosts a US military base crucial to operations in Afghanistan. Russia, which also has a base in Kyrgyzstan, is irritated at the American military presence in what it sees as its region of influence. Bakiyev said Moscow fumed when he reversed plans to close the Manas air base last year after Washington offered to almost triple the rent to about $60 million. "I closed it unilaterally," Bakiyev said. "But the Americans offered new terms, and then I agreed to resume" the lease, Bakiyev said. "Although Russia has a similar base, it caused great indignation," he said.

Bakiyev stopped short, however, of accusing Moscow of supporting the revolt. "I can't say that Russian special services had a hand in it. A commission must be formed to investigate," he said. Asked how long he planned to remain in Minsk, Bakiyev said he had no plans to form a government in exile, but suggested he felt comfortable as the guest of the country's authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Earlier this week, Bakiyev told a Russian weekly magazine that he plans to open a toy factory in Minsk. "For kids to be happy, environmentally friendly toys can help develop children's intellect, bring them joy," Russky Reporter quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, Felix Kulov, a former prime minister of Kyrgyzstan and a fierce critic of Bakiyev, said in Moscow that the Kyrgyz people had already rejected Bakiyev. "For our people he is not a president, and he can only have a negative influence on the situation," Kulov told journalists in Moscow. "It's unlikely he'll leave Belarus. Nobody will let him into another country." Kulov, who endorsed Bakiyev for presidency in 2005, but fell out with him after criticizing his policies, said that Bakiyev's only positive role would be to persuade his brothers to give themselves up to the provisional government. Interim officials have set presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan for Oct. 10.

26.04.2010. Kyrgyz self-appointed gov't wants ousted president's extradition. The self-declared interim authorities in Kyrgyzstan have called for deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to be extradited from Belarus to face trial back home for allegedly sanctioning gunfire on a crowd of protesters. Bakiyev as mentioned fled Kyrgyzstan after being overthrown amid violent clashes between government troops and demonstrators on April 7 that left at least 85 people dead. He has as mentioned taken refuge in Belarus. Kyrgyzstan's interim government adviser Dzhoomart Saparbayev told The Associated Press that officials adopted a resolution Monday stripping Bakiyev of his authority and presidential immunity, and promising extradition efforts. The security service said Monday it had arrested the former interior minister on unspecified charges.

27.04.2010. Ousted Kyrgyz president charged with mass killing. The ousted president of Kyrgyzstan has been charged with organizing mass killings in the deadly uprising that forced him from office in this Central Asian country earlier this month, the leader of the self-declared interim authorities said Tuesday. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, will have his presidential immunity stripped to face the Kyrgyz charges, which also include abuse of power, said Azimbek Beknazarov, a vice-premier of the opposition forces that claimed provisional control of the country. Bakiyev as mentioned fled the capital on April 7 after security forces fired on protesters and the demonstrators stormed government buildings. At least 85 people died in the violence.

He tried to rally support in his home region in Kyrgyzstan's south, but eventually fled the country and surfaced last week in Belarus. Beknazarov said Belarus is obliged to extradite Bakiyev under an agreement among former Soviet countries. There was no immediate reaction from Belarus, whose authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has criticized the demonstrations that drove out Bakiyev. Bakiyev insists he is still Kyrgyzstan's legitimate president, but has vowed not to return to the country as its leader. Stability in Kyrgyzstan is a significant concern for the United States and Russia, both of which as mentioned have air bases in the country. The US air base is a key piece of the NATO military campaign against the Taleban in Afghanistan; it provides refueling flights for warplanes over Afghanistan and is a troop transit point.

03.05.2010. Kyrgyzstan's self-appointed gov't offers bounties for fugitive ex-leaders. Kyrgyzstan's self-declared interim government is offering cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of fugitive relatives and colleagues of deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The new authorities are looking to close the net on Bakiyev's circle and said Monday a dozen of his relatives and acquaintances are wanted for unspecified "grave crimes." The suspects include one of Bakiyev's sons and three of his brothers, as well as former Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov. Rewards from $20,000 to $100,000 are offered to those who can help find them - colossal bounties in a country where the average salary is $130 per month. Bakiyev was as mentioned toppled on April 7 during a bloody uprising in which at least 85 people were killed, and his brother Zhanybek is wanted for ordering police to open fire on protestors.

04.05.2010. Belarus leader says will not extradite Bakiyev. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday he would not hand over Kyrgyzstan's ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to face charges over the violent upheaval in the Central Asian nation last month. In an interview with Reuters the same day that Kyrgyzstan's interim government ordered prosecutors to seek Bakiyev's extradition, Lukashenko said such a request would be futile. "Nobody has appealed to me officially (with an extradition request)," Lukashenko said. "But I want to immediately declare officially: These requests will be hopeless and humiliating for the interim government." He added: "The president of Kyrgyzstan is under the protection of the Belarussian state and its president."

Bakiyev as mentioned fled to Belarus following his overthrow in April 7-8 turmoil in which least 85 people were killed. Kyrgyzstan's interim government, made up of Bakiyev's opponents, earlier accused him of mass murder in connection with the violence in which security forces fired on protesters, some of whom were armed. Lukashenko blamed Bakiyev's opponents for the bloodshed, defended the actions of Bakiyev's security forces and sharply criticized Russia and the West, which have engaged the interim government and promised support. Russia and the United States as mentioned both operate military air bases in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia. "Russia and the West create a terrible precedent when they support an illegal government that came to power through bloodshed," Lukashenko said.

Russia's support for the interim government and speculation that Moscow had a hand in Bakiyev's overthrow may have rattled Lukashenko, who has depended on Moscow's economic and political backing during his 16-year rule. Lukashenko said that while some forces in the West and Russia would like to see him out of power, a Kyrgyz-style overthrow of his government is out of the question. "Nobody could do such a thing in Belarus," he said. Lukashenko, who said he had spent the whole day Sunday with Bakiyev in Belarus, suggested he was contributing to stability in Kyrgyzstan by giving Bakiyev refuge. The interim government has "1,000 problems," he said. "The interim government of Kyrgyzstan should bow to the ground and thank me for removing the 1,001st problem," he said, referring to Bakiyev's departure from the Kyrgyz political scene. "The situation there is under very little control as it is."

Kyrgyzstan remains volatile after the bloody revolt deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on April 7, with key regional players -- the United States, Russia and China -- worried by political uncertainty. In Kyrgyzstan, restoring law and order has provided the biggest challenge for its country's new self-declared interim authorities. Say, on 19 April, almost two weeks after the anti-government protests, an angry mob numbering in their thousands overran the village of Mayevka. Five people were killed and several homes were destroyed. Most of the houses belonged to Meskhetian Turks - originally from Georgia they were deported to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin in 1944. The Anarchist International declares: Kyrgyzstan is close to be a 'failed state'. Rivaling oligarchy/polyarchy with ochlarchy continues, although not so severe as in the time of the coup d'état.

13.05.2010. More unrest. Kyrgyzstan's interim government has accused allies of ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev of trying to stage a coup. Several government buildings and an airport have been seized in the south, the former president's political stronghold. Problems started yesterday when around 1,000 people gathered in the capital Bishkek in the first major protest against the interim government since Bakiyev was deposed last month. The Anarchist International declares: Kyrgyzstan is closer to be a 'failed state'...

14.05.2010. Clashes in Kyrgyzstan kill 2, injure more than 60. Gunfire erupted in Kyrgyzstan on Friday as hundreds of interim government backers fought supporters of deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for control over regional government buildings. At least two person was killed and more than 60 injured in the worst violence since last month's forceful government change. The opponents exchanged gunshots, hurled stones and fought with sticks on a square in front of the regional government building in Jalal-Abad, the administrative center of a province in southwestern Kyrgyzstan. Several hundred Bakiyev supporters, some armed with automatic rifles, had holed up in the building overnight after capturing it Thursday evening, but were driven out on Friday by backers of the interim government.

The interim government's backers also ejected a pro-Bakiyev crowd Friday from the regional government offices in Osh, the country's second-largest city about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Jalal-Abad. The two sides threw rock at one another, but no serious injuries were reported there. Both cities are in southern Kyrgyzstan, the power base for Bakiyev. The self-declared interim authorities said the seizures of government buildings were a coup attempt and they had detained two Bakiyev allies -- his former adviser Usen Sydykov and Kyrgyz Communist party head Iskhak Masaliyev -- who had masterminded the unrest. The Anarchist International declares: Kyrgyzstan is closer and closer to be a 'failed state'...

15.05.2010. Kyrgyz governor says new authorities in control. Kyrgyzstan's restive south calmed down Saturday after a failed attempt to take control by supporters of the nation's deposed president. Jalal-Abad regional Gov. Bektur Asanov insisted that supporters of the interim government were firmly in control of the city after two days of riots - the worst violence since last month's forcible government change. Asanov spoke in an interview with the Associated Press as laborers worked to clear up the aftermath of the seizure of the regional government building. He vowed there will be no repetition of the violence that raised doubts about the new authorities' ability to control the south, where support for former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev still runs strong. "I think this attempt to seize power that was made the day before yesterday was the last attempt to destabilize the situation made by destructive forces led by Bakiyev's brothers," Asanov told the AP. "The people showed their force and nobody will be able to do this again in the future."

19.05.2010. Kyrgyzstan declares state of emergency after clash. Several thousand people tried to storm a university in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday in a burst of ethnic violence that left at least 2 people dead and more than 70 wounded, prompting the interim government to call a local state of emergency. Witnesses in the southern town of Jalal-Abad said thousands of ethnic Kyrgyz advanced on the private university that serves as the center of the minority Uzbek community. They said gunfire broke out as crowds approached the building encircled by a cordon of special security forces. Kyrgyzstan has been struggling to maintain stability since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted from power in April amid deadly clashes between government forces and demonstrators that claimed 89 lives.

In an apparent bid to secure its grip on power, the self-appointed interim government named its head, Roza Otunbayeva, as the acting president on Wednesday - a move that requires approval in a constitutional referendum, set for next month. It was not clear who opened fire in Jalal-Abad on Wednesday, but health officials said most of the 71 injured appeared to be from the crowd. At least two people were killed, the Health Ministry said. Otunbayeva responded to the violence by ordering the state of emergency and a curfew in Jalal-Abad and the surrounding area. She dispatched the acting interior minister to the area, where support for Bakiyev still runs strong.

Tensions have long simmered between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek - both Sunni Muslim groups - in the former Soviet nation's restive south. In 1990, hundreds were killed in a violent land dispute between the two communities across southern Kyrgyzstan, which borders Uzbekistan. Witnesses said the crowd assembled Wednesday in front of the university threw stones at the building and shouted demands for the hand-over of Uzbek community leader Kadyrjan Batyrov, whom they accused of inciting racial tension. Batyrov, a wealthy businessman, paid for the construction of the Peoples' Friendship University. Batyrov alleged that the crowd was connected to criminal elements close to the Bakiyev family. He told the Associated Press that the crowd "had weapons and firebombs. When they began to attack, the police fled, and the attackers then ran into the building, smashed windows and tried to set fire to the building."

The interim leader said every possible measure was being taken to defuse the situation. "We have recently demonstrated that we are capable of securing the peace," Otunbayeva said in the capital of Bishkek. She placed acting Interior Minister Baktybek Alymbekov in charge of securing Jalal-Abad, and instructed military and police to provide support. Otunbayeva, who previously held the title of prime minister, will be ineligible to run for the presidency once she completes her term as head of the provisional government at the end of 2011.

Meanwhile, Bakiyev's supporters have accused Batyrov of leading a mob late last week that burned down the deposed president's family home in the nearby village of Teyit. Bakiyev as mentioned fled the country last month for Belarus, but interim authorities say his family is still financing disturbances aimed at unseating the provisional leadership. The torching of the Bakiyev home Friday evening marked the culmination of two days of violence in Jalal-Abad, which broke out when several hundred Bakiyev supporters, some with automatic rifles, holed up in the regional government building after capturing it a day earlier. They were driven out by backers of the self-declared interim government, many of whom were ethnic Uzbeks. This led to local perceptions that the minority community was gaining political influence in the region. The Anarchist International repeats: Kyrgyzstan is closer and closer to be a 'failed state'...

20.05.2010. Kyrgyzstan unrest persists - 2 officials attacked. More than 2,000 supporters of Kyrgyzstan's deposed president have rallied near a southern town wracked by ethnic violence as unrest persists in the Central Asian country. Several residents told the Associated Press the acting defense minister and a regional governor were attacked and briefly held hostage Thursday outside Jalal-Abad. The town was rocked Wednesday by ethnic clashes that left two dead and more than 70 injured, prompting authorities to boost military reinforcements and announce a two-week state of emergency there. The self-appointed interim authorities that came to power after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's ouster last month have earned widespread popular acceptance. But unrest has persisted around Bakiyev's former stronghold in the south.

07.06.2010. Top Kyrgyz interim government official resigns. Kyrgyzstan's fragile self-appointed interim government suffered its first major defection Monday as the acting president's chief of staff announced his resignation and disclosed plans to create a new political party. Edil Baisalov's departure from the government renews concerns about political stability in this volatile Central Asian nation. Baisalov criticized appointments made by the provisional government and complained that corruption remained rampant. "It worries me deeply that people without any education and with criminal records have come to power purely on the basis of party affiliation," he said. Baisalov said his party will take part in the parliamentary election to be held in October. He urged members of government belonging to parties running in the election to step down over the coming week.

The interim government rose to power in early April after Bakiyev was ousted amid violent clashes between demonstrators and troops that claimed dozens of lives. Acting President Roza Otunbayeva is set to lead the country until presidential elections in October 2011. But the stability of her government is likely to be tested in coming months by internal rivalries within the Cabinet. Security also remains a concern amid uncertainty over the authorities' perceived inability to guarantee law and order. Overnight Sunday, a leading criminal linked with recent unrest in the south was killed in a shootout between rival gangs, police said. Local officials in the Jalal-Abad region said Aibek Mirsidikov, a Bakiyev supporter known locally as Black Aibek, helped organize the seizure of local government offices that sparked a wave of violence last month.

The Anarchist International declares: Black flags are often used by anarchists, but black flags are also used by jihad-hierarchists and black clothes are used by fascist, etc. Thus 'black' is not always pointing to anarchists, and the suspected criminal "Black Aibek" has no connection to anarchism or the anarchist movement.

11.06.2010. Kyrgyzstan is closer and closer to be a 'failed state'... Chaos, lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy prevail. 45 killed, more than 600 wounded in Kyrgyz rioting. Mobs of armed men torched Uzbek neighborhoods in Kyrgyzstan on Friday in ethnic clashes that officials said left at least 45 people dead and 637 wounded in a Central Asian nation. The rioting in Osh, the country's second-largest city, is the heaviest violence since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was toppled in a bloody uprising in April and fled the country. The unrest also spread to the capital, where armed mobs clashed with police and volunteer militia, according to witnesses. The intensity of the conflict, which pits ethnic Kyrgyz against minority Uzbeks, appeared to take authorities by surprise and threw the fragile interim government's prospects for survival into doubt.

Quelling the violence will prove a decisive test of the government's ability to control the country, hold a June 27 vote on a new constitution and go ahead with new parliamentary elections scheduled for October. Dozens of buildings across Osh were ablaze Friday after witnesses reported sustained gunfire beginning late Thursday. Gangs of young men armed with metal bars and stones attacked shops and set cars alight. The interim government declared a state of emergency in Osh and some nearby areas and dispatched armored vehicles, troops and helicopters to pacify the situation. Soldiers were posted at routes into the city and at major intersections, but the fighting did not abate. Authorities imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. until June 20.

Bakyt Omorkulov, a member of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, a non-governmental organization, said he was patrolling the streets with other volunteers to try to prevent further clashes. He said the troops' presence didn't help stabilize the situation, and more buildings were set ablaze as night fell. "We don't feel the authorities' presence," he told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The military are driving around, but it has no effect whatsoever." He said the streets were filled with young men brandishing sticks and weapons, adding that Uzbek areas were particularly hard hit by the violence. "Aravan Street is completely destroyed, dozens of cafes and buildings are burning - it's the same picture in Cheryomushki. It's like being in Chechnya," he told the AP.

Ikram Abdumalitov, who lives in Osh, said earlier in the day that he saw about 1,000 young and armed Kyrgyz men marching toward Uzbek neighborhoods in eastern Osh. "The Uzbeks are in turn chopping down trees and blocking the road to their neighborhood," Abdumalitov said. Armed men flooded in from nearby villages to join the fight, a trader in Osh said on condition of anonymity due to the volatile situation. Many of the injured had been stabbed or shot, Health Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Bailinova said, as she gave the death toll. She said many of those wounded were in grave condition. A doctor at a hospital in Osh said the death toll could climb sharply because many Uzbeks were too afraid to seek treatment. "All the beds in this hospital are full, but 90 percent of the people being treated are Kyrgyz, because Uzbeks are afraid of the Kyrgyz victims' relatives, who are in an extremely aggressive frame of mind," the doctor said. He spoke on condition on anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Smaller-scale ethnic violence also broke out late Friday in the capital, Bishkek, where a mob of Kyrgyz men attacked and robbed ethnic Uzbeks at a popular bazaar. As night fell, the crowd swelled and clashes with police erupted. Witnesses said busloads of Interior Ministry troops were driven to the market in an attempt to disperse the mob, but they left the scene after a tense and violent standoff. In another part of the city, witnesses saw an armed mob exchanging gunfire with volunteer militia who tried to maintain order. I

nterim President Roza Otunbayeva called for a return to calm in an emotional televised address Friday. "I would like to appeal in particular to the women of Kyrgyzstan. Dear sisters, find the right words for your sons, husbands and brothers. In the current situation, it is unacceptable to indulge in feelings of revenge and anger," she said.

Tensions have long simmered between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek - both Sunni Muslim groups - in Kyrgyzstan's south. In 1990, hundreds were killed in a violent land dispute between the two communities across southern Kyrgyzstan, which borders Uzbekistan. At a security summit in Uzbekistan, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev both expressed concern over Friday's fighting and promised to help Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic of 5 million people, restore order. "We are really interested in seeing Kyrgyzstan overcome the stage of internal upheaval as quickly as possible and solve the task of forming a modern government capable of tackling acute problems of socio-economic development," Medvedev said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern at the renewed violence and called for calm to be restored, the rule of law to be respected, and all issues to be resolved peacefully through dialogue, UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq said. Ban also urged the interim government "to pay particular attention to interethnic relations in the country." The Anarchist International backs the resolution of the UN and Ban Ki-moon.

Bakiyev is believed to be in exile in Belarus, but interim authorities accuse his supporters of trying to foment unrest to undermine their control and derail the upcoming referendum and parliamentary election. Kyrgyzstan as mentioned also hosts the Manas US military air base in Bishkek, a crucial support center supplying forces fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan. Bakiyev's government had vowed to close the base last year, but later agreed to let US forces stay after raising the rent to $63 million from $17 million. In recent weeks, operations at Manas have been hindered by a dispute over the interim government's decision to tax fuel sold to the base. The US military says it has stopped refueling tanker planes at Manas while fuel prices are being renegotiated, but flights to ferry military personnel and supplies to and from Afghanistan have continued. The Anarchist International declares: Kyrgyzstan is closer and closer to be a 'failed state'... Chaos, lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy prevail.

12.06.2010. Severe ochlarchy in Kyrgyzstan, ethnic riots sweep the country. AI: It's time for international peacekeepers, preferably via the United Nations. Chaos and ochlarchy, ethnic riots, wracked southern Kyrgyzstan on Saturday, forcing thousands of Uzbeks to flee as their homes were torched by roving mobs of Kyrgyz men, ochlarchs/ochlarchists. The self-appointed interim government begged Russia for troops to stop the violence, but the Kremlin offered only humanitarian assistance. At least 75 people were reported killed and nearly 1,000 wounded in the violence spreading across the impoverished Central Asian nation. Much of its second-largest city, Osh, was on fire Saturday and the sky overhead was black with smoke. Gangs of young Kyrgyz men armed with firearms and metal bars marched on minority Uzbek neighborhoods and set homes on fire. Stores were looted and the city was running out of food.

"It's a real war," said local political leader Omurbek Suvanaliyev. "Everything is burning, and bodies are lying on the streets." Those driven from their homes rushed toward the border with Uzbekistan, and an Associated Press reporter there saw the bodies of children trampled to death in the panicky stampede. Crowds of frightened women and children made flimsy bridges out of planks and ladders to cross the ditches marking the border. Interim President Roza Otunbayeva acknowledged that her government has lost control over Osh, a city of 250,000, even though it sent troops, armor and helicopters to quell the riots. Violence spread to the nearby city of Jalal-Abad later Saturday.

"The situation in the Osh region has spun out of control," Otunbayeva told reporters: "Attempts to establish a dialogue have failed, and fighting and rampages are continuing. We need outside forces to quell confrontation." Otunbayeva asked Russia early Saturday to send in troops, but the Kremlin said it would not meddle into what it described as Kyrgyzstan's internal conflict. "It's a domestic conflict, and Russia now doesn't see conditions for taking part in its settlement," Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said in Moscow. She added that Russia will discuss with other members of a security pact of ex-Soviet nations about the possibility of sending a joint peacekeeping force to Kyrgyzstan. The Anarchist International declares: Kyrgyzstan is closer and closer to be a 'failed state'... Chaos, lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy prevail. It's time for international peacekeepers, preferably via the United Nations.

Later: Shoot-to-kill in Kyrgyz south amid deadly ochlarchy and ethnic unrest. Anarchist comment. Kyrgyzstan's self-appointed interim government has given security forces shoot-to-kill powers in a bid to stop ethnic fighting which so far has taken about 80 lives. And so far without international assistance there are fears the self-declared interim authorities in Kyrgyzstan may struggle to contain the conflict. The south of Kyrgyzstan, a country of 5.5 million people, is home to an ethnic Uzbek minority of almost one million. The latest violence has become the biggest challenge for the new government so far. A decree from the interim government mandated security forces to shoot to kill in the Osh and Jalalabad regions. Lethal force was permitted in areas placed under a state of emergency in order to defend civilians, in self-defense, and in the event of mass or armed attacks, the decree said.

Uzbek eyewitnesses told BBC's correspondent at a border crossing with Uzbekistan that gangs of armed Kyrgyz had been marauding through neighborhoods, killing residents and burning homes. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had received reports of tens of thousands people fleeing fighting and looting. "Things are getting worse and worse by the hour," said Severine Chappaz, deputy head of the ICRC's mission in Kyrgyzstan, in a statement sent from Osh to the Associated Press news agency. "The electricity and gas have been cut off, meaning there are also no water supplies. Shops and markets are closed, leading to fears of a lack of food, especially in the hospitals and places of detention." There have also been reports of Kyrgyz casualties and violent clashes between the two ethnic groups have been continuing for two days. The Anarchist International in this situation reminds about Antimilitarism - an anarchist approach, IJA 2 (38) and Direct action; and repeats the call for international peacekeepers.

13.06.2010. Deadly ochlarchy continues, mobs burn villages, slaughter Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan. Anarchist comment. Kyrgyz mobs burned Uzbek villages, slaughtered their residents and stormed police stations seeking to loot more weapons Sunday as ethnic rioting engulfed new areas in southern Kyrgyzstan. The self-declared interim government in the impoverished Central Asian nation yesterday ordered troops to shoot rioters dead but even that has failed to stop the spiraling violence that has left more than 100 people dead and about 1,250 wounded since Thursday night. Doctors and rights activists say that official toll is far too low because wounded minority Uzbeks are too afraid of being attacked again to go to hospitals.

The riots are the worst violence since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in a bloody uprising in April and fled the country. The Uzbeks have backed the interim government, while many Kyrgyz in the south support the toppled president. Thousands of Uzbeks have fled in panic to the nearby border with Uzbekistan after their homes were torched by roving mobs of Kyrgyz men. Some Uzbek women and children were gunned down as they tried to escape, witnesses said. Fires set by rioters have destroyed most of Osh, the country's second-largest city, and looters have stolen most of its food. Triumphant crowds of Kyrgyz men took control of most of Osh on Sunday while the few Uzbeks still in the city of 250,000 barricaded themselves in their neighborhoods.

Fires continued to rage across Osh and occasional shots were heard. Police were nowhere to be seen. The rampages spread quickly Sunday to Jalal-Abad, another major southern city, and its neighboring villages, as mobs methodically set Uzbek houses, stores and cafes on fire. The rioters seized an armored vehicle and automatic weapons at a local military unit and attacked police stations around the region trying to get more firearms. Police and the military appeared to be on the defensive across the south, avoiding clashes with mobs. Flights to both Osh and Jalal-Abad were canceled.

Interim President Roza Otunbayeva blamed Bakiyev's family for instigating the unrest in Osh, saying it was aimed at derailing a constitutional referendum on June 27 and new elections scheduled for October. A local official said Bakiyev supporters had attacked both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks to ignite the rioting. "Bakiyev's entourage has funded and organized these riots," Otunbayeva's deputy Omurbek Tekebayev told the Associated Press. From his self-imposed exile in Belarus, Bakiyev issued a statement denying any role in the violence and blaming the interim authorities for failing to protect the population.

Otunbayeva asked Russia yesterday, Saturday 12.06.2010, for military help to quell the violence, but the Kremlin as mentioned refused, saying it would not meddle in an internal conflict. Russia however did send a plane to deliver humanitarian supplies and evacuate some victims. Kyrgyzstan as mentioned hosts both US and Russian military air bases, but they are in the north, away from the fighting. The US Manas air base in the capital, Bishkek, is a crucial supply hub for the coalition fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan. A Pentagon spokesman said the interim government had not asked for any US military help. The US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan voiced a deep concern about the raging violence and called for the "immediate restoration of order and a respect for rule of law." It said it was discussing humanitarian aid with the interim government. Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry condemned the riots and voiced hope that Kyrgyzstan will re-establish order. Uzbekistan's authoritarian President Islam Karimov is unlikely to interfere into the conflict.

In Jalal-Abad on Sunday, thousands of Kyrgyz men brandishing sticks, metals bars and hunting rifles gathered at the city's race track and marched to burn Uzbek property while frightened police stayed away. Uzbeks felled trees on the city's main thoroughfare, trying to block their advance. Jalal-Abad is 45 miles (70 kilometers) from Osh. Kyrgyz mobs tried to storm the city's hospital, but Uzbeks drove them off after a fierce gunbattle that raged for hours, witnesses said. Mobs also surrounded a local prison, trying to free its inmates and attempted repeatedly to capture the Jalal-Abad police headquarters, but were repelled. Kyrgyz mobs killed about 30 Uzbeks Sunday in the village of Suzak in the Jalal-Abad region, Talaaibek Myrzabayev, the chief military conscription officer in Bishkek, told the Associated Press. Another Uzbek village, Dostuk, was burned by Kyrgyz assailants, but it was not known how many people were killed there, he said.

Ethnic Uzbeks ambushed about 100 Kyrgyz men Sunday on a road near Jalal-Abad and took them hostage, he said. Vehicles on the main highway near Jalal-Abad repeatedly came under fire from unidentified gunmen. In the nearby village of Bazar-Kurgan, a mob of 400 Uzbeks overturned cars and killed a police captain, local political activist Asyl Tekebayev said. Residents said armed Kyrgyz men were flooding into the village to retaliate.

The fertile Ferghana Valley where Osh and Jalal-Abad are located once belonged to a single feudal lord, but it was split by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin among Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The Stalinist borders rekindled old rivalries and fomented ethnic tensions. Both ethnic groups are predominantly Sunni Muslim. Uzbeks are generally better off economically, but they have few representatives in power and have pushed for broader political and cultural rights. In 1990, as mentioned, hundreds were killed in a violent land dispute between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Osh, and only the quick deployment of Soviet troops quelled the fighting. With no Russian troops in sight, the interim government announced a partial mobilization late Saturday of military reservists up to 50 years old. "No one is rushing to help us, so we need to establish order ourselves," said Talaaibek Adibayev, a 39-year old army veteran who showed up at Bishkek's military conscription office.

The official casualty toll Sunday rose to at least 97 people killed and 1,243 wounded, the Health Ministry said. The figure didn't include the 30 or more deaths Sunday around Jalal-Abad. Witnesses saw bodies lying in the streets of Osh on Saturday, and more scattered inside the many burned buildings in Uzbek neighborhoods. As Uzbek refugees, mostly women and children, fled the city toward the border, witness said many were shot at and killed. Maksat Zheinbekov, the acting mayor of Jalal-Abad, told the AP in a telephone interview that Bakiyev's supporters had triggered the riots by attacking both Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

Kyrgyz residents interviewed by the AP in Osh blamed Uzbeks for starting the rioting with attacks on students and Kyrgyz women. Ethnic Kyrgyz from neighboring villages then streamed into the city to strike back, they said. "Why have them Uzbeks become so brazen?" said one Osh resident, who gave only her first name, Aigulia, because she feared for her safety. "Why do they burn my house?" Aigulia said her house was destroyed by Uzbeks overnight and all her Kyrgyz neighbors had to run for their safety. She said the area was still unsafe, claiming Uzbek snipers were shooting at them. A Kyrgyz man, Iskander, said he and others burned Uzbek property to avenge their attacks. "Whatever you see over there - all the burnt restaurants and cafeterias - were owned by them and we destroyed them on purpose," he told the AP. "Why didn't they want to live in peace?"

The Anarchist International declares: Kyrgyzstan is closer and closer to be a 'failed state'... Chaos, lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy prevail. The AI reminds about Antimilitarism - an anarchist approach, IJA 2 (38) and Direct action - and repeats the call for international peacekeepers.

PS. The US Manas air base says it is helping to deliver food and medical supplies. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is discussing what aid the UN could send to help the fleeing refugees. Russia has sent in additional troops to boost security at its base. Mobs of rioters slaughtered Uzbeks and burned their homes and businesses in Kyrgyzstan's worst ethnic violence in decades, sending more than 75,000 members of the ethnic minority fleeing the country in attacks that appeared aimed at undermining the Central Asian nation's new interim government. More than 100 people were killed in southern Kyrgyzstan and more than 1,200 wounded in days of attacks, according to government estimates Sunday. The true toll may be much higher. The International Committee of the Red Cross said its delegates witnessed about 100 bodies being buried in just one cemetery, and noted that the official toll is unlikely to include bodies still lying in the streets. Some refugees were fired on as they fled to Uzbekistan. They were mostly elderly people, women and children, with younger men staying behind to defend their property. Many of the more than 75,000 refugees arrived with gunshot wounds, the Uzbekistan Emergencies Ministry said, according to Russian reports.

14.06.2010. Kyrgyzstan on the road to less ochlarchy? International group, CSTO, agrees plan to stop Kyrgyzstan violence, backed by the Anarchist International. About 100,000 minority Uzbeks fleeing mobs of Kyrgyz massed at the border Monday, an Uzbek leader said, as the deadliest ethnic violence to hit this Central Asian nation in 20 years left a major city smoldering. Jallahitdin Jalilatdinov, who heads the Uzbek National Center, told the Associated Press on Monday that at least 100,000 Uzbeks were awaiting entry into Uzbekistan, while another 80,000 had crossed the border. The Uzbek government said 45,000 had already been registered.

Fires raged for a fourth day in the southern city of Osh, three miles (five kilometers) from the border with Uzbekistan. The official count Monday was 138 dead and nearly 1,800 injured since the violence began last week, but an Uzbek community leader said at least 200 Uzbeks had already been buried, and the Red Cross said its delegates saw about 100 bodies being buried in just one cemetery. Shaken refugees claimed that many Uzbek girls had been raped and that Kyrgyz snipers had shot at them from the hills as they rushed toward the border.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed alarm at the violence and urged the authorities to protect all citizens irrespective of their ethnicity. "It seems indiscriminate killings, including of children, and rapes have been taking place on the basis of ethnicity," Pillay said in a statement. "This is a very dangerous situation, given the ethnic patchwork in this part of Kyrgyzstan, as well as in neighboring areas of Uzbekistan," she said. "It has been known for many years that this region is a potential tinder box, and for that reason it is essential that the authorities act firmly to halt the fighting - which appears to be orchestrated, targeted and well-planned - before it spreads further inside Kyrgyzstan or even across the border into neighboring countries."

Sporadic attacks continued on Monday in the southern cities of Osh and Jalabad, amid further accusations that Kyrgyzstan troops in some areas had supported anti-Uzbek mobs. But a senior official in the interim government in the capital, Bishkek, told AFP news agency that there were signs that the situation was calming down. "There have been negotiations between heads of the Uzbek community, representatives of the government, Kyrgyz leaders and the military in Jalalabad, during which the various parties agreed to stop fighting," Azimbek Beknazarov said on Monday. BBC reported about direct action in Kyrgyzstan with calls for UN-peacekeepers.

An international grouping of former Soviet states has agreed measures to stop ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, reports say. Senior officials from Russia, Central Asia and other countries have sent plans to leaders for approval, after an emergency meeting in Moscow. The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), which includes Kyrgyzstan, has so far not detailed what their proposals include.

Is Kyrgyzstan on the road to less ochlarchy? The Anarchist International backs the international group, CSTO's, plans to stop Kyrgyzstan violence. Also the UN could get more involved. It's time for action - international action, international peacekeepers! The AI reminds about Antimilitarism - an anarchist approach, IJA 2 (38) and Direct action.

15.06.2010. Kyrgyzstan on the road to less ochlarchy? No - the situation is getting worse. Chaos, lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy prevail. AI calls for more direct actions. The Anarchist International, AI, the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, and the UN have called on Kyrgyzstan's interim government to prevent deadly unrest spreading across central Asia as international concern mounts over the crisis sweeping the country. Several hundred people have been killed in the riots in Kyrgyzstan, the Red Cross said Tuesday. The southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad still remain extremely volatile. Some 250,000 Uzbeks are thought to be trying to flee the country according to BBC, with many insisting they've been targeted by Kyrgyz mobs backed by local police.

The United Nations and the European Union, meanwhile, urged Kyrgyzstan not to let the violence derail a June 27 constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections scheduled for October. "The referendum and the elections must be held at the announced times" so Kyrgyzstan moves further toward democracy, UN representative Miroslav Jenca said in the capital, Bishkek. The EU backs this position, according to Germany's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Holger Green. However the scale of the damage is so vast in the south that the AI and the AIE find it hard to see how a legitimate vote could be held in less than two weeks, and declare that the main target for Kyrgyzstan should be doing away with the deadly chaos, lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy.

There are fears civil war or even a full-blown conflict could break out with neighboring Uzbekistan, which closed its border. Overwhelmed by the deluge, Uzbekistan closed the border Tuesday, leaving thousands camped out on the Kyrgyz side or stranded behind barbed-wire fences in no-man's land.

Foreign nationals are also trying to escape the violence, with Pakistan and China airlifting citizens from the strife torn country. In what is the worst violence in the region since the fall of the Soviet Union the Anarchist International, AI,  and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, are warning about that Kyrgyzstan could be a 'failed state', could split in half, or even cease to exist as an independent country. Chaos, lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy prevail. The Anarchist International calls for international and more direct actions against the ochlarchy and ochlarchs/ochlarchists.

16.06.2010. AI and AIE declare: 'Job no 1. in Kyrgyzstan is to restore law and order, and do away with the chaos and lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy/polyarchy with severe and deadly ochlarchy.'

Many ethnic Uzbek refugees trying to flee the violence in Kyrgyzstan remain stranded at the border. Neighboring Uzbekistan, which closed crossings yesterday, insists it is unable to cope with the deluge, but the situation inside Kyrgyzstan appears increasingly desperate, with victims reporting the mass rape of Uzbek women and the killing of children. Some food and water is getting through and Uzbek border guards are letting the most severely injured in.

The southern part of Kyrgyzstan has been convulsed by days of rioting between feuding ethnic groups, i.e. chaos and lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy/polyarchy with severe and deadly ochlarchy prevail. One mosque close to Uzbekistan's border has been turned into a makeshift hospital to treat victims. The UN, US and Russia, which are increasingly concerned about the situation, have been flying humanitarian supplies into the strategically located central Asian state.

The Kyrgyz city of Osh in the south has been ravaged after days of deadly unrest. However relatively calm appears to have descended on the city with Kyrgyz troops patrolling the streets. Kyrgyzstan's weak and undersupplied military attempted Wednesday to regain control of the city of Osh, a major transit point for Afghan heroin and the epicenter of brutal rampages that have driven much of the ethnic Uzbek population from Kyrgyzstan's poor, rural south. Checkpoints circled the city and troops held the central square, but reports of looting by an army that lacks fuel and other basic supplies cast doubt on the self-appointed interim government's ability to re-establish stability and quell fresh outbreaks of violence.

The United Nations has declared that the fighting was "orchestrated, targeted and well-planned," and appeared to have begun with five simultaneous attacks in Osh by men wearing ski masks, but it stopped short of apportioning blame.

The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, declare: "The blame game is not interesting. Job no 1. in Kyrgyzstan is to restore law and order, and do away with the chaos and lawlessness and rivaling oligarchy/polyarchy with severe and deadly ochlarchy!"

17.06.2010. Kyrgyzstan violence uproots 400,000, says UN. The AI and AIE call for a coordinating committee for factions of antimilitarist corps to promote peace.

An immense humanitarian crisis is how the Red Cross is describing the situation caused by the unrest in southern Kyrgyzstan. Some aid has now begun being delivered to Uzbek refugees fleeing the ethnic violence. But many are said to be running short of supplies. The UN says 400,000 people have been displaced – up to a quarter of them are thought to have taken refuge in Uzbekistan. The past week has seen a stream of families crossing the border from Kyrgyzstan after about two hundred people were killed and almost two thousand wounded in violence between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks. Most of those displaced are women and children and have been put up in makeshift camps.

There are warnings that the crisis in the region is likely to get worse. One international think tank has described the reports from Uzbeks in the towns of Osh and Jalalabad as bloodcurdling. Checkpoints have been erected in Uzbek areas. But many residents do not trust the ethnic Krygyz soldiers deployed to protect them, and have set up their own barriers.

The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, call for a coordinating committee for factions of antimilitarist corps to promote peace, and remind about Antimilitarism - an anarchist approach, IJA 2 (38) and Direct action.

18.06.2010. In Kyrgyzstan: Antimilitarist corps vs militarist ultra-fascist gangs, including ethnic "cleaners", mafia and jihadists, i.e. criminal ochlarchs/ochlarchists. Arrest these gangs.

Complaints of rape and other brutal violence are emerging after the unrest in Osh. Eyewitnesses and experts say many of the victims appear to have been Uzbeks. Workers from Human Rights Watch are among those investigating. Members of the Kyrgyz community have denied the accusations and have made counter-claims against Uzbeks. The Kyrgyz top interim leader is on a mission to try to ease tension in southern Kyrgyzstan. She has flown into the city of Osh. Roza Otunbayeva vowed to restore order and bring home all of those who fled the violence. She maintains there is "goodwill between both ethnic groups to live together in peace". Different sources say between 200 and 2,000 people died in the clashes, leaving many people too scared to return to Osh.

The Anarchist International, AI, and Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, declare: "In Kyrgyzstan, it is necessary that the antimilitarist corps, police and armed defense, concentrate on the fight against the militarist ultra-fascist gangs, including ethnic 'cleaners', mafia and jihadists, i.e. criminal ochlarchs/ochlarchists. Arrest the criminal ochlarchs/ochlarchists. Also get rid of 'brown elements' within the antimilitarist corps. An ultra-fascist 'strong man' must be avoided. AI and AIE once more remind about Antimilitarism - an anarchist approach, IJA 2 (38) and Direct action."

19.06.2010. Kyrgyzstan: AI and AIE call for 1. freedom for Azimzhan Askarov, 2. an independent investigation into the violence, and 3. more international aid. In Osh, the atmosphere remained tense...

AI, AIE and an US envoy called Saturday for an independent investigation into the violence that has devastated southern Kyrgyzstan, as amateur video emerged of unarmed Uzbeks gathering to defend their village during the attacks. Prosecutors on Saturday charged Azimzhan Askarov, the head of a prominent human rights group who shot the video, with inciting ethnic hatred. Askarov had accused the military of complicity in the bloody rampages that sent hundreds of thousands of Uzbeks fleeing for their lives. Valentina Gritsenko, head of the Justice rights organization, said she feared Askarov was being tortured. He was detained with his brother on Tuesday in his southern hometown of Bazar-Korgon, colleagues told the Associated Press. The country's rights ombudsman Tursunbek Akun insisted the charges against Askarov were fabricated, and activists in Bishkek demonstrated before UN offices to demand his release, backed by the Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE. The accusations against Azimzhan Askarov are practically certain false and fabricated.

Entire Uzbek neighborhoods in southern Kyrgyzstan have been reduced to scorched ruins by rampaging mobs of ethnic Kyrgyz who forced nearly half of the region's roughly 800,000 Uzbeks to flee. Interim President Roza Otunbayeva says up to 2,000 people may have died in the clashes. The self-appointed interim Kyrgyz authorities say the violence was sparked by supporters of ex-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was toppled in April amid accusations of corruption. The UN has said the unrest appeared orchestrated, but has stopped short of assigning blame. Bakiyev, from exile, has denied any involvement. Many ethnic Uzbeks also accused security forces of standing by or helping majority Kyrgyz mobs as they slaughtered Uzbeks and burned neighborhoods. Col. Iskander Ikramov, chief of the Kyrgyz military in the south, says the army didn't interfere because it is not a police force.

US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake met with Otunbayeva in Bishkek, the capital, on Saturday after touring several packed refugee camps in neighboring Uzbekistan. Blake said the interim government should probe the violence and "such an investigation should be complemented by an international investigation by a credible international body." AI and AIE agree. Blake said the US was working with the Kyrgyz government to make sure the refugees would be able to return home safely. The United States has released $32.2 million in aid, and Russia and France also sent planeloads of relief gear.

The Associated Press obtained Askarov's video, which was shot June 13 at the height of the rampages. It shows a few dozen Uzbeks pacing nervously around a square in Bazar-Korgon, an ethnic Uzbek settlement, apparently before rioters descended. Armed with only sticks and stones, several men are seen heading across the square as gun shots ring out and smoke rises in background. "Are we going to just sit around and wait for them?" one man says in Uzbek. In a different shot, a voice colleagues confirm as Askarov's is heard saying "They're getting close." "So many people have died over there. ... One armed group is gone; there is still another which has stayed. They're shooting from the direction of the prison, and Uzbeks have nothing but sticks one meter or half a meter long. There is smoke rising and I have no idea what's left there," Askarov says. Destruction caused during the rampages was visible Saturday in parts of Bazar-Korgon, and Askarov's office was one of several gutted buildings.

Many said they could not go back to their towns and live next to the people they accuse of attacking them. "We are all witnesses to the fact that innocent citizens were fired upon from an armored personnel carrier by soldiers in military uniform. I don't know whether they were from the government or some third party, but they only shot at Uzbeks," said Sabir Khaidir, an ethnic Uzbek in Jalal-Abad. Mukhaya Julayeva, an internally displaced person described the living conditions: "The government did not come here in order to know how we live here. We don't live here; we just survive here, like animals." It is reported that Kyrgyz gangs began attacking people living in the Uzbek areas of Osh and Jalal-Aabad last week. According to BBC eyewitnesses and victims have repeatedly said that the violence was orchestrated, and many have accused soldiers from the Kyrgyz military of being involved.

Supplies of bread and rice from Uzbekistan kept the refugees from starvation. But many had to sleep in the open air, and overcrowding, bad sanitary conditions and a shortage of clean water were making many sick. Overwhelmed doctors struggled to treat outbreaks of diarrhea and other ailments with paltry medical supplies. In Osh, the atmosphere remained tense, with barricades of burned out cars and debris blocking Uzbek neighborhoods. Otunbayeva, the interim leader, arrived Friday by helicopter in Osh's central square in the hope of conveying a sign of stability. "We have to give hope that we shall restore the city, return all the refugees and create all the conditions for that," she said, wearing a bulletproof vest.

Uzbeks have complained the government was doing too little to alleviate their suffering, with some saying humanitarian aid was being blocked and stolen by Kyrgyz officials. Elisabeth Byrs of the UN humanitarian office said 30 aid flights have arrived in Osh and Jalal-Abad, carrying 780 tons of medical aid and relief goods. The World Food Program started distributing 100 tons of rations to 13,000 people in Osh - enough for two weeks. The United Nations has launched a 57 million euro ($71m; £48m) flash appeal for humanitarian aid for Kyrgyzstan. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says there is a shortage of food, water and electricity in parts of Kyrgyzstan due to looting, lack of supplies and restricted movement. The AI and AIE call for more international aid and better distribution.

Summarized: AI and AIE call for 1. freedom for Azimzhan Askarov, 2. an independent investigation into the violence, and 3. more international aid. In Osh, the atmosphere remained tense. In this connection see the report of 18.06.2010.

20.06.2010. Many ethnic Uzbeks refuse to go home in Kyrgyzstan. Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks massed on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan refused to return home Sunday, saying they feared for their lives after violent pogroms and don't trust Kyrgyz troops to protect them. Associated Press reporters saw some 50 Kyrgyz troops, many in armored transport carriers, enter the border village of Suratash and try to reassure refugees in this Central Asian nation that it was safe to return home. Yet the soldiers' very presence terrified the families - ethnic Uzbeks who fled after attacks and arson by ethnic Kyrgyz - since they blame Kyrgyz troops for abetting the violence that left hundreds of Uzbeks dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. "Of course we were afraid. Afraid because they were the ones - the soldiers who fired shots," said Maplyuba Akhmedova, an Uzbek who fled her home.

The United Nations as mentioned estimates that 400,000 people have fled their homes in Kyrgyzstan and about 100,000 of them have entered Uzbekistan. There was no official estimate of the number of refugees in Suratash, but Uzbeks said there was about 20,000. Many Uzbeks in Suratash said they would not return home and were unsure where to go. Some said they would try to sell their belongings and move to Russia, while others expressed a desire to go to Uzbekistan. However, there is no official border crossing in Suratash - 10 miles (16 kilometers) away from the region's main city of Osh - and many refugees lacked papers since they fled their homes in a rush. Kyrgyzstan border officials said some 5,000 refugees had returned home from Uzbekistan by Sunday. "Refugees are beginning to return home more actively, but for now fear and insecurity are hindering them," Kurmanakun Matenov, chief of Kyrgyzstan's border guard, said.

AI and AIE call for 1. freedom for Azimzhan Askarov, 2. an independent investigation into the violent pogroms, and 3. more international aid. See also the reports of 18-19.06.2010.

21.06.2010. Kyrgyz police 'acting like wild animals' attack Uzbeks, kill 2. Kyrgyz government forces swept into an ethnic Uzbek village Monday, beating men and women with rifle butts in an assault that left at least two dead and more than 20 wounded, witnesses told the Associated Press. The allegations were among the strongest Uzbek claims of official collusion in ethnic rampages that killed as many as 2,000 people last week and forced nearly half of the region's roughly 800,000 Uzbeks to flee. The operation in the village of Nariman on the edge of the main southern city of Osh will likely discourage the Uzbeks from returning, and fuel tensions ahead of a crucial vote on a new constitution Sunday.

Kyrgyz authorities said they conducted the sweep in Nariman to track down suspected criminals that had taken refuge in the village. They said seven people were detained on suspicion of involvement in the killing of the head of the local police precinct a week ago. They did not immediately comment on the Uzbek charges of violence and brutality, but released images of men lying face down on the ground in a courtyard as uniformed troops armed with assault rifles stood by. Emil Kaptaganov, the self-appointed interim government's chief of staff, said that two people had offered resistance and were killed, and that 23 asked for medical assistance following the sweep in Nariman.

Aziza Abdirasulova of Kalym-Shaly, a respected human rights group based in the Kyrgyz capital, provided the same casualty count. She said she believed the mostly ethnic Kyrgyz police were taking revenge for the killing of their chief. "They were driven by revenge and were acting like wild animals," she said. A handful of ethnic Uzbek refugees from Osh fled to Nariman during the unrest, and the villagers put up three circles of barricades to stop attackers from entering. Madina Umarova, a 45-year-old resident of Nariman, said the troops wore brand-new uniforms and beat dozens of people, two of them to death. She named the victims as Sharaf Dustmatov and Kobil Turgunov. "In each house, they would beat men and women with rifle butts," Umarova said. "Soldiers set my passport on fire, they said we would not need them anymore."

Ethnic Uzbeks have accused security forces of standing by or even helping ethnic-majority Kyrgyz mobs as they slaughtered people and burned down neighborhoods. Military officials as mentioned rejected allegations of troop involvement in the riots and said the army didn't interfere in the conflict because it was not supposed to play the role of a police force. Hundreds of thousands of Uzbeks remain in grim camps on both sides of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, fearing to come back despite shortages of food and water and bad sanitary conditions. Their reluctance to return could undermine Sunday's referendum, seen as essential for the nation's stability.

"Instead of calming people down, (the authorities) are just creating disturbances. Nobody will go back home now, the refugees are afraid," said Mamyr Nizamov, head of an Uzbek council of elders in Osh. "When they come, the soldiers all say the same thing: that we have not earned our Kyrgyz citizenship and then they tear up our passports." Another Nariman resident, Alik Umorov, showed a fresh wound on his head, saying that a policeman beat him, took his cell phone and all his cash and stripped him of his passport. "The officer beat me over the head with a metal rod," Umorov said. "It's not my fault that I'm an Uzbek."

An AP photographer saw bloodstains on asphalt and floors, and smashed cars, windows and furniture in houses. "They knocked my husband's front teeth out, he's in the hospital now," Mukaddas Tuishieva, a 36-year-old housewife and a mother of three, said through tears. "If Kyrgyz soldiers are doing this to us, what am I going to tell my daughters, where am I going to take them?"

While the provisional government badly needs the vote to anchor its authority, it's facing strong opposition in the south. The police chief for the Osh region, Omurbek Suvanaliyev, harshly criticized the interim government's push for the referendum, saying it could trigger another wave of ethnic violence. "Tensions between the Kyrgyz and the Uzbek communities are high," said Suvanaliyev, who resigned Sunday in protest against holding the referendum. "The referendum could lead to new clashes."

Meanwhile, international aid continued arriving. The UN World Food Program delivered another planeload of aid to Osh, including food rations for 30,000 people. Since the outbreak of violence, the WFP has provided an estimated 54,000 people in Osh and Jalal-Abad with food assistance. It said it was opening a humanitarian hub in Osh.

The AI and AIE call for 1. freedom for Azimzhan Askarov, 2. an independent investigation into the violent pogroms, 3. more international aid and 4. an action to get rid of the 'brown elements' within the police and military. See also the reports of 18-20.06.2010.

22.06.2010. Human Rights Watch says Kyrgyz troops launch new raids of Uzbek areas in southern Kyrgyzstan. Thousands of Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan's ethnic bloodshed trekked back across the Uzbek border to burned-out homes on Tuesday, their future uncertain.  Uzbek military officials said about 5,000 refugees crossed back into Kyrgyzstan voluntarily on Tuesday. A Kyrgyz border guard estimated 4,000 crossed, plus a further 2,000 on Monday. One Uzbek man in central Osh, watching a group of returning refugees stepping off a mini-bus, whispered: "Why the hell are they coming back? Don't they realize what awaits them here?"

As Kyrgyzstan's self-appointed interim government prepares for a June 27 referendum on constitutional reform, many of those returning were unsure where to go. Some huddled at the border, sheltering from the blazing sun, as they decided on their next move. "I don't know how I can live side-by-side with the Kyrgyz, but this is my native land," said 33-year-old housewife Minavar, an ethnic Uzbek, who declined to give her last name. Ethnic Uzbeks have blockaded themselves into parts of Osh, afraid of renewed violence. The interim government needs the referendum as a stepping stone towards presidential and parliamentary elections. Interim President Roza Otunbayeva visited the region for a second day. She has rejected calls from some officials for the referendum to be postponed, saying any delays would risk a return to violence. The 56-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has said it will not send short-term observers to Kyrgyzstan for the referendum for security reasons.

But Badalova, one of the returning Uzbeks, said she would vote for change. "We worked before and we will work again, for our children. We will restore everything." Others were less sure of their future. "We do not know what life holds in store," Rafat Akhunova, a trader, said as she crossed back into Kyrgyzstan. "We have not had any rest for so long." Troops beat several dozen men and women in an Uzbek neighborhood in southern Kyrgyzstan's main city on Tuesday in a raid that deepened refugees' fears about returning to an area seared by an eruption of deadly ethnic violence, Human Rights Watch reported. Human Rights Watch researcher Anna Neistat said that Kyrgyz troops moved before dawn into the Cheryomushki neighborhood of Osh and broke into one of the few buildings in the area that was not reduced to scorched ruins by ethnic Kyrgyz mobs 10 days ago. The building has served as a shelter and makeshift hospital for the few remaining Uzbeks.

The Kyrgyz forces put all the men face down on the floor, beat them and detained 12, Neistat said. The attackers also beat some of the women and stole cash and valuables from them. Military spokesman Timur Sharshenaliev said that the troops detained 12 people suspected of illegal arms possession and stirring up mass riots. He said that such security sweeps are also being conducted in two other Uzbek neighborhoods in Osh on Tuesday. The raids followed the authorities' demand that ethnic Uzbeks remove barricades erected to protect their neighborhoods from rampaging mobs. Some of the barricades made of felled trees and burned vehicles have been removed. "It's inadmissible," Neistat told the Associated Press. "First they urge the removal of barricades, and then launch mopping up raids. Uzbeks are completely panicky."

Kyrgyzstan's interim President Roza Otunbayeva said the ethnic violence was triggered June 10 by supporters of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev seeking to derail a vote approving a new constitution Sunday 27.06.2010. The United Nations, USA and other Western powers have strongly backed the referendum, a necessary step before parliamentary elections can be held in October. "It's hard to imagine how they can hold a referendum now when half of the population isn't here and others lack their IDs," Neistat said. The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, agree with Human Rights Watch researcher Anna Neistat. Between 2,000 and 3,000 buildings were destroyed in Osh, according to a UN estimate, and many people lost their IDs in burned homes.

Kyrgyzstan as mentioned hosts the US Manas air base, a key support center for the fight against the Taleban used by most troops entering or leaving Afghanistan. A decree Otunbayeva signed Tuesday orders the creation of a state-owned company to provide the US air base with fuel, replacing a series of private intermediary firms set up under the deposed government. Kyrgyz prosecutors say that companies owned by a son of deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev avoided almost $80 million in taxes on aviation fuel sold to the Manas base.

The AI and AIE repeat the calls for 1. freedom for Azimzhan Askarov, 2. an independent investigation into the violent pogroms, 3. more international aid and 4. an action to get rid of the 'brown elements' within the Kyrgyz police and military. See also the reports of 18-21.06.2010.

23.06.2010. Tensions remain high. International police corps? Kyrgyz self-appointed interim authorities try to get Uzbeks to vote. Kyrgyzstan's self-declared interim authorities are urging ethnic Uzbeks to vote in this weekend's constitutional referendum, even though many of them fled their homes in the face of deadly attacks by Kyrgyz mobs. Kyrgyz officials pledged on Wednesday to work quickly to restore identification papers for the Uzbeks, many of whom lost them in houses torched by ethnic Kyrgyz mobs, i.e. attacking ochlarchists/ochlarchs. The recent ethnic violence as mentioned killed as many as 2,000 people and forced half of the region's 800,000 Uzbeks to flee for their lives. The self-appointed interim government needs the vote to secure its grip to power and prepare for October's parliamentary election.

Tensions remain high in Kyrgyzstan's ethnically-divided south where angry protesters have given the country's interim leader a stormy reception. The south is as mentioned a stronghold of ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Demonstrators said living standards had fallen since he was toppled in an uprising in April and Roza Otunbayeva's self-appointed administration came to power. They also rejected a referendum this Sunday on reforming the constitution. The vote is needed to guarantee stability in the Central Asian country, according to Otunbayeva. Critics claim it is aimed at strengthening her self-declared government and could cause fresh unrest.

The context could not be more explosive. Violence between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbek communities turned the cites of Jalal-Abad and Osh into a battleground earlier this month. Some of the 400,000 ethnic Uzbeks who sought refuge in neighboring Uzbekistan have been returning home. But a grim sight met many as they headed back over the border into southern Kyrgyzstan – widespread destruction and burned out homes. Kyrgyzstan's economy has taken a massive hit from the wave of ethnic violence this month and will suffer more unless the government finds ways of reconciling its two main ethnic groups, a United Nations economist said.

Kyrgyz security forces on Wednesday raided Uzbek neighborhoods in the strife-torn city of Osh for a third day as thousands more refugees streamed back to the scene of ethnic carnage in the strategic ex-Soviet state. Human rights workers in Osh said the raids had been accompanied by looting and more violence in the run-up to a crucial vote on how Kyrgyzstan will be governed.

International police corps? The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is leading talks involving European Union foreign ministers on the possible deployment of a police force in southern Kyrgyzstan, an OSCE official said. Different international organisations are ready for it," Kimmo Kiljunen, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's special representative for Central Asia, said on Wednesday. "The OSCE are leading negotiations on that issue. I know that the foreign ministers of the EU are already discussing the option that there would be police crisis management support for the country."

The AI and AIE call for 1. freedom for Azimzhan Askarov, 2. an independent investigation into the violent pogroms, 3. more international aid, 4. an action to get rid of the 'brown elements' within the Kyrgyz police and military, and 5. an international police corps. See also the reports of 18-22.06.2010.

24.06.2010. Heroin trade a backdrop to Kyrgyz violence. Kyrgyzstan says Islamist groups sparked violence. Kyrgyzstan 'weak link' for extremists - security chief. US pledges millions in aid for Kyrgyzstan refugees. Anarchist comment.

Heroin trade a backdrop to Kyrgyz violence. Associated Press reports: This Central Asian nation where ethnic violence exploded in the south this month sits on a heroin road that snakes from Afghanistan to Western Europe. It creates a nexus of power and profit that some say may have contributed to the conditions leading to the rioting that may have left thousands dead and a million in need of humanitarian aid. Few suggest that drug money lay at the root of the unrest. But it is widely seen as a source of violent struggles between powerful rival groups in Kyrgyzstan - with recently deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his family some of the biggest players. Bakiyev's supporters have been accused by the interim government of sparking the unrest in the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad in an effort to destabilize the nation. Officials and analysts say their role in the drug trade also means they stand to benefit from creating chaos in the south.

"The battle for power is also a battle for drug money," Kyrgyz deputy security service chief Khubat Baibulov told the Associated Press. "The violence of this battle increases when you are talking about big money." UN officials say the violence that broke out two weeks ago was intentionally provoked and risked shattering the fragile interim government. The narcotics trade is only one strand in a complex set of factors behind Kyrgyzstan's turmoil, but with big money at stake it is likely to frustrate any hopes of restoring stability to the impoverished, strategically located nation. The unrest began in the wake of a popular revolt in April that led to the overthrow of Bakiyev and sent members of his family scrambling for refuge from Kyrgyz prosecutors. Authorities and analysts have little doubt that Bakiyev and his relatives are at the heart of the drug trade.

"The whole Bakiyev family is involved in drug trafficking," said Alexander Knyazev, a respected independent political analyst in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. "After Kurmanbek Bakiyev came to power, all drug lords were killed, and (his elder brother) Zhanybek Bakiyev consolidated most of the drug trafficking in his hands." Acting deputy prime minister and general prosecutor Azimbek Beknazarov also endorses the view that Bakiyev and his family have interests in the drug trade, although no specific criminal probes have yet been initiated into those allegations.

Heroin is transported to the south of Kyrgyzstan by a series of remote mountain routes. One road leads from a Tajik town on the Afghan border, Khorog, over the vast and rough terrain of the Pamir Mountains, across the border and then down to Osh. Another route goes from northern Tajikistan across the frontier into the Kyrgyz section of the Ferghana Valley, where Osh lies. Those roads are daily traversed by trucks carrying fruit and vegetables, which are frequently used to disguise large amounts of drugs. Rampant corruption also ensures that much of the contraband is not intercepted, meaning that seizures account for only a tiny fraction of the total amount trafficked. An estimated 20 metric tons of Afghan drugs transit through Kyrgyzstan every year, most destined for Russia, Western Europe and the United States, according to a US State Department report released in March.

More than a quarter of Kyrgyzstan's population lives under the poverty line and average monthly salaries are estimated by officials to hover around the $140 mark. Low incomes and poor labor prospects have made the drug trade an appealing option for Kyrgyz people living in rural areas ever since the collapse of Soviet Union robbed the country of direct financial support from Moscow. And with Afghan poppy production ever on the increase, much of the increased narcotics flow has been made up of heroin. Drug trafficking was a problem before Bakiyev came to power five years ago. But far from seeking to counter this rise in the illegal traffic, Bakiyev seemed only to have weakened the campaign by the disbanding of the relatively successful Drug Control Agency in October.

The move to place policing drugs under the tutelage of the Interior Ministry was described by the US State Department as a "significant blow to regional counternarcotics efforts," and provoked suspicions about the Bakiyev government's role in the drug trade. Former President Askar Akayev, who was himself toppled in the Tulip Revolution in 2005, maintains that Bakiyev gave drug lords in the country significant leeway in exchange for their support in bringing him to power. "The criminals stayed on to serve the Bakiyevs, to hunt down unwanted politicians and journalists," Akayev told the Associated Press in Moscow, referring to a string of contract-style killings of opposition leaders and independent reporters. Bakiyev's brothers Zhanybek and Akhmat "directly controlled the drug trade and all the top criminals," Akayev said. Although criticized for his corrupt rule, Akayev is recognized to have made some attempts at minimizing the influence of the drug trade on his country's economy.

Hoping to reverse the damage done by abolishing the Drug Control Agency, set up under Akayev in 2003 and part funded by the United Nation and the United States, interim President Roza Otunbayeva last week announced the body would be reconstituted. "The drug route passes along the Great Silk Road, but unfortunately today we all are busy with issues of regulation, humanitarian assistance, attempts to provide shelter for all, and so on, but drug barons are working at full capacity," Otunbayeva said. "That is why we are going to restore the national anti-narcotics agency, which Bakiyev recently disbanded." Restoring drug combat operations may help to partially stem the tidal wave of drugs washing through the country, but persistent political instability and violence will prove fatal to the success of those efforts.

Quelling public unrest in Kyrgyzstan has often meant having to making compromises with local powerbrokers, who in turn frequently have interests allied to criminal groups. That proposition seems to be at the heart of government claims that Bakiyev and his associates may have played a role in instigating ethnic riots, by hiring attackers to shoot at both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, who have a history of ethnic tensions. Bakiyev, who is living in exile in Belarus, denies all involvement in the events.

The United Nations bolstered the claims by declaring that the fighting was "targeted and well-planned," and appeared to have begun with five simultaneous attacks in Osh by men wearing ski masks. The United States is urging an impartial international investigation into how the clashes were provoked.  Kyrgyzstan's security agency claimed Thursday that Bakiyev's relatives hired Islamic militants to provoke the ethnic violence following a meeting in Afghanistan last month with representatives of the Taleban, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and other groups. The agency provided no evidence.

Kyrgyzstan hosts the U.S. Manas air base, a key support center for the fight against the Taleban that is used by most troops entering or leaving Afghanistan. The United States has been stung by the accusation that its military campaign in Afghanistan has inadvertently boosted the fortunes of heroin poppy cultivation there. The suggestion that it may have benefited strategically from cooperation with a Kyrgyz government involved in the drug trade is likely to come as a further embarrassment. Two State Department officials with knowledge of the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they are aware of the allegations against the Bakiyevs, but had no independent corroboration. The Drug Enforcement Agency refused to comment.

Kyrgyzstan says Islamist groups sparked violence. Associated Press reports: Kyrgyzstan's security agency claimed Thursday that relatives of the toppled president colluded with the Taleban and other Islamic militant movements to provoke the ethnic violence that has destabilized the Central Asian nation. The agency provided no evidence and there was no way of independently confirming the claim. Former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, now in exile in Belarus, has denied any role in the violence, which killed about 2,000 people and left 400,000 ethnic Uzbeks homeless. The security agency said two of Bakiyev's relatives met last month in Afghanistan with representatives of the Taleban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Tajik militants to discuss plans to trigger unrest in Kyrgyzstan. At the meeting in the Badakhshan region, they agreed that IMU forces would stir up violence and would be paid $30 million by the Bakiyevs, the agency said in a statement.

"The Bakiyev system has fallen, but his inner circle gave the order to international terrorist organizations to destabilize the situation in the country," interim security agency chief Keneshbek Duishebayev told reporters as the statement was distributed. The interim government, which overthrew Bakiyev in April, has accused him of setting off this month's bloodshed by hiring gunmen to shoot at both Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks, who have a history of ethnic tensions. The government also claims the Bakiyev family is involved in the trafficking of heroin from Afghanistan. An estimated 20 metric tons of Afghan drugs are transported each year through southern Kyrgyzstan, where the rioting started June 10. Since the 1991 Soviet collapse the densely populated, impoverished and conservative Fergana Valley that Kyrgyzstan shares with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan has become a breeding ground for fundamentalist Islamic groups, including the al-Qaeda-linked IMU.

The government's claim that the fighting was orchestrated was bolstered by the United Nations, which said it appeared to have begun with five simultaneous attacks by men wearing ski masks. The UN has not named the suspected instigator. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said the allegations of instigation needed to be taken seriously, did not rule out that Bakiyev's supporters were to blame. "Certainly the ouster of President Bakiyev some months ago left behind those who are still his loyalists and very much against the provisional government," she said last week.

The security chief said the Bakiyevs, international terrorist organizations and narco-traffickers each have their own reasons for wanting to see chaos in southern Kyrgyzstan. The Bakiyevs, whose stronghold was in the south, seek to return to power and reclaim their control over sources of wealth, Duishebayev said. The criminal groups believe it will be easier to move drugs through the region, while Islamic militants want to expand their influence and overthrow secular governments, he said.

Kyrgyzstan 'weak link' for extremists - security chief. Reuters reports: Social, economic crises weaken Kyrgyzstan. Weak link could be exploited by terrorists. Kyrgyzstan is a weak link in Central Asia that could be exploited by extremists determined to create an Islamic caliphate in the region bordering Afghanistan, the head of the country's security service said on Thursday. Keneshbek Dushebayev, head of the Kyrgyz National Security Service -- successor to the Soviet KGB -- said Islamist militants have played a role in the wave of ethnic bloodshed that killed more than 250 people in Kyrgyzstan this month. "Over the last 20 years, Kyrgyzstan has been in a state of permanent social and economic crisis," Dushebayev said. "Because of this, Kyrgyzstan has been the weakest link for international terrorist organisations to carry out attacks."

The United States and Russia, which operate military air bases in Kyrgyzstan, are anxious the turmoil does not spread to other regions of Central Asia, a Muslim but secular region lying on a drug-trafficking route from Afghanistan. Diplomats have said in private they are worried Islamists could take advantage of Kyrgyzstan's lawlessness to gain strength but so far there have been no clear signs of such activity. No group has claimed responsibility for the violence. Several days of clashes in the south of the impoverished country has divided the Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities in the Ferghana valley where the two countries intertwine. About 400,000 fled, about a quarter of whom crossed into Uzbekistan. "International terrorist organisations have long sought to set up an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia. All these problems we have in the south have offered fertile ground to carry out such attacks," Dushebayev told a news conference. But security analysts say the recent violence had nothing to do with Islamist militancy and was unlikely to hand gains to extremist groups, because authorities in the region are on high alert and have kept such groups in check.

Coordinated attacks. The office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on June 15 the violence began with coordinated attacks by unidentified individuals in balaclavas, which quickly spiralled into ethnic clashes between local Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Dushebayev showed reporters automatic rifles, pistols, grenades and Islamist literature that he said were seized this week during police raids on ethnic Uzbek communities in Osh, the epicentre of the violence. Security officials in Osh have said the raids were necessary to seize weapons and search for missing people. Ethnic Uzbeks and human rights officials have said the raids were heavy-handed and that residents were beaten and their homes looted. They also accused government troops of not protecting ethnic Uzbeks and sometimes even siding with the attackers. Reuters had no way of independently verifying the origin of the items on display, which included a large English-language poster saying "Prosperity and freedom for people of Uzbekistan".

Parts of Central Asia, gripped by poverty, have become more susceptible to extremist ideology in recent years. Banned groups, such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, enjoy some social support in the region, although they have little or no political weight. While saying extremists groups might have been involved, Dushebayev said he also believed forces loyal to Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the former president who was ousted in a popular revolt in April, had played a role in the violence. "Their pride has been hurt," the security chief said. "They want to regain their wealth and their power, no matter what." Bakiyev, in exile in Belarus, has denied these claims. Speaking in Minsk on Wednesday, he said it was impossible to determine who was responsible until a full investigation has been carried out. He said it was possible that drug traffickers and religious extremists could have been involved. "So far I have just been told that the spark was a simple fight between members of two ethnic groups," he said.

US pledges millions in aid for Kyrgyzstan refugees. BBC reports: The US government has pledged $48m (£32m) in aid to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan. The US state department said the money would be spent on serving the needs of some 400,000 people displaced by the recent ethnic violence in the south. Kyrgyzstan's interim authorities say as many as 2,000 people died in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. It is two weeks since violence began in the southern city of Osh. A state of emergency remains in force.

Volatile situation. The authorities say that of the estimated 100,000 who fled across the border into neighbouring Uzbekistan nearly all have returned to their homes. Many others have not, wary that more violence could be on the way. The authorities are under pressure to keep security tight in the build up to a referendum on constitutional reform planned for Sunday. Clearly not everything is going according to plan: the central election committee said six of its Uzbek workers were kidnapped briefly on Wednesday before being released unharmed. In all this, it is important to remember the volatile political situation this country finds itself in only three months since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown after days of protests. The interim authorities - put to the test by the destabilising events of the last fortnight - now need to prove their worth by holding a peaceful referendum. The West has tentatively backed the vote.

Anarchist comment.

The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, repeat the resolution of 18.06.2010: "In Kyrgyzstan, it is necessary that the antimilitarist corps, police and armed defense, concentrate on the fight against the militarist ultra-fascist gangs, including ethnic 'cleaners', mafia and jihadists, i.e. criminal ochlarchs/ochlarchists. Arrest the criminal ochlarchs/ochlarchists. Also get rid of 'brown elements' within the antimilitarist corps. An ultra-fascist 'strong man' must be avoided. AI and AIE once more remind about Antimilitarism - an anarchist approach, IJA 2 (38) and Direct action."

The AI and AIE also repeat the calls for 1. freedom for Azimzhan Askarov, 2. an independent investigation into the violent pogroms, 3. more international aid, 4. an action to get rid of the 'brown elements' within the Kyrgyz police and military, and 5. an international police corps. More information, see the reports of 18-23.06.2010.

25.06.2010. Uzbek refugees return to Kyrgyzstan, terrified of renewed violence. Tens of thousands of Uzbeks have been pushed out of refugee camps in Uzbekistan, where they fled after ethnic riots, to return to southern Kyrgyzstan. This week, a steady stream of Uzbek women and children trailed back into Kyrgyzstan through the border village of Suratash, carrying worn raffia bags full of possessions and sometimes food. But an estimated 1,800 houses have been destroyed by arson attacks in the main city of Osh alone. That leaves the returning Uzbeks in limbo, homeless and terrified of renewed violence.

26.06.2010. Referendum tomorrow. Kyrgyz self-appointed leaders take risky bet on referendum. Kyrgyzstan holds a referendum on a new constitution Sunday 27.06.2010, a risky gamble amid deadly ethnic tensions but one the self-declared interim government hopes will legitimize its power until new parliament elections in October. The Central Asian nation was on a high security alert for the vote, deploying almost 8,000 police officers and an equal number of defense volunteers to keep the peace. Checkpoints were set up throughout the capital, Bishkek, and in Osh and Jalal-Abad, two southern cities wracked by ethnic purges against minority Uzbeks earlier this month.

The vote - supported by the UN, the US and Russia - is seen as an important step on the road to democracy for the interim government. Still, questions remain about how successfully it can be held just weeks after violence left hundreds of Uzbeks dead and forced up to 400,000 to flee. The proposed constitution - the seventh that the former Soviet republic has seen in its 19 years of independence - does little to address the causes of the violence that swept the south. The document that has been touted by Kyrgyz officials as a transition from despotism to the region's first parliamentary democracy looks strikingly similar to the constitution drawn up by former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was ousted in a bloody coup d'état three months ago.

It makes mostly cosmetic changes to parliament, limits the role of any one party to around 55 percent of the seats, and gives lawmakers some flimsy new levers of control over the presidency. But it does nothing to guarantee a greater role in politics for Uzbeks, who make up about 15 percent of the country's 5.5 million people but have long complained of being left out of the halls of power. For the leaders of the April coup d'état, and particularly for interim President Roza Otunbayeva, the vote is an effort to prolong and legitimize their rule. Otunbayeva's government proved incapable of quickly stopping the violence in the south and has done little to follow up on reports that security forces participated in the attacks on Uzbeks, who have been afraid to return to homes torched by mobs, i.e. ethnic 'cleaners', ultra-fascist ochlarchists/ochlarchs both within and outside the security forces.

Her government has accused Bakiyev's followers of instigating the violence to stop the referendum. Bakiyev, in exile, has denied any links to the purges, but his nephew has been charged with helping organize the deadly rioting. His son Maxim has also been arrested in Britain. Uzbeks have mostly supported the interim government, while Kyrgyz in the south backed Bakiyev.

It is hard to imagine a worse atmosphere for this experiment in democratic reform. Central Asia's Ferghana Valley, which stretches across Uzbekistan and parts of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, is a mosaic of dozens of ethnic groups, divided by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's capricious re-drawing of the region's borders. Disputes over water and fertile soil in the valley have long fueled hostility among these groups, who have historically been restrained by one dictator or another. If the 2.4 million voters in Sunday's referendum further weaken Otunbayeva's government by voting 'no,' many fear another spasm of violence could erupt.

"All our elections turn into catastrophes," said Zainidin Kurmanov, the speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament. "The referendum is not the solution to the problem, and it is possible that the political fight will get much worse afterward." Whatever the results of the vote, various parties in the provisional government will likely begin jockeying ahead of parliamentary elections this fall, creating further divisions. Jan Nadolski, a top UN security adviser in Kyrgyzstan, said institutions like the World Bank cannot offer Kyrgyzstan support because no one can legally sign agreements. "We are interested in establishing a legal government or president as soon as possible, a partner for discussions with the international community," he said.

Attempts at unity have been made. Maj. Gen. Zamir Moldoshuyev addressed both Uzbeks and Kyrgyz at the central mosque in Osh on Friday, calling for national unity and urging people to vote. On Saturday, investigators began exhuming some bodies of those killed during rampages to identify them and help families seeking compensation. Some voters, like Zamira Koichiyeva, who heads a travel agency in Bishkek, remain hopeful that a 'yes' vote will bring true change. "People are tired of the totalitarian regime under the previous two presidents, who robbed practically the entire nation," Koichiyeva said. Both Bakiyev and his predecessor, Askar Akayev, who was overthrown during the so called "Tulip Revolution" of 2005, in reality a coup d'état and not really a revolution, filled top government posts with relatives and clansmen, enriching themselves while feeding popular anger against the government.

But other voters, say, communists and fascists, believe that only a strong hand, a 'strong man', can control the feuding clans and ethnic divisions that permeate public life in Central Asia. "There should be one person in charge," said Turdybek Osmanaliev, a civil servant in Bishkek. "We in Kyrgyzstan have not grown to the level of countries with parliamentary systems." Kyrgyzstan has seen a national ballot roughly once a year for the past decade, and many have long given up on the democratic process. Security guard Amir Abdurakhmanov said he will not vote. "What's the point," he said with a shrug. "It seems like we lose either way."

Experts warn proceeding with the vote could make the volatile situation in Kyrgystan even worse. In the southern city of Osh, the search continues for those killed in recent clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks. There are 82 polling stations in the city – but none in Uzbek neighborhoods. Mobile ballot boxes will be delivered by the security forces – who many blame for the violence.

The anarchists 15.06.2010 declared "...The scale of the damage [in South Kyrgyzstan] is so vast ... that the AI and the AIE find it hard to see how a legitimate vote could be held in less than two weeks...". 22.06.2010 Human Rights Watch researcher Anna Neistat declared: "It's hard to imagine how they can hold a referendum now when half of the population [in South Kyrgyzstan] isn't here and others lack their IDs." The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, agreed with Neistat.

27.06.2010. Kyrgyzstan approves new constitution. Anarchist comment. Kyrgyzstan on Sunday approved a new constitution following a nationwide referendum, the state-run Kabar news agency reported. The Kyrgyz government's interim head, Roza Otunbeava, told reporters that Sunday's referendum took place without any reported incidents, paving the way for democratic rule, the news agency reported. "We believe the referendum is valid. The new constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic has been approved," Otunbaeva said. According to Otunbaeva, the turnout was high at 65.1 percent or 1.7 million voters, Kabar reported. "It will not be an interim but a legal and legitimate government," she added. "We are leaving the word interim behind." In the city of Osh, the situation was tense Sunday. The Kyrgyz and Uzbek were out and about, but the Uzbek had not turned out to vote, according to witnesses.

"This was not a vote about the government or parliament, but about the constitution," the Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, declare. "The Otunbeava-government is still an interim self-appointed and self-declared government, and very far from an anarchist cabinet and central administration.

03.07.2010. Kyrgyzstan swears in caretaker president. Kyrgyzstan's provisional leader Roza Otunbayeva, was sworn in as president Saturday. She is not elected by the people in a president election, but came to power by angry mobs, ochlarchy, with a coup d'état. However in a national referendum last week, more than 90 percent of voters approved keeping her on as caretaker president and gave their support to the revamped constitution. Speaking after her inauguration, Otunbayeva, 59, hailed what she described as a momentous new era for Kyrgyzstan, which has endured months of political and ethnic violence since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was deposed in a bloody uprising in April amid widespread anger over falling living standards and rampant corruption.

"In Kyrgyzstan, democracy is a system that has deep roots in the souls of the people," Otunbayeva told an audience of top government officials, diplomats and politicians. Over the course of her tenure as caretaker president, which lasts through to the end of 2011, Otunbayeva will oversee the implementation of a newly adopted constitution. The new founding law dilutes presidential powers in favor of a European-style parliamentary system, with less than 67% authoritarian degree, i.e. not totalitarian and extremist, as Kyrgyzstan today. But parliament rule and elections are not alone sufficient to achieve a non-totalitarian regime. Election of very significant rulers means a totalitarian and extremist system. "As president, I will spare no effort in creating a new political culture based on strict adherence to the rule of law," Otunbayeva said in a speech interrupted periodically by bouts of rhythmic clapping from the audience.

But before addressing some of her loftier ambitions, Otunbayeva will need to deal with the aftermath of ethnic clashes between majority ethnic Kyrgyz and the Uzbek minority last month, which left much of the southern city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second-largest, a smoldering ruin. "I promise that before the onset of cold weather, the Kyrgyz government will provide housing for all who lost the roofs over their head," she said. The official death toll from the violence that tore apart Osh and nearby Jalal-Abad currently stands at around 300, although Otunbayeva has said as many as 2,000 people may have died in the rioting. Most of the unrest involved mobs of ethnic Kyrgyz, ochlarchists/ochlarchs, trashing and setting fire to ethnic Uzbek neighborhoods, and some 400,000 people were displaced.

Over the coming week, Otunbayeva is set to form a new Cabinet. The new leadership will likely not feature top members of the current government, many of whom are expected to step aside as they prepare for parliamentary elections in October. Otunbayeva had appealed for prospective candidates in her interim Cabinet to resign, saying that is the only way to ensure a level playing field in the parliamentary vote. Otunbayeva, who will be prohibited from running for the presidency in elections planned for October 2011, started her political career in the twilight years of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's rule as a low-level Communist Party functionary in Bishkek, formerly called Frunze. After the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Otunbayeva quickly rose to influential positions, serving as her country's foreign minister and later as Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States and Britain. After returning to Kyrgyzstan, she became one of the leaders of the so called 2005 "Tulip Revolution", another coup d'état, that swept then-President Askar Akayev, a former physicist, from power and brought Bakiyev in. Within years, she grew disaffected with Bakiyev's increasingly authoritarian leadership and broke away to join the opposition.

04.07.2010. "The People's Democratic Republic of Kyrgyzstan", or was it North Korea? "In Kyrgyzstan, democracy is a system that has deep roots in the souls of the people," Roza Otunbayeva said 03.07.2010. The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, remind a) the Kyrgyz mainly self-declared and self-appointed government, including the caretaker president Otunbayeva, b) international newsmedia and mandated persons in general, and c) anarchists, that authorities that speak most of democracy, often represent systems that are the quite opposite, totalitarian and extremist, say, the "People's Democratic Republic of Korea".

Ad Kyrgyzstan: The new rulers, oligarchy, of this totalitarian, extremist state will probably not move the system significantly in libertarian - real democratic - direction, from the long term structural estimate at ca 29,1 % libertarian degree, i.e. ca 70,9 % authoritarian degree, more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree. The present dip of the libertarian degree, with chaos and bloodshed, seems however mainly to be over. But will there be a double dip? Continued rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy?

16.07.2010. Brown Card to Constantino De Miguel and Euronews, that falsely report: "But people in your country [Kyrgyztan] are disappointed with democracy, after the rigged elections and the anarchy that followed, so how can you really gain their confidence?"

Rivaling oligarchy with ochlarchy (mob rule broadly defined), that has marred Kyrgyzstan, is a form of archy - authoritarian - at top down approach, and not anarchy - libertarian - a bottom up approach.

Chaos, disorder, mob rule (narrowly defined), lawlessness, the law of the jungle, criminality, riots, vandalism, arson, theft, corruption, drugs, mafia, terrorism, autocratic rule, the right to the strongest, antisocial tyrannic behavior, etc. i.e. different types of superiors and subordinates, a top - down approach, and thus not anarchy - a bottom up approach. The Greek rooted word for mob rule is ochlarchy. Ochlarchy is also used as a common word for all the authoritarian evils mentioned above i.e. mob rule broadly defined. Ochlarchy is clearly authoritarian, a top down approach - the opposite of anarchy, a bottom up approach - optimal order included.

To mix up opposites as anarchy and ochlarchy,  as outdated dictionaries and media often do, this time Constantino De Miguel and Euronews, is equally authoritarian as mixing up opposites as peace and war, as Big Brother did in Orwell's "1984" newspeak. It should be stopped, and the IAT-APT in such cases hands out a Brown Card, as free criticism of this authoritarian tendency, this time to Constantino De Miguel and Euronews. The Anarchist International, AI, and the International Anarchist Tribunal included the Anarchist Press Tribunal, IAT-APT, call on the international newsmedia and mandated persons to report fairly and objectively, and not with authoritarian newspeak, about anarchy, anarchism, anarchist and anarchists. More information about the Brown Card and anarchy vs chaos/ochlarchy, see the Oslo Convention and search for anarchy vs chaos at Anarchy-debate - Anarkidebatt . The IAT-APT homepage: Tribunal.

22.07.2010. OSCE will send an international police force to Kyrgyztan, after anarchists' and others request. Police in Kyrgyzstan have detained a brother of deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, authorities said Thursday - the latest effort to solidify control over the country's tense south and dismantle the former leader's entourage. Hopes for sustained peace were further bolstered when the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced it would send an international police force to the southern region of the Central Asian nation. The Anarchist International, AI, and the Anarchist International Embassy, AIE, called for an international police corps 24.06.2010.

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Qatar and other Arab countries on the eonomic-political map

With Arab countries we mean the 22 members of the Arab Leauge. The main goal of the League is to "draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries." The Arab Leauge is the main fascist organization of today, with four moderate fascist systems, and eighteen totalitarian fascist systems, with more than 67% authoritarian degree.

Qatar is the least authoritarian Arab country. Ruled by the al-Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the Amir, who had ruled the country since 1972. His son, the current Amir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Oil and natural gas revenues enable Qatar to have a high GDP per capita, 31 558 US $ (2005). For 2007 it is estimated to $ 75 900 PPP, and $ 86 600 at current exchange rate, one of the worlds highest. This contributes to lower the degree of capitalism, but the income-distribution is significantly uneven. The unemployment rate was as low as 0.7% (2007). All in all this is significantly a capitalist country, the degree of capitalism is estimated to 59,5 %. Ethnic groups are Arab 40%, Indian 18%, Pakistani 18%, Iranian 10% and other 14%. Religion: Muslim 77.5%, Christian 8.5%, other 14% (2004 census) . It is ranked as no 40 on the UN's Human Development Index of 2005.

Government type is emirate, a form of  monarchy headed by the Amir, but not without tendencies of democracy, say, the constitution was ratified by a public referendum on 29 April 2003, and endorsed by the Amir on 8 June 2004, made effective on 9 June 2005. Legal system based on Islamic and civil law codes, discretionary system of law controlled by the Amir although civil codes are being implemented. Islamic law dominates family and personal matters. Legislative branch is a unicameral Advisory Council or Majlis al-Shura.  The constitution provides for a new 45-member Majlis al-Shura; the public would elect two-thirds of the Majlis al-Shura; the Amir would appoint the remaining members; preparations are underway to conduct elections to the Majlis al-Shura. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the monarch.  In April 2007, Qatar held nationwide elections for a 29-member Central Municipal Council (CMC), which has limited consultative powers aimed at improving the provision of municipal services; the first election for the CMC was held in March 1999.  There are however no political parties. The degree of statism is estimated to 65,4 %, clearly a statist country. Thus the authoritarian degree is estimated to 62,5 % and the libertarian degree 37,5 %, ranked as no 47 of countries according to libertarian degree.  It is thus not a totalitarian system with more than 67% authoritarian degree, but  rather authoritarian. It is located to the left in the populist sector of the fascist quadrant on the economic-political map, thus it is a left populist regime, moderate fascism. Similar systems, but a bit more authoritarian are in the United Arab Emirates, ranked as no 48 of countries according to libertarian degree, with ca 37,4 % libertarian degree, Bahrain 49 (ca 37,3%) and Kuwait  50 (ca 37,2%).

The other Arab countries are totalitarian fascist states, with less than 33,33 % libertarian degree: Libya ranked as no 68 (ca 32,5% libertarian degree),  Oman 74 (ca 31,9%), Saudi Arabia 82  (ca 31,1%), Lebanon 84 (ca 30,9%), Tunisia 92 (ca 30,1%), Jordan 93  (ca 30%), Algeria 105 (ca 28,5%), Syria 108 (ca 28,2%), Occupied Palestinian Territories 110 (ca 28%), Egypt 122 (ca 26,7%), Morocco 127 (ca 25,8%),  Comoros 135 (ca 24,5%), Sudan 144 (ca 23,6%), Djibouti 152  (ca 22,8%), Yemen 154 (ca 22,6%), Mauritania 155 (ca 22,5%), Iraq 177 (ca 20,5%) and Somalia 186 ( ca 20%). Somalia with its rivaling polyarchy and heavy ochlarchy is the most authoritarian country in the world. These totalitarian fascist states have very little respect for human rights and are ruled very significantly from the top downwards to the boottom/grassroots, both economically and political/administrative. There are a marginal anarchist opposition in some of the countries, say Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco, but most of the oppositions are fundamentalist, islamist, fascist terrorist groups, even worse than the existing regimes. The Anarchist International supports human rights, including labor and womens' rights, and anarchist opposition, in these countries, and the AI-note "What anarchists are against and what they are for" is translated to Arabic by Arab anarchists, see Anarchism in Arabic, but it is a long way to go before anything close to anarchy can be achieved in these countries.

22.07.2009. Amnesty says Saudi terror fight plagued with abuse. Saudi Arabia is holding more than 3,000 people in secret detention and has used torture to extract confessions in its anti-terrorism crackdown since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Amnesty International said in a report. The report criticized the international community for turning a blind eye to the kingdom's methods in its crackdown. Asked about the report, a Saudi Interior Ministry official, Abdulrahman Alhadlaq, said, "These are claims that have to be proven." "Our policies on human rights are very clear and the orders given are for prisoners to be treated with respect and according to international human rights principles," Alhadlaq said. "If anything happened, it would be an individual case and if it is brought to anybody's attention it will be dealt with."

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THE ANARCHIST INTERNATIONAL
www.anarchy.no

The Anarchist International condemns Libyan dictator colonel Moammar Gadhafi's attempt to 'abolish' the Anarchy of Switzerland

Gadhafi [a.k.a. Gaddafi; Muammar al-Qaddafi] has asked the United Nations to 'abolish' Switzerland and share the land among its neighboring countries. The eccentric dictator has filed a motion with the UN saying the Alpine state should be wiped off the map and split among France, Italy and Germany. Gadhafi was set to present his bizarre plan when Libya took over the year-long presidency of the UN general Assembly on September 15 2009. He first mentioned his idea at the G8 summit in Italy in July. "Switzerland is a world mafia and not a state," he declared. It is true that Switzerland is not a state, but a confederation with a lot of direct democracy and an anarchy of low degree, but it is not an ochlarchy a.o.t. mafia. The degree of anarchy in Switzerland is about 53 %, and the authoritarian degree about 47%.

"It [Switzerland] is formed of an Italian community that should return to Italy, another German community that should return to Germany, and a third French community that should return to France", Gadhafi postulated. The Swiss Foreign Ministry described it as a single-minded campaign against Swiss interests. Swiss MP Christa Markwalder told the Swiss TV news programme 10 vor 10: "We are concerned that Libya will attempt to use its year-long presidency of the UN General Assembly to damage Switzerland's reputation." Relations between Switzerland and Libya crumbled after Gaddafi's son Hannibal, 33, and his pregnant wife were arrested in Geneva a year ago accused of assaulting a hotel chamber maid.

The Anarchist International condemns the Libyan dictator colonel Moammar Gadhafi's attempt to 'abolish' the Anarchy of Switzerland and his lies and smearstories that Switzerland is a mafia.  Dictator colonel Moammar Gadhafi is the ruler of a left fascist totalitarian system in Libya, a lawless ochlarchy where the boss is always right, with about  67,5 % authoritarian degree (32,5% libertarian degree), and he is lying about direct democracy in his country. The Anarchist International condemns both dictator colonel Moammar Gadhafi and his left fascist totalitarian system, and calls for protests and revolt against him and his system, and support for the Anarchy of Switzerland in this matter. 03.09.2009.

More information, see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1210936/Now-Colonel-Gaddafi-wants-abolish-Switzerland-Dictator-files-bizarre-motion-U-N.html

PS. 26.02.2010. Swiss face 'holy war' with Gadhafi's Libya. After two centuries of neutrality, Switzerland found itself in a bizarre and unprecedented situation Friday, facing a would-be "holy war" announced by Libya's Moammar Gadhafi. The Swiss cabinet declined to comment on Gadhafi's latest salvo in a simmering diplomatic saga stemming from the Geneva police's 2008 arrest and brief detainment of his son, Hannibal, and his wife for allegedly beating up their servants. Although Gadhafi's jihad declaration late Thursday was widely viewed as a stunt by a leader given to outlandish behavior, the danger is perhaps difficult to dismiss 100% in an era of Islamic-Western foment over issues ranging from headdress bans in Europe to faraway Middle East disputes, Iran's nuclear program and Nordic newspapers' caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. But the Anarchist International so far see this as a bad joke from Gadhafi, and will thus not take any action at the moment.

The Swiss referendum suggesting a ban of minarets is condemned and declared not valid by the International Anarchist Tribunal and the Anarchist International

Anarchists are for real democracy, also direct democracy, i.e. voting not violating freedom and human rights interpreted in a libertarian way, see http://www.anarchy.no/anrights.html  . Swiss voters have supported a right populist (moderate fascist) referendum proposal to ban the building of new minarets, official results show 29.11.2009. More than 57% of voters and 22 out of 26 cantons voted in favour of the ban. The Swiss referendum suggesting a ban of minarets is clearly violating freedom and human rights and is thus condemned and declared not valid by the International Anarchist Tribunal and the Anarchist International. Nobody should pay attention to this unlawful referendum, a mockery of real democracy and direct democracy. Just build minarets, and let the right populists try pull them down, if they dare in front international condemnation! The authoritarian degree of the Swiss system, estimated to about 47%, may soon be adjusted up if the right populist tendency increases.

[ More information about the Swiss economic-political system, see "NORWAY AND SWITZERLAND: ANARCHIES OF LOW DEGREE", IJA 1 (37) , http://www.anarchy.no/ija137.html ]

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The situation in Iran

Release the political prisoners in Iran! Do away with the fascist regime!

See (clik on) : http://www.anarchy.no/ija239.html

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The situation in Georgia

A NOTE FROM THE
Anarchist International Embassy in Oslo
l'ambassade du monde libertaire
http://www.anarchy.no/embassy.html

After several days of protests, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has said that Presidential elections will now be held next January, however the state of emergency he imposed on Wednesday 07.11.2007 remains in force.  Demonstrations on Wednesday were brutally repressed by the authorities, leaving hundreds injured. The tremendous discontent in Georgia is a direct result of the misguided and failed policies of the government, which leaves no space for dialogue and has seriously undermined fundamental workers' rights. President Saakashvili must lift the state of emergency immediately, and ensure that human rights including the fundamental labor standards are fully respected.

At least one-third of the Georgian population lives below the poverty line, the official unemployment level is 16% (real unemployment is said to be considerably higher) and the pension is Euros 16 per month. Changes to the labor law mean that workers can be fired without any explanation or effective recourse, leading to widespread dissatisfaction over the government's performance. The labor laws are leading to fear and uncertainty amongst working people and their families, and the absence of social dialogue and basic rights and freedoms compounds this.  Unless Georgia fundamentally changes direction to become a stable democracy, and preferably a real democracy , i.e. anarchy, the situation will only get even worse. Again: The government of Georgia  must lift the state of emergency immediately and guarantee fundamental rights.

Regards ... Chargé d'affaires A. Quist of AIE

More information about the situation in Georgia, see (click on) http://www.anarchy.no/ija139.html

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Ukraine on the economic-political map

by IIFOR 29.11.2008

Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), with a.o.t. a wide spread anarchist movement, but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths.

Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic amd political progress and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest, the "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004, forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power Viktor Yushchenko. Yushchenko promised reforms, but little has happened. Subsequent internal squabbles in the Yushchenko camp allowed his rival Viktor Yanukovych to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006. An early legislative election, brought on by a political crisis in the spring of 2007, saw Yuliya Tymoshenko, as head of an "Orange" coalition, installed as a new prime minister in December 2007. Despite elections, Ukraine is far from a real democracy, it has considerable authoritarianism. (Remember also Adolf Hitler was democratically elected...) Ukraine is a democracy in the name only, it is in reality a totalitarian economic-political system, with no real autonomy for the people as opposed to the upper classes, and no real socialism.

Ukraine is bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east. Environmental problems are: Inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant. Average life expectancy at birth for the total population is 68.06 years. Ethnic groups are: Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census). Literacy above 15 years of age is 99.4% (2001 concensus). The unemployment ratio is 2.3% officially registered; but there is a large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is nearly 7% (2007 est.). Gininindex, offical estimate, is 29 (2003), 31 (2006), however widespread corruption indicates a real Gini-index above 35. In 2003 the GDP per capita at current exchange rate was estimated to 1 024 US $ and  the PPP at 5 491, according to UN statistics. In 2007 the figures were  3 028 and 7 000 according to the CIA-factbook. These figures, indicating an incredible growth rate, can hardly be trusted, but in any case the GDP per capita is relatively low, indicating low efficiency, a typical capitalist tendency.

Labor legislation incompatible with international standards remains in place. Interference intensified in 2007-2008 both on behalf of the employers and the authorities. Several anti-union discrimination were reported. Although the government has made an effort to resolve some past violations, further cases of harassment, intimidation and even physical assault of trade union activists were reported. Labor union members are often subject to pressure and discrimination. This includes dismissals, transfers, demotions and deteriorating trade unionists' working conditions.

The figures and other data are quite uncertain, but all in all indicating a system with large rank differences and somewhat less income differences, and it is relatively inefficient. The degree of capitalism is estimated to about 50,1% and the degree of statism is estimated to 82,6%, and thus the authoritarian degree is about 68,3%, and the libertarian degree about 31,7% . This is indicating a totalitarian left fascist system on the economic-political map. Totalitarian societies have systems with more than 66,7 % authoritarian degree. The system in Ukraine is however somewhat less authoritarian than in Georgia.

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The Anarchist International Embassy in Oslo
l'ambassade du monde libertaire
http://www.anarchy.no/embassy.html

Yes - we have standards. USA however does not see the difference between
rotten brown economic-political apples and fresh apples

No membership in NATO for Georgia and Ukraine (brown)
from Antimilitarism - an anarchist approach
http://www.anarchy.no/ija238.html

Resolution unanimously decided upon by the
The International Anarchist Congress
The 10th Anarchist Biennial 29-30.11.2008

The AI and the AIE  have always, and still are, supporters of NATO-membership of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, etc., but at the same time have been against NATO and USA's support to fascist regimes as historically in Turkey, Greece, and Spain (Franco). The NATO and USA's support to Saakashvili's totalitarian right fascist regime in Georgia, with about 71,2% authoritarian degree, is a disgrace and must stop immediately. We declare no membership in NATO for Saakashvili's fascist regime in Georgia.  The totalitarian left fascist regime in Ukraine, with about 68,3 % authoritarian degree, is also too authoritarian for NATO membership. NATO should have no totalitarian regimes as members, i.e. with more than 66,7 % authoritarian degree.

We send the assurances of our greatests appreciations

Yours sincerely

Chargé d'affaires G. Johnson of AIE

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The situation in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe  has a powerful president  and a parliamentary system that is democracy only in the name, not in reality. The president is both the chief of state and head of government. Cabinet is appointed by the president, it is however responsible to the House of Assembly. Another part of parliament is the Senate. Ethnic groups are African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%. Compared to, say, Kenya, Zimbabwe has now less of tribal hierarchies, discrimination and conflicts. A life expectancy at birth at only 36,9 years (1.8 million living with HIV/AIDS, 2001 estimate) combined with a very repressive political/administrative system in general, contribute to a low degree of autonomy. However a relatively high adult literacy rate at about 90%, (Kenya has 73,6%)  according to African standards, contributes to increase the degree of autonomy. The economic-political system of Kenya however  works very significantly  from the top downwards to the bottom, grassroots, all in all very significantly vertically organized economical and political/administrative.

The gini-index  is estimated to ca 56,8  indicating it is very significantly a capitalist country (more capitalist than the USA with a gini-index at 40,8 and Kenya at 42,5). The system has however been quite efficient (which lower the degree of capitalism) according to African standards, with a relatively high GDP per capita measured in US $ at current exchange rate, but this is partly due to an articificial high official exchange rate. The real efficiency is thus difficult to tell. (In 2005 the gini-index was 50,1, but the efficiency has fallen. In 2001 the PPP GDP per capita was 2 443 US $, compared to 1 037 US $ for Kenya in 2003. In 2007 the PPP GDP per capita in Zimbabwe was as low as 500 US $) . Environmental problems: Deforestation; soil erosion; land degradation; air and water pollution; the black rhinoceros herd - once the largest concentration of the species in the world - has been significantly reduced by poaching; poor mining practices have led to toxic waste and heavy metal pollution, also contribute to a high degree of capitalism.

The degree of capitalism is estimated to ca 78,5 %  (ca 21,5% socialism) and the degree of  statism is estimated to ca 76,1 % (degree of autonomy is ca 23,9 %), and thus the libertarian degree is estimated to ca 22,7% (the authoritarian degree is ca 77,3%). The system is all in all clearly  totalitarian, located in the ultra-fascist sector of the fascist quadrant of the economic-political map, see  http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html . Zimbabwe is no 153 on the ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, see http://www.anarchy.no/ranking.html . In comparision Kenya has a libertarian degree at 20,3% (the authoritarian degree is ca 79,7%), and is ranked as no 181. These structural estimates are mostly based on the UN-HDI statistics from 2005, with data from 2003. At present the system of Zimabwe is probably even more authoritarian, closer to 80% authoritarian degree, and the country is probably among the 20 worst of countries with respect to libertarian degree. Even if the opposition comes into position in Zimbabwe it will take many years to make the system significantly less authoritarian.

Under government pressure, court denies bail to union leaders adopted as Amnesty International prisoners of conscience

IIFOR, the Anarchist International (AI) and the International Workers of the World (IWW/AI) criticize a Magistrate's decision on 12 May to keep labor confederation activists Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe in detention in Harare Remand Prison until 23 May.  The decision followed threats made by the Mugabe regime to overrule the court's decision if it granted bail to the union leaders, President and General Secretary respectively of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Matombo and Chibebe have been adopted by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience. The two were arrested and interrogated for six hours, after voluntarily attending a police station on 8 May after armed police raided their homes. The arrests arise from May Day speeches made by Matombo and Chibebe.Yet again, the Mugabe regime is showing blatant disregard for the rule of law and fundamental labor rights enshrined in International Labour Organisation Conventions. The international anarchist movement condemns this latest act of aggression by the Zimbabwean authorities, which is intended to keep Robert Mugabe and his close cohort of hardline supporters in power in defiance of the will of the Zimbabwean people.

General Secretary of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) arrested

16.05.2008 - Pressure is high for labor activists in Zimbabwe. Raymond Majongwe, the General Secretary of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and a member of the General Council of the ZCTU, has been arrested while ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe are still in detention. Raymond Majongwe was apprehended by the police at the High Court of Zimbabwe in Harare today while he was attending the bail hearing of Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe. According to the information received, his arrest might be linked to PTUZ material concerning the violence and harassment of teachers at their workplaces during the current wave of political violence in the country.

Zimbabwe has an obligation to include a representative of the most representative workers' organization in this country to the 97th session of the International Labour Conference beginning on 28 May 2008. As the leaders of the ZCTU, the most representative international labor organization in Zimbabwe, Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe should be freed in order that they may fulfill their role as part of the Zimbabwe delegation. The international anarchist movement is monitoring the situation in Zimbabwe very closely, and calls for the immediate release of all detained trade unionists.

We IIFOR, AI and IWW/AI in this letter (e-mail) to the Ministry of Foreign Affaires of Zimbabwe and the Embassy in Stockholm, strongly urges President Mugabe to immediately release Mr. Lovemore Matombo, Mr. Wellington Chibebe and Raymond Majongwe and drop all charges against them.

Regards P. Johansen for IIFOR, A. Quist for AI and L. Jakobsen for IWW/AI

Reply from USUN

From: USUN, Public Affaires
To: IIFOR
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 10:57 PM
Subject: RE: Zimbabwe on the economic-political map. Release Matombo, Chibebe and Majongwe and drop all charges against them.

Thank you for sharing your concerns:

The United States remains troubled by election irregularities and growing incidents of reported violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe by state security forces and ruling party supporters against regime opponents.

The elections of March 29 underscore our grave cause for concern.  Based on publicly posted results, it is clear that the people of Zimbabwe voted overwhelmingly for change.  The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must release the presidential election results and ensure their veracity in a transparent manner. 

Reports from our embassy in Harare cite unacceptable incidents of violence and intimidation, particularly in the rural areas.  These attacks appear to target individuals who voted for opposition party candidates.  Additionally, the government has imposed a ban on all rallies and demonstrations, which provide further evidence that the regime once again exerts a chokehold on Zimbabweans' basic right to constructively express justifiable grievances. Such brutality and coercion is unacceptable and has no place in a democratic society.

We call upon the government and all other parties to desist from violence and intimidation, act with restraint, respect human rights and allow the electoral process to continue unfettered.  We will hold accountable those responsible for violence.  We commend the Zimbabwean people for their patience during these delays and strongly urge that their views and democratic preferences be accurately reflected in the outcome of the elections.

Thank you again for your active interest and engagement on this issue tremendous of global importance.  For more on the United States Mission to the United Nations, please visit www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov .  

Respectfully,
United States Mission to the UN
Office of Press and Public Diplomacy

Labor activists granted bail, but denied right to adress "political gatherings"

19.05.2008 - Zimbabwean High Court Judge, Justice Ben Hlatshwayo today granted Z$20 billion bail each to two Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leaders' who were are facing charges of "inciting the public to rise against the government and communicating falsehoods".  The judge's decision comes after a Harare Magistrate, Olivia Mariga, had on Monday 12 May 2008, kept ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo and ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe in detention claiming that they were not suitable for bail. As part of the conditions for granting bail, Justice Hlatshwayo said the two were being barred to "address any political gathering until this matter is finalized". They were also ordered to reside at their given home addresses and not to "interfere" with any state witnesses.

We welcome the decision to grant bail to the two ZCTU leaders, however the decision to forbid them to attend "political gatherings" as a condition of their bail is completely unacceptable. The ZCTU leaders were charged with inciting people to rise against the government and falsehoods after they told workers gathered at Dzivaresekwa Stadium on May 1, 2008 that people were being killed during the current wave of political violence in the country.

The two ZCTU leaders were arrested after they presented themselves to the police on Thursday 8 May 2008 where they were initially interrogated for more than six hours before charges were laid against them. They had availed themselves to the police after armed police had visited their residences searching for them. The leaders were held at Harare Remand Prison. The High Court Judge heard the bail application on Thursday 16 May 2008, but deferred the verdict to today. The matter will be heard on 23 May 2008 at Harare Magistrate's Courts. The international pressure in this matter has probably worked, and we are keeping up the pressure.

23.05.3008 - The trial of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions' (ZCTU) President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary-General Wellington Chibebe was today scheduled for 23 June by the country's High Court, after the union leaders provided proof that they were scheduled to attend the ILO's International Labour Conference which runs from 28 May to 13 June in Geneva. The two remain barred from addressing any political gathering.

IIFOR, AI and IWW/AI have also expressed support for a campaign to end violence in Zimbabwe and show solidarity with its people. The campaign will be launched at a series of national events in Africa and elsewhere on Africa Day, 25 May, when people are being asked to "Stand Up For Zimbabwe".

23.06.2008 - International criticism is mounting on Zimbabwe after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a presidential run-off because of pre-poll violence. Saying he could not ask his voters to risk their lives, Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the race, a move that seemed intended to force action from other nations and organizations. We strongly urge UN and other actions over president Robert Mugabe's illegitimate regime.

The trial of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe, scheduled for a hearing today, has been delayed by a week.  The two labor activists, charged with "communicating falsehoods" and "inciting the public to rise against the government", appeared today at Harare Magistrates' Court only to find that the magistrate expected to hear the case, and the state prosecutor, were absent. After several hours wait, another magistrate took up the matter and postponed the hearing until 30 June.

Labor confederations in southern Africa and several other countries protested to Zimbabwe embassies today over the trial of Matombo and Chibebe, as the crisis in Zimbabwe deepened and MDC opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential election.  

The MDC cited a campaign of violence and terror by the Zimbabwean military and militia aligned with the ruling party of Robert Mugabe.  According to the MDC, some 3,000 militia bases have been set up around the country to stop the opposition's election campaign through beatings and intimidation, the opposition is being denied media coverage by the authorities, and a series of steps have been taken by Mugabe's ZANU-PF Party to exert total control over the election process.  Some 200,000 Zimbabweans are believed to have been displaced during the latest round of violence, and around 2,000 MDC officials and members are believed to be currently in detention.

Citing the dozens of politically-motivated killings, ZCTU General Council members meeting last Friday stated that the level of violence has reached "alarming if not catastrophic proportions" and declared that the ZCTU "would not accept the outcome of a flawed election".

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously condemned the Zimbabwean government because of violence that has marred the campaign leading up to a scheduled presidential election runoff, which forced the withdrawal of the opposition candidate from the race. Tsvangirai took refuge at the Dutch Embassy in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare on Sunday night. The council's statement - issued late Monday - questioned the legitimacy of any election held under such circumstances but did not directly call for the runoff, scheduled for Friday, to be postponed. Earlier, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made that appeal, saying the vote runoff as currently scheduled "would only deepen divisions within the country and produce a result that could not be seen as credible."

24.06.2008 - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he will leave the Dutch embassy in Harare in the next 48 hours. He said the Dutch ambassador had received assurances from the Zimbabwe authorities about his safety. Meanwhile, an African election observer said torture was "the order of the day" in Zimbabwe.

ANC 'dismayed' by Zimbabwe crisis: South Africa's governing ANC party has accused the Zimbabwean government of "riding roughshod" over democracy and said a fair election is not possible. This is the strongest statement so far by the ANC on Zimbabwe and a sign of mounting diplomatic pressure on its government. The ANC said it was "deeply dismayed by the actions of the Zimbabwean government - which is riding roughshod over hard-won democratic rights". It said it could not remain "indifferent to the flagrant violation of every principle of democratic governance". And the party referred to "compelling evidence of violence, intimidation and outright terror". The comments come a day after the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to condemn the violence in Zimbabwe and said a fair election would be "impossible". Coming from South Africa - the most powerful country in the region - the ANC statement is a further sign of President Mugabe's growing isolation. Zimbabwe's opposition is hoping neighbouring countries will put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to step down. In the past they supported him. How are relations now? 

South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki is the key Zimbabwe mediator. He has refused to criticize Robert Mugabe but the ruling ANC and trade unions have urged him to take a stronger line. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has taken the region's strongest line on Zimbabwe. He says Zimbabwe is a regional "embarrassment". Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is one of Robert Mugabe's closest allies - they fought colonialism together in the 1970s. He has urged Mr Mugabe to stop the violence. Botswana has summoned a Zimbabwean envoy to complain about the political violence. It has been supportive of Zimbabwe's opposition. Namibia is a close ally of Zimbabwe - it, too, is planning to redistribute white-owned farms to black villagers. It has not criticized the election violence. Mozambique has hosted some white farmers forced from Zimbabwe and is seen as relatively sympathetic to Zimbabwe's opposition. Tanzania's ruling party has a long history of close ties to Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and its foreign minister has condemned the violence. DR Congo's President Joseph Kabila is an ally of Robert Mugabe, who sent troops to help his father, Laurent Kabila, fight rebels. Malawi is seen as neutral. But some 3m people of Malawian origin are in Zimbabwe, mostly farmworkers who have lost their jobs and were often assaulted during farm invasions.

25.06.2008 - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called Wednesday for armed international peacekeepers to secure a new presidential election in the country where violence has marred a runoff set for this week. "We do not want armed conflict, but the people of Zimbabwe need the words of indignation from global leaders to be backed by the moral rectitude of military force," Tsvangirai wrote in Wednesday's edition of the British newspaper The Guardian. "Such a force would be in the role of peacekeepers, not troublemakers. They would separate the people from their oppressors and cast the protective shield around the democratic process for which Zimbabwe yearns." Tsvangirai  said also Zimbabwe would "break" if the world did not come to its aid.

Southern African leaders will hold an emergency meeting in Swaziland's capital Mbabane on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe, officials said.The Mbabane meeting has been called by the leading regional body, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), amid mounting international pressure on Mugabe to resolve his country's political turmoil and economic meltdown. The leaders of Tanzania, Angola and Swaziland would attend the meeting in their capacity as the SADC's troika organ on politics, defense and security, the Tanzanian government said in a statement. "Others who have been invited to attend the meeting are the current SADC chairman, [ President] Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, and the SADC mediator for Zimbabwe, [President] Thabo Mbeki of South Africa," said the statement. "The meeting will discuss how the SADC and its troika organ on politics, defense and security can help Zimbabwe to get out of its current state of conflict."

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission ruled later on Wednesday that Friday's presidential runoff will proceed as planned despite the withdrawal of opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai, according to the panel's chairman. "The commission met today to deliberate on the contents and letter [from] Tsvangirai," Election Commission Chairman George Chiweshe told reporters at a news conference. "It was unanimously agreed that withdrawal was well out of time and for that reason, the withdrawal was of no legal force." Despite his withdrawal, Tsvangirai's name will remain on the ballots because they are already printed, the commission said. Tsvangirai has however made it clear he does not participate in the election. He returned to the Dutch Embassy after leaving briefly Wednesday and holding a news conference at his home. It was the first time he had left the embassy since Sunday, when he arrived there seeking refuge. Tsvangirai has said he would be open to a range of political options -  including a postponed election under "acceptable" conditions or a negotiated transition of power. At his news conference Wednesday, the MDC leader made four demands: - The violence must stop immediately; - Emergency humanitarian organizations must be allowed to operate freely and without hindrance throughout the country; - All political prisoners must be freed immediately; and - Parliament and Senate must be sworn in and begin working on the people's business. He called on international leaders to intervene, specifically the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, a regional body of 14 southern African nations.

Tsvangirai also has as mentioned asked the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force to Zimbabwe. The United Nations has not responded to his request, he said Wednesday, asking the international body to "urgently" consider it. Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu labeled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe "Frankenstein" and called for other countries to intervene before the country descended into bloodshed. Former South African President Nelson Mandela called the violent political crisis "a tragic failure of leadership." The Southern African Development Community (SADC) warned that the violence in Zimbabwe may "undermine the credibility and legitimacy" of the runoff, and the group urged Zimbabwean authorities to "consider" postponing it.

On Wednesday morning, the British newspaper The Guardian published an editorial it said was penned by Tsvangirai that called the situation in Zimbabwe, see above. But later Wednesday, Tsvangirai denied having written it and said that although "credible sources" had told The Guardian he was the author, "this was not the case." "An article that appeared in my name, published in the Guardian ... does not reflect my position or opinions regarding solutions to the Zimbabwean crisis," he said.

26.06.2008 - The anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists included, strongly support Tsvangirai's position. - Mugabe rejects poll delay calls. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has brushed aside last minute calls for Friday's disputed presidential run-off election to be postponed or called off. Amid continuing violence on its supporters, the MDC has as mentioned withdrawn from the contest. However, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said his supporters should vote rather than face violent reprisals. The government blames the MDC for the violence, and on Thursday the police accused Britain and the US of backing MDC plans to disrupt Friday's voting. MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti went free on bail Thursday after more than two weeks behind bars.

27.06.2008 - Zimbabweans vote under threat of violence. Zimbabweans in a Harare township were being forced to vote by members of Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party in Friday's presidential runoff election.  People in Harare's Mbare township were being told that they would be removed from their homes if they didn't vote. Early reports from some polling stations seemed to indicate low voter turnout. The vote comes three months after Mugabe finished second to Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in the initial ballot. Tsvangirai scored nearly 48 percent of the vote to the president's 43 percent. The MDC has said at least 86 of its supporters have been killed, 10,000 wounded and 200,000 displaced. Robert Mugabe is the sole candidate in the election, and will thus win. The European Union dismissed the vote as a "sham" and the US and Germany say the UN will consider sanctions. The anarchists agree with EU that the election is a sham.

28.06.2008 - Mugabe 'preparing to be sworn in'. Robert Mugabe is expected to be sworn in as Zimbabwe's president on Sunday, following his victory in an election boycotted by the opposition candidate. Government sources say Mr Mugabe has won by a huge margin in the vote, which has been widely condemned as a sham. Reports suggest a large number of spoiled ballot papers. President Bush today called Zimbabwe's runoff presidential election a "sham" and said he would push for additional sanctions against the country's government.

29.06.2008 - Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for a new five-year term as Zimbabwe's president after election officials declared a landslide victory for him. The ceremony took place at Mr Mugabe's State House residence in the capital Harare. Results showed Mr Mugabe won 85% of the vote, but many ballots were spoiled. Official results were: Robert Mugabe: 2,150,269; Morgan Tsvangirai: 233,000; Spoiled ballots: 131,481; Voter turnout: 42.37% - Source: Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Mr Mugabe is expected to fly to Egypt to attend an African Union summit which opens on Monday. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr programme, former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, said that African Union leaders should refuse to recognize Robert Mugabe as legitimate president of Zimbabwe. "If you were to have a unanimous voice, saying quite clearly to Mr Mugabe... you are illegitimate and we will not recognize your administration in any shape or form - I think that would be a very, very powerful signal and would really strengthen the hand of the international community." Tutu said. The anarchists support Tutus point of view and do not recognize Mugabe as legitimate president.

02.07.2008 - No AU sanctions. This week's African Union summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh was dominated by the problems of Zimbabwe. Coming just three days after the country's highly controversial second-round vote, this was Robert Mugabe's first international appearance since being re-elected president. In public, most of his colleagues simply ignored him, but behind closed doors he was obliged to sit and listen to trenchant criticism of the way he had been returned to power. Delegates who attended the closed debate said that Mr Mugabe was given the chance to respond to the criticisms, which he did at considerable length. He must have been persuasive, since the resolution which emerged at the end of the session was as favourable as he could have wished. It expressed concern about the criticism by observer groups of the conduct of the elections, but did not pronounce them illegitimate. It made no mention of any sanctions against Mr Mugabe's government, only encouraging the parties to honour their commitment to participate in dialogue, and supporting the call for a government of national unity. It also warmly endorsed the role of intermediary held by South African President Thabo Mbeki. The African Union proceeds by consensus, not majority vote, and there was clearly no consensus for any kind of sanctions.

15.07.2009 - Tsvangirai seeks wider mediation. Mr Tsvangirai reiterated his earlier claim that Zimbabwe was under the control of a military junta as reports of violence continue. The MDC leader said the Joint Operations Command (JOC) - a committee of Mr Mugabe's military chiefs - was running the country. He again called for more African Union (AU) input at talks aimed at forming a unity government after disputed polls. South African mediators want the two sides to start full negotiations before the head of African Union Commission Jean Ping visits Pretoria later this week. The opposition says it will not enter full talks until the violence stops.

16.07.2008 - Inflation etc. Official figures show that inflation has soared to an annual rate of 2,200,000%. The prospect of wider international sanctions that probably would have forced Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF's government to deal with the opposition was derailed by Russia and China. Last week, Russia and China vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council to impose targeted sanctions on Mr Mugabe and 13 of his allies. South Africa said sanctions would interfere with attempts to form a national unity government. The MDC says 113 of its supporters have been killed, some 5,000 are missing and more than 200,000 have been forced from their homes since the first round of voting in March. The anarchists strongly condemn the bloody ochlarchy of the military dictatorship.

17.07.2008 - Zimbabwe faces new EU sanctions. European Union member states will agree on Tuesday to impose tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe, diplomats have said. They are set to increase the number of officials and businessmen associated with President Robert Mugabe subject to visa bans and financial sanctions. The anarchists support the sanctions.

18.07.2008 - A group of senior diplomats are to help South African President Thabo Mbeki in his efforts to solve Zimbabwe's political crisis. Envoys will be drawn from the UN, African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc). In a statement, Mr Tsvangirai welcomed the "appointment of a reference group of eminent Africans who will work with President Mbeki and the main parties in Zimbabwe to find a peaceful negotiated solution to the Zimbabwean crisis".

21.07.2008 - President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have signed a deal outlining a framework for talks on Zimbabwe's political crisis. It says that talks on a power-sharing arrangement should be completed within two weeks of its signing. Discussions will focus on security, and the political and economic priorities of the new government. Under the terms of the agreement, each party will be expected to do everything possible to stop all forms of political violence and refrain from making inflammatory statements.

17.10.2008 - Zimbabwe power-sharing talks fail. Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he has failed to agree on a new cabinet at power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe. After a fourth day of negotiations in the capital, Harare, Mr Tsvangirai said he and Mr Mugabe had agreed to refer the dispute to the Sadc regional group. Reuters quoted him as saying that "we have failed to agree on the allocation of ministerial positions". Earlier, the state-owned media accused the MDC leader of blocking the talks. The US meanwhile said it would consider further sanctions against Mr Mugabe and his government if the deal collapsed. The Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, said she was not optimistic that talks aimed at breaking a deadlock on how cabinet posts should be handed out would be successful. The talks in Harare are being mediated by the former South African President, Thabo Mbeki.

30.01.2009 - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said his party will join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF next month. The deal, proposed by Southern African leaders, would see Mr Tsvangirai sworn in as prime minister on 11 February. A power-sharing accord between his MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) and Zanu-PF was signed last September, but got mired in ever more bitter disputes. Zimbabwe is enduring rampant inflation and an escalating food crisis. Meanwhile the World Health Organization (WHO) says an outbreak of cholera, fuelled by the collapse of infrastructure, has now infected 60 000 people and killed more than 3 000. Donors have said they would only provide aid once a unity government is in place. Among others the anarchists and USA are a bit sceptical about the deal: "What's important here is actions and not words, and we want to see real, serious power-sharing by the Mugabe regime. So we think the jury is still out on this one."

11.02.2009 - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe Wednesday as part of a new unity government that Zimbabweans hope will signal an end to the political and economic crises that have gripped the nation for months. Attendees applauded as Mugabe administered the oath of office to his once-bitter rival. Zimbabweans and outsiders alike are hopeful the new government will help heal the country's crippling economic crisis and eroding humanitarian situation, both seen as the worst since the once-prosperous nation gained its independence from Great Britain in 1980. A cholera epidemic has claimed close to 4,000 lives and infected about 65,000 people since August, aggravated by a lack of water treatment chemicals and a problem with waste disposal in much of the country. The United Nations says more than 5 million people are in need of food aid, in a country that has shortages of all essentials, including fuel, electricity and cash. The shortages have created a fertile environment for inflation. The country recorded the highest level of inflation in the world in July, at 231 million percent. The cabinet is due to be sworn in on Friday. The various ministries will be shared between the MDC and Mugabe's ZANU-PF, with the former given 13 and the latter 15. "Thus Mugabe still has most of the power, and the mismanagement will probably continue with only minor improvements", the anarchists say.

14.02.2009 - Zimbabwe's new prime minister blamed the arrest of one of his top aides on factions trying to destroy the country's coalition government. Morgan Tsvangirai said he would meet with President Robert Mugabe later Saturday to discuss the arrest of Roy Bennett, who was due to be inaugurated as deputy minister of agriculture in the coming week. Bennett was detained by police Friday while Tsvangirai and Mugabe were presiding over the inauguration of senior cabinet ministers. Bennett's arrest illustrates the deep gulf of mistrust Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change must bridge. A pro-Mugabe newspaper reported Saturday that Bennett was arrested because of an alleged plot from 2006 to overthrow Mugabe, resurrecting a long-discredited claim. Potential Western donors want to see a stable government implementing necessary financial reforms before they will provide economic support.

15.02.2009: Zimbabwe treason case dropped. Charges of treason against Zimbabwean politician Roy Bennett have been dropped, and replaced with other allegations, his party says. But Mr Bennett remains in custody. The MDC has described Mr Bennett's detention as "scandalous" and "politically motivated", and called for him to be released unconditionally and unharmed. A white farmer who lost his property under Mr Mugabe's land reform programme, Mr Bennett was imprisoned from October 2004 to June 2005. The sentence was imposed by other MPs after he pushed a minister during an argument in parliament over land reform. He recently returned to Zimbabwe after more than two years in South Africa, where he fled after police sought his arrest in connection with an alleged plot to kill Mr Mugabe. The latest charges would appear to be linked to this alleged plot. On Saturday Mr Tsvangirai said Mr Bennett's arrest was undermining the spirit of the power-sharing agreement. Mr Bennett is one of more than 30 MDC supporters and other activists who have been detained over the past couple of months. 16.02.2009 Bennett is set to spend another night in jail after prosecutors failed to show up at court. He is now accused of conspiring to acquire arms with a view to disrupting essential services, according to his lawyer, Trust Maanda, charges Mr Bennett denies. Release the MDC supporters, the anarchists demand.

09.04.2009: Mugabe aides use violence to gain amnesty. President Robert Mugabe's top lieutenants are trying to force the political opposition into granting them amnesty for their past crimes by abducting, detaining and torturing opposition officials and activists, according to senior members of Mr. Mugabe's party. To protect themselves, some of Mr. Mugabe's lieutenants are trying to implicate opposition officials in a supposed plot to overthrow the president, hoping to use it as leverage in any amnesty talks or to press the opposition into quitting the government altogether, ruling party officials said. Mugabe's lieutenants, part of an inner circle called the Joint Operations Command, know that their 85-year-old leader may not be around much longer to shield them, and they fear losing not just their power and ill-gotten wealth, but also their freedom, officials in the party said. Like South Africa at the end of apartheid or Liberia at the close of Charles Taylor's reign, Zimbabwe is in the midst of a treacherous passage from ultra-authoritarian rule to an uncertain future.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, one of Mr. Mugabe's principal negotiators in the power-sharing talks, informally told opposition officials around the time that the transitional government took office in February that his party wanted an amnesty, according to a senior ZANU-PF official close to the talks."We wanted to find out if it would be possible to have amnesty dating back to 1980s," the official said. "The M.D.C. did not sound very forthcoming." Indeed, the opposition has so far offered no such assurances. "I'd rather rot in hell than agree to anything like that," said Roy Bennett, the opposition's third-highest ranking official. He was recently released on bail after being held for almost a month on terrorism charges. He was first implicated by a man whose doctor and lawyer say was tortured and forced into giving a false confession. The anarchistst say a clear no to amnesty for these ultra-authoritarian ochlarchists and criminals of ZANU-PF.

23.04.2009. Alarm over intimidation of witnesses to ILO inquiry. The Anarchist International has expressed alarm over reported intimidation of potential witnesses to an International Labor Organization Commission of Inquiry by Zimbabwe's notorious Central Intelligence Organization (CIO).  The Commission, a high-level procedure of the UN agency which deals with labor issues, was initiated due to the appalling track record of the Mugabe regime on labor rights, which has singled out the country's trade union movement for especially forceful repression over a period of several years. Potential witnesses to the Inquiry have been approached by CIO operatives, seeking to intimidate them in order to stop them testifying to the Inquiry.  One trade unionist was detained by the CIO and subjected to threats.  Following this person's release, they were shadowed by unidentified persons.

A pattern of harassment and intimidation is emerging, and the Anarchist International has genuine fears for the safety of the potential witnesses.  The regime, or rogue elements under its direct responsibility, appears to be trying to undermine the conduct of this highly important Inquiry.  It must stop doing so immediately, and the international community must take the steps necessary to ensure that those concerned are able to testify without fear for their own safety or that of their families and colleagues. The International Workers of the World agrees with the Anarchist International in this matter.

05.05.2009. Zimbabwe activists jailed again. Zimbabwe human rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko has been ordered back to jail for plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe, her lawyer said. Ms Mukoko is among 18 leading activists to be detained just two months after they were released on bail. The activists say they were tortured into making false confessions. The party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has warned that the move could threaten the future of Zimbabwe's power-sharing government. The Anarchist International demands release of the activists.

16.10.2009. Zimbabwe PM boycotts unity government. Citing the "persecution" of a top aide, Zimbabwe's prime minister abandoned - at least temporarily - shared rule with President Robert Mugabe, marking a setback to the country's struggle to emerge from political gridlock, economic collapse and international isolation and sanctions. PM Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters Friday his party members would not attend Cabinet meetings or engage in other executive work with Mugabe's party. His erstwhile governing partners said good riddance, even though both sides need the coalition. "Until confidence has been restored we can't continue to pretend that everything is well," Tsvangirai said, referring to a trial scheduled to begin Monday against Roy Bennett, the prime minister's nominee for deputy agriculture minister who is charged with weapons violations. The charges are linked to long-discredited allegations that Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) plotted Mugabe's violent overthrow. "We are not really pulling out officially," Tsvangirai said, assuring a press conference that his move did not spell the collapse of the government, but making clear his party members would not attend Cabinet meetings or engage in other executive work with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. The MDC will continue parliament activities. Friday's move demonstrates deep unhappiness within the MDC with the coalition. But Tsvangirai has repeatedly said he sees the coalition as the only way to ensure Zimbabwe's future. The indifferent reaction from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party underlined tensions within the coalition. "If MDC wants to disengage ... we don't have a problem with that," said Ephraim Masawi, a ZANU-PF spokesman. "We were having problems with MDC, working together. We have been trying but it was not easy."

Tsvangirai and Mugabe as mentioned entered the unity government in February after two violence-plagued elections left the country at a political standstill and in economic ruin. Zimbabwe's neighbors had urged Mugabe, who has held power since independence in 1980, to form the partnership with Tsvangirai, a former labor leader. In forming their coalition, the longtime opponents pledged to work together to turn around the country's economic and political collapse. Since the coalition was formed, Tsvangirai has condemned continuing human rights violations. Mugabe has demanded that Tsvangirai do more to get international sanctions lifted and foreign aid and investment restored. Tsvangirai had nominated Bennett as deputy agriculture minister in the coalition. Bennett was arrested the day the Cabinet was sworn in in February. He denies the charges against him. Bennett had been free on bail since March, but that was revoked earlier this week. "Roy Bennett is not being prosecuted, he is being persecuted," Tsvangirai said.

The coalition is Mugabe's only hope for taking Zimbabwe out of international isolation, and it has brought Tsvangirai closer to power than any election. Foreign governments and multilateral donors have expressed support for Tsvangirai, warmly welcoming him on a recent international tour. But concerns persist about propping up Mugabe, accused of trampling on democracy and ruining a once prosperous economy. Even with Tsvangirai in the government, donors prefer not to give money directly to Zimbabwe's treasury, instead working through independent aid groups. Last month, the European Union said it would not remove sanctions targeting Mugabe and his loyalists or resume development aid until Mugabe does more to make power sharing work and restore human rights. Bennett's lawyers persuaded a Harare High Court judge on Friday to restore bail, but officials where he is being held in Mutare, 170 miles (270 kilometers) east of the capital, are not expected to act on the order before Monday. The European Union said Thursday it is "deeply concerned" over Bennett's jailing. The bloc added it regrets "that politically motivated abuse persists in the country." In Washington Thursday, US State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters that the case against Bennett is a "blatant example of the absence of the rule of law in Zimbabwe." The Anarchist International condemns the persecution and arrest of Roy Bennett and similar criminal acts against other MDC activists, and supports MDC's boycott of the unity government.

Regards P. Johansen for IIFOR, A. Quist for AI and L. Jakobsen for IWW/AI

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Men, we have a problem - CGT (Spanish anarchosyndicalists)

HOMBRES, TENEMOS UN PROBLEMA

LUCHAR CONTRA LA VIOLENCIA MACHISTA ES COSA DE TODOS

by CGT (SPANISH ANARCHOSYNDICALISTS, 04.10.2007)

¡Esto tiene que acabar! ¡Hasta aquí hemos llegado!! Es insoportable ver cómo cada semana son asesinadas mujeres por sus parejas o exparejas. Y no son sólo los asesinatos: es intolerable que todavía tantas mujeres sigan siendo agredidas, sometidas, acosadas, discriminadas, ninguneadas, y permanecer indiferentes, callados o, a lo sumo, algo preocupados. Las mujeres, en su vida cotidiana, continúan sufriendo discriminaciones y abusos a manos de los hombres y el nivel de tolerancia social que aún existe hacia estos comportamientos nos parece inaceptable.

Estas injusticias afectan a todos los ámbitos de la vida: trabajo, riqueza, poder, tiempo libre, sexualidades, cuidados, etc. Estos problemas para las mujeres no son ‘cosas de ellas': tienen su raíz en nuestros comportamientos, sostenidos en una estructura social que todavía encarna, pese a los cambios, las tradicionales relaciones de poder entre hombres y mujeres. Luchar contra esta situación no es sólo un asunto de ellas: es un imperativo ético para cualquiera. No habrá verdadera democracia mientras no exista verdadera igualdad en todos estos ámbitos.

Es hora, por tanto, de denunciar a los hombres que asesinan a las mujeres. Pero también a aquellos que se empeñan en creerse superiores a las mujeres y ejercen como tales; y, además, denunciar y cuestionar en nosotros los comportamientos inconsecuentes en que incurrimos.

Nos denunciamos y ahora exigimos. Exigimos a los poderes públicos, empresas, asociaciones, partidos, que se cuestionen y asuman su parte de responsabilidad en la transmisión de valores que reproducen el modelo social que origina la violencia. Es evidente que algo va mal.

Y ante esta situación, ¿qué hacemos?, ¿cambiamos? Pues sí. Si nos pensamos íntegros, justos, democráticos, no queda opción. Tenemos que escuchar las justas reivindicaciones de las mujeres que están luchando y construyendo un mundo sin violencia y comprometernos con ellas. Dejemos de creernos superiores, rompamos la complicidad con los hombres que ejercen violencia. Y, cómo no, erradiquemos nuestros propio machismo y trabajemos en todos nuestros espacios vitales para construir otros modelos de convivencia.

Os pedimos, por todo ello, que participéis y nos ayudéis a denunciar y a erradicar la violencia machista.

MANIFESTACIÓN ATOCHA-PLAZA JACINTO BENAVENTE

SÁBADO 20 DE OCTUBRE, 19:00H

CONVOCA:

UNA ASAMBLEA DE HOMBRES CONTRA LA VIOLENCIA DE GÉNERO

***

MEN, WE HAVE A PROBLEM.  

MEN, WE MUST ABOVE ALL FIGHT AGAINST THE SEXIST VIOLENCE .

This has to finish!  To here we have arrived!!  It is unbearable to see how each week women are murdered by their couples or others.  And they are not only the murders: it is intolerable that still so many women continue being attacked, submitted, hounded, discriminated, ignored, and to remain indifferent, quiet or, at the maximum, something worried.  The women, in their everyday life, they continue suffering discriminations and abuses by hand of the men and the level of social tolerance that still exists toward these behaviors seems unacceptableto us.

These injustices affect  all the environments of life: work, wealth, to be able, free time, sexualities, cares, etc.  These problems for the women are not 'things of them' : It has its roots in the behaviors, maintained in a social structure that still embodies, despite the changes, the traditional relations between men and women.  Fighting against this situation is not only a matter of them: It is an imperative ethical one for everybody.  There will not be true democracy while there exist not true equality in all these environments. 

It is hour, therefore, to denounce the men that murder the women.  But also to those that are impelled in being believed over the women and they exercise as such; and, besides, to denounce and to question our the inconsistent behaviors in which we incur.  We denounce us and now we require. 

We require to the public powers, businesses, associations, parties, that this problem must be questioned, and that they assume their part of responsibility in the broadcast of values that reproduce the social model that originates the violence. It is evident that something goes badly.  And before this situation, what do we do?,  - we change?  Well yes.  If we think integral, just, democratic, that this does not remain an option. 

We have to listen to the just demands of the women that are fighting and building a world without violence, and to associate with them.  Stop believing we are superiors, we break the complicity with the men that exercise violence.  And, how not, we eradicate our own machoism and we work in all our living spaces to build other models of contact. 

We ask you, everybody, to participate and help us to denounce and to eradicate the sexist violence. 

DEMONSTRATION AT PLAZA JACINTO BENAVENTE SATURDAY 20 OF OCTOBER, 19:00H, IT CALLS: 
AN ASSEMBLY OF MEN AGAINST THE VIOLENCE OF ALL KINDS

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En la Brecha (In the Gap) - CNT-AIT 12.10.2007

News from Spanish anarchosyndicalists 12.10.2007

CNT Sagunto (españa)

Conflicto con la empresa "Agostense" CNT de Alicante  (11-10-2007)
Levante CNT

Reflexiones Sociológicas La farsa democrática y el encubrimiento de un gran engaño (Artículo de opinión de un Militante de CNT de Sagunto) http://www.cnt.es/sagunto/index_archivos/Page601.htm

Charla: Otoño Libertario 2007: "El Anarquismo frente a la crisis ambiental"
Ponente Raúl. CNT Salamanca. Madrid. Locales de CNT en Madrid. Tirso de Molina, nº5-2ºizq. Metro: Tirso de Molina. L-1, el 14-10- 07 a las 19:00hs. CNT-AIT Madrid. http://www.klinamen.org/article3125.html

AIIS ANARCHIST INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION SERVICE www.anarchy.no From http://www.anarchy.no/a_nor.html
AIIS Anarquista internacional de servicios de información www.anarchy.no Desde http://www.anarchy.no/a_nor.html

correo recibido (12/10/07)

Jornada Anarcofeministas en Extremadura, que se celebrarán los días 12,13 y 14 de Octubre, inscripciones/info tfno: 659293365 - 605576844 cntcaceresnorte@hotmail.com . campamento de "Las Castellanas", Pasarón de la Vera. 14-10- 2007 a las 00:00hs.
CNT Cáceres Norte

ALTERCOM comunicación para la libertad (12/10/07) Comienza la ingobernabilidad y la revuelta social en el país más estable de Centroamérica. www.altercom.org/article152093.html

Despedidos 140 trabajadores magrebíes a tres días de terminar la recolección y a un día de terminar el Ramadán.
Secretariado Permanente Comité Regional CNT Extremadura  (11-10-2007) http://www.cnt.es/noticia.php?id=3439

El pasado 27 de septiembre se presentó la biografía de Fermin Salvochea.
CNT de Cádiz  (11-10-2007) http://cntsovcadiz.blogspot.com/2007/10/el-pasado-27-de-septienbre-se-present.html

19 DE SEPTIEMBRE 2007 Comunicado de prensa de la FAU-AIT (11/10/07) L@s trabajador@s de la fábrica de bicicletas ocupada de Nordhausen, en Turingia, han retomado la  producción en régimen de autogestión. http://www.strike-bike.de La historia de la ocupación: http://www.labornet.de/branchen/sonstige/fahrzeug/bikesystems.html

Supresión del turno de tarde. Sección sindical de CNT Madrid en Correos y Telégrafos  (11-10-2007)
http://www.cnt.es/correos-madrid/supttarde.htm

Sección sindical de Correos y Telégrafos de C.N.T. Madrid Os enviamos el nuevo solidaridad postal correspondiente al mes de octubre,
Y con el enlace de nuestra pagina Web para que lo deis la mayor difusión (9/10/07)
posible http://www.cnt.es/correos-madrid/solidaridadpostal42.htm

Compartimos nuestra declaración de la Red de Mujeres indígenas sobre biodiversidad (9/10/07)
http://consejoautonomoaymara.blogspot.com/ http://seminariominasantipersonales.blogspot.com/

Estimadas amigas, estimados amigos: aquí estamos nuevamente con las  Novedades Nº 167 del Sitio Biodiversidad en América Latina http://www.biodiversidadla.org (9/10/07)

desde México_Magdalena Gómez 12 de octubre: ¿qué celebrar? (9/10/07) http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/10/09/index.php?section=opinion&article=020a1pol

Ante todo desde CNT Sagunto estamos de acuerdo que este día es el día de un genocidio
XXII Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres: Talleres temáticos y contenidos (9/10/07)
Por Comisión Organizadora - Córdoba, Argentina adhesiones/comunicaciones: 
prensa22encuentrocordoba@yahoo.com.ar http://agendadelasmujeres.com.ar/index2.php?id=3&nota=4482

CNT Sagunto (españa)
www.cnt.es/sagunto
camp_de_morvedre@cnt.es
En la brecha
http://www.cnt.es/sagunto/index_archivos/EnlabrechaCNT.htm

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Anarchist protest against the pope

by AI 04.11.2007. Updated

The conclusion is that pope Benedict XVI is a fascist rightwing extremist with equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, a real beast. This is true because he is

1. Trying his best to make way for sainthood for more or less nazist/fascist clergymen/hierarchists, has lifted the excommunication of a holocaust-denier, bishop Williamson, and his reactionary group, etc., all in all a dangerous legitimation of fascism, in the form of systems with equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, hell on earth for the people - seen as a class in contrast to the superiors in rank and/or income;

2. Pope Benedict XVI has said condoms can make the AIDS problem worse. Thus the catholic pope contributes to AIDS, he contributes to mass murder! At least he is guilty of involuntary manslaughter on mass level, involuntary genocide, and of acting with gross negligence;

3. He has contributed to cover up of child abuses, rapes and criminal sex with minors by catholic clergymen/hierarchists, and as the top hierarch of the catholic church, also has some responsibilty for the abuses done by his church;

4. He is an autocratic monarch of the Vatican state; a small state in Rome created for the catholic pope by the ultra-fascist Benito Mussolini. The pope also has the authority to speak "infallibly", on behalf of god? - that anarchists see as a joke. The pope appoints bishops, issues rules bishops are supposed to follow and accepts their resignations. Bishops take a vow of obedience to the pontiff and can't switch jobs without his approval. Thus, de facto the pope is the boss. De facto bishops are Vatican employees and/or officials;

5. And there is more ultra-authoritarian behavior of pope Benedict XVI, alias mr Joseph Ratzinger, a.o.t. in his younger days member of Hitler Jugend; and all in all with a behavior so evil that he fully deserves his Mark of the Beast 666, or in anarchist terms: Equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree! If a supranatural hell existed, Joseph Ratzinger, would certainly have a place there in the eternal fire, but anarchists at large don't belive in supranatural hell, limbo and heaven. Anarchists are fighting for heaven on earth, and against hell on earth, and Joseph Ratzinger is clearly on the wrong side in this fight. No power to catholic pope is the anarchist parole!

04.11.2007. Pope Benedict has beatified 498 Roman catholic clerics killed during the Spanish Civil War and revolution in the 1930s. Beatification is the penultimate step before sainthood in the Roman catholic church. The priests, monks and nuns were killed in a campaign by left-wingers and anarchists -- but the pope has said there was no political motive in the decision to honour them. He said they died in defence of their faith. This of course is not true - this is a clear support for the Franco terrorist fascist dictatorship. The pope has already canonised two priests and three nuns. One priest, Pedro Poveda, was killed in 1936 during the opening days of the Spanish Civil War. The church says 4,184 clergy were killed during the war by the government side, which accused the church of backing General Franco, which is in general true. These killings are  regrettable, but the Vatican supported the Franco-regime all of the time it existed, and this is continued support. Down with the pope, he supports fascism. We protest against this reactionary move from the pope.

According to an article in El Pais, the catholic church exclude from their lists of "martyrs" those priests who resisted Franco and were killed by his fascist troops (estimated at around 7,000, although this figure keeps changing — significantly fewer than the 20,000 claimed by Franco and the church at the time).

Altough the church in Spain is losing ground, the pope has still got influence on a lot of people there. Of course the fairy tales of sainthood actually means nothing to AI. But legitimating the Franco fascist regime, may give way to more reactionary policy in Spain, perhaps not right now, but in the future. Thus it is worth while protesting. As far as we know no anarchist organization sanctioned anti-clerical actions, these were taken by ordinary people often as mobs (ochlarchists) just as attacks on other members of the ruling classes like industrialists, landowners etc. The CNT-FAI even went as far to arrest some who carried out these attacks including self-proclaimed so called anarchists, in reality ochlarchists, the opposite of anarchists. Attacks on priests were a mark of every Spanish popular uprising for centuries. (AI & AIIS)

"It might be good for anarchists to reflect on the mistakes of the past, and publicly acknowledge that we are opposed to the death penalty and to summary executions, and that some of these killings were acts of mob violence against symbols of a hated and oppressive social order. - And in defense of the pope, he is one of the few world leaders who has clearly and openly criticized the US for its occupation of Iraq, and has called for an immediate end to the violence there.! (E. Stamm)

The Anarchist International is against capital punishment because it is authoritarian, barbaric and a very cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Killing someone, be it murder or capital punishment, is a very vertical, authoritarian, relationship, from the top - the killer - downwards to the bottom, the killed, with one exception: killing in pure self defense to stop attacking murderer(s), alone or with allies, which is a significant bottom - up approach. AI's principle is "The general idea is that the people really concerned of a case should be the ones that decide, in a horizontal way...". You don't cure the authoritarian doing of a murderer, with an equal authoritarian act - capital punishment. A life sentence is less authoritarian. A society without capital punishment is thus less authoritarian, more libertarian, than a society with, other things equal. Innocent people have been sentenced to die. If we are to maintain capital punishment, we must accept that the execution of an innocent person will always be a possibility. This unacceptably compromises the justice system.

And it shows clearly that capital punishment is barbaric, as the barbaric law "An eye for an eye" ( Lex Talionis) . A - wrong - argument for capital punishment is that it will be a deterrent against murder. Statistics show that states with death penalty usually have not less, but more murder, than societies without death penalty. The respect for life decreases when the government has no respect for life. The death penalty, for a majority of an ever growing number of countries and organizations, has clearly become a serious human rights violation. Abolishing capital punishment affords an unique opportunity to build on the spirit of human rights. The Anarchist International advocates more human rights, not less, see also article 3 and 5 at http://www.anarchy.no/anrights.html . (AI & AIIS)

24.01.2009. Pope Bendedict XVI has blessed and rehabilitated the holocaust denier bishop Richard Williamson. It is more and more clear that pope Bendedict XVI is a fascistoid person with equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, a real beast. The pope has the authority to speak "infallibly", that anarchists see as a joke. This idea was set in stone in 1870, though it had been debated for far longer. We protest against this reactionary move from the pope.

31.01.2009. Pope Benedict has also made a controversial appointment, days after revoking the excommunication of the bishop who is a Holocaust denier. He promoted ultra-conservative cleric Fr Gerhard Maria Wagner to assistant bishop of the Austrian city of Linz. Fr Wagner is also notorious for his extreme views - he has accused the popular Harry Potter novels of spreading Satanism, and described Hurricane Katrina as God's punishment for the sinners of New Orleans. He wrote in a parish newsletter that the death and destruction caused by the hurricane in New Orleans was divine retribution for the city's tolerance of homosexuals and permissive sexual attitudes. The future bishop said he was glad that Katrina destroyed not only nightclubs and brothels in New Orleans, but also five of the city's abortion clinics. The catholic church in Austria has been losing support in recent years after its former head was sacked as a result of a scandal involving gay priests in a teaching college. Austrian catholics gave only a lukewarm welcome to the pope when he visited Vienna in 2007.

04.02.2009. Police investigate Holocaust-denying bishop. A German district attorney said he had launched a criminal investigation against Richard Williamson. Regensburg District Attorney Guenther Ruckdaeschel said authorities are investigating whether the remarks by bishop Richard Williamson can be considered "inciting racial hatred." Denying the Holocaust is a crime according to the German criminal code and punishable by up to five years in prison. Ruckdaeschel says he launched the investigation January 23 after learning about an interview Williamson gave to Swedish Public Broadcasting. In the interview, Williamson denied the Nazis had used gas chambers at concentration camps.

"I believe that the historical evidence is strongly against -- is hugely against -- 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler," Williamson said in the interview, which also appeared on various Web sites after broadcast. "I believe there were no gas chambers." Williamson apologized last week for the "distress" his remarks caused the pope, but did not retract them. Williamson and three other bishops who belong to the ultra-conservative Society of Saint Pius X were excommunicated by pope John Paul II in 1988. The society was founded by archbishop Marcel Lefebrve, who rebelled against the Vatican's modernizing reforms in the 1960s, and who consecrated the men in unsanctioned ceremonies. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Vatican's decision to accept Williamson was part of its desire to normalize relations with the ultra-conservative group, and had nothing to do with the bishop's personal views.

Later the Vatican has ordered bishop Williamson to publicly recant his views denying the Holocaust. A statement said bishop Richard Williamson must "unequivocally" distance himself from his statements to serve in the Roman catholic church. The Vatican also said that the pope had not been aware of the bishop's views when he lifted excommunications on him and three other bishops last month. Earlier, a senior cardinal acknowledged the Vatican had mishandled the issue. It is almost unheard of for a pope to admit publicly that he has made a mistake. But that is in effect the significance of the urgent statement put out by the Vatican."Bishop Williamson, in order to be admitted to the Episcopal functions of the church, must in an absolutely unequivocal and public way distance himself from his positions regarding the Shoah [Holocaust]," it said. It said bishop Williamson's positions on the Holocaust were "absolutely unacceptable and firmly rejected by the Holy Father". The Vatican's statement on Wednesday also said that the society must recognize the reformist Vatican II Council of 1962-65 and the popes who followed it. So the pope is not speaking "infallibly" after all, but gives in to pressure from anarchists and many others, the anarchists say. 06.02.2009. So far bishop Williamson has not responded...

07.02.2009.  The Vaticans secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has said Williamson will not be allowed to perform priestly functions if he does not recant. Williamson made clear he does not plan to comply immediately, and rejected a suggestion that he might visit the Auschwitz death camp, the weekly Der Spiegel reported. Williamson replied: "I will not go to Auschwitz". "Since I see that there are many honest and intelligent people who think differently, I must look again at the historical evidence," the British bishop was quoted as saying. "It is about historical evidence, not about emotions," he added, according to the report. "And if I find this evidence, I will correct myself. But that will take time." Williamson has not repudiated his comments, in which he also said only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed during World War II and none was gassed. "I was convinced that my comments were right on the basis of my research in the '80s," Der Spiegel quoted Williamson as saying. "I must now examine everything again and look at the evidence. Germany's catholic bishops are calling for the expulsion of Williamson. So far the pope has not responded to Williamsons's latest move.

12.02.2009. The pope has still not responded to Williamson's latest move, but said Thursday the catholic church is "profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism." He also reiterated his commitment to the groundbreaking catholic rejection of the centuries-old claim that the Jews killed Jesus. "Nostra Aetate marked a milestone in the journey towards reconciliation, and clearly outlined the principles that have governed the church's approach to Christian-Jewish relations ever since," Benedict said. Jewish reactions to the pope's speech were broadly, but not uniformly, positive.

15.92.2009. Wagner asks the pope to take back the promotion to assistent bishop. Pope Benedict XVI's recent appointment of the conservative Rev. Gerhard Maria Wagner, 54, to auxiliary bishop in Linz, Austria's third largest city, sparked an outcry among catholics who warned it could prompt people to leave the church. "Regarding the fierce criticism, I am in prayer and, after consulting the diocesan bishop, I have decided to ask the Holy Father in Rome to take back my promotion as auxiliary bishop," Wagner said in a statement released by Linz Diocesan Bishop Ludwig Schwarz. So the pope is not speaking and promoting "infallibly" after all, the anarchists say.

24.02.2009. The British bishop Williamson was expelled from Argentina Tuesday after scuffling with a reporter at the airport. A local television station showed Richard Williamson raising his fist and shoving a reporter into a pole as he hurried to catch a flight for London. Argentina's government on Thursday ordered the traditionalist, ultra-fascist, catholic bishop to leave the country or face expulsion for failing to declare a job change as required by immigration law. The order also cited his denials of the Holocaust, which the government called "an insult" to humanity. The Anti-Defamation League also found records of embarrassing speeches and letters by Williamson when he was based earlier at a seminary in Winona, Minnesota, USA. He was quoted in one 1989 speech as saying that "Jews made up the Holocaust, Protestants get their orders from the devil and the Vatican has sold its soul to liberalism." He also expressed that "the Jews created the Holocaust so we would prostrate ourselves on our knees before them and approve of their new state of Israel." So far Williamson has not disavowed his comments.

Williamson's conservative Society of St. Pius X however, did distance itself from Williamson's views, and removed him as head of its seminary near Buenos Aires. Argentina, which has Latin America's largest Jewish population, announced that Williamson departed on a flight to London Tuesday. Images broadcast on Buenos Aires' Todo Noticias television showed Williamson - wearing a baseball cap, a black fleece jacket and dark sunglasses - hurrying through the airport as television reporter Norberto Dupesso moved alongside to ask a question. Williamson, his lips tightly pursed in a grimace, raised a clenched fist inches from Dupesso's face, then pushed past, shoving Dupesso into a pole with his shoulder. Two men accompanying the bishop then grabbed Dupesso by his shoulders and held him back while Williamson hurried away. 25.02.2009. Bishop Williamson has arrived back in his native Britain. Last week Richard Williamson was given 10 days to leave Argentina where he had been working for the past six years. The catholic pope has been invited to Britain by the British PM. He will probably go to Britain a.o.t. to visit his friend bishop Williamson. 26.02.2009. Bishop Williamson has apologized "before god" for the mess he has created, but so far not publicly recanted his views.

An old anarchist word of wisdom says, "tell us who your friends are, and we can tell what you are". The pope's friend Williamson tell us a bit about the pope's political tendency. The catholic pope is perhaps not ultra-fascist as Williamson, but still with equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, a real beast..., says Anarchon, AI's spokesperson in such matters, also called "the real pope in Rome", an anarchist alternative to the catholic pope, with less than 50 % authoritarian degree. Our aim is to create heaven on earth, says Anarchon. The catholic pope and his friend Willamson contribute to create hell on earth.

27.02.2009. The Vatican has rejected the apology by bishop Williamson. It said the bishop needed to "unequivocally and publicly" withdraw his comments, adding that he must repudiate his views if he wants to be a Roman Catholic clergyman. The statement by Bishop Richard Williamson "doesn't appear to respect the conditions" the Vatican set out for him, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a spokesman for the pope. As mentioned Williamson apologized for his remarks on Thursday upon his arrival in his Britain. He said he would never have made them if he had known "the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise." But he didn't say he had been wrong or that he no longer believed what he had said. On Friday, German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said Germany could issue a European-wide arrest warrant on hate crimes charges for Williamson since the Swedish TV interview was conducted in Germany.

01.03.2009. The catholic pope has probably got bad conscience for blessing the holocaust denier Williamson, a blessing he has not withdrawn. Now the pope attempts to pose as progressive: Pope Benedict XVI is encouraging political leaders and industrialists to make workers and their families the priority during the economic crisis. Benedict spoke to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square Sunday. Fiat autoworkers from southern Italy, worried about the future of their factory, were in the crowd. The pope says he wants to encourage political leaders as well as industrialists to work together during what he calls a "delicate moment." He says strong, joint efforts are needed, but that they must keep in mind that the priority must be workers and their families. But he does not fool the anarchists. "Strong, joint efforts" by the workers - the people - seen as a class in contrast to the superiors in rank and/or income, and the upper classes, is typically fascism, something equal to, or more than, 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, and not something libertarian with equal to or less than 50 % authoritarian degree. The catholic pope sounds quite a bit like Mussolini, says Anarchon, the real pope in Rome.

07.03.2009. Anarchon declares: A sick church! Vatican backs abortion row bishop. A senior Vatican cleric has defended the excommunication in Brazil of the mother and doctors of a young girl who had an abortion with their help. The nine-year-old had conceived twins after alleged abuse by her stepfather. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re told Italian paper La Stampa that the twins "had the right to live" and attacks on Brazil's Catholic Church were unfair. It comes a day after Brazil's president criticized the Brazilian archbishop who excommunicated the people involved. Brazil only permits abortions in cases of rape or health risks to the mother. Doctors said the girl's case met both these conditions, but the Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho said the law of God was above any human law. He said the excommunication would apply to the child's mother and the doctors, but not to the girl because of her age. Cardinal Re, who heads the Roman Catholic Church's Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, told La Stampa that the archbishop had been right to excommunicate the mother and doctors.

The abortion was carried out on Wednesday. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, himself a Catholic, said on Friday that he regretted what he described as the cleric's deeply conservative attitude. "The doctors did what had to be done: save the life of a girl of nine years old," he said. The girl, who lives in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, was allegedly sexually assaulted over a number of years by her stepfather, possibly since she was six. The fact that she was four months' pregnant with twins was only discovered after she was taken to hospital in Pernambuco complaining of stomach pains. Her stepfather was arrested last week, allegedly as he tried to escape to another region of the country. He is also suspected of abusing the girl's physically handicapped 14-year-old sister. He is still welcome in the catholic church... This speak for itself, says Anarchon: The catholic church is sick! We call on all catholics to leave this church and join the Anarchist International and contribute to heaven on earth!

12.03.2009. The catholic pope complains about  "hostility" over Williamson. The pope wrote to all his bishops, talking of the "hostility and hatred" directed towards him for reinstating four traditionalists – including Williamson – who had made his controversial comments just days before. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said: "The pope has defined the Williamson case as unforeseeable. The fact that it overlapped with his gesture on excommunication runs the risk of completely changing the sense of his decision." Williamson as mentioned said he believes there were no Nazi gas chambers. The pope's letter admitted mishandling the affair, and said that problems could have been predicted had the Vatican made more use of the internet to check background material. There was no mention in the letter of the case in Brazil, where a Roman Catholic bishop excommunicated several people for being connected with an abortion on a nine-year-old girl. The catholic pope is a typical case of totalitarian personality disorder, i.e. indicating he is a victim of mob rule, when the whole thing is entirely his own fault, and the criticism is matter of fact, says Anarchon.

17.03.2009. Pope Benedict XVI says condoms can make the AIDS problem worse. Pope Benedict XVI said condoms are not the answer to the AIDS epidemic in Africa and can make the problem worse, setting off criticism Tuesday as he began a weeklong trip to the continent. "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane heading to Yaounde. "On the contrary, it increases the problem." Three-quarters of all AIDS deaths worldwide in 2007 were in sub-Saharan Africa, where some 22 million people are infected with HIV - accounting for two-thirds of the world's infections, according to UNAIDS.

Rebecca Hodes with the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa said if the pope is serious about preventing HIV infections, he should focus on promoting wide access to condoms and spreading information on how to use them. "Instead, his opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans," said Hodes, head of policy, communication and research for the group. Hodes said the pope was right that condoms are not the sole solution to Africa's AIDS epidemic, but added they are one of the very few proven measures to prevent HIV infections. Anarchon agrees with Hodes and says: religious dogma is more important to the pope than the lives of Africans. The catholic pope contributes to AIDS, he contributes to mass murder! At least he is guilty of involuntary manslaughter on mass level, involuntary genocide, and of acting with gross negligence. The pope's real aim is the consequences of his decisions, not some religious manifesto with good intentions. This confirms that the catholic pope has equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, i.e. he is a real beast..., says Anarchon.

Pope Benedict XVI called murderer at a demonstration in France

26.03.2009. The pope is dangerous because he has a lot of followers, says Anarchon: the pope is dangerous because he speaks "infallibly", is ultra-authoritarian with equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, and has a lot of followers that really listen to him and act accordingly! But not in the matter about sexual abstinence... Many people will drop condoms, and still be sexually active here and there. The result: Much more AIDS! Because of pope Benedict XVI speech on condoms!!!

27.03.2009. Pope distorting condom science. One of the world's most prestigious medical journals, the Lancet, has accused pope Benedict XVI of distorting science in his remarks on condom use. It said the pope's recent comments that condoms exacerbated the problem of HIV/Aids were wildly inaccurate and could have devastating consequences. The pope had said the "cruel epidemic" should be tackled through abstinence and fidelity rather than condom use. The attack from Lancet was unprecedentedly virulent. The London-based Lancet said the pope had "publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue". It said the male latex condom was the single most efficient way to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS. "Whether the Pope's error was due to ignorance or a deliberate attempt to manipulate science to support Catholic ideology is unclear," said the journal. But it said the comment still stood and urged the Vatican to issue a retraction. "When any influential person, be it a religious or political figure, makes a false scientific statement that could be devastating to the health of millions of people, they should retract or correct the public record," it said. "Anything less from Pope Benedict would be an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics, who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide." The article shows how far the pope's attempts to clarify the Vatican's position on condoms have backfired. The catholic pope should retract or correct his statement on condoms, Anarchon says.

02.04.2009. More Holocaust denials from catholic clergymen. The Brazilian archbishop Dadeus Grings, was quoted by Brazil's Press magazine last week as saying: "More Catholics than Jews died in the Holocaust, but this isn't known because the Jews control the world's media." Grings, who leads one of Brazil's largest dioceses and is the chancellor of the Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, has been criticized before for his views on the matter. In 2003 he argued that only 1 million Jews died in the Holocaust, although he backed away from that in an interview with The Associated Press this week, saying it "is evident that 6 million Jews were killed." However, he repeated the suggestion that Jewish media power was distorting the picture. 

"The incident involving Archbishop Grings, who has a history of Holocaust denial, marks the third time in as many months where a catholic clergyman has publicly denied or diminished the Holocaust," Anarchon says. Last month, as mentioned a British bishop was removed from leading a seminary in Argentina after claiming that only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed in the Holocaust. That bishop, Richard Williamson, has so far not recanted. In January, Italian priest The Rev. Floriano Abrahamowicz was quoted in an Italian newspaper as saying "I know the gas chambers existed at least for disinfecting but not whether they caused deaths or not." 

"In claiming more catholics than Jews were killed, Grings was including catholics who died on the battlefields of World War II, whereas the Jews, the Gypsies, the communists, the anarchists and the handicapped were persecuted for being who they were - the bishop is mixing things that cannot be mixed." says Anarchon. 

According to most historians, the nazis slaughtered 6 million Jews and millions of other victims. Michael Berenbaum, a former director of the United States Holocaust Research Institute at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, said the toll includes approximately 5 million non-Jews, among them large numbers in mainly Catholic Poland, Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies, homosexuals, mental patients, political prisoners and other "undesirables." 

In 2003, Grings claimed in an essay published on a Brazilian Catholic Internet portal that only 1 million Jews died in the Holocaust, and that the Nazis were responsible for 22 million deaths overall. Asked to explain himself at the time, Grings told Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, Brazil's largest, that the figure of 6 million Jewish dead was unproven, and that "We Catholics were the main victims of the Holocaust." "The single ruler of the catholic church, the absolute monarch, the pope, is responsible," says Anarchon, the real pope in Rome: "This only confirms that the catholic pope is ultra-authoritarian with equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, a real beast."

23.04.2009. The conclusion is that the catholic pope Benedict XVI is a fascist rightwing extremist, with equal to or more than 666 per thousand (67%) authoritarian degree, a real beast, and contributes to hell on earth, says Anarchon, the real Pope in Rome. Anarchon contributes to heaven on earth, and that is one reason why he is the real Pope in Rome.

Hans Küng, theologian: "The Catholic church is once again taking a course towards reaction, anti-modernism, and the middle ages." From an interview with Euronews published 07.04.2009

11.05.2009. The catholic pope's speech at Israel's national Holocaust memorial attracted attention in Israel, with the parliament speaker accusing Benedict of glossing over the Nazi genocide. Critics, including anarchists, said the pope referred to the millions of victims, but would have liked him to say the six million Jews. They also wanted him to mention Germans or Nazis, specifically, as opposed to his more general reference to the perpetrators. Newspapers lambasted him for failing to apologize for what many in Israel see as catholic indifference during World War II and the pope's own wartime actions - he served in the Hitler Youth corps and Nazi army - have also cast a shadow. "The pope spoke like a historian, as somebody observing from the sidelines, about things that shouldn't happen. But what can you do? He was part of them," said parliament speaker Reuven Rivlin. "Jews cannot ignore the fact that as a young German he served in Hitler's army that was an instrument of the extermination." 12.05.2009. The Vatican defended Pope Benedict XVI as a man of strong anti-Nazi credentials. The fact that Benedict XVI served in the Hitler Youth corps and Nazi army, explains a lot of his rightwing extremism, Anarchon says, however today he is not so authoritarian as the Nazis.

 

Pope Benedict XVI, alias Joseph Ratzinger, serving in Hitler Jugend in his youth

Catholic hierarchists and nazi-fascist collaborationists doing Hitler greeting together with top nazi-fascists

20.05.2009. Significant child abuse in USA and Ireland confirms the ultra-authoritarian nature of the catholic church, says Anarchon. The Irish deputy prime minister has called the abuse of children in catholic-run institutions as one of the "darkest chapters" in Irish history. The catholic pope, the top ruler of the catholic church, has a responsiblity for the church's actions.

28.05.2009. Pope Benedict XVI has not commented on the massive child abuse done by his church in Ireland. Is he a closet pedophile? - says Anarchon.

04.06.2009. The coward pope Benedict XVI has still not commented on the massive child abuse done by his church. The anarchists are waiting for a comment ..., says Anarchon.

08.06.2009. Pope Benedict XVI was visibly upset to hear June 5 of the abuse suffered by thousands of Irish children in the care of religious congregations, reported the archbishop of Dublin, Ireland. Speaking at a June 8 press conference, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the pope was saddened to hear "how the children had suffered from the very opposite of an expression of the love of God." This is not a strong condemnation of the child abuse. If pope Benedict XVI does not strongly condemn the child abuse, he has more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, Anarchon says. It must be mentioned that the pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests', see http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23369148-details/Pope+'led+cover-up+of+child+abuse+by+priests'/article.do .

17.06.2009. Vatican: Ordinations by Holocaust denier's group Society of St. Pius X  "valid but illicit." This is not a strong condemnation. If pope Benedict XVI does not strongly condemn the Holocaust denier, he has more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, Anarchon says. As mentioned in an interview with Swedish TV broadcast shortly before pope Benedict XVI was lifting the excommunication of Society of St. Pius X, bishop Williamson, member of Society of St. Pius X, denied that 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis. He said about 200,000 or 300,000 were murdered and none were gassed. He later apologized for the "hurt" caused by his remarks, but he still has not recanted them. Pope Benedict XVI's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will now oversee planned theological talks with the nazistoid Society of St. Pius X in hopes of reabsorbing it into the church. The outcome will probably be ultra-authoritarian, with equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, Anarchon says.

25.06.2009. No big news from the catholic pope. Pope Benedict XVI seems to have more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, Anarchon says.

01.07.2009. Still no big news from the catholic pope. Pope Benedict XVI seems to have more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree, Anarchon says. Thursday 18.06.2009 pope Benedict XVI called for a "frank and complete acknowledgment" of the "weaknesses" of priests. It was the pope's first statement on such matters since a state-appointed commission in Ireland last month reported "endemic" sexual and physical abuse in church-run residential schools there from the 1930s to the 1990s, when the last of the institutions closed. Benedict's letter to priests worldwide did not specifically acknowledge abuse scandals, but it spoke of "situations which can never be sufficiently deplored where the church herself suffers as a consequence of infidelity on the part of some of her ministers." This is not a strong and direct condemnation of the child abusers," Anarchon says. Since then pope Benedict XVI has been silent on the matter as far as AIIS knows...

26.11.2009. Irish church covered up abuse. A damning report into child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese has criticized the catholic church hierarchy for covering up the abuse. The report investigated how church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests. It found that the Church placed its own reputation above the protection of children in its care. It also said that state authorities facilitated the cover-up by allowing the church to operate outside the law. The "Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin" covered a period from 1975 to 2004. It has laid bare a culture of concealment where church leaders prioritized the protection of their own institution above that of vulnerable children in their care. The report said the avoidance of public outrage, which would inevitably follow high-profile prosecutions, appeared more important than preventing abusers from repeating their crimes. Instead of reporting the allegations to civic authorities, those accused of horrific crimes were systematically shuffled from parish to parish where they could prey on new, unsuspecting victims. Thursday's report comes six months after the publication of the Ryan report in May, which took submissions from 2,000 people who said they had suffered physical and sexual abuse while in the care of Catholic-run institutions. As mentioned, the Ryan report, also known as the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, found church leaders knew that sexual abuse was "endemic" in boys' institutions. The catholic pope, the top ruler of the catholic church, has a responsiblity for the church's actions. The anarchists are waiting for a comment from the catholic pope ..., says Anarchon.

08.12.2009. Papal Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza expressed his shock at how Church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests. "We feel ashamed about what happened, I must express again my shock, my dismay," said Archbishop Leanza. He met with Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Martin on Tuesday. The Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, published in November, looked at cases of abuse over a 30 year period. "I understand the anger of the people and the sufferings of those who have been abused," said Archbishop Leanza after the meeting. "We totally condemn this." The Papal Nuncio had been criticized by the commission for ignoring a request for information. The anarchists are waiting for a comment from the catholic pope himself..., says Anarchon.

19.12.2009. Suspected nazi-collaborationist pope Pius XII on the way to be beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict XVI moved two of his predecessors closer to possible sainthood Saturday, signing decrees on the virtues of Pope John Paul II and controversial Pope Pius XII, who has been criticized for not doing enough to stop the Holocaust. The decrees mean that both men can be beatified once the Vatican certifies that a miracle attributed to their intercession has occurred. Beatification is the first major step before possible sainthood. Anarchists, some Jews and historians have argued Pius should have done more to prevent the deaths of 6 million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II. As a result, the German-born Benedict's surprise decision to recognize Pius' "heroic virtues" sparked immediate outcry from Jewish groups and anarchists. Anarchists, The Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee declared the move was premature given the Vatican still hasn't opened up to outside historians its secret archives from Pius' 1939-1958 pontificate. The Vatican says the 16 million files won't be ready until 2014 at the earliest. Anarchon says it is regrettable that the Vatican acted before the documents are made available.

In this connection Kevin P. Spicer's, roman catholic priest-scholar's, book Hitler's Priests: Catholic Clergy and National Socialism. Northern Illinois University Press in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2008; may be mentioned. According to AIIS the book has admirable qualities, but failes to distinguish between the small minority of "dark brown priests", those priests who unequivocally supported the nazi-regime, and "brown fellow travelers", i.e. clergymen accepting the benefits that came with the Reichskonkordat, but who failed to condemn the nazi regime at the same time. Cardinal Pacelli (the future pope Pius XII) most likely can be seen as a "brown fellow traveler" who was willing to accept the generosity of Hitler in the educational sphere (more schools, teachers and pupil places), so long as the church withdrew from the social and political sphere, at the same time as Jews were being dismissed from universities and Jewish pupil places were being reduced. The "brown fellow travelers" never protested openly or publicly against the repression of the Jews.

Pacelli was effectively being in collusion with the nazi cause, if perhaps not by intent. Monsignor Kass, who was involved in negotiations for the Reichskonkordat, and at that time the head of the Roman Catholic Centre Party, persuaded his party members, with the acquiescence of Pacelli, in the summer of 1933 to enable Hitler to acquire dictatorial powers. The Catholic Centre Party's vote was decisive in the adoption of dictatorial powers by Hitler and the party's subsequent dissolution was at Pacelli's prompting. Also the book "Hitler's Pope", by John Cornwell, publised in 1999, in which he accuses pope Pius XII of assisting in the legitimization of the nazi-regime in Germany through the pursuit of the Reichskonkordat in 1933 and of remaining silent during the Holocaust, may be mentioned. However it must also be mentioned that Pius XII perhaps to some extent had a limited scope of action while Rome was under the heel of Mussolini and later occupied by Germany. But other places, as, say in Norway, the bishops openly protested against the nazis. The catholic pope Pius XII showed no such protest, or public protest against nazism or fascism at all, and was cearly a "brown fellow traveller" - and perhaps also an ultra-fascist "dark brown pope". "To try to make a saint of Hitler's pope Pius XII is in itself a very brown act," says Anarchon - the real Pope in Rome, to the false pope Benedict XVI.

16.02.2010. Too late and not a strong enough condemnation of child abuse from the pope, says Anarchon: The pope has still equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree! The sexual abuse of children is not just a "heinous crime" but a "grave sin" that offends God and wounds human dignity, pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday after a two-day meeting with Irish catholic bishops at the Vatican. The weakening of faith has also been a "significant contributing factor" in the sexual abuse of minors, the pope said, adding that "current painful situation will not be resolved quickly." The pope's comments came in a written Vatican statement at the end of the meeting, the largest one yet about the scandal that has rocked the church from Ireland to the Vatican and beyond. As mentioned a damning report by an independent Irish commission in November found the Catholic Church in Ireland had covered up the "widespread" abuse of children from 1975 to 2004.

It led to the resignation of four Irish bishops late last year and prompted the pope to say at the time he was "deeply disturbed and distressed" by the report's findings. There was no discussion at this week's meeting about further resignations, said papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi. A group representing alleged victims of abuse said the pope had not gone far enough. Victims are "angered his Holiness did not see fit to take the necessary firm action against those in the Irish church hierarchy who protected pedophiles," said John Kelly, the founder of Irish Survivors of Child Abuse. The pope "has clearly failed the victims and the Irish people," he added. Asking the bishops to address the problem "shows lack of vision, especially as it is the Irish bishops who are themselves the problem," Kelly said in the written statement. The anarchists agree. Too late and not a strong enough condemnation of child abuse from the pope, says Anarchon: The pope has still equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree!

17.02.2010. Catholic scholars urge pope to slow Pius sainthood. Top Catholic scholars have written an unusual and impassioned private letter to Pope Benedict urging him to slow down the sainthood procedure for wartime Pope Pius XII, accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. The letter, which was made available to Reuters by a source familiar with the initiative, is extremely rare because in the past it has mostly been Jewish groups and not Catholic academics who have written to popes about the issue. The 18 Catholic scholars from United States, Germany and Australia, used the word "implore" twice in the letter, saying that if Pius was made a saint before the historical record is cleared up, it could irreparably harm Catholic-Jewish relations. "Holy Father, we implore you, acting on your wisdom as a renowned scholar, professor and teacher, to be patient with the cause of Pius XII," the scholars wrote in their letter.

Many Jews say Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, did not do enough to help Jews facing persecution by Nazi Germany. The Vatican maintains that Pius chose to work behind the scenes, concerned that public intervention would have worsened the situation for both Jews and Catholics in a wartime Europe dominated by Hitler. The Catholic scholars suggested that they had to take a hard-line judgment on Pius until Vatican archives were open for more study by historians. "Currently, existing research leads us to the view that Pope Pius XII did not issue a clearly worded statement, unconditionally condemning the wholesale slaughter and murder of European Jews," the scholars told the German pope.

In December, Benedict angered Jews, anarchists and others when he approved a decree recognizing Pius's "heroic virtues", moving him one step closer to sainthood. The two remaining steps are beatification and canonization. "The movement to press forward at this time the process of beatification of Pius XII greatly troubles us," the scholars told the pope. The scholars included Rev. Dr. John Pawlikowski of the Catholic Theological Union, a leading historian on Judaism and the Holocaust and Dr. Eugene Fisher, the retired expert on Jewish relations for the US Catholic Bishops Conference. Copies of the letter were to be sent to Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican official in charge of relations with Jews, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, a leading figure in Catholic-Jewish dialogue in the United States.

Jews have asked repeatedly that the Vatican's wartime archives be opened for study and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom repeated the request to the pope directly when the pontiff visited Rome's synagogue last month. "We implore you to ensure that such a historical investigation takes place before proceeding with the (sainthood) cause of Pope Pius XII," the scholars told the pope. They said that Pius had become in essence, a de facto "symbol of Christian-anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism" and added: "Proceeding with the cause of Pope Pius XII without an exhaustive study of his actions during the Holocaust might harm Jewish-Catholic relations in a way that cannot be overcome in the foreseeable future." Benedict, a German who was drafted into the Hitler Youth and German army as a teenager during World War Two, has had a more difficult relationship with the Jewish community than his predecessor Pope John Paul II. Many are still seething at his decision last year to start the rehabilitation process of traditionalist Bishop Richard Williamson, who denied the full extent of the Holocaust.

03.02.2010. German Catholic schools at center of abuse scandal. While the focus of the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church centered on the United States for several years, abuse scandals have in recent years erupted in other countries as well, including Ireland, the Philippines, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Canada and elsewhere. Anarchon says: The pope and his church have clearly equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree!

In the home country of Pope Benedict XVI, new revelations of child abuse by Roman Catholic priests at German high schools are surfacing almost daily. The Catholic church in Germany - where around 30 percent of people consider themselves Catholic - has apologized for the incidents, but already there are calls for the government to take action because most of the cases date back to the 1970s and 1980s, beyond the reach of statutes and prosecution. The first accusers came forward a month ago in Berlin. Since then, the list of schools and victims who say they were scarred and haunted by alleged abuses has grown.

First it was seven alumni of the prestigious Canisius Kolleg prep school in Berlin. Then it was Aloisius Kolleg in Bonn and then St. Blasien, another Jesuit-run boarding school in the Black Forest as well as other Catholic schools in Hamburg, Goettingen and Hildesheim. Just days ago, the renowned boarding schools Ettal Monastery and St. Ottilien in Bavaria made headlines when allegations about child molestation by Benedictine priests there surfaced. The total number of alleged victims has reached at least 150. Ursula Raue, an attorney appointed by the Jesuit religious order to handle the charges, said she has been overwhelmed by the number of cases that flood her inbox and answering machine daily. "This whole case has taken on a dimension of unbelievable proportions," she said.

Raue said she "heard from mothers, sisters and brothers, whose children or siblings took their own lives or cannot function in daily life because of deep psychological scars." The majority of the victims are male, because most of the schools involved admitted only boys aged 10 to 19 at the time the abuse took place. Many victims have never talked to their wives or friends about the incidents because "they still feel ashamed when the memories of humiliation and powerlessness come back and when they realize that none of those old wounds have healed," Raue said. Miguel Abrantes, now 37 and an actor in Duesseldorf, is one of the few victims able and willing to speak out about the abuse and humiliation he suffered as an 11-year-old boy at Aloisius Kolleg. He said every morning, the boys had to undress and Father Ludger Stueper sprayed them with cold water from the hose, front and back. He said the boys also had to lie down on Stueper's couch where the priest would take their temperature - rectally for seven minutes.

And then there were the photos. "One time Stueper took pictures of a friend and me while we were in the shower. He also made us go outside and we had to pose naked for him, lean against stones and trees in the park, the foam from the shampoo still in our hair," Abrantes said. While the focus of the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church centered on the United States for several years, abuse scandals have in recent years erupted in other countries as well, including Ireland, the Philippines, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Canada and elsewhere. Neither the pope nor the Vatican has made any specific remarks about the abuse scandal in Germany, a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said, but he added that Benedict's previous statements on other such scandals - including most recently about Ireland - are certainly valid for Germany.

A Vatican statement last month, after a crisis meeting with Irish bishops, said Benedict called the sexual abuse of children "not only a heinous crime, but also a grave sin which offends God and wounds the dignity of the human person created in his image." So far, the victims have identified 12 Jesuit priests by name and, in some cases, accused women, Raue said, adding that she had not yet found out if all of the accused were still alive. In the US and elsewhere, some members of Catholic women's religious orders have been accused of molesting children, however claims against women have been rare. Among the accused is Stueper, the former director of the Aloisius Kolleg, whom several alumni have charged had them pose against their will for nude photos or forced them to perform oral sex.

The Revs. Peter Riedel and Wolfgang Stab, who both taught at Canisius Kolleg in the 1970s and 80s, have been accused of serial sexual abuse there and at other Catholic youth institutions in Germany, Mexico, Chile and Spain, where they were transferred later in their lives, according to a report Raue published last month. Only in two cases have prosecutors opened investigations: The allegations at Aloisius Kolleg and claims against a member of the Benedictine-run boarding school in Ettal. Bonn prosecutors are investigating the case of a student who is currently still enrolled at Aloisius Kolleg and was allegedly abused by Stueper in 2005. Stueper, 82, is living at a nursing home and is reportedly suffering from dementia. Several German lawmakers, including Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, have called for an extension of the statute of limitations, and the German Bishops Conference recently issued a statement apologizing for the incidents. They have appointed a special commissioner for all questions regarding sexual abuse of children within the church, but have not announced any further consequences.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishops Conference, has reacted defensively to growing criticism of the Catholic church. "Sexual abuse of children is not a specific problem of the Catholic church. It has neither to do with celibacy, nor with homosexuality nor with Catholic sexual doctrine," Zollitsch told weekly Welt am Sonntag earlier this week. For the victims, dialogue with the schools and reform within the Catholic Church are among the most important demands. So far, only few calls for compensation payments were made. "I do want to forgive, but every time I try to get in touch with officials from my old school or the Jesuits in order to establish some kind of communication, I just get turned away," said Georg K., who asked that his last name does not get mentioned publicly to protect his privacy. Georg K., who works in advertising, said that Stueper forced him to have oral sex during the time he was a student from sixth to 10th grades at Aloisius Kolleg in the 1980s. He did not want to elaborate further on the abuse, indicating the memories were too painful. "I have to live with this humiliation every day of my life," the 40-year-old said in Munich. "It is disappointing and it pains me, that I run against a wall of silence every time I want to talk to them." Anarchon says: The pope and his church have clearly equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree!

06.03.2010. The Vatican says it supports efforts in a German diocese to shed light on a sexual abuse scandal in a choir once led by Pope Benedict XVI's brother. The Vatican said Saturday that the "main reason of the church's clarification is to render justice to possible victims." It said it was backing the Regensburg Diocese in its "willingness to analyze the painful question in a decisive and open way." The statement was published in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. The Regensburg Diocese said this week that a former member claims he was abused while singing with Germany's leading Roman Catholic boys' choir. The choir was led for 30 years by the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, the pope's brother. Ratzinger told a German public radio he did not know of any abuse cases at the choir. "Too little - too late!!!!" Anarchon says: "The pope and his church have clearly equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree!! The catholic church and its pope are real beasts!!! You know where this ends pope Benedict XVI, alias Mr Ratzinger..."

"By the way, since the priests on a large scale have turned into criminals and rapists, we - the anarchists once more take over, and do the speech this Sunday morning, i.e. without prayers. We let ANARCHON, one of our Nestors, play the POPE and speak our message to the world. ANARCHON thus is the acting REAL POPE IN ROME. Prayers will not help anyway. The future is entirely in our own hands, sorry to say; "Gott mit uns" is on the arch-enemies side, this time as well as most of the times throughout history. By the way ANARCHON in this context means both "without archon = ruler" and "without the primitive, origin, first stage", or put in more poetical terms: THE POINT OF NO RETURN: " ... the Father was always Father; for He is Father of the ever-present Son. To the Son we must pay the due honour, ascribing to Him the gennesis without beginning ([ten anarchon gennesin]), and using of Him only the words 'was' and 'always,' and 'before all time'..". Beautiful poetry, but to anarchists, i.e. atheists, it has no meaning above its metaphorical value!" says a spokesperson for the AIIS: "The Sunday 07.03.2010 speech is this resolution "Anarchist protest against the pope" updated!" ... From Anarchon!!!

10.03.2010. Pope Benedict XVI, alias Mr Ratzinger, and his Roman Catholic church embroiled in European child abuse scandal. An Austrian priest Arch-Abbot Bruno Becker has resigned over child sex abuse allegations dating back 40 years. He is the latest Roman Catholic cleric to caught up in a growing child abuse scandal in Europe which is moving ever closer to the Vatican. Last year Becker is said to have been confronted with the allegations but refused to give up his job. He is then is said to have written and offered a 5,000 euro payment to his alleged victim. Meanwhile in the Netherlands an investigation has been launched into sexual abuse allegations by priests in the 1950s. More than 200 Catholics in the past week have come forward to give evidence after a radio station carried a report on the accusations. The Dutch Catholic church has stressed it wants the investigation to be independent.

But it is in Germany that the scandal has landed at the Vatican's door. Reports of abuse have surfaced at three schools in the southern state of Bavaria. They include Regensburg Cathedral school where the pope's brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger was choir master between 1964-1994. In a newspaper interview he has denied knowing anything about sexual abuse allegations but he has admitted handing out corporal punishment, which in those days was acceptable. He has, however, also said he never believed stories told to him of more extreme and violent treatment inflicted on some pupils.

12.03.2010. Abuse scandal in Germany edges closer to pope Benedict XVI. A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made "serious mistakes" in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop. The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest's transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had no comment beyond the statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which he said showed the "nonresponsibility" of the pope in the matter. This is probably not the whole truth, says Anarchon. The expanding abuse inquiry had come ever closer to Benedict as new accusations in Germany surfaced almost daily since the first reports in January. On Friday the pope met with the chief bishop of Germany, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishops Conference, to discuss the church investigations and media reports.

Problems in the German church have already come close to the pope, whose brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, 86, directed a choir connected to a boarding school where two former students have come forward with abuse claims. In an interview this week, Monsignor Ratzinger, who directed the choir from 1964 to 1994, said the accusations dated from before his tenure. He also apologized for slapping students. Slapping students is a crime and ochlarchy, says Anarchon. At a news conference following a one-on-one meeting with Benedict on Friday, Archbishop Zollitsch said the pope was "greatly upset" and "deeply moved" by the abuse allegations, and had urged the German church to seek the truth and help the victims.

The meeting and news conference occurred before the statement from the Munich archdiocese. Archbishop Zollitsch said the German church had vowed to investigate all allegations of abuse, encouraging victims to identify themselves even if the abuse happened decades ago. In recent weeks, hundreds of people who say they were abuse victims have come forward."The cases are growing every day," said Thomas Pfister, a lawyer appointed by the German church to investigate abuse cases in the Ettal monastery boarding school in Bavaria. He said more than 100 people had contacted him so far.

"Every day I receive e-mails from around the world from people who have been abused," Mr. Pfister said, adding that the school had posted his e-mail address on its Web site to encourage this. "There has been a very big silence. Now they want to have a voice." Experts and anarchists said the scandals could undermine Benedict's moral authority, especially because they cut particularly close to the pope himself. As head of the Vatican's main doctrinal arm, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he led Vatican investigations into abuse for four years before assuming the papacy in 2005."What is at stake, and at great risk, is Benedict's central project for the 're-christianization' of christendom, his desire to have Europe return to its christian roots," said David Gibson, the author of a biography of Benedict and a religion commentator for Politicsdaily.com. "But if the root itself is seen as rotten, then his influence will be badly compromised." The anarchists agree!

When a sex abuse scandal broke in Boston church in 2002, Pope Benedict - then Cardinal Ratzinger - was among the Vatican officials who made statements that minimized the problem and accused the news media of blowing it out of proportion. But as the abuse case files landed on his desk at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, his colleagues said he was deeply disturbed by what he learned. On his first visit to the United States as pope, Benedict met with abuse victims from Boston and said he was "deeply ashamed" by priests who had harmed children. But victims' advocates accuse the pope of doing little to discipline the bishops who permitted abusers to continue serving in ministry. The case in Munich, which was brought to the attention of the diocese by the daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, was a result of "serious mistakes," the archdiocese said in its statement.

In Munich case, a priest from Essen, "despite allegations of sexual abuse, and in spite of a conviction — was repeatedly assigned work in the sphere of pastoral care by the then-Vicar General Gerhard Gruber," who worked under Benedict when he was the archbishop. The priest, identified only with the initial "H," was moved to Munich in January 1980, where he was supposed to undergo therapy, a decision that was taken "with the approval of the archbishop," according to the archdiocese's statement. Benedict was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982. In June 1986, the priest was convicted of sexually abusing minors and given an 18-month suspended sentence with five years of probation, fined 4,000 marks and ordered to undergo therapy.

The former vicar general took full responsibility for the decision to reinstate the priest to pastoral work. "I deeply regret that this decision resulted in offenses against youths and apologize to all who were harmed by it," he said, according to a statement posted on the archdiocese's Web site. There was immediate skepticism that Benedict, as archbishop, would not have known of the details of the case. The anarchists agree! The Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, who once worked at the Vatican Embassy in Washington and became an early and well-known whistle-blower on sexual abuse in the church, said the vicar general's claim was not credible. "Nonsense," said Father Doyle, who has served as an expert witness in sexual abuse lawsuits. "Pope Benedict is a micromanager. He's the old style. Anything like that would necessarily have been brought to his attention. Tell the vicar general to find a better line. What he's trying to do, obviously, is protect the pope." The anarchists agree!

It is unclear how many cases have come to light. At the news conference, the archbishop said that the Bishops Conference had sent a questionnaire to dioceses to determine which kinds of abuse cases emerged, not how many, and was awaiting a response. The scandal is not limited to Germany. This week, two dioceses in Austria suspended five priests pending investigations into allegations they had molested students. The church in the Netherlands has said it would open an investigation after more than 200 people came forward in recent weeks. To many observers, the situation in Europe looked unsettlingly similar to that in the United States a decade ago, when a trickle of isolated abuse cases steadily grew into a widespread phenomenon that upended — and financially strained — many American dioceses.

But in Europe, unlike in common-law countries like the United States, Canada and Australia, defendants cannot sue the church for negligence. "When this first started to break in the United States in the mid-to-late '80s and our bishops went to Rome for help in dealing with it, they were basically told, ‘This is an American problem,' " said Nicholas Cafardi, a canon law expert and emeritus dean of the Duquesne University School of Law. "But human nature being human nature, it wasn't logical to say this only exists in the common-law countries," Mr. Cafardi added. "Our legal system brought it to light more quickly. In fact it's not an American or common-law problem, it's a human problem."

"The catholic pope seems to know more about the child abuses than he admits!" Anarchon says: "The pope and his church have clearly equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree!! The catholic church and its pope are real beasts!!! You know where this ends pope Benedict XVI, alias Mr Ratzinger..."

"By the way, since the priests on a large scale have turned into criminals, ochlarchists and rapists, we - the anarchists once more take over, and do the speech Sunday 14.03.2010, i.e. without prayers. We let ANARCHON, one of our Nestors, play the POPE and speak our message to the world. ANARCHON thus is the acting REAL POPE IN ROME. Prayers will not help anyway. The future is entirely in our own hands, sorry to say; "Gott mit uns" is on the arch-enemies side, this time as well as most of the times throughout history. By the way ANARCHON in this context means both "without archon = ruler" and "without the primitive, origin, first stage", or put in more poetical terms: THE POINT OF NO RETURN: " ... the Father was always Father; for He is Father of the ever-present Son. To the Son we must pay the due honour, ascribing to Him the gennesis without beginning ([ten anarchon gennesin]), and using of Him only the words 'was' and 'always,' and 'before all time'..". Beautiful poetry, but to anarchists, i.e. atheists, it has no meaning above its metaphorical value!" says a spokesperson for the AIIS: "The Sunday 14.03.2010 speech is this resolution "Anarchist protest against the pope" updated!" ... From Anarchon!!!

20.03.2010. The catholic pope's letter of apology disappoints Irish vicitms. Irish victims of clerical child sexual abuse are deeply disappointed by pope Benedict's letter of apology as it fails to address the role of senior church leaders, a group representing victims said on Saturday."My first response was deep disappointment in the letter," said Maeve Lewis, executive director of victims group One in Four. "We feel the letter falls far short of addressing the concerns of the victims," Lewis said. She said the pope's letter focused too narrowly on lower-rank Irish priests without recognizing the responsibility of the Vatican and senior Irish clerics for protecting offenders and dealing with victims."There is nothing in this letter to suggest that any new vision of
leadership in the Catholic church exists," Lewis said. The letter also does not refer to the resignation of the head of the church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, which victims' groups have demanded, she added."It is evident from the Pastoral Letter that Pope Benedict is deeply dismayed by what he refers to as 'sinful and criminal acts and the way the Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them,'" Brady said in his address which went through the papal letter. "Too little, too late" Anarchon says...

25.03.2010. The catholic pope 'failed to act' on sex abuse. Pope Benedict XVI has been accused of failing to act on complaints from two archbishops in the US about a priest who allegedly abused 200 deaf boys. The Vatican newspaper said the move was an "ignoble attempt" to smear the Pope. As a cardinal heading the Vatican office that dealt with sex abuse cases, the future pontiff allegedly failed to respond to letters about the case. A church trial of the priest was halted after he wrote to the then Cardinal Ratzinger pleading ill health. The Holy See has recently been plagued by abuse cover-up claims in Europe, echoing a similar scandal that hit the Church in the US eight years ago. Hardly a day goes by without new allegations of sexual abuse of children by catholic priests somewhere in the world being reported in the media. The pope's spokesman defended Benedict, saying the Vatican department which the future pontiff was in charge of had not been informed of these latest allegations until 1996 - 20 years after the priest's victims first informed the police. But the Vatican's rather lame excuse for lack of any action is that canon law, as Church law is called, "does not envision automatic penalties".

The catholic church teaches that paedophilia is a grave sin, but the evidence is that accused priests were usually moved to another parish rather than punished. While the Pope is now promoting a policy of zero tolerance to clerical abuse, the suspicion remains that for many years he failed to react to the damning evidence which arrived on his desk. For more than 20 years before he was made pontiff, Joseph Ratzinger led the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith - the Vatican office with responsibility, among other issues, for response to child abuse cases. Two archbishops wrote letters to the Vatican watchdog led by Cardinal Ratzinger calling for disciplinary proceedings against Fr Lawrence Murphy, according to Church and Vatican documents. Fr Murphy was a popular priest who is believed to have molested some 200 boys at St John's School for the Deaf in St Francis, Wisconsin, between 1950 and 1974. A canonical trial authorised by Cardinal Ratzinger's deputy was halted after Fr Murphy wrote to the future pope asking that proceedings be stopped.

The accused priest said in the letter that he was ill and wanted to live out the remainder of his time in the "dignity of my priesthood". Victims say Fr Murphy - who died in 1998 - assaulted boys while hearing their confessions, in his office, his car, at his mother's house and in their dormitory beds. He was quietly moved to the Diocese of Superior in northern Wisconsin in 1974, where he spent his last 24 years working freely with children in parishes and schools, according to one lawsuit. Lawsuits have been filed on behalf of five men alleging the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin did not take sufficient action against the priest.

'Fall on the sword'. At a news conference on Thursday in Milwaukee, one of the victims, Arthur Budzinski, said Fr Murphy had begun to assault him when he was 12. Neither the clerical authorities, nor the police had intervened when he reported it, the 61-year-old said. Mr Budzinski was asked through a sign language interpreter what he wanted to see happen now. "Ratzinger can have all of the colonels and lieutenants they want fall on the sword for him, but eventually he has to 'fess up," the interpreter said. Meanwhile, members of a group of clerical abuse victims who denounced Benedict's handling of the case in a news conference outside the Vatican were briefly detained by Italian police for not having a permit.

'Despicable intention'. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said there was no cover-up, denouncing the allegations as "clearly an ignoble attempt to strike at Pope Benedict and his closest aides at any cost". The Pope's official spokesman, Federico Lombardi, called it a "tragic case", but said there was no provision in Church law for automatic punishment. He noted that police did investigate the allegations at the time but did not press charges. The papal spokesman said the Murphy case had only reached the Vatican in 1996 - two decades after the Milwaukee diocese first learned of the allegations and two years before the priest died. The diocese was asked to take action by "restricting Father Murphy's public ministry and requiring that Father Murphy accept full responsibility for the gravity of his acts", he added. Last week the Pope issued an unprecedented letter to Ireland addressing the 16 years of clerical cover-up scandals. He has yet to comment on his handling of a child sex abuse case involving a German priest, which developed while Benedict was overseeing the Munich archdiocese. The Rev Peter Hullermann had been accused of abusing boys when the now Pope approved his 1980 transfer to Munich to receive psychological treatment for paedophilia. The disgraced priest was convicted in 1986 of abusing a youth, but stayed within the Church for another two decades. "Too little, too late" Anarchon says...

"The catholic pope 'failed to act' on sex abuse. The catholic pope seems to know more about the child abuses than he admits!" Anarchon once more says: "The pope and his church have clearly equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree!! The catholic church and its pope are real beasts!!! You know where this ends pope Benedict XVI, alias Mr Ratzinger..."

"By the way, since the priests on a large scale have turned into criminals, ochlarchists, paedophiles and rapists, we - the anarchists once more take over, and do the speech Sunday 28.03.2010, i.e. without prayers. We let ANARCHON, one of our Nestors, play the POPE and speak our message to the world. ANARCHON thus is the acting REAL POPE IN ROME. Prayers will not help anyway. The future is entirely in our own hands, sorry to say; "Gott mit uns" is on the arch-enemies side, this time as well as most of the times throughout history. Our aim is to create heaven on earth", says Anarchon: "The catholic pope and his friend Willamson contribute to create hell on earth."

By the way ANARCHON in this context means both "without archon = ruler" and "without the primitive, origin, first stage", or put in more poetical terms: THE POINT OF NO RETURN: " ... the Father was always Father; for He is Father of the ever-present Son. To the Son we must pay the due honour, ascribing to Him the gennesis without beginning ([ten anarchon gennesin]), and using of Him only the words 'was' and 'always,' and 'before all time'..". Beautiful poetry, but to anarchists, i.e. atheists, it has no meaning above its metaphorical value!" says a spokesperson for the AIIS: "The Sunday 28.03.2010 speech is this resolution "Anarchist protest against the pope" updated!" ... From Anarchon!!! AIIS: It must be clear to all that Anarchon is the real pope in Rome, and not Benedict XVI, alias Mr Ratzinger...

28.03.2010. Clergy abuse threatens to tarnish pope's legacy. The Vatican is facing one of its gravest crises of modern times as sex abuse scandals move ever closer to pope Benedict XVI - threatening not only his own legacy but also that of his revered predecessor. Benedict took a much harder stance on sex abuse than John Paul II when he assumed the papacy five years ago, disciplining a senior cleric championed by the Polish pontiff and defrocking others under a new policy of zero tolerance. But the impression remains of a woefully slow-footed church and of a pope who bears responsibility for allowing pedophile priests to keep their parishes. In an editorial on Friday 26.03.2010, the National Catholic Reporter in the United States called on Benedict to answer questions about his role "in the mismanagement" of sex abuse cases, not only in the current crisis but during his tenure in the 1980s as archbishop of Munich and then as head of the Vatican's doctrinal and disciplinary office.

It all comes down to the question of what the pope knew and when. "The catholic pope seems to know more about the child abuses than he admits," Anarchon once more says. The answer will almost certainly determine the fate of Benedict's papacy. As he approaches Holy Week, the most solemn period on the christian calendar, victims groups and other critics are demanding Benedict accept personal responsibility. A few say he should resign. Some fear the crisis will alienate catholics from the church, with a survey in Benedict's native Germany already showing disaffection among Catholics while there is deep anger in once very Catholic Ireland. As the climate worsens, the Vatican is showing increasing impatience and even anger, denouncing what it says is a campaign to smear the pope. L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said this week there was a "clear and despicable intention" to strike at Benedict "at any cost."

But as attention focuses on Benedict, a perhaps thornier question looms over how much John Paul II, beloved worldwide for his inspirational charisma and courageous stand against communism, knew about sex abuse cases and whether he was too tolerant of pedophile priests. John Paul presided over the church when the sex abuse scandal exploded in the United States in 2002 and the Vatican was swamped with complaints and lawsuits under his leadership. Yet during most of his 26-year papacy, individual dioceses and not the Vatican took sole responsibility for investigating misbehavior. Professor Nick Cafardi, a canon and civil lawyer and former chairman of the US bishops lay review board that monitored abuse, said Benedict was "very courageous" to reverse Vatican support for the Legionaries of Christ, a sex scandal-tainted organization staunchly defended by John Paul.

John Paul was already ailing from Parkinson's disease when the US scandal erupted, a factor supporters say may have kept him from initially realizing its scope. While Cardinal Bernard Law became the most high-profile church figure to fall, resigning as archbishop of Boston over the scandal, John Paul gave him a soft landing, appointing him as head of a Rome basilica and keeping him on various Vatican committees. The world-traveling John Paul has been put on a fast track for sainthood by Benedict in response to popular demand. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the emeritus head of the Vatican's saint-making office, said this week that historians who studied the pope's life didn't find anything problematic in John Paul's handling of abuse scandals.
"According to them there was nothing that was a true obstacle to his cause of beatification. They are very strict," Saraiva Martins said.

For Benedict, a quiet intellectual who will be 83 next month, the scandal must be trying. Until recently, Benedict had received high marks for his handling of sex abuse - seen as a bright spot amid turmoil over his remarks linking Islam to violence and his rehabilitation of an ultraconservative bishop who denies the Holocaust. Shortly before his election as pope in 2005 he had denounced "filth" in the church - widely viewed as a reference to clerics who abused children. He proclaimed a policy of zero tolerance for offenders and met and prayed with victims while traveling in the United States and Australia. Benedict won praise for moving against the Legionaries of Christ, the conservative order once hailed by John Paul that fell into scandal after it revealed that its founder had fathered a child and had molested seminarians.

The Vatican began investigating allegations against the Rev. Marcial Maciel of Mexico in the 1950s, but it wasn't until 2006, a year into Benedict's pontificate, that the Vatican instructed Maciel to lead a "reserved life of prayer and penance" in response to the abuse allegations - effectively removing him from power. But reaction changed as the abuse scandal moved across Europe and into Benedict's native Germany in recent months, touching the pontiff himself with a case dating to his tenure as archbishop of Munich. The former vicar general of the Munich archdiocese has absolved the pope of responsibility in the case of the Rev. Peter Hullermann, accused of abusing boys.

While then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was involved in a 1980 decision to transfer Hullermann to Munich for therapy, Ratzinger's then-deputy took responsibility for a subsequent decision to let the priest return to pastoral duties. Hullermann was convicted of sexual abuse in 1986. However, the New York Times reported Friday that Ratzinger was copied in on a memo stating Hullermann would be returned to pastoral work within days of beginning psychiatric treatment. The archdiocese insisted Ratzinger was unaware of the decision and that any other version was "mere speculation." In another case, documents show the Vatican office responsible for disciplining priests, while headed by Ratzinger, halted a church trial of a Milwaukee priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys from 1950-1975.

Two Wisconsin bishops had urged the Vatican to approve the proceeding against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, arguing that even though it was years after the alleged abuse, the deaf community in Milwaukee was demanding justice. The trial was approved in 1997, only to be halted after an appeal by the priest to Ratzinger. Murphy died in 1998. Murphy's eventual punishment was a restriction on celebrating Mass and on visiting the deaf community. Such light disciplinary measures remain the norm in the majority of sex abuse cases. Of the 3,000 cases the Vatican has received since 2001, only 20 percent have gone to a full canonical trial, the Vatican's chief prosecutor Monsignor Charles Scicluna said. Disciplinary sanctions were imposed in 60 percent, such as priests being ordered to live a retired life of prayer and not celebrate Mass publicly; in only 10 percent were the accused priests defrocked.

The abuse crisis in the United States, which involved 4 percent of the American priesthood, showed a pattern of bishops covering for errant clerics, at times moving them from parish to parish. The latest documents point to Vatican complicity, although the Vatican denies there was any cover-up. Defenders of Benedict, such as British Archbishop Vincent Nichols, say that as cardinal he made important changes in church law to crack down on offenders and was not an "idle observer." French bishops rallied around Benedict in a letter on Friday, saying while they deplored clerical sex abuse, the issue "is being used in a campaign to attack you personally."

Still, it is in Germany where Benedict's popularity has taken a real hit. A poll in Stern magazine released this week shows only 39 percent of Germany's Catholics trust the pope, down from 62 percent in late January. Some 34 percent trust the Catholic church as an institution, down from 56 percent in January. The margin of error was 2.5 percentage points. Rainer Kampling, a professor of Catholic theology at Berlin Free University, says the idea that the pope might resign - slipping polls not withstanding - is hardly realistic. "The pope is not a politician," he said. Herbert Kohlmaier, chairman of an Austrian Catholic group that has criticized Benedict, also said a resignation shouldn't be expected. "They certainly won't let a symbolic figure like that go." While church law allows for the resignation of a pope, there are few precedents over the church's two millennium history. The last was by 15th-century Pope Gregory XII, and that was not over scandal but rather a schism in the church.

British protesters demand Pope quits over abuse. British protesters called on Pope Benedict XVI to resign Sunday as they staged a demonstration over the Catholic Church's handling of clerical sex abuse cases. Demonstrators gathered outside Westminster Cathedral to call for action over the scandal, carrying placards displaying messages including "Pope? Nope!" and "Don't Turn a Blind Eye," though fewer than 50 people joined the rally. Revelations of the sexual abuse of children by priests at catholic institutions have swept across Europe, including in the pope's native Germany. Benedict has been criticized over a case dating to his tenure as archbishop of Munich, and his actions when head of the Vatican office responsible for disciplining priests. "The buck stops with him and he should resign," human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said at the London rally. "The pope has played a direct personal role in covering up sex abuse."

However, Benedict won support from Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols who insisted the pope wouldn't - and shouldn't - quit. "The pope will not resign, frankly there is no strong reason for him to do so," he told BBC television. "In fact, it is the other way around. He is the one above all else in Rome that has tackled this thing head on."

Pope Benedict XVI opened Holy Week on Sunday amid one of the most serious crises facing the church in decades, with protesters in London demanding he resign and calls in Switzerland for a central registry for pedophile priests. Benedict made no direct mention of the scandal in his Palm Sunday homily. "Thus, indicating it is a lie that the catholic pope 'tackled this thing head on'," Anarchon, the real pope in Rome, says.

In Austria, where several cases have come out in recent weeks, the archbishop of Vienna announced the creation of a church-funded but clergy-free and independent commission to look into Austrian abuse claims. It will be run by a woman, the former governor of Styria province, and is not meant to take the place of a possible state-run investigative commission, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn told public broadcaster ORF on Sunday.

And in Switzerland, Swiss President Doris Leuthard told the weekly SonntagsZeitung that Switzerland should consider creating a central registry of pedophile priests to prevent them from coming into contact with more children. Church leaders say about 60 people have reported to be victims of priest abuse in Switzerland. "It doesn't make any difference if the perpetrators are from the secular or spiritual world. Both violate Swiss law," she said. "It's important that pedophile priests, like teachers and other guardians, don't come into contact with children." The Vatican has been on the defensive amid mounting questions about the pope's handling of sex abuse cases both when he was archbishop of Munich and when he headed the Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "Too little - too late!!!!" Anarchon says: "The pope and his church have clearly equal to or more than 666 per thousand authoritarian degree!! The catholic church and its pope are real beasts!!! You know where this ends pope Benedict XVI, alias Mr Ratzinger..."

29.03.2010. The catholic pope hailed previous 'child abuse cover up pope'. Pope Benedict XVI hailed the legacy of John Paul II Monday five years after his death, while questions swirl over the late pontiff's record in combatting pedophile priests and whether a miracle needed for his sainthood really happened. "No miracle has of course happened, that satisfies real scientific testing. Miracles are practically certain always myths," says Anarchon. During an evening Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to pay tribute to the late pope, Benedict told pilgrims from John Paul's Polish homeland that his predecessor had "without interruption taught us to be faithful witnesses to faith, hope and love." Krakow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who for decades was John Paul's personal secretary, was among the prelates at the commemoration. Also attending was Cardinal Bernard Law, who after resigning as Boston archbishop in the sex abuse scandal which rocked his diocese, was put in charge of a prestigious Rome basilica by the late pope.

The 84-year-old John Paul died April 2, 2005, after battling Parkinson's disease. The commemoration was early because April 2 this year falls on Good Friday, when Benedict will preside over Lenten services at the Vatican and at the Colosseum in Rome. Immediately after John Paul's death, faithful began clamoring for his sainthood, and Benedict in December signed a decree proclaiming his predecessor "venerable" for his holy virtues. At first, the inexplicable healing of a young French nun from Parkinson's disease had initially seemed like the miracle required for remarkably swift approval for beatification, the last formal step before canonization. The nun, who had prayed to John Paul for years, woke up one morning two months after his death, seemingly inexplicably cured of the progressively degenerative neurological disorder.

But a Polish newspaper recently reported that doubts had been cast about whether the nun might not have had Parkinson's at all. Without citing sources, Rzeczpospolita, one of Poland's most respected and dailies, said the Vatican had summoned new experts to scrutinize the case. The Vatican's former head of its saint-making office, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, indicated two medical consultants might have had doubts. According to the National Parkinson Foundation, an estimated 20 percent of patients thought to have the disease were found at autopsy not to have had it. "Most movement disorders experts would agree that miracle cures of Parkinson or other movement disorders usually have a psychogenic component to the illness," the foundation's Dr. Michael S. Okun said when asked by e-mail by The AP about Parkinson patients.

While another possible miracle might be found from the many allegedly inexplicable healing experienced by those devoted to the late pope, a potentially more serious shadow has been cast on the beatification process. Intense scrutiny is being thrown on how the Vatican handled sex abuse cases from dioceses around the world, particularly an explosion of complaints from US faithful, during John Paul's 26 year papacy. The harsher look at the Vatican's policy on sex abuse has come as Benedict's own record on dealing with the problem is being scrutinized in his native Germany, when he was Munich archbishop, as well as his long tenure at the Vatican as John Paul's watchdog for purity in the Catholic church. John Paul's transfer of Cardinal Law to St. Mary Major's, one of Rome's most storied basilicas, was seen by many abuse victims as rewarding, not punishing, the Boston cleric for a policy by which many molester priests were shuttled from parish to parish, instead of removed from contact with children.

And John Paul held up as a model, the rigorously conservative founder of the Legionaries of Christ, who was later revealed to have fathered a child and had molested seminarians. The Vatican began investigating allegations against the Rev. Marcial Maciel of Mexico in the 1950s, but it wasn't until 2006, a year into Benedict's pontificate, that the Vatican instructed Maciel to lead a "reserved life of prayer and penance" in response to the abuse allegations. A Pole who was honoring John Paul in Monday evening's St. Peter's Basilica commemoration said she had no doubt that her late compatriot was "already a saint." "I hope that he becomes a saint soon, because you feel that the years are going by," Magdalena Wolinska said. "As far as I'm concerned, they are holding back on the beatification, but not because of the sex scandal, but because of other reasons," she said, in a reference to the doubts about a miracle.

More about documents proving the catholic pope, then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, covered up for a child molester. Jeff Anderson has filed thousands of lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests and won tens of millions of dollars for his clients, but he has had a bigger goal in mind for nearly two decades. He wants to bring his career-long legal crusade against misconduct in the Roman Catholic Church right to the top. He would love to question Pope Benedict XVI himself under oath. Though that is extremely unlikely given that the pope is a head of state, documents Anderson has unearthed have the potential to take a scandal that has plagued dozens of dioceses around the world and place it at the doorstep of Vatican leadership. The documents, which became publicly known in the past week after Anderson shared them with The New York Times, show that a Vatican office led by the pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, halted a church trial against a Wisconsin priest accused of molesting some 200 boys at a school for the deaf.

"This is a tipping point," Anderson said. He found the documents in handling one of the dozens of lawsuits he has pending against various church officials, and hopes to use them to bolster a separate federal lawsuit against the Vatican itself. Since 1983, Anderson and the five other attorneys at his downtown St. Paul firm have sued thousands of Catholic priests, bishops, and dioceses over allegations of sexual abuse by priests and other church leaders. He claims to have no idea how much he has won in settlements; in 2002 he estimated that it was around $60 million. "It's not about the money," Anderson said.

More than a decade after his legal battles with church officials began, Anderson's adult daughter revealed that as an 8-year-old she was molested by a therapist she was seeing as Anderson and his first wife were going through a divorce. The therapist, Anderson said, was a former Catholic priest. Anderson, 62, said the pain of that revelation "brought another dimension to the experience." But he said he concluded years earlier that the responsibility for shuffling around problem priests and covering up their indiscretions would extend to the Vatican. "I came to the stark realization that the problems were really endemic to the clerical culture, and all the problems we are having in the US led back to Rome," Anderson said. "And I realized nothing was going to fundamentally change until they did."

The Wisconsin documents tie Benedict, who as cardinal led the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to the decision in the mid-1990s not to defrock the Rev. Lawrence Murphy despite allegations that the Milwaukee priest molested some 200 deaf boys from 1950 to 1975. The Vatican is defending that decision, saying the case reached the Vatican only in 1996, two years before Murphy died. Church officials also say Murphy had repented in a letter to Ratzinger, and that the case's statute of limitations had run out. They decry criticism over the case as an effort to smear the pope. The Milwaukee lawsuit does not name Pope Benedict or other Vatican leaders as defendants, but Anderson hopes to use it to bolster a separate lawsuit filed eight years ago in US District Court in Oregon.

In that case, an unidentified plaintiff claims he was sexually abused as a teenager in 1965 or 1966 by the Rev. Andrew Ronan at St. Albert's Church in Portland, Ore. According to court documents, Ronan was accused of abusing boys in the mid-1950s as a priest in the Archdiocese of Armagh, Ireland. He was transferred to Chicago, where he admitted abusing three boys at St. Philip's High School, and after that was sent to Oregon. The church removed Ronan from the priesthood in 1966. He died in 1982. The lawsuit says the Vatican had to approve the international transfer. The Holy See claims it is protected by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which prohibits US lawsuits against foreign countries. Several lower courts have produced differing rulings on the suit, and the Holy See has appealed to the US Supreme Court to settle the question. The high court has not decided whether it will hear the case.

Anderson said his legal team will attempt to use documents from the Milwaukee lawsuit to show the Vatican was heavily involved in decisions about how to deal with problem priests. Legal scholars have long been skeptical of Anderson's chances of penetrating the Vatican's foreign sovereignty. He said it may be difficult to persuade judges to consider documents from another lawsuit, but added that he feels "closer than we've ever been before." "If there's anyone to press this case, it's Jeff," said David Clohessy, national director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a longtime ally of Anderson. "Jeff doesn't get sole credit, and he wouldn't claim it, but he was among the very first to see the magnitude of this cover-up and is still among the most dedicated to its undoing."

Criticism of Vatican in Wisconsin over abuse scandal. A man who says he was among some 200 deaf boys allegedly molested by a priest in Wisconsin said Monday the Vatican's defensive responses to revelations about the case make him feel like he did when he was 12, when no one would listen to him about the abuse. Arthur Budzinski, 61, said at a news conference outside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist that Pope Benedict XVI is trying to protect himself against criticism of his handling of the Wisconsin case against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy. Murphy was accused of molesting some 200 boys at the St. John's School for the Deaf outside Milwaukee from 1950-1975. He never was defrocked. "It's 2010. I'm not trying to hurt the pope," Budzinski said. "The pope should do something. I'm just telling my story. That's all I'm doing," said his 26-year-old daughter Gigi Budzinski, who interpreted his sign language.

Top Roman Catholic officials are rubbing salt "into the already deep wounds of those who have been victimized and disillusioned by the Catholic church" by criticizing those speaking out about the Vatican, said Mary Guentner, a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Guentner, who says she was abused by a nun in a different school, said victims should be praised, thanked and welcomed but instead have been vilified, mischaracterized and insulted for speaking out. "It's ludicrous to claim that these hundreds of once-trusting, devout Catholics are somehow conspiring to hurt the world's most powerful religious figure," she said.

Recently released documents showed a Vatican office led by the pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, halted a church trial against Murphy. Ratzinger's deputy, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, shut the process down after Murphy wrote Ratzinger a letter saying he had repented, was old and ailing, and that the case's statute of limitations had run out. Bertone now serves as the Vatican's secretary of state. The Vatican has said the case only reached the Vatican in 1996, that Murphy died two years later, and that there was nothing in the church's handling of the matter that precluded any civil action from being taken against him. Benedict made no direct mention of the scandal in his Palm Sunday homily, but said Jesus Christ guides the faithful "toward the courage that doesn't let us be intimidated by the chatting of dominant opinions, toward patience that supports others."

The Vatican newspaper recently said there was a "clear and despicable intention" to strike at Benedict "at any cost." Several victims held signs at the Monday news conference that read "Stop attacking us!" and "I'm not despicable." Guentner said when the church attacks victims' motives, it intimidates other victims and witnesses whose information might protect other children. She said she wants Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki to "ask the pope to be transparent, to disclose any involvement in any sexual abuse cases and to stop insulting victims," she said. She also responded to comments made Sunday by former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is currently the New York Archbishop. He said the pope was suffering some of the same unjust accusations once faced by Jesus. "(It) seems a little extreme to me," she said. "I think that seems a little extreme to all of us. We are now feeling persecuted from the response of the Vatican."

30.03.2010. Catholics find ties to the church tested by crisis. An Austrian priest avoids mention of Pope Benedict XVI in his Masses. A Philadelphia woman stops going to confession, saying she now sees priests as more flawed than herself. British protesters call for the pontiff to resign. As the faithful fill churches this Holy Week, many Roman Catholics around the world are finding their relationship to the church painfully tested by new revelations of clerical abuse and suggestions Benedict himself may have helped cover up cases in Germany and the US There are fears that for those whose commitment is already wavering, the scandal could be the final blow, and a growing chorus is clamoring for the church to embrace full transparency, take a hard line against pedophiles, and reconsider the rule of priestly celibacy.

"There's too many victims, and too much lying from the church about what really happened," said Martin Sherlock, a Catholic newspaper vendor in Dublin, Ireland. Experts say the church is facing a crisis of historic proportions. "This is the type of problem that arises really once in a century, I think, and it might even be more significant," said Paul Collins, an Australian church historian and former priest. Collins, 69, said the abuse controversy was not mentioned by the priest in his own church near Canberra on Palm Sunday, but that the congregation discussed it afterward outside. "People are outraged really, they're furious with the complete failure of the church's leadership and their view would be that we are led by incompetent people," Collins said.

Across the Atlantic, Jasmine Co said her faith in the church was badly shaken. The 56-year-old nurse, who recently moved to the US from the Philippines, said she has stopped confessing her sins to priests, and is turning to God directly. "I don't believe in confession to the priest because I don't know if that priest is more of a sinner than I am," Co said after attending a Palm Sunday service in central Philadelphia. As mnetioned on Sunday in London, about 50 protesters staged a demonstration calling on the pope to resign - something that hasn't happened in 700 years. The criticism is also coming from pulpits. Udo Fischer, an Austrian priest known for his liberal views, avoids mentioning Benedict and other church leaders by name during his Masses - at least until he sees stronger signals of remorse from the Holy See.

"We always stress that this is the church of Jesus Christ - that of the Lord Jesus and not that of the Lord Pope," Fischer said after a Palm Sunday service in his parish in Paudorf, a village near Vienna. Parishioners young and old squeezed into pews in Fischer's modern and airy church clutching bunches of pussy willows blessed by the priest. Traditionally Catholic Austria, shaken by clergy abuse claims in past years and again in recent weeks, risks a drop in already dwindling support for the church if no concrete action is taken to prevent further abuse and cover-ups, says Regina Polak of the University of Vienna's Institute for Practical Theology. "The situation is very fragile right now," Polak said. "The potential for frustration is high."

In Spain, a heavily Catholic country where secular lifestyles are eroding church attendance, a coalition of more than 100 liberal-minded lay and clergy-based groups called the Vatican's handling of the scandal "irresponsible and insufficient," saying it failed to "put itself firmly on the side of the victims."

In the mainly secular Anarchy of Norway, Oslo's bishop Bernt Eidsvig told catholics in a letter last week that "the culture of silence that certain bishops advised is a betrayal." Perhaps most ominous is the threat to the pope's own authority. David Gibson, author of "The Rule of Benedict," a biography of the pope, said the criticism focusing on Benedict puts the "the mystique of the papal office" in peril. "And above all, it diminishes his credibility, his ability to convince people of his message, to have people listen to him. It distances many Catholics, I think, even further from the institutional hierarchical church," said Gibson.

Vatican and pope in US lawsuit. Dragged deeper than ever before into the clerical sex abuse scandal, the Vatican is launching a legal defense that the church hopes will shield the pope from a lawsuit in Kentucky seeking to have him deposed. In court documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, Vatican lawyers map out a three-pronged strategy - to be formally filed in coming weeks - seeking to dismiss the suit before Benedict XVI can be questioned or secret documents subpoenaed. Vatican lawyers plan to argue that 1) the pope has immunity as head of state, 2) that American bishops who oversaw abusive priests weren't employees of the Vatican, and 3) that a 1962 document is not the "smoking gun" that provides proof of a cover up, the documents reveal.

Three men claiming they were abused by priests brought the suit against the Holy See in 2004, accusing Rome of negligence in failing to alert police or the public about priests who molested children in Kentucky. The preview of the legal defense, provided to the AP by a person familiar with the case, was submitted last month in the US District Court in Louisville. Vatican officials declined to comment. The case is significant because it's the first among a handful of cases targeting Rome in the United States to reach the stage of determining whether the victims actually have a claim against the Vatican itself. Previous cases attempting to implicate the Vatican have failed or are pending at more preliminary stages. In the Kentucky suit, the men argued that US diocesan bishops were employees of the Holy See, and that Rome was therefore responsible for their alleged wrongdoing in failing to report abuse. They charged that a 1962 Vatican document mandated that bishops not report sex abuse cases to police. The Vatican has argued that there is nothing in the document that precluded bishops from reporting pedophiles to police.

01.04.2010. 1963 letter indicates former pope knew of abuse. The head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in the treatment of pedophile priests visited with then-Pope Paul VI nearly 50 years ago and followed up with a letter recommending the removal of pedophile priests from ministry, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. In the Aug. 27, 1963, letter, the head of the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete tells the pope he recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministry and strongly urges defrocking repeat offenders. The letter shows that the Vatican knew, or should have known, about clergy abuse in the US decades ago, said Anthony DeMarco, a plaintiff attorney in Los Angeles who provided the letter. The accusation comes as plaintiffs in Kentucky are attempting to sue the Vatican for negligence for allegedly failing to alert police or the public about priests who molested children.

Yet the problem was very well-known to Rome well before the 1960s. The 1917 code of canon law criminalized sexual abuse of minors. Five years later, the Vatican penned a document outlining detailed procedures for handling such cases. In 1962, that document was updated and has been used in many of the lawsuits by victims against US diocese and the Vatican itself. The letter, written by the Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald, appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope and summarizes Fitzgerald's thoughts on problem priests after his Vatican visit. The letter echoes other Fitzgerald writings about wayward priests. Several news organizations, including the AP, reported last year that Fitzgerald was intent on buying an island where priests attracted to men and boys could be segregated, and even made a $5,000 down payment on a Caribbean island for that purpose.

"It is for this class of rattlesnake I have always wished an island retreat, but even an island is too good for these vipers," he wrote an acquaintance in 1957. In 1960, he sent two priests from the Paracletes to the island of Tortola to investigate the location - but his dream of an island monastery dedicated to trouble priests ended when the new archbishop of Santa Fe overruled him, his successor, Rev. Joseph McNamara, has said in an affidavit. A message left with the Paraclete order at one of their two existing facilities in Missouri was not returned. A number for the second facility was disconnected. The offices of the Vatican spokesman were closed late Wednesday. Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, defended the church and said it was unlikely Paul VI ever saw the 1963 letter.

"The fact of the matter is, the prevailing ideas at the time about how to deal with abusive behavior were not adequate," Tamberg said. "Clearly, society and the church have evolved new understandings of what causes sexually abusive behavior and how to deal with it." Fitzgerald opens the five-page letter by thanking the pope for an audience the day before and says he is summarizing his thoughts at the pope's request on the "problem of the problem priest" after 20 years working to treat them. He tells Paul VI that treatment for priests who have succumbed to "abnormal, homosexual tendencies" should include psychiatric, as well as spiritual, counseling - but goes on to warn about the dangers of leaving those individuals in ministry. The letter also touches on priests who have consensual affairs with women.

"Personally, I am not sanguine of the return of priests to active duty who have been addicted to abnormal practices, especially sins with the young," Fitzgerald wrote. "Where there is indication of incorrigibility, because of the tremendous scandal given, I would most earnestly recommend total laicization," he wrote. "I say 'total' ... because when these men are taken before civil authority, the non-Catholic world definitely blames the discipline of celibacy for the perversion of these men." The letter proves that Vatican officials knew about clergy abuse decades ago and should have done more to protect children, plaintiff attorney DeMarco said. The church has come under fire for transferring priests accused of sexual abuse to other parishes, rather than reporting the abuse to civil authorities and removing them from ministry.

The problem of clergy abuse has been known to Rome well before then. The 1917 code of canon law criminalized sexual abuse of minors. Five years later, the Vatican penned a document outlining detailed procedures for handling such cases. In 1962, that document was updated and has been used in many of the lawsuits by victims against US diocese and the Vatican itself. Fitzgerald's letter shows the pope knew how pervasive and destructive the problem was, DeMarco said. "He says the solution is to take them out of the priesthood period, not shuffle them around, not pass them from diocese to diocese." The letter was released in Los Angeles by attorneys who represented more than 500 victims of clergy abuse in their record-breaking $660 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2007.

Attorneys working on the Los Angeles cases found it among court papers related to clergy abuse cases filed in New Mexico in the late 1980s and early 1990s and fought to get it unsealed. Thousands more pages of confidential priest personnel files from the Los Angeles cases were to be released as part of the 2007 settlement after a review by a retired judge overseeing the process. The review, however, has dragged on for nearly three years. The letter released Wednesday is different from a 1957 letter made public last year in which Fitzgerald seeks help from the Bishop of Manchester, N.H. in finding a placement for a priest leaving the treatment program. Attorneys also released a 250-page, redacted transcript of the 2007 deposition of the Rev. Joseph McNamara, who took over the Paraclete order after Fitzgerald.

01.04.2010. The catholic pope avoids talking about the child abuse scandal. The official celebrations of Easter weekend have got underway with Holy Thursday mass in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Contrary to expectations, Pope Benedict did not refer to the child sex abuse scandals which have dogged the catholic church in Europe and the US. The Pontiff instead talked about penitence and suffering leading eventually to a deeper joy. It comes after a lawyer in the US filed a request for the Pope to be called to give evidence in several abuse cases. The Vatican has prepared legal documents cowardly stating that as head of state, the Pope is immune from being called to testify as a witness.

The head of a new commission set up to investigate claims of sexual abuse within the catholic church in Austria has been appointed. Waltraud Klasnic is a former governor of the region of Styria and says she will start work with the church-funded watchdog within the next month: "As the independent authority responsible for victim protection, I will have the right to say what I think, or talk about what I discussed and worked on with my colleagues." she told reporters. It comes after cardinal Christoph Schoenborn acknowledged the catholic church's guilt and asked for forgiveness. Schoenborn has taken the lead in denouncing the scandal and demanding reform: "We confess that we did not want to acknowledge reality, that we kept the truth secret and we covered things up so that some of us were able to carry on lying and continue with their crimes." Figures show more than 53,000 people left the catholic church in Austria in 2009, the highest number in the country's history. Analysts say recent developments could result in an ever higher number.

02.04.2010. More-secular Poland marks pope John Paul's death. A trumpet in Warsaw sounded a mournful tone Friday at 9.37 p.m., marking the minute five years ago when Poland's Pope John Paul II died. Many signs in Poland point to a slow but significant move away from the church five years after John Paul's death. Poland remains perhaps the most religiously observant country in Europe, but churches are slightly less full every year, with studies showing the numbers of those who attend regularly are on a slow decline, said sociologist Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski, a professor and the dean of Collegium Civitas, a Warsaw university. The number of Polish men starting study programs to become priests and monks fell from 1,500 to 953 between 2004, the year before the pope's death, and 2008, according to church figures.

Shopping malls seem to have as many people as pews on Sunday mornings, and teenagers more eagerly point to TV stars as their heroes than to the nation's "greatest authority" of recent times. But even the pro-church Gazeta Polska weekly lamented on Wednesday that "10 years ago it was the Holy Father who was the main authority for school children, after their parents. But, in a survey last year, television stars ranked at the top." Some worry that Poland, which is growing increasingly wealthy, will start to resemble other traditionally Catholic countries, like France and Spain, where church attendance is much lower. "In Europe, churches are becoming increasingly empty," said Kazimierz Kik, a political scientist with Kielce University. "It is possible that Poland will be the very last country where churches will become empty, but still you can see the process of gradual secularization here, especially among young people and chiefly among those who travel to the West."