Feature Archives

Indymedia Newsreal, a monthly television series, brings progressive grassroots organizing, going on in your backyard, to a national television audience. Newsreal is a longstanding collaboration between the Independent Media Center and Free Speech TV. It is shown on Free Speech TV every first Thursday at 5pm PST and sent on disc to community screening groups who show it during public screenings or include it on public access shows.

Skidmark Bob of Free Radio Santa Cruz interviewed media analyst John Anderson about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to be discussed at the G8 summit in Japan and H.R. 4279, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO IP) Act of 2007. Although ACTA's title might suggest that the agreement deals only with counterfeit physical goods (such as medicines), what little information has been made available publicly by negotiating governments about the content of the treaty makes it clear that it will have a far broader scope, and in particular, will deal with tools targeting "Internet distribution and information technology." The PRO IP Act proposes to make substantial changes to federal copyright law, including the appointment of a copyright Czar.

On May 30th, tens of thousands of Iraqis protested in a number of cities across Iraq against the proposed agreement between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Bush administration that would codify a long-term US military occupation. Muqtada al-Sadr and Ayatollah Ali Sistani are demanding that any US-Iraqi security agreement be submitted to a national referendum

May 14th was the first anniversary of the incarceration of Indian human rights and public health activist Dr. Binayak Sen. People gathered in front of the Consulate General of India in San Francisco to protest his continued imprisonment by the Indian government. Protesters presented a petition demanding, "Free Dr. Binayak Sen," to the Indian Consul General.

Hector Antonio Ventura, one of 14 people arrested last year during an anti-water privatization protest in the town of Suchitoto, El Salvador, was assassinated in his home on May 3. The assailants apparently stabbed him to death, while another man was attacked but survived. Organizations such as the legal group FESPAD have called for a full investigation into the death of the 19-year old Ventura, while expressing concern that Salvadoran authorities will not address the likely political motivation for the murder.

Monday, May 12, 2008: In Lebanon, armed clashes over the past week have left at least 81 dead. Fighting erupted last week during a general strike called by the General Federation of Labor Unions to protest the high cost of living. On May 8th, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah held a press conference in Beirut and condemned a decision by the Lebanese cabinet to outlaw Hezbollah's telecommunication network and dismiss the head of Airport security for his alleged ties to the party. Nasrallah said their private communication network was critical to their success during the July 2006 war with Israel. Hezbollah-led opposition forces quickly overpowered pro-government militias and took over large parts of the capital city of Beirut before handing over control to the Lebanese army.

On Thursday May 1st, Al-Jazeera reporter Sami al-Haj was released after six and a half years at Guantanamo. Upon his arrival in Sudan early on Friday, Al-Hajj was carried off a US air force jet on a stretcher and immediately taken to a hospital. Al-Hajj told reporters at the hospital that "rats are treated with more humanity" than the inmates at Guantanamo, whose "human dignity [is] violated". Ten journalists have been held for extended periods by the U.S. military and then released without charge. The U.S. military continues to hold Jawed Ahmad, a journalist for Canada's CTV, at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.