#Chain 46 – Myanmar – prisoner clemency marks 64th anniversary

According to many online sources Mynmar’s President Thein Sein has signed a clemency order, reducing sentences for prisoners, in a move to mark the country’s 64th anniversary of independence.Although the order fell short of the general amnesty many people were expecting, it is said that death sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment and many prison terms are to be cut. It was not immediately clear how many prisoners are to be included in the clemency. State media reported that the government-appointed National Human Rights Commission had asked Thein Sein for the issue of a general amnesty. Since taking office in March Thein Sein has pushed forward reforms after decades of repression under previous military regimes. Although still dominated by a military proxy party, changes have been made in media, the internet & political participation. The last amnesty in October included more than 6,000 prisoners of which 200 were political detainees.

#Chain 32 – Egypt – Electors honour the dead

Article source language English

Without Tahir, we wouldn’t have had these elections! Friday’s Turnout in the first leg of Egypt’s first free election in six decades was an unprecedented 62 percent, far higher than in the rigged polls under deposed President Hosni Mubarak. Abdul Moez Ibrahim acknowledged a number of violations in the balloting on Monday and Tuesday, notably campaigning outside polling stations, but said these did not affect the results. Ibrahim joked that the turnout was the highest in any Egyptian election “since the pharaohs”. It was even greater than in the “forgeries of the past elections”, he added. “The blood of martyrs has watered the tree of freedom, social justice and the rule of law. We are now reaping its first fruits,” Ibrahim said in tribute to more than 850 people killed in a popular revolt that toppled Mubarak in February. Protesters were out again in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday to mourn the deaths of 42 people killed last month in demonstrations demanding the generals who took over from Mubarak hand over to civilian rule immediately. “Without Tahrir, we wouldn’t have had these elections,” said Mohamed Gad in the square that cradled the revolt. “God willing, the elections will succeed and the revolution will triumph.” Adapted from Reuters online By Dina Zayed and Alistair Lyon

#Chain 31 – Pour qui sonne le glas ?

Article – Source Language French

C’est la crise ! La crise de l’école, la crise financière, la crise du capitalisme, bientôt la crise de foie. Mais en fait, d’où nous viennent ces problèmes ? Le compte en banque des riches se porte à merveille, l’industrie du luxe ne connait pas la crise. Alors? Et si le serrage de ceinture, la précarité, les réformes de l’école, les évaluations, l’autoritarisme n’avaient qu’une seule source ? La volonté des dirigeants de nous faire baisser la tête à tous  pour garder leur confort. Et nous ployons le genou devant le dieu Argent. Connaissez-vous le dicton ?Quand le dernier arbre sera abattu, la dernière rivière asséchée, le dernier poisson pêché, l’homme s’apercevra que l’argent n’est pas comestible. Article paru dans le “Bulletin du syndicat CNT  des travailleurs de l’Education” & transmis par Laurent MAZEAU  (professeur Paris)

#Chain 30 – Deadly toys littering Libya’s streets

Article source language English

The magic wand of Merlin is needed! Nurden Abosowa, 12 – The discovery of his “new toys” left him in agony, bleeding heavily from an abdomen wound, he was taken to the remote town’s hospital. Playing with the “toy guns” left on a truck parked outside his uncle’s house left him with a section of his stomach & intestines blown away.Before the uprising that led to Gaddafi’s demise, the boy would have faced a life-threatening two-hour drive across the border into Tunisia, but Nalut hospital has changed dramatically since then  with the help of British medical emergency relief charity, Merlin. While the conflict is over, the flow of casualties has continued. One worker from the Merlin Organisation said “We fear we’re going to see lots of kids, because there are so many weapons around and they are curious.” One family were not as lucky as Nurden’s; Zakaria, 11, was found in his garden after his mother heard an enormous explosion. Her son was lying motionless on the ground and later died due to the seriousness of his injuries and the lack of specialist doctors. The family’s eldest son had fought with rebels and they were afraid for him but never expected Zakaria to die in this way. The sobering reality is that until the thousands of weapons and unexploded devices littering the country are safely removed, tragedies like these will continue. You can help by making a donation to The Merlin Appeal. Adapted from the Independent online edition

#Chain 26 – Avec les Grecs, K.-O. debout

Le texte suivant est notre nouvelle contribution pour attirer l’attention sur les conséquences des plans d’austérité du point de vue du peuple et non des économistes « distingués ».

#Chain 24 – The Chen Report – released to mark his 40th birthday

Following our Chain – A letter of hope? – we received further information concerning The Chen Guangcheng investigation, passed on to us by Reggie Littlejohn President of Women’s Rights without Frontiers.  

We would like to publish the translation of the condensed facts from the report with the help of our excellent team of translators. 

As always we would like to thank them for bringing these facts to the forefront through translation.