Politics

When they were just a few years old, they marched with Gandhi against the laws of an oppressing regime. This weekend a few of the veterans from the 1930 salt march took to the streets again. They were protesting against the democratic government for which they had once fought. The latest nationwide battle is against corruption.

According to information received by European Humanists Peter Noordendorp and Benoit Mangin, the situation in Ivory Coast has become increasingly violent: at least three Humanist non-violent activists are amongst those who have been killed. Ceremonies of Well-being (from Silo’s Message) for those involved in the non-violent struggle will be held throughout Europe and beyond.

At least 55 people are believed to have been killed during a week of unrest in and around the Syrian town of Dera’a, Amnesty International said today as protests spread across the country.
Security forces opened fire on protesters in al-Sanamayn and carried out arrests in Damascus, according to reports on Friday, a day after the authorities pledged to investigate the violence

Cote d’Ivoire faces a humanitarian tragedy, with aid access becoming increasingly difficult, hospitals and schools closing, law and order collapsing and casualties mounting, France’s representative to the United Nations said on Friday.
The crisis has displaced up to a million people, according to the UN refugee agency. Some 90,000 people have fled to neighboring Liberia.

New York City: At the New School’s Eugene Lang College on Wednesday, March 23, the NY Coalition to Expand Voting Rights held a free public forum on non-citizen voting rights and a discussion about Intro. 410, legislation recently introduced in the City Council that would restore municipal voting rights for legally residing non-citizens in New York City.

Documents reveal that the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan had not been properly inspected, safety procedures had been bypassed and economic considerations had been put first in spite of the risk posed by decisions such as prolonging the life of an obsolete model and accumulating more spent radioactive fuel rods than the plant was supposed to handle.

The total death toll from a Syrian government crackdown on opposition protesters continues to rise today. At least 15 people were killed last Wednesday when repressive forces raided a mosque housing protesters in the early morning hours. But there have been reports insisting that the death toll may be significantly higher.

Reports of civilian casualties are mounting in Libya amidst ongoing U.S.-led air strikes and the Gaddafi regime’s assault on three rebel-held towns. At least 16 civilians were reportedly killed after forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi resumed an attack on the coastal city of Misurata, shelling an area around the city’s main hospital.

To avoid misunderstandings: Gaddafi is a brutal, cynical, corrupt dictator, who obviously considers Libya as his personal property. His sons were forged in the same furnace. And yet, to try to justify, as many do, especially the French government of Sarkozy, the international military mission against the Libyan regime as a matter of morality and values, is simply hypocritical.

The U.S. and allied air strikes on Libya have entered their fourth day as part of an international effort to enforce a no-fly zone. An U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jet has crashed after apparent mechanical failure in northeast Libya. Libyan rebels rescued the pilot after he ejected from the warplane, which came down near the eastern city of Benghazi.