international newsletter spring2013

7/28/2019 International Newsletter Spring2013

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PUBLISHED BY THEWEST MIDLANDS

INTERNATIONAL

FORUM SPRING 2013

INTERNATIONAL

Hugo Rafael

Chavez Frias,

President of

Venezuela, died

on March 5th

after a long and

hard battle

against cancer.

He was 58 years

old.

He led the

progressive transformation of Venezuela by

lifting millions of its citizens from poverty

standing against social

exclusion, marginalisation and institutional

repression thereby restoring to them a

long-overdue dignity.

Under President Chavezs leadership, his

governments policies improved the life of

ordinary Venezuelans as no other govern-

ment had ever done in the history of that

South American nation.Chavez also played a leading role in the

transformation of Latin America into a pro-

gressive continent, which in the 21st cen-

tury is collectively affirming the sover-

eignty of the nation states that make it up,

and where, in different ways and through

nationally-specific routes, they have been

attempting to build a better world.

Hugo Chavez will continue to symbolise, for

decades to come, the aspirations of dignity,

sovereignty, justice and a better life as fully

empowered citizens, for people all around the

world.

He showed that a better world could be con-

structed. Our hearts go to his family, friends,

comrades, the people of Venezuela, and thepeople of Latin America.

Nicholas Maduro has been appointed interim

President until elections which take plale on

April 14th.

Polls (including opposition polls) show Maduro

has a clear lead over the opposition candidate.

In recent days, President Nicolas Maduro

has warned of US-inspired destabilisationplans seeking to take advantage of the depar-

ture of President Hugo Chavez to topple the

government or, more likely, to create the

conditions so as not to have to recognise the

results of the coming presidential election.

The US Government , has since the election of

Chavez , frequently (working with the right)

sought to bring down the Government.

Now more than ever British supporters of the

Bolivarian revolution need to respond to the

lies and calumnies of the right wing opponents

of the Government .

As a practical mark of respect the regional

interational have made a donation of 200 to

the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign who

promote the truth about the Bolivarian

Revolution.


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Mark Beacon ACTSA

Women in Swaziland face horrendous levels of discriminationecause they are women.

overty, high levels of gender based violence, traditional laws that classify women as minorsnd the failure to implement laws that in theory guarantee rights and equality all contribute

an appalling level of discrimination. Women in Swaziland are treated as second class citi-ns, as objects and denied the opportunity or resources to advocate for their rights.

CTSA is working with the Foundation for Socio Economic Justice and the Swaziland Ruralomens Assembly on a four year project to Improve Womens Rights in Swaziland. The pro-ct is funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

housands of women in rural areas will benefit from a national peer education programme toevelop their understanding of their rights and empower them to organise and advocate foreir rights on a family, community and national level.special programme will be run to improve womens rights in the textile industry, notoriousr discrimination and the denial of rights.

he project will bring women together to meet and discuss their rights and what they need too to improve them at a series of national and local events. Women will develop a charter ofomens rights which they can use to lobby national politicians and community leaders topport these rights and reform unjust laws that discriminate against women.

he project will tackle discrimination against women in the media by monitoring the portrayalwomen and working with journalists to improve this and highlight the challenges womence.

will help develop womens groups throughout the country into strong, democratic organisa-ons and develop the leadership skills of women to stand for election in their communitiesnd civil society organisations.

mproving womens rights in Swaziland will make a fundamental difference to the lives ofwazi women. The project has been developed in consultation with womens leaders from alleas of Swaziland.

o support this campaign or ACTSAs work in general gotottp://www.actsa.org/index.php


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CODIR

(Committee for the defence of Iranian peoplesrights) was established in 1981 by a group ofBritish labour and trade union

activists in collaboration with Iranian democrats

living in exile in the UK.

The main aim of the organisation since its

inception has been to provide truthful and

unbiased information and analysis about thereality of life in Iran.

CODIR campaigned against the eight year

fratricidal Iran-Iraq war. It has also worked hardagainst the brutal suppression of human rightsand other abuses committed by the regime in

Iran.

CODIR campaigns have won the support ofmany progressive MPs, MEPs, trade unionsand Trades Councils. CODIR enjoys the widestsupport amongst trade unions in the UK withUNISON, FBU, Bakers, Food and Allied Work-ers Union, USDAW, BECTU, the Scottish TUC,TGWU London region, Scottish TGWU andScottish UNISON being on the list of its affili-ates for many years.

The Iranian Government of President Ahmedi-nejad Has for many years oppressed

democratic protest by students and others andwaged a war against Trade unions in Iran, withmany leaders and activists imprisoned and

tortured , most notably Mansour Osanloo(leader of the Tehran bus workers union) , whowas released following a high profile

international campaign.

However many other trade union activists con-tinue to be imprisoned.

The ITUC annual report on violations of tradeunion rights reported, that in Iran

Scores of arrests and detentions took placethroughout the year. Many workers were

arrested for supporting the right to organise.

Torture is routinely used to extract confessions,

and political prisoners are systematically deniedmedical care.

The government relies on security laws to

suppress any public expression of dissent.

Many activists have been convicted ofpropaganda against the state and jeopardisingnational security by the Revolutionary Courtswithout any respect for international or Iranianfair-trial standards.

Security and intelligence forces are often pre-sent at workplaces to intimidate workers, andreports of trade unionists mistreatment by prisonauthorities are common

UNISON is calling on all branches and regionsto affiliate to CODIR and a motion will shortly begoing to Regional Council

For more goto

http://www.codir.net/index.html

MANSOUR OSANLOO


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What is modern slavery?

Millions of men, women and children around the worldare forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploi-

tation is often not called slavery, the conditions are thesame. People are sold like objects, forced to work forlittle or no pay and are at the mercy of their

'employers'.

Slavery exists today despite the fact that it is banned in

most of the countries where it is practised. It is alsoprohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of HumanRights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on

the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institu-tions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Women fromeastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children

are trafficked between West African countries and menare forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agriculturalestates. Contemporary slavery takes various forms and

affects people of all ages, sex and race.

Common characteristics distinguish slavery from otherhuman rights violations. A slave is:

forced to work -- through mental or physical threat;

owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through

mental or physical abuse or threatened abuse;

dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought andsold as 'property';

physically constrained or has restrictions placed onhis/her freedom of movement.

What types of slavery exist today?

Bonded labour affects millions of people around theworld. People become bonded labourers by taking or

being tricked into taking a loan for as little as the cost

of medicine for a sick child. To repay the debt, manyare forced to work long hours, seven days a week, up

to 365 days a year. They receive basic food and shel-ter as 'payment' for their work, but may never pay offthe loan, which can be passed down for generations.

Early and forced marriage affects women and girls whoare married without choice and are forced into lives of

servitude often accompanied by physical violence.

Forced labour affects people who are illegally recruitedby individuals, governments or political parties and

forced to work -- usually under threat of violence or

other penalties.

Slavery by descent is where people are either born into

a slave class or are from a 'group' that society views assuited to being used as slave labour.

Trafficking involvesthe transport and/ortrade of people --

women, children andmen -- from one areato another for the purpose of forcing them into slav-

ery conditions.

Worst forms ofchild labour affects an estimated126 million** children around the world in work thatis harmful to their health and welfare.

Anti-Slavery International works at local, national

and international levels to eliminate all forms ofslavery around the world

Anti-Slavery International Today

Anti-Slavery International, founded in 1839, is theworld's oldest international human rights organisa-tion and the only charity in the United Kingdom towork exclusively against slavery. We work at local,national and international levels to eliminate allforms of slavery around the world by:Supporting research to assess the scale of slaveryin order to identify measures to end it;

Working with local organisations to raise public

awareness of slavery;Educating the public about the realities of slavery

and campaigning for its end.

Lobbying governments and intergovernmental

agencies to make slavery a priority issue and to de-velop and implement plans to eliminate slavery;

What You Can Do

Anti-Slavery International relies on the support ofpeople like you. Without it we would not be able tocontinue our fight against slavery. There are many

ways to help, from making a donation to joining ourCampaigns Network

J oin as a member today -

your support makes a difference

Your subscription will help us to:

expose current cases of slavery and campaign fortheir eradication

support the initiatives of local organisations to re-lease people

press for effective implementation of internationallaws against slavery

For details on affiliating your branch email

[email protected]

international newsletter spring2013

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