Category: UK
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GAZA FLOTILLA: NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION IN UK!
GAZA FLOTILLA: NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION IN UK! - End the Siege of Gaza
- Freedom for Palestine
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PM David Cameron: Blockade actually strengthens Hamas’s grip on the economy and on Gaza
(Reuters) – Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron took part in his first question and answer session in parliament on Wednesday.
UK
Cameron formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats after an election last month failed to produce an outright winner.
Below are highlights from the session:
ON CUMBRIA SHOOTINGS:
“I regret to report that a number of people have been shot and that at least five people have died. I can confirm that the body of a gunman has been found now by the police.
“A full statement will be made to parliament tomorrow.”
ON GAZA FLOTILLA INCIDENT:
“What has happened is completely unacceptable, we should be clear about that. And we should also deplore the loss of life.
“We should do everything we can through the United Nations, where resolution 1860 is absolutely clear about the need to end the blockade and to open up Gaza.
“Friends of Israel, and I count myself a friend of Israel, should be saying to the Israelies that the blockade actually strengthens Hamas’s grip on the economy and on Gaza and it’s in their own interests to lift it and to allow these vital supplies to get through.”
(Reporting by Adrian Croft and Matt Falloon)
Reuters
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Israel begins deporting Flotilla activists
Israel has begun deporting the pro-Palestinian activists it took into custody following the storming of an aid flotilla in international water heading to the Gaza Strip over the weekend.
All 679 detainees taken off the ships, including some 40 Britons, are being deported within the next 48 hours. However, around 50 of the protesters will be held for questioning.
Some 120 activists have already been bussed to the Jordanian border, where they were greeted by sympathisers. One Briton involved in the flotilla arrived back in Britain on Tuesday night.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said 31 British nationals and a further 11 with dual nationality are known to have been detained.
At least nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed when Israeli commandos raided a six ship convoy on Monday.
The raid has led to worldwide condemnation of Israel and to calls for its controversial blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted.
ITN
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UN condemns Israel’s deadly raid on blockade-busting aid convoy as British relatives face anxious wait for news
- United Nations calls for impartial investigation
- One Briton injured – 28 believed to be on flotilla
- Israel: This was not a successful operation
- Turkey accuses Israel of ‘state terrorism’
The United Nations Security Council today condemned Israel’s bloody commando raid on the Gaza flotilla and which left up to 19 dead and called for an impartial investigation into the incident.
In a statement released after a marathon 12-hour session, the body attacked ‘those acts’ which resulted in the loss of life.
But it stopped short of naming Israel outright, a move designed to placate the country’s closest ally the United States.
The statement, which called for ‘a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, is unlikely to assuage Turkey.
Ankara had used some of the harshest language against the Jewish state for launching the raid against the flotilla, which included a Turkish ferry on which the pro-Palestinian activists were killed.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country drafted the initial presidential statement, called the Israeli raid ‘banditry and piracy’ on the high seas and ‘murder conducted by a state’.
The United Nations Security Council today condemned Israel’s bloody commando raid on the Gaza flotilla and which left up to 19 dead and called for an impartial investigation into the incident.
In a statement released after a marathon 12-hour session, the body attacked ‘those acts’ which resulted in the loss of life.
But it stopped short of naming Israel outright, a move designed to placate the country’s closest ally the United States.
The statement, which called for ‘a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, is unlikely to assuage Turkey.
Ankara had used some of the harshest language against the Jewish state for launching the raid against the flotilla, which included a Turkish ferry on which the pro-Palestinian activists were killed.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country drafted the initial presidential statement, called the Israeli raid ‘banditry and piracy’ on the high seas and ‘murder conducted by a state’.
The United Nations Security Council today condemned Israel’s bloody commando raid on the Gaza flotilla and which left up to 19 dead and called for an impartial investigation into the incident.
In a statement released after a marathon 12-hour session, the body attacked ‘those acts’ which resulted in the loss of life.
But it stopped short of naming Israel outright, a move designed to placate the country’s closest ally the United States.
The statement, which called for ‘a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, is unlikely to assuage Turkey.
Ankara had used some of the harshest language against the Jewish state for launching the raid against the flotilla, which included a Turkish ferry on which the pro-Palestinian activists were killed.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country drafted the initial presidential statement, called the Israeli raid ‘banditry and piracy’ on the high seas and ‘murder conducted by a state’.
The incident happened in international waters and worldwide condemnation of Israel was swift.
Former British ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock said there had been ‘immediate international rage’ following the ‘unnecessary loss of life’.
He said that Israel had to make sure weapons were not getting into Gaza ‘so some kind of defence is necessary but this was clearly not very well handled’.
Sir Jeremy added: ‘It’s past time by some years for serious international action to end the blockade and the virtual starvation of Gaza.
‘This is not going to work as a way of dealing with the Palestinian territories over the long term.
‘It’s not going to work, frankly, for a democratic and law-abiding nation such as Israel – it’s changing the character of Israel to be responsible for this kind of occupation for so long.
‘And to my mind, this situation is just not necessary as it stands at the moment.’
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues said the flotilla raid had caused ‘indescribable pain” to the families of those killed and “provoked anger around the world’.
The three MPs co-chairing the group – Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes, Labour’s John McDonnell, and Conservative Gary Streeter – released a statement urging all sides to renounce violence.
They said: ‘As long as this long-running dispute remains unresolved, we fear that many more lives will be lost on all sides, resulting in even more pain and further deepening the hatred and distrust between all those involved.
‘Conflict resolution has been successfully used to end conflict in other parts of the world – now it’s time for the Israel-Palestine conflict to be resolved, for good.’
Turkey, from where most of the dead are said to come, accused Israel of ‘state terrorism’ and withdrew its ambassador to Tel Aviv.
Tens of thousands marched through Istanbul and attempted to storm the Israeli consulate, chanting: ‘ Murderous Israel, you will drown in the blood you shed.’
Deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc called Israel’s actions ‘piracy’ and cancelled three planned joint military exercises.
Foreign Secretary William Hague ‘deplored the loss of life’ and asked for access to the British involved, while David Cameron branded the attack ‘unacceptable’.
The deadly clash sparked a wave of furious condemnation of Israel – with 2,000 demonstrators outside the gates of Downing Street and thousands more outside the Israeli Embassy in West London.
In Paris, hundreds clashed with police near the Israeli Embassy. Police responded by firing tear gas.
The White House, which has close ties with both Israel and Turkey, expressed ‘deep regret at the loss of life in today’s incident, and concern for the wounded’.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu cancelled a trip to Washington planned for today to head home as the crisis erupted.
He expressed his ‘full backing’ for the military action.
Earlier, the UN said it was ‘shocked’ by the violence. Following a 90-minute open meeting, the Security Council went into closed-door consultations. Diplomats said envoys were haggling over the text of a proposed statement by the council, a task that dragged on into the evening.
Many council members criticized the Israeli action with varying degrees of vehemence, and said it was time for Israel’s three-year-old blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza to be lifted.
‘This is tantamount to banditry and piracy,’ Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the council. ‘It is murder conducted by a state.’
The Jewish state argues that the blockade, which began in 2007, is necessary to prevent arms reaching the Hamas-controlled enclave.
The high-profile aid mission – unofficially supported by Turkey – set off from Cyprus on Sunday, led by the Turkish passenger ferry the Mavi Marmara, with 500 people aboard and 10,000 tons of food, medicines and building materials.
There were two other passenger ships – one Irish and one Swedish – and three cargo ships thought to be all Turkish. After warnings from Israel to turn back, they were intercepted before dawn yesterday by three warships about 40 miles from Gaza, still within international waters.
Commandos launched their raid on the Marmara by helicopter, slipping down a rope to the top deck. Greta Berlin, a founder of the Free Gaza Movement and one of the organisers of the flotilla, claimed the marines fired indiscriminately at unarmed civilians.
‘We are all civilians,’ she said. ‘Every one of us is a civilian who is trying to break Israel’s blockade of one and a half million Palestinians.’
Audrey Bomse, another spokesman for the movement, told the BBC: ‘We were not going to pose any violent resistance.’
However the Israeli Defence Force posted a video on the internet site YouTube of footage taken from the helicopter which it claimed showed its soldiers being attacked as they landed.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the commandos had orders to use ‘minimum force’ to commandeer the vessels, and met only token resistance on the other five ships.
But he said the forces were ‘ambushed’ on the Mavi Marmara by protesters using ‘extreme violence’ with weapons including two pistols, knives and iron bars.
The commandeered ships were brought several hours later into the port of Ashdod, where passengers were given the option of being voluntarily deported or arrested and taken to Israeli prisons.
There was a communications blackout, with the surviving protesters’ satellite phones being confiscated, making it impossible to hear their version of events.
The Daily Mail
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Torture claims investigation ordered by William Hague
Judge will investigate allegations that UK was complicit in abuse of detainees
Patrick Wintour, Nicholas Watt, Ian Cobain
William Hague arrives at Downing Street for a cabinet meeting. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA A judge will investigate claims that British intelligence agencies were complicit in the torture of terror suspects, William Hague, the foreign secretary, said tonight.
The move was welcomed by civil liberties campaigners and may put pressure on the Labour leadership candidate and former foreign secretary David Miliband, who was accused by Hague, while in opposition, of having something to hide.
Miliband has repeatedly rejected the accusation and broadly indicated that he or his officials may have been misled by foreign intelligence agencies about the degree of British complicity.
Hague’s remarks appear to have caught the Foreign Office by surprise, as no details were yet available on how the inquiry will be conducted, its terms of reference or when it will start work.
Hague will come under pressure to ensure the inquiry is public and comprehensive. He first called last year for an independent judicial inquiry into claims that British officials had colluded in the torture of Binyam Mohamed, the former Guantánamo detainee and a UK resident.
Mohamed claimed that he was tortured by US forces in Pakistan and Morocco, and that MI5 fed the CIA questions that were used by US forces.
Philippe Sands QC, professor of law at University College London, said tonight: “To restore trust in government, both here and abroad, and to get to the truth, the inquiry needs to be deep and broad and as open as possible. It should address, in particular, who authorised what and when and why, what the relevant legal advice said, and how it related to any change in US practice in 2002 and 2003.”
Tayab Ali, a London solicitor who represents a number of men alleging torture, said the inquiry presented “a significant and precious opportunity” for the British public to understand their country’s role in torture.
He Ali added: “It is essential that the inquiry is credible. It should be as open as possible, led by a judge and those affected should be properly represented. Anything less is likely to mean that the inquiry will fail in providing proper answers and holding those responsible to account for their actions.”
Hague’s statement redeems a pledge that both he and his then Liberal Democrat opposite number, Ed Davey, made in opposition. Hague told the BBC: “We have said again in the coalition agreement that we want a judge-led inquiry. So will there be an inquiry of some form? Yes, both parties in the coalition said they wanted that. Now what we’re working on is what form that should take.”
The coalition agreement published today by the government does not explicitly call for a judicial inquiry; it simply states: “We will never condone the use of torture.”
Hague criticised the Labour government last year for failing to provide straightforward answers after the high court upheld one of Mohamed’s claims. This was that the security services had put questions to him, through the US, even during a two-year period when they did not know where Mohamed was being held, according to Hague.
“So far ministers have stuck to the mantra that ‘we never condone, authorise or co-operate in torture’,” Hague wrote. “But this does not dispel any of the accusations. If anything, there is now a direct and irreconcilable conflict between such ministerial assurances and the account given by Mr Mohamed. That must be resolved.”
He added: “We cannot sweep these allegations under the carpet. Until the full facts are known, Britain’s name and reputation will be dragged through the mud – not least by the terrorists and extremists who will exploit these allegations for their own propaganda.’
“It is vital to remember that torture does not help us defeat terrorists; it helps them to try to justify their hostility to us.”
The inquiry to which Hague has now committed himself will need to find a way of offering immunity to anyone who comes forward to give evidence. Although immunity deals are rarely granted to those who are complicit in torture, lawyers who advised Tory shadow ministers in the run-up to the election concluded that it is possible. Such a deal would be of clear benefit to the two MI5 and MI6 officers who are currently at the centre of a Scotland Yard investigation into their alleged criminal wrongdoing.
An inquiry may also help to resolve the many civil cases being brought by victims of torture and rendition. Government lawyers are expected to offer out-of-court settlements worth millions of pounds after the court of appeal this month dismissed an attempt by MI5 and MI6 to suppress evidence of alleged complicity.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/may/20/torture-william-hague-terrorism, 20 May 2010
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Councils carry out over 8,500 covert surveillance operations
Only 4.5% cases result in prosecution and the research shows that the vast majority were concluded without anything substantial being discovered
Alan Travis
More than 8,500 covert surveillance operations on members of the public have been carried out by 372 local authorities in Britain in the past two years – the equivalent of 11 a day, according to a study published today.
The research by the pressure group Big Brother Watch names Newcastle upon Tyne as the worst local authority in the country for the use of its powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, having spied on its residents 231 times over the past two years.
West Berkshire and Walsall were close behind, however, with 228 and 215 Ripa authorisations respectively since April 2008.
The survey used freedom of information requests to collect details of 8,575 covert surveillance and bugging operations carried out under the Ripa powers, and demonstrates the rapid advance of the “surveillance society“.
The councils reported that the large number of surveillance operations resulted in 399 prosecutions, representing fewer than 4.5% of all operations, although some councils said they did not keep details of prosecutions. But the results show that the vast majority were concluded without anything substantial being discovered.
The survey found that councils in England, Wales and Scotland had used their powers to spy on their own employees. In Darlington they checked up on their car parking, in Exeter on their working times, and in Hammersmith and Fulham on their sick pay claims. In Liverpool, they spied on wardens employed to spot crime.
More than a dozen councils have used their Ripa powers to catch pet owners whose dogs are fouling the pavements. A further five mounted covert surveillance operations to enforce smoking bans. In Bromley the council even spied on a charity shop to see if people were “fly-tipping” their donations at the door.
The coalition agreement published last week promised action to curb the use of surveillance powers. Ministers intend to introduce legislation to ensure that the Ripa powers are used only in cases involving serious crime and only if a magistrate’s warrant has been obtained first.
Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, said the survey revealed the “absurd and excessive lengths” local government was prepared to go to in using the Ripa powers.
“These powers have to be taken away from councils,” he said. “[That] the coalition government plans to force councils to get warrants before snooping on us is good, but it doesn’t go far enough. If the offence is serious enough to merit covert surveillance, then it should be in the hands of the police.”
He said there should also be an obligation to notify innocent victims who have been placed under surveillance but subsequently acquitted of any offence. Deane said it would change the culture if officials knew they had to justify their actions to their victims.
The watchdog group says that it will still be possible for councils to catch the fly-tippers and dog-foulers without using these snooping powers. It cites Bradford council, which reduced its use of Ripa covert operations by telling noise pests that their noise levels would be monitored by tape-recording equipment in their neighbours’ houses, or by council officials turning the operation into one of overt surveillance, which was much more effective.
The most notorious Ripa case occurred in 2008, when Jenny Paton and her family in Poole, Dorset, found themselves the subject of a three-week covert surveillance operation, including being secretly followed by council officials, after Paton was wrongly suspected of lying about her address to get her daughter into a particular school.
Total number of uses of Ripa from 2008 to 2010
1 Newcastle upon Tyne 231
2 West Berkshire 228
3 Walsall 215
4 Oxfordshire 192
5 Birmingham 176
6 Bromley 150
7 Salford 149
8 Hampshire 137
9 Kent 136
10 Sandwell 135
11 Durham 124
12 Wandsworth 120
13 Surrey 105
14 Camden 104
15 Liverpool 101
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/may/24/councils-covert-surveillance-operations, 24 May 2010