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Iraqi National Congress
The Iraqi National Congress (INC) was created at the behest of the U.S. government for the purpose of fomenting the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The INC has been funded since 1992. An unnamed INC offical told the New York Times in 2004 that INC had received $27 million in the last four years. [1].
In May 1991, following the end of Operation Desert Storm, then-President George H.W. Bush signed a presidential finding directing the CIA to create the conditions for Hussein's removal. The hope was that members of the Iraqi military would turn on Hussein and stage a military coup. The CIA did not have the mechanisms in place to make that happen, so they hired the Rendon Group, a PR firm run by John Rendon, to run a covert anti-Saddam propaganda campaign.
- "The Iraqi National Congress, and its most famous spokesperson Ahmad Chalabi, are entirely the creation of a media strategy company (Rendon Group) doing the bidding of the United States government." [2]
Rendon's postwar work involved producing videos and radio skits ridiculing Hussein, a traveling photo exhibit of Iraqi atrocities, and radio scripts calling on Iraqi army officers to defect. ClandestineRadio.com, a website that monitors underground and anti-government radio stations in countries throughout the world, also credits the Rendon Group with "designing and supervising" the Iraqi Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) and Radio Hurriah, which began broadcasting Iraqi opposition propaganda in January 1992 from a US government transmitter in Kuwait.[3] According to a September 1996 article in Time magazine, six CIA case officers supervised the IBC's 11 hours of daily programming and Iraqi National Congress activities in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Arbil.[4]
A February 1998 report by Peter Jennings cited records obtained by ABC News which showed that the Rendon Group spent more than $23 million dollars in the first year of its contract with the CIA. According to ABC, Rendon came up with the name for the Iraqi National Congress, an opposition coalition of 19 Iraqi and Kurdish organizations whose main tasks were to "gather information, distribute propaganda and recruit dissidents." ABC also reported that the INC received $12 million of covert CIA funding between 1992 and 1996.[5]
The INC represented the first major attempt by opponents of Saddam to join forces, bringing together Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs (both Islamic fundamentalist and secular), as well as democrats, nationalists and ex-military officers.[6]. In June 1992, nearly 200 delegates from dozens of opposition groups met in Vienna, along with Iraq's two main Kurdish militias, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
In October 1992, the major Shiite groups came into the coalition and the INC held a pivotal meeting in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, choosing a three-man Leadership Council and a 26-member executive council. The three leaders included moderate Shiite Muslim cleric Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum; ex-Iraqi general Hasan Naqib; and Masud Barzani. Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Iraqi Shiite Muslim and mathematician by training, joined the group. Chalabi had previously served as chairman of the Petra Bank in Jordan, where he engaged in various cloak-and-dagger operations that ended abruptly in August 1989 when he fled the country "under mysterious circumstances" and was convicted in absentia for embezzlement, fraud and currency-trading irregularities.[7]
The INC's political platform promised "human rights and rule of law within a constitutional, democratic, and pluralistic Iraq"; preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity, and complete compliance with international law, including U.N. resolutions relating to Iraq. However, many observers noted that the INC might not act as a democratic body if it came to power, because most of its groups have an authoritarian internal structure.[8]
Differences within the INC eventually led to its virtual collapse. In May 1994, the two main Kurdish parties began fighting with each other over territory and other issues. As a result of the growing difficulties within the INC, the United States began seeking out other opponents who could threaten the Iraqi regime, such as the Iraqi National Accord (INA), headed by Iyad Alawi. The rivalries between the Kurdish parties prompted the KDP to seek armed support from Saddam Hussein for its capture of the town of Arbil from the rival PUK. Iraq took advantage of the request by launching a military strike in which 200 oppositions were executed and as many as 2,000 arrested. Six hundred fifty oppositionists (mostly INC) were evacuated and resettled in the United States under the parole authority of the US Attorney General.
The lNC was subsequently plagued by the dissociation of many of its constituent groups from the INC umbrella, a cutoff of funds from its international backers (including the United States), and continued pressure from Iraqi intelligence services. In 1998, however, the U.S. Congress authorized $97 million in U.S. military aid for Iraqi opposition via the Iraq Liberation Act, intended primarily for the INC.[9]
In April 2001, the Iranian government allowed the INC to open US-funded offices in a plush northern suburb of Tehran. It marked the first time since the Iranian revolution in 1979 that Washington allowed government funds to be spent inside Iran, according to a December 2001 Guardian article.[10]
The same December 2001 article reported that the INC worked with General Wayne Downing, a Bush counter-terrorism adviser, on a plan for the military overthrow of Saddam Hussein that at the time was being considered by the US joint chiefs of staff. The state department, the CIA and some of the Pentagon's uniformed top brass were reportedly highly sceptical of the Downing-INC plan, which called for a force of about 5,000 INC fighters crossing into Iraq from Kuwait and seizing a deserted airbase near Basra. The action would tempt Saddam to send his crack Hammurabi tank division to the south, where it would be a sitting duck for US bombers, according to the plan. Former Central Command commander, General Anthony Zinni derided the plan at the "Bay of Goats," the Guardian writes.[11]
In March 2002, Seymour Hersh reported in The New Yorker that "exile groups supported by the I.N.C. have been conducting sabotage operations inside Iraq, targeting oil refineries and other installations. The latest attack took place on January 23rd, an INC official told me, when missiles fired by what he termed 'indigenous dissidents' struck the large Baiji refinery complex, north of Baghdad, triggering a fire that blazed for more than twelve hours." However, Hersh added, "A dispute over Chalabi's potential usefulness preoccupies the bureaucracy, as the civilian leadership in the Pentagon continues to insist that only the INC can lead the opposition. At the same time, a former Administration official told me, 'Everybody but the Pentagon and the office of the Vice-President wants to ditch the INC.' The INC's critics note that Chalabi, despite years of effort and millions of dollars in American aid, is intensely unpopular today among many elements in Iraq. 'If Chalabi is the guy, there could be a civil war after Saddam's overthrow,' one former C.I.A. operative told me. A former high-level Pentagon official added, 'There are some things that a President can't order up, and an internal opposition is one.'"[12]
Notwithstanding these concerns, Hersh reported that "INC supporters in and around the Administration, including Paul Dundes Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, believe, like Chalabi, that any show of force would immediately trigger a revolt against Saddam within Iraq, and that it would quickly expand." In December 2002, Robert Dreyfuss reported that the administration of George W. Bush actually preferred INC-supplied analyses of Iraq over analyses provided by long-standing analysts within the CIA. "Even as it prepares for war against Iraq, the Pentagon is already engaged on a second front: its war against the Central Intelligence Agency.," he wrote. "The Pentagon is bringing relentless pressure to bear on the agency to produce intelligence reports more supportive of war with Iraq. ... Morale inside the U.S. national-security apparatus is said to be low, with career staffers feeling intimidated and pressured to justify the push for war."
Much of the pro-war faction's information came from the INC, even though "most Iraq hands with long experience in dealing with that country's tumultuous politics consider the INC's intelligence-gathering abilities to be nearly nil. ... The Pentagon's critics are appalled that intelligence provided by the INC might shape U.S. decisions about going to war against Baghdad. At the CIA and at the State Department, Ahmed Chalabi, the INC's leader, is viewed as the ineffectual head of a self-inflated and corrupt organization skilled at lobbying and public relations, but not much else."[13]
"The [INC's] intelligence isn't reliable at all," said Vincent Cannistraro, a former senior CIA official and counterterrorism expert. "Much of it is propaganda. Much of it is telling the Defense Department what they want to hear. And much of it is used to support Chalabi's own presidential ambitions. They make no distinction between intelligence and propaganda, using alleged informants and defectors who say what Chalabi wants them to say, [creating] cooked information that goes right into presidential and vice-presidential speeches."[14]
In February 2003, as the Bush administration neared the end of its preparations for war, an internal fight erupted over INC's plan to actually become the government of Iraq after the U.S. invasion. Chalabi wanted to "declare a provisional government when the war starts," a plan that "alienated some of Mr Chalabi's most enthusiastic backers in the Pentagon and in Congress, who fear the announcement of a provisional government made up of exiles would split anti-Saddam sentiment inside Iraq."[15]
A classified study prepared by the National Intelligence Council in early 2003 found that only one of Chalabi's defectors could be considered credible, The New Republic has learned. A more recent investigation undertaken by the DIA has found that practically all the intelligence provided by the INC was worthless. [16]
Despite this, it was revealed that in March 2004, the Pentagon continued to pay the INC $US340,000 a month for "intelligence collection".[17] "We're still getting good information from the INC ... There are a lot of insurgents that are doing bad things and they have a lot of contacts and [are] making better ones every day," an unnamed Pentagon official claimed.
Knight Ridder reported that the false INC intelligence fed to the US intelligence agencies was also distributed to news outlets in the United States, Britain and Australia. "A June 26, 2002, letter from the Iraqi National Congress to the Senate Appropriations Committee listed 108 articles based on information provided by the Iraqi National Congress's Information Collection Program, a U.S.-funded effort to collect intelligence in Iraq ... The assertions in the articles reinforced President Bush's claims that Saddam Hussein should be ousted because he was in league with Osama bin Laden, was developing nuclear weapons and was hiding biological and chemical weapons," Knight Ridder reported.
In March 2004, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Carl Levin (D-MI) sent requested the General Accounting Office to investigate the INC's use of State Department money between 2001 and 2002. Newsweek reports, the issue under scrutiny is whether the INC violated its agreement with the State Department to not use U.S. fund for activities "associated with, or that could appear to be associated with, attempting to influence the policies of the United States Government or Congress or propagandizing the American people." [18]
The Senators' letter of March 3 found "troubling" the INC's use of money, pointing to the June 2002 memo to the Appropriations Committee and the "Information Collection Program." "Late last year Chalabi's Washington representative, Francis Brooke, told NEWSWEEK that State Department money had been used to finance the expenses of INC defectors who were sources for some of the listed news stories. Brooke said there were 'no restrictions' on the use of U.S. government funds to make such defectors available to the news media," Newsweek writes. But another INC spokesman told Newsweek in March 2004, "The INC paid some living and travel expenses of defectors with USG funds. None of these expenses was related to meeting journalists." The spokesman denied INC had violated any U.S. laws.[19]
Another potential violation of U.S. funding laws is a non-profit group set up by individuals who held senior positions with the INC called the Iraq Liberation Action Committee. The group, composed largely of Iraqi-Americans, was to lobby for U.S. action in Iraq. Knight Ridder reported in April 2004 that it "relied on private funds and was not subject to the same lobbying restrictions [as INC]. Even so, the formation of the group surprised and angered U.S. government officials, some of whom suspected it was an attempt to sidestep the lobbying restrictions."
Long-time INC representative and former Rendon Group employee Francis Brooke was listed as the group's principle founder, Knight Ridder reported. The group was "to work in support of United States and international efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq" and to help in "drafting resolutions, legislation and regulations" to advance democracy there.[20]
Estimates on the amount of funding the INC received from the U.S. government vary. One estimate was that between 1998-2003 it received $18 million.
In May 2004 an unnamed INC official told the New York Times that it had received $27 million in the last four years. [21] According to the report the U.S. government had decided that funding for the INC would end when its $355,000 per month contract for intelligence information expired on June 30, 2004.
In addition to the Rendon Group, the Burson-Marsteller PR firm has also provided public relations assistance to the INC.
SourceWatch links
- Francis Brooke
- Ahmed Chalabi
- Committee for the Liberation of Iraq
- Project for a New American Century
- Rendon Group
- James Woolsey
- Najmaldin O. Karim
External links
- Iraqi National Congress, Neocon Europe, accessed 14 May, 2009.
- Julian Borger, "Plan resurfaces to target Saddam," Guardian, December 2001.
- Nick Grace, "Radio Hurriah Axed by State Department," December 14, 2002.
- "B-M Promotes INC," O'Dwyer's PR Daily, April 17, 2003.
- "B-M Working with Bush's Hand-Picked Iraqis," Holmes Report, May 1, 2003.
- Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff, Exclusive: Cheney and the ?Raw? Intelligence, Newsweek, December 15, 2003: "A memo written by a top Washington lobbyist for the controversial Iraqi National Congress raises new questions about the role Vice President Dick Cheney?s office played in the run-up to the war in Iraq."
- Maureen Dowd, The Thief of Baghdad, New York Times, February 15, 2004: "But here's the wild thing: the propaganda program was underwritten by U.S. government funds. So Americans paid Ahmad Chalabi to gull them into a war that is costing them a billion a week ? and a precious human cost. Cops dealing with their snitches check out the information better than the Bush administration did. ... Mr. Chalabi's séances swayed the political set, the intelligence set and the journalistic set. In an effect Senator Bob Graham dubs 'incestuous amplification,' the bogus stories spewed by Iraqi exiles and defectors ricocheted through an echo chamber of government and media, making it sound as if multiple, reliable sources were corroborating the same story. Rather, one self-interested source was replicating like computer spam."
- Pamela Hess, "DOD weighs future of INC-fed intel group," Washington Times, March 3, 2004: "The Pentagon and Defense Intelligence Agency are trying to determine whether an intelligence collection unit fed by the controversial Iraqi National Congress will continue beyond July 1, when Iraq is scheduled to re-assume its sovereignty. ... The intelligence community last month recommended the Iraqi National Congress' Information Collection Program continue at least until July 1 but has specific concerns after that date if the program is either continued or disbanded, according to government officials and documents. ... However, the organization is also under scrutiny on Capitol Hill for its central pre-war role in producing questionable intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction."
- Douglas Jehl, "Chalabi spies in Iraq still on US payroll", Sydney Morning Herald, March 12, 2004. (SMH article credits the New York Times and Reuters for this story).
- Jonathan S. Landay and Tish Wells, Iraqi exile group fed false information to news media, Knight Ridder, March 15, 2004.
- Mark Hosenball and Michael Hirsh, "Chalabi: A Questionable Use of U.S. Funding," Newsweek, March 27, 2004.
- Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay, "Exile group crossed line on lobbying, U.S. believes," Knight Ridder, April 23, 2004.
- "Congress Probes INC's Lobbying Effort," Democracy Now! April 27, 2004.
- Lisa Myers, "Iraq congress members under investigation. Allegations include abduction, robbery, assault, car theft," NBC News, April 28, 2004.
- Richard A. Oppel Jr, "U.S. to Halt Payments to Iraqi Group Headed by a Onetime Pentagon Favorite", New York Times, May 18, 2004.
- Douglas McCollam, "Chalabi's List of Suckers," Columbia Journalism Review (via Alternet), July 12, 2004.
- Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel, "Report: Advocates of war used Pentagon ties; Ex-CIA Chief Helped U.S. Government Contact Defector," San Jose Mercury News, July 16, 2004.
- Walter F. Roche Jr. and Ken Silverstein, "Advocates of War Now Profit From Iraq's Reconstruction," Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2004.
- Paul Krugman, "Yes He Would," New York Times, April 10, 2006.
- James Bamford, Iran: The Next War, Rolling Stone, July 26, 2006.
- "FDL Book Salon Welcomes Murray Waas and Jeff Lomonaco", Firedoglake, Jun. 26, 2007.


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Beauty is all about being comfortable in your own skin and loving it wholeheartedly. Real skin is the essence of beauty. Thus, Remember that real skin is never perfect; it has imperfections; it has textures, pores, and even blemishes. So, the goal of beauty should be healthy skin, not perfection. Healthy skin expresses the real you, despite your complexion, or age. To get your healthy skin, you must take care of it delicately and with natural products. On the list of natural and result giving products BoSH Care stands at top, the purest, healthiest, and wallet-friendly skincare brand.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Google Desktop Update
September 2nd, 2011 | by Kathy Walrath [GD Team] | published in Google Desktop
In 2004, Google launched Google Desktop, a program designed to make it easy for users to search their own PCs for emails, files, music, photos, Web pages and more.
Desktop has been used by tens of millions of people and we've been humbled by its usage and great user feedback. However, over the past seven years we've also witnessed some big changes in how users store and access their own data, with many moving to web-based applications. There has been a significant shift from local to cloud-based storage and computing, as well as integration of Google Desktop functionality (like local search) into most modern operating systems. This is a positive development for users and we're excited that most people now have instant access to their personal information. As such, we'll be discontinuing support for Google Desktop, including all of the associated APIs, services, plugins and gadgets.
As of September 14, Google Desktop will no longer be available for download, and existing installations will not be updated to include new features or fixes.
Thanks again to all of our users. It's been a fun journey.
Posted by the Google Desktop Team


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Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis said Saturday that abortion can never be condoned, even when the fetus is gravely sick or likely to die, and urged doctors and priests to support families to carry such pregnancies to term.
Speaking to a Vatican-sponsored anti-abortion conference, Francis said the opposition to abortion isn't a religious issue but a human one.
"Is it licit to throw away a life to resolve a problem?" he asked. "Is it licit to hire a hitman to resolve a problem?"
Francis denounced decisions to abort based on prenatal testing, saying a human being is "never incompatible with life."
Even those babies destined to die at birth or soon thereafter deserve to receive medical care in the womb, Francis said, adding that their parents need to be supported so they don't feel isolated and afraid.
While one can argue about using medical resources this way, there is value to it for the parents, he said.
"Taking care of these children helps parents to grieve and not only think of it as a loss, but as a step on a path taken together," Francis said.
Francis has spoken out strongly against abortion but also has expressed sympathy for women who have had them and made it easier for them to be absolved of the sin of abortion.
His comments come as the abortion debate is again making headlines in the U.S. with state initiatives seeking to restrict the procedure.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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[Editor: This was a letter composed by Ned Kelly in 1879, intended for publication in Victorian newspapers.]
[Background: The Jerilderie Letter, dictated by Ned Kelly to Joe Byrne, has been described as Ned Kelly's "manifesto", and gives a detailed account of Ned's relations with the police, including the unjust treatment his family had received at the hands of the law. The gang targeted the Bank of New South Wales in Jerilderie; arriving on Saturday night, 8 February 1879, they captured and locked up the two local policemen, then dressed themselves in police uniforms and stabled their horses. The next day, Ned supervised the rounding-up of more than 60 townspeople in the dining room of the Royal Mail Hotel (situated next door to the bank); and read his letter to the captive audience. While the gang controlled the town, Kelly sought to give the letter to Samuel Gill, editor of the Jerilderie and Urana Gazette, with the specific demand that it be published; however, he discovered that Gill had already escaped. The bank's accountant, Edwin Living, offered to take the letter and to pass it to Gill, so Ned gave it to him, seeking to have the letter printed so as to provide an explanation for his situation, and to have an accurate record published of what had passed between the Kelly family and the police; instead, Edwin Living travelled to Melbourne and handed it to the police. The gang left Jerilderie, taking with them over £2000 — a huge sum of money in those days.]
[The Jerilderie letter]
Dear Sir,
I wish to acquaint you with some of the occurrences of the present past and future. In or about the spring of 1870 the ground was very soft a hawker named Mr Gould got his waggon bogged between Greta and my mother's house on the eleven mile creek, the ground was that rotten it would bog a duck in places so Mr. Gould had abandon his waggon for fear of loosing his horses in the spewy ground. he was stopping at my Mother's awaiting finer or dryer weather Mr. McCormack and his wife. hawkers also were camped in Greta the mosquitoes were very bad which they generally are in a wet spring and to help them Mr. Johns had a horse called Ruita Cruta although a gelding was as clever as old Wombat or any other Stallion at running horses away and taking them on his beat which was from Greta swamp to the seven mile creek consequently he enticed McCormack's horse away from Greta.
Mr. Gould was up early feeding his horses heard a bell and seen McCormack horses for he knew the horse well he sent his boy to take him back to Greta. When McCormack's got the horse they came straight out to Goold and accused him of working the horse; this was false, and Goold was amazed at the idea I could not help laughing to hear Mrs. McCormack accusing him of using the horse after him being so kind as to send his boy to take him from the Ruta Cruta and take him back to them.
I pleaded Goulds innocence and Mrs McCormack turned on me and accused me of bringing the horse from Greta to Goold's waggon to pull him out of the bog I did not say much to the woman as my Mother was present but that same day me and my uncle was cutting calves Gould wrapped up a note and a pair of the calves testicles and gave them to me to give them to Mrs McCormack. I did not see her and I gave the parcel to a boy to give to her when she would come instead of giving it to her he gave it to her husband consequently McCormack said he would summons me I told him neither me or Gould used their horse.
he said I was a liar & he could welt me or any of my breed I was about 14 years of age but accepted the challenge and dismounting when Mrs McCormack struck my horse in the flank with a bullock's skin it jumped forward and my fist came in collision with McCormack's nose and caused him to loose his equillibrium and fall postrate I tied up my horse to finish the battle but McCormack got up and ran to the Police camp.
Constable Hall asked me what the row was about I told him they accused me and Gould of using their horse and I hit him and I would do the same to him if he challenged me McCormack pulled me and swore their lies against me
I was sentenced to three months for hitting him and three months for the parcel and bound to keep the peace for 12 months.
Mrs McCormack gave good substantial evidence as she is well acquainted with that place called Tasmania better known as the Dervon or Vandiemans land and McCormack being a Police man over the convicts and women being scarce released her from that land of bondage and tyranny, and they came to Victoria and are at present residents of Greta and on the 29th of March I was released from prison and came home Wild Wright came to the Eleven Mile to see Mr Gunn stopped all night and lost his mare both him and me looked all day for her and could not get her Wright who was a stranger to me was in a hurry to get back to Mansfield and I gave him another mare and he told me if I found his mare to keep her until he brought mine back
I was going to Wangaratta and seen the mare and I caught her and took her with me all the Police and Detective Berrill seen her as Martains girls used to ride her about the town during several days that I stopped at Petre Martains Star Hotel in Wangaratta. She was a chestnut mare white face docked tail very remarkable branded (M) as plain as the hands on a town clock. the property of a Telegraph Master in Mansfield he lost her on the 6th gazetted her on the 12th of March and I was a prisoner in Beechworth Gaol until the 29 of March therefore I could not have Stole the mare.
I was riding the mare through Greta Constable Hall came to me and said he wanted me to sign some papers that I did not sign at Beechworth concerning my bail bonds I thought it was the truth he said the papers was at the Barracks and I had no idea he wanted to arrest me or I would have quietly rode away instead of going to the Barracks.
I was getting off when Hall caught hold of me and thought to throw me but made a mistake and came on the broad of his back himself in the dust the mare galloped away and instead of me putting my foot on Halls neck and taking his revolver and putting him in the lock up. I tried to catch the mare. Hall got up and snapped three or four caps at me and would have shot me but the colts patent refused.
This is well known in Greta Hall never told me he wanted to arrest me until after he tried to shoot me when I heard the caps snapping I stood until Hall came close he had me covered and was shaking with fear and I knew he would pull the trigger before he would be game to put his hand on me so I duped, and jumped at him caught the revolver with one hand and Hall by the collar with the other.
I dare not strike him or my sureties would loose the bond money I used to trip him and let him take a mouth ful of dust now and again as he was as helpless as a big guano after leaving a dead bullock or a horse.
I kept throwing him in the dust until I got him across the street the very spot where Mrs O'Briens Hotel stands now the cellar was just dug then there was some brush fencing where the post and rail was taking down and on this I threw big cowardly Hall on his belly I straddled him and rooted both spurs onto his thighs he roared like a big calf attacked by dogs and shifted several yards of the fence I got his hands at the back of his neck and tried to make him let the revolver go but he stuck to it like grim death to a dead volunteer he called for assistance to a man named Cohen and Barnett, Lewis, Thompson, Jewitt two blacksmiths who was looking on I dare not strike any of there as I was bound to keep the peace or I could have spread those curs like dung in a paddock
they got ropes tied my hands and feet and Hall beat me over the head with his six chambered colts revolver nine stitches were put in some of the cuts by Dr Hastings And when Wild Wright and my mother came they could trace us across the street by the blood in the dust and which spoiled the lustre of the paint on the gate-post of the Barracks Hall sent for more Police and Doctor Hastings. Next morning I was handcuffed a rope tied from them to my legs and to the seat of the cart and taken to Wangaratta Hall was frightened I would throw him out of the cart so he tied me whilst Constable Arthur laughed at his cowardice for it was he who escorted me and Hall to Wangaratta.
I was tried and committed as Hall swore I claimed the mare the Doctor died or he would have proved Hall a perjurer Hall has been tried several times for perjury but got clear as this is no crime in the Police force it is a credit to a Policeman to convict an innocent man but any muff can pot a guilty one Halls character is well known about El Dorado and Snowy Creek and Hall was considerably in debt to Mr L. O'Brien and he was going to leave Greta Mr O.Brien seen no other chance of getting his money so there was a subscription collected for Hall and with the aid of this money he got James Murdock who was recently hung in Wagga Wagga to give false evidence against me but I was acquitted on the charge of horsestealing and on Halls and Murdocks evidence I was found guilty of receiving and got 3 years experience in Beechworth Pentridges dungeons. this is the only charge ever proved against me Therefore I can say I never was convicted of horse or cattle stealing
My Brother Dan was never charged with assaulting a woman but he was sentenced to three months without the option of a fine and one month and two pounds fine for damaging property by Mr. Butler P.M. a sentence that there is no law to uphold therefore the Minister of Justice neglected his duty in that case, but there never was such a thing as Justice in the English laws but any amount of injustice to be had. Out of over thirty head of the very best horses the land could produce I could only find one when I got my liberty.
Constable Flood stole and sold the most of them to the navvies on the railway line one bay cob he stole and sold four different times the line was completed and the men all gone when I came out and Flood was shifted to Oxley.
he carried on the same game there all the stray horses that was any time without an owner and not in the Police Gazette Flood used to claim He was doing a good trade at Oxley until Mr Brown of the Laceby Station got him shifted as he was always running his horses about.
Flood is different to Sergeant Steel, Strachan, Hall and the most of Police a they have got to hire cads and if they fail the Police are quite helpless. But Flood can make a cheque single-handed he is the greatest horsestealer with the exception of myself and George King I know of.
I never worked on a farm a horse and saddle was never traced to me after leaving employment since February 1873 I worked as a faller at Mr J. Saunders and R Rules sawmills then for Heach and Dockendorf I never worked for less than two pound ten a week since I left Pentridge and in 1875 or 1876 I was overseer for Saunders and Rule. Bourke's water-holes sawmills in Victoria since then I was on the King River, during my stay there I ran in a wild bull which I gave to Lydicher a farmer he sold him to Carr a Publican and Butcher who killed him for beef, sometime afterwards I was blamed for stealing this bull from James Whitty Boggy Creek I asked Whitty Oxley racecourse why he blamed me for stealing his bull
he said he had found his bull and never blamed me but his son-in-law Farrell told him he heard I sold the bull to Carr not long afterwards I heard again I was blamed for stealing a mob of calves from Whitty and Farrell which I knew nothing about. I began to think they wanted me to give them something to talk about. Therefore I started wholesale and retail horse and cattle dealing Whitty and Burns not being satisfied with all the picked land on the Boggy Creek and King River and the run of their stock on the certificate ground free and no one interfering with them paid heavy rent to the banks for all the open ground so as a poor man could keep no stock, and impounded every beast they could get, even off Government roads.
If a poor man happened to leave his horse or bit of a poddy calf outside his paddock they would be impounded.
I have known over 60 head of horses impounded in one day by Whitty and Burns all belonging to poor farmers they would have to leave their ploughing or harvest or other employment to go to Oxley.
when they would get there perhaps not have money enough to release them and have to give a bill of sale or borrow the money which is no easy matter. And along with this sort of work, Farrell the Policeman stole a horse from George King and had him in Whitty and Farrells Paddocks until he left the force.
and all this was the cause of me and my step-father George King taking their horses and selling them to Baumgarten and Kennedy.
the pick of them was taken to a good market and the culls were kept in Petersons paddock and their brands altered by me two was sold to Kennedy and the rest to Baumgarten who were strangers to me and I believe honest men.
They paid me full value for the horses and could not have known they were stolen.
no person had anything to do with the stealing and selling of the horses but me and George King.
William Cooke who was convicted for Whittys horses was innocent he was not in my company at Petersons. But it is not the place of the Police to convict guilty men as it is by them they get their living had the right parties been convicted it would have been a bad job for the Police as Berry would have sacked a great many of them only I came to their aid and kept them in their bilits and good employment and got them double pay and yet the ungrateful articles convicted my mother and an infant my brother-in-law and another man who was innocent and still annoy my brothers and sisters and the ignorant unicorns even threaten to shoot myself But as soon as I am dead they will be heels up in the muroo. there will be no more police required they will be sacked and supplanted by soldiers on low pay in the towns and special constables made of some of the farmers to make up for this double pay and expense.
It will pay Government to give those people who are suffering innocence, justice and liberty. if not I will be compelled to show some colonial stratagem which will open the eyes of not only the Victoria Police and inhabitants but also the whole British army and now doubt they will acknowledge their hounds were barking at the wrong stump and that Fitzpatrick will be the cause of greater slaughter to the Union Jack than Saint Patrick was to the snakes and toads in Ireland.
The Queen of England was as guilty as Baumgarten and Kennedy Williamson and Skillion of what they were convicted for When the horses were found on the Murray River I wrote a letter to Mr Swanhill of Lake Rowan to acquaint the Auctioneer and to advertize my horses for sale I brought some of them to that place but did not sell I sold some of them in Benalla Melbourne and other places and left the colony and became a rambling gambler soon after I left there was a warrant for me and the Police searched the place and watched night and day for two or three weeks and when they could not snare me they got a warrant against my brother Dan And on the 15 of April Fitzpatrick came to the Eleven Mile Creek to arrest him he had some conversation with a horse dealer whom he swore was William Skillion this man was not called in Beechworth, besides several other Witnesses, who alone could have proved Fitzpatricks falsehood after leaving this man he went to the house asked was Dan in Dan came out. I hear previous to this Fitzpatrick had some conversation with Williamson on the hill. he asked Dan to come to Greta with him as he had a warrant for him for stealing Whitty's horses Dan said all right they both went inside Dan was having something to eat his mother asked Fitzpatrick what he wanted Dan for. the trooper said he had a warrant for him Dan then asked him to produce it he said it was only a telegram sent from Chiltren but Sergeant Whelan ordered him to relieve Steel at Greta and call and arrest Dan and take him into Wangaratta next morning and get him remanded Dans mother said Dan need not go without a warrant unless he liked and that the trooper had no business on her premises without some Authority besides his own word
The trooper pulled out his revolver and said he would blow her brains out if she interfered in the arrest she told him it was a good job for him Ned was not there or he would ram the revolver down his throat Dan looked out and said Ned is coming now, the trooper being off his guard looked out and when Dan got his attention drawn he dropped the knife and fork which showed he had no murderous intent and slapped Heenan's hug on him took his revolver and kept him there until Skillion and Ryan came with horses which Dan sold that night.
The trooper left and invented some scheme to say that he got shot which any man can see is false, he told Dan to clear out that Sergeant Steel and Detective Brown and Strachan would be there before morning Strachan had been over the Murray trying to get up a case against him and they would convict him if they caught him as the stock society offored an enticement for witnesses to swear anything and the germans over the Murray would swear to the wrong man as well as the right.
Next day Williamson and my mother was arrested and Skillion the day after who was not there at all at the time of the row which can be proved by 8 or 9 witnesses And the Police got great credit and praise in the papers for arresting the mother of 12 children one an infant on her breast and those two quiet hard working innocent men who would not know the difference a revolver and a saucepan handle and kept them six months awaiting trial and then convicted them on the evidence of the meanest article that ever the sun shone on it seems that the jury was well chosen by the Police as there was a discharged Sergeant amongst them which is contrary to law they thought it impossible for a Policeman to swear a lie but I can assure them it is by that means and hiring cads they get promoted I have heard from a trooper that he never knew Fitzpatrick to be one night sober and that he sold his sister to a chinaman but he looks a young strapping rather genteel more fit to be a starcher to a laundress than a Policeman. For to a keen observer he has the wrong appearance or a manly heart the deceit and cowardice is too plain to be seen in the puny cabbage hearted looking face.
I heard nothing of this transaction until very close on the trial I being then over 400 miles from Greta when I heard I was outlawed and a hundred pound reward for me for shooting at a trooper in Victoria and a hundred pound for any man that could prove a conviction of horse-stealing against me so I came back to Victoria knew I would get no justice if I gave myself up I enquired after my brother Dan and found him digging on Bullock Creek heard how the Police used to be blowing that they would not ask me to stand they would shoot me first and then cry surrender and how they used to rush into the house upset all the milk dishes break tins of eggs empty the flour out of the bags on to the ground and even the meat out of the cask and destroy all the provisions and shove the girls in front of them into the rooms like dogs so as if anyone was there they would shoot the girls first but they knew well I was not there or I would have scattered their blood and brains like rain I would manure the Eleven mile with their bloated carcasses and yet remember there is not one drop of murderous blood in my veins
Superintendent Smith used to say to my sisters, see all the men I have out today I will have as many more tomorrow and we will blow him into pieces as small as paper that is in our guns Detective Ward and Constable Hayes took out their revolvers and threatened to shoot the girls and children in Mrs Skillions absence the greatest ruffians and murderers no matter how deprived would not be guilty of such a cowardly action, and this sort of cruelty and disgraceful and cowardly conduct to my brothers and sisters who had no protection coupled with the conviction of my mother and those men certainly made my blood boil as I dont think there is a man born could have the patience to suffer it as long as I did or ever allow his blood to get cold while such insults as these were unavenged and yet in every paper that is printed I am called the blackest and coldest blooded murderer ever on record But if I hear any more of it I will not exactly show them what cold blooded murder is but wholesale and retail slaughter something different to shooting three troopers in self defence and robbing a bank. I would have been rather hot-blooded to throw down my rifle and let them shoot me and my innocent brother, they were not satisfied with frightening my sisters night and day and destroying their provisions and lagging my mother and infant and those innocent men but should follow me and my brother into the wilds where he had been quietly digging neither molesting or interfering with anyone he was making good wages as the creek is very rich within half a mile from where I shot Kennedy. I was not there long and on the 25 of October I came on Police tracks between Table top and the bogs. I crossed them and returning in the evening I came on a different lot of tracks making for the shingle hut I went to our camp and told my brother and his two mates me and my brother went and found their camp at the shingle hut about a mile from my brothers house saw they carried long firearms and we knew our doom was sealed if we could not beat those before the others would come As I knew the other party of Police would soon join them and if they came on us at our camp they would shoot us down like dogs at our work as we had only two guns. we thought it best to try and bail those up take their firearms and ammunition and horses and we could stand a chance with the rest We approached the spring as close as we could get to the camp as the intervening space being clear ground and no battery We saw two men at the logs they got up and one took a double barreled fowling-piece and fetched a horse down and hobbled him at the tent we thought there were more men in the tent asleep those being on sentry we could have shot those two men without speaking but not wishing to take their lives we waited McIntyre laid the gun against a stump and Lonigan sat on the log I advanced, my brother Dan keeping McIntyre covered which he took to be constable Flood and had he not obeyed my orders, or at-tempted to reach for the gun or draw his revolver he would have been shot dead, but when I called on them to throw up their hands McIntyre obeyed and Lonigan ran some six or seven yards to a battery of logs instead of dropping behind the one he was sitting on, he had just got to the logs and put his head up to take aim when I shot him that instant or he would have shot me as I took him to be Strachan the man who said he would not ask me to stand he would shoot me first like a dog. But it happened to be Lonigan the man who in company with Sergeant Whelan Fitzpatrick and King the Boot maker and constable O'Day that tried to put a pair of handcuffs on me in Benalla but could not and had to allow McInnis the miller to put them on, previous to Fitzpatrick swearing he was shot, I was fined two pounds for hitting Fitzpatrick and two pounds for not allowing five curs like Sergeant Whelan O'Day Fitzpatrick King and Lonigan who caught me by the privates and would have sent me to Kingdom come only I was not ready and he is the man that blowed before he left Violet Town if Ned Kelly was to be shot he was the man would shoot him and no doubt he would shoot me even if I threw up my arms and laid down as he knew four of them could not arrest me single-handed not to talk of the rest of my mates, also either me or him would have to die, this he knew well therefore he had a right to keep out of my road, Fitzpatrick is the only one I hit out of the five in Benalla this shows my feeling towards him as he said we were good friends & even swore it but he was the biggest enemy I had in the country with the exception of Lonigan and he can be thankful I was not there when he took a revolver and threatened to shoot my mother in her own house it is not fire three shots and miss him at a yard and a half I don't think I would use a revolver to shoot a man like him when I was within a yard and a half of him or attempt to fire into a house where my mother brothers and sisters was. and according to Fitzpatricks statement all around him a man that is such a bad shot as to miss a man three times at a yard and a half would never attempt to fire into a house among a house full of women and children while I had a pairs of arms and bunch of fives on the end of them that never failed to peg out anything they came in contact with and Fitzpatrick knew the weight of one of them only too well, as it run against him once in Benalla, and cost me two pound odd as he is very subject to fainting. As soon as I shot Lonigan he jumped up and staggered some distance from the logs with his hands raised and then fell he surrendered but too late I asked McIntyre who was in the tent he replied no one. I advanced and took possession of their two revolvers and fowling piece which I loaded with bullets instead of shot.
I asked McIntyre where his mates was he said they had gone down the creek, and he did not expect them that night he asked me was I going to shoot him and his mates. I told him no. I would shoot no man if he gave up his arms and leave the force he said the police all knew Fitzpatrick had wronged us. and he intended to leave the force, as he had bad health, and his life was insured, he told me he intended going home and that Kennedy and Scanlan were out looking for our camp and also about the other Police he told me the N.S.W Police had shot a man for shooting Sergeant Walling I told him if they did, they had shot the wrong man And I expect your gang came to do the same with me he said no they did not come to shoot me they came to apprehend me I asked him what they carried spencer rifles and breech loading fowling pieces and so much ammunition for as the Police was only supposed to carry one revolver and 6 cartridges in the revolver but they had eighteen rounds of revolver cartridges each three dozen for the fowling piece and twenty one spencer rifle cartridges and God knows how many they had away with the rifle this looked as if they meant not only to shoot me only to riddle me but I don't know either Kennedy Scanlan or him and had nothing against them, he said he would get them to give up their arms if I would not shoot them as I could not blame them, they had to do their duty I said I did not blame them for doing honest duty but I could not suffer them blowing me to pieces in my own native land and they knew Fitzpatrick wronged us and why not make it public and convict him but no they would rather riddle poor unfortunate creoles. but they will rue the day ever Fitzpatrick got among them, Our two mates came over when they heard the shot fired but went back again for fear the Police might come to our camp while we were all away and manure bullock flat with us on our arrival. I stopped at the logs and Dan went back to the spring for fear the tropers would come in that way but I soon heard them coming up the creek. I told McIntyre to tell them to give up their arms, he spoke to Kennedy who was some distance in front of Scanlan he reached for his revolver and jumped off, on the off side of his horse and got behind a tree when I called on them to throw up their arms and Scanlan who carried the rifle slewed his horse around to gallop away but the horse would not go and as quick as thought fired at me with the rifle without unslinging it and was in the act of firing again when I had to shoot him and he fell from his horse.
I could have shot them without speaking but their lives was no good to me. McIntyre jumped on Kennedys horse and I allowed him to go as I did not like to shoot him after he surrendered or I would have shot him as he was between me and Kennedy therefore I could not shoot Kennedy without shooting him first. Kennedy kept firing from behind the tree my brother Dan advanced and Kennedy ran I followed him he stopped behind another tree and fired again. I shot him in the arm pit and he dropped his revolver and ran I fired again with the gun as he slewed around to surrender I did not know he had dropped his revolver. the bullet passed through the right side of his chest & he could not live or I would have let him go had they been my own brother I could not help shooting there or else let them shoot me which they would have done had their bullets been directed as they intended them. But as for handcuffing Kennedy to a tree or cutting his ear off or brutally treating any of them, is a falsehood, if Kennedys ear was cut off it was not done by me and none of my mates was near him after he was shot I put his cloak over him and left him as well as I could and were they my own brothers I could not have been more sorry for them this cannot be called wilful murder for I was compelled to shoot them, or lie down and let them shoot me it would not be wilful murder if they packed our remains in, shattered into a mass of animated gore to Mansfield, they would have got great praise and credit as well as promotion but I am reconed a horrid brute because I had not been cowardly enough to lie down for them under such trying circumstances and insults to my people certainly their wives and children are to be pitied but they must remember those men came into the bush with the intention of scattering pieces of me and my brother all over the bush and yet they know and acknowledge I have been wronged and my mother and four or five men lagged innocent and is my brothers and sisters and my mother not to be pitied also who has no alternative only to put up with the brutal and cowardly conduct of a parcel of big ugly fat-necked wombat headed big bellied magpie legged narrow hipped splay-footed sons of Irish Bailiffs or english landlords which is better known as Officers of Justice or Victorian Police who some calls honest gentlemen but I would like to know what business an honest man would have in the Police as it is an old saying It takes a rogue to catch a rogue and a man that knows nothing about roguery would never enter the force an take an oath to arrest brother sister father or mother if required and to have a case and conviction if possible Any man knows it is possible to swear a lie and if a policeman looses a conviction for the sake of swearing a lie he has broke his oath therefore he is a perjurer either ways. A Policeman is a disgrace to his country, not alone to the mother that suckled him, in the first place he is a rogue in his heart but too cowardly to follow it up without having the force to disguise it. next he is traitor to his country ancestors and religion as they were all catholics before the Saxons and Cranmore yoke held sway since then they were persecuted massacred thrown into martrydom and tortured beyond the ideas of the present generation What would people say if they saw a strapping big lump of an Irishman shepherding sheep for fifteen bob a week or tailing turkeys in Tallarook ranges for a smile from Julia or even begging his tucker, they would say he ought to be ashamed of himself and tar-and-feather him. But he would be a king to a policeman who for a lazy loafing cowardly bilit left the ash corner deserted the shamrock, the emblem of true wit and beauty to serve under a flag and nation that has destroyed massacreed and murdered their fore-fathers by the greatest of torture as rolling them down hill in spiked barrels pulling their toe and finger nails and on the wheel. and every torture imaginable more was transported to Van Diemand's Land to pine their young lives away in starvation and misery among tyrants worse than the promised hell itself all of true blood bone and beauty, that was not murdered on their own soil, or had fled to America or other countries to bloom again another day, were doomed to Port Mcquarie Toweringabbie Norfolk island and Emu plains and in those places of tyrany and condemnation many a blooming Irishman rather than subdue to the Saxon yoke Were flogged to death and bravely died in servile chains but true to the shamrock and a credit to Paddys land What would people say if I became a policeman and took an oath to arrest my brothers and sisters & relations and convict them by fair or foul means after the conviction of my mother and the persecutions and insults offered to myself and people Would they say I was a decent gentleman, and yet a policeman is still in worse and guilty of meaner actions than that The Queen must surely be proud of such herioc men as the Police and Irish soldiers as It takes eight or eleven of the biggest mud crushers in Melbourne to take one poor little half starved larrakin to a watch house. I have seen as many as eleven, big & ugly enough to lift Mount Macedon out of a crab hole more like the species of a baboon or Guerilla than a man actually come into a court house and swear they could not arrest one eight stone larrakin and them armed with battens and neddies without some civilians assistance and some of them going to the hospital from the affects of hits from the fists of the larrakin and the Magistrate would send the poor little larrakin into a dungeon for being a better man than such a parcel of armed curs. What would England do if America declared war and hoisted a green flag as its all Irishmen that has got command of her armies forts and batteries even her very life guards and beef tasters are Irish would they not slew around and fight her with their own arms for the sake of the colour they dare not wear for years. and to reinstate it and rise old Erins isle once more, from the pressure and tyrannism of the English yoke, which has kept it in poverty and starvation, and caused them to wear the enemy's coats. What else can England expect.
Is there not big fat-necked Unicorns enough paid to torment and drive me to do thing which I don't wish to do, without the public assisting them I have never interfered with any person unless they deserved it, and yet there are civilians who take firearms against me, for what reason I do not know, unless they want me to turn on them and exterminate them without medicine. I shall be compelled to make an example of some of them if they cannot find no other employment If I had robbed and plundered ravished and murdered everything I met young and old rich and poor. the public could not do any more than take firearms and assisting the police as they have done, but by the light that shines pegged on an ant-bed with their bellies opened their fat taken out rendered and poured down their throat boiling hot will be fool to what pleasure I will give some of them and any person aiding or harbouring or assisting the Police in any way whatever or employing any person whom they know to be a detective or cad or those who would be so deprived as to take blood money will be outlawed and declared unfit to be allowed human buriel their property either consumed or confiscated and them theirs and all belonging to them exterminated off the face of the earth, the enemy I cannot catch myself I shall give a payable reward for, I would like to know who put that article that reminds me of a poodle dog half clipped in the lion fashion, called Brooke E. Smith Superintendent of Police he knows as much about commanding Police as Captain Standish does about mustering mosquitoes and boiling them down for their fat on the back blocks of the Lachlan for he has a head like a turnip a stiff neck as big as his shoulders narrow hipped and pointed towards the feet like a vine stake and if there is any one to be called a murderer regarding Kennedy, Scanlan and Lonigan it is that misplaced poodle he gets as much pay as a dozen good troopers, if there is any good in them, and what does he do for it he cannot look behind him without turning his whole frame it takes three or four police to keep sentry while he sleeps in Wangaratta, for fear of body snatchers do they think he is a superior animal to the men that has to guard him if so why not send the men that gets big pay and reconed superior to the common police after me and you shall soon save the country of high salaries to men that is fit for nothing else but getting better men than himself shot and sending orphan children to the industrial school to make prostitutes and cads of them for the Detectives and other evil disposed persons send the high paid and men that received big salaries for years in a gang by themselves after me, As it makes no difference to them but it will give them a chance of showing whether they are worth more pay than a common trooper or not and I think the Public will soon find they are only in the road of good men and obtaining money under false pretences, I do not call McIntyre a coward for I reckon he is as game a man as wears the jacket as he had the presence of mind to know his position, directly as he was spoken to, and only foolishness to disobey, it was cowardice that made Lonigan and the others fight it is only foolhardiness to disobey an outlaw as any Policeman or other man who do not throw up their arms directly as I call on them knows the consequence which is a speedy dispatch to Kingdom come I wish those men who joined the stock protection society to withdraw their money and give it and as much more to the widows and orphans and poor of Greta district where I spent and will again spend many a happy day fearless free and bold as it only aids the police to procure false witnesses and go whacks with men to steal horses and lag innocent men it would suit them far better to subscribe a sum and give it to the poor of their district and there is no fear of anyone stealing their property for no man could steal their horses without the knowledge of the poor if any man was mean enough to steal their property the poor would rise out to a man and find them if they were on the face of the earth it will always pay a rich man to be liberal with the poor and make as little enemies as he can as he shall find if the poor is on his side he shall loose nothing by it, If they depend in the police they shall be drove to destruction, as they can not and will not protect them if duffing and bushranging were abolished the police would have to cadge for their living I speak from experience as I have sold horses and cattle innumerable and yet eight head of the culls is all ever was found I never was interfered with whilst I kept up this successful trade. I give fair warning to all those who has reason to fear me to sell out and give £10 out of every hundred towards the widow and orphan fund and do not attempt to reside in Victoria but as short a time as possible after reading this notice, neglect this and abide by the consequences, which shall be worse than the rust in the wheat in Victoria or the druth of a dry season to the grasshoppers in New South Wales I do not wish to give the order full force without giving timely warning. but I am a widows son outlawed and my orders must be obeyed.
Edward Kelly.
Published in:
Max Brown. Ned Kelly: Australian Son, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde (NSW), 1987 (first published 1948, as Australian Son), pages 244-258 ("Appendix 2: The Jerilderie Letter")
Also available at:
Jerilderie Letter, State Library of Victoria (accessed 23 October 2012)
Jerilderie letter, National Museum of Australia (accessed 23 October 2012)
Jerilderie letter transcription, National Museum of Australia (accessed 23 October 2012)
The Jerilderie Letter, Iron Outlaw.com (accessed 23 October 2012)
The Jerilderie Letter, The Association for the Advancement of Australian Culture (accessed 23 October 2012)


text:
No circus would be complete without a few animals.
So wouldn't you know the big crowd outside the U.S. Supreme Court today included a cat on a leash and an adorable chihuahua mix with health insurance.
Kaiser Health News' Jessica Marcy snapped the shot of the cat, stretched out on the steps leading to the courthouse, as she was rushing to cover the arrival of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum.
He swung by to say that he, rather than Mitt Romney, is the right guy to do away with the administration's overhaul law.
Marcy told me she didn't have time to get the name of the cat or its owner.
But Neda Semnani, who writes the Heard on the Hill column for Roll Call, told me the cat is 13 years old and named "Pud," short for pudding.
She says cat and owner regularly walk around Washington when the weather is nice. "It was an unpolitical move," she says of their stroll today. She'll have more about them in Tuesday's paper. (Update: Here's Semnani's item.)
And then there's Ellie, a miniature dachshund and chihuahua mix. She came with Katherine Prather, a first year medical student at Georgetown University.
"I brought her because she has health insurance, and she thinks everyone should have health insurance," said Prather, of Kansas City, Mo.
Pets aren't covered by the health overhaul. But maybe they should be. The cost of health insurance for pets has surged, averaging $650 a year according to a recent report.
For more picture of the scene outside the court, see Marcy's gallery at Kaiser Health News.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Yes i have noticed alot of SPAM CRAP being posted lately......
Im sick of it.......Its bad enough ya get plastered in EMAIL,now the idiots are fouling up sites!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess the oldversion webmasters should be flattered that the spam merchants think enough of this forum to take the time to sign up so they can post. But it does litter the forum up a bit.
Perhaps you can make them jump through another hoop.
Is e-mail verification turned on?
Yes i have noticed alot of SPAM CRAP being posted lately......
Im sick of it.......Its bad enough ya get plastered in EMAIL,now the idiots are fouling up sites!!!!!!!!!!!!
as with any of this type or garbage its best ignored,any attention is just what they want.like a fart in the wind ignore it and it just drifts away as quick as it appeared.
simply me
It is perhaps a matter of perception of potential suckersOriginally Posted by Pete
When we had the Invision Power Board current users generally ranked around high teens with the change of board its suddenly in the low hundy,someone cooked the books,perhaps newer is not always better.
It seems that some of the "bots" have learned how to register and do e-mail confirmations....
At another forum (about flyfishing), the webmaster is spotting new "members" who are actually bots with an easy trick.
EDIT: Details of "trick" to foil spambots removed, lest too many spammers read and develop countermeasures. By now the forum administrators have had a chance to read, and decide whether or not it's worth implimenting.
It easy to set up on a vBulletin (not sure about other board software, but if you can Edit: detail removed, it might work out).
We've only had two sucessful spam posts in the past month.
He's been deleting at least three spambot accounts a week by this method (I spotted three that registered yesterday).
Last edited by Pete; 12-22-2006 at 05:00 PM.
Kick all those idiots to the curb!!!!
I never pay much attention here fill me in what I miss?
the thread was posted regarding the amount of spam rubbish was popping up on the site at the time,not many notice this as it is deleted as soon as it appears.
simply me
Looks like the spambots are getting more persistent.
Here's a link to a searchable database of known spammers.
Stop Forum Spam
If you check out new registrations before they validate, you can ban or delete before they do their dirty business.....
This one checks out several databases....
SpamBot Search Tool v0.41
Pete, the spam is getting very bad mate,unfortunately i cannot be here every minute but do remove it as and when i can get online,as it is i have banned dozens of spammers.hopefully they will eventually learn
simply me


text:
Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Civil society opposition here has strengthened against a U.S.-proposed free trade zone that would include some dozen countries around the Pacific Rim.
As negotiators head into a 16th round of talks this week in Singapore, around 400 organisations are urging the U.S. Congress to demand greater transparency in the proceedings.
On Monday, the first day of the negotiations, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), a humanitarian group, called on President Barack Obama's administration to "end its stall tactics and revise its proposals for what otherwise promises to be the most harmful trade deal ever for access to medicines in developing countries."
The Singapore talks will extend through Mar. 13. Critics say civil society and other critical stakeholders have been systematically shut out of the negotiations, supplanted by corporate interests.
The proposal, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), currently comprises 11 countries (a 12th, Japan, is also contemplating joining). But the Obama administration has been clear that if passed, the zone would be open-ended in terms of future expansion.
That broad geographical sweep, together with the simultaneous negotiation of a lengthy but highly secretive list of contentious issues not necessarily related to trade, is leading critics to warn that the scope of any pending agreement could negatively impact on nearly half the globe.
And with the Obama administration now saying it wants to wrap up the negotiations by October, some TPP negotiators are reportedly worried that some of the most controversial issues up for discussion are being pushed to the very end in an attempt to "run out the clock".
According to a new brief released by MSF, U.S. TPP negotiators are pushing for rules that would "enhance patent and data protections for pharmaceutical companies, dismantle public health safeguards enshrined in international law and obstruct price-lowering generic competition for medicines".
The result could be restrictions on access to affordable generic medicines for "millions" of people.
Judit Rius Sanjuan, U.S. manager for MSF's Access Campaign, says her office heard that the last time the TPP negotiations included substantive talks on access to medicines was a year ago. At that time, nearly all negotiating partners reportedly rejected a draft chapter on intellectual property rights, which includes the patent provisions.
And while the White House has stated that it would be resubmitting a revised chapter on this issue, Sanjuan says it appears that access to medicines is once again not on the agenda this week in Singapore.
"We are hearing from other negotiating teams that the pressure to finalise this agreement by October is rising, and they fear that if there is not more time for substantive discussion, this chapter could stand," she told IPS.
"We share the concern that this delay in presenting an alternative text is a U.S. strategy to focus instead on the less controversial chapters and leave behind debate over access to medicines. But doing so would have huge consequences for developing countries."
In fact, imposing these types of new restrictions would run counter to previous international agreements and national legislation under which Washington has pledged to expand access to generic medicines.
Any restriction in access to such medicines would also affect the United States' own global health goals. According to Sanjuan, generics make up some 98 percent of the medicines used by PEPFAR, the United States' flagship anti-HIV/AIDS programme and the world's largest.
Half the world
Global health wouldn't be the only sector impacted by the TPP's passage. Also on Monday, coinciding with the first day of negotiations in Singapore, around 400 groups from a broad range of backgrounds sent an open letter to the U.S. Congress opposing the abnormally secretive way in which negotiations for the trade area have been run.
"This agreement will impact on how trade and investment are conducted in the Pacific Rim for decades, yet the ramifications aren't fully understood even by people who know about the TPP," Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of the Washington-based Citizens Trade Campaign, an advocacy group, and an organiser of the letter, told IPS.
"This is an agreement that wouldn't just affect the economy and sustainability in these 11 countries, but has the potential to impact the economy and environment for literally half the world."
In lieu of official consultation, the groups are offering recommendations for draft language on issues from environmental standards and human and labour rights to financial regulation and national sovereignty. Yet the central complaint has to do with lack of oversight and transparency.
"We find it troubling that … U.S. negotiators still refuse to inform the American public what they have been proposing," the letter states. "Shielding not only proposals but agreed-upon texts from public view until after negotiations have concluded and the pact is finalized is not consistent with democratic principles."
The groups are calling for an opening-up of the talks to both the U.S. Congress and the public at large. They're also urging lawmakers not to authorise new "fast track" powers that would allow the president to send Congress trade pacts for straight votes without the possibility of amendments.
Free trade advocates tend to suggest that such powers are necessary to get other countries to agree to large-scale trade agreements in the first place, but President Obama had allowed the "fast track" legislation to lapse. On Friday, however, the administration's new trade policy agenda noted that the president would work with Congress to re-authorise that authority.
The administration has used similar concerns to rationalise the high level of secrecy surrounding the negotiations, saying that greater transparency would upset delicate discussions.
Yet critics point out that draft trade texts at this point in negotiations are often made public, including by the World Trade Organisation. Similar precedent exists from the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the trade zone agreed to in 2001 covering 34 countries, including the United States.
"There's a real reason why the draft has been kept secret from the U.S. public – Americans wouldn't support a huge amount of the agenda that the [Obama administration] has been pushing," Citizens Trade's Stamoulis says.
"If they were to negotiate an agreement that put human rights ahead of corporate profit, creating more just and sustainable social policy, the TPP could be a tool for incredible good. But if you look at who has a seat at the table, with the public shut out and more than 600 corporate lobbyists included, there is nothing to indicate that's the deal we're going to get."


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Irish Ferries Unveils 'Egg-Cellent' Haven Offers
Irish Ferries has unveiled a suite of 'egg-cellent' family deals at a selection of popular UK Haven Holiday parks, likely to appeal to parents seeking a fun break with the little ones this Easter.
Breakaways at Greenacres and Presthaven Sands in North Wales, Lakelands in the Lake District and Cala Gran near Blackpool start from €548 for 3 nights, €521 (4 nights) and €664 (7nights). Prices quoted are for up to 6 people, staying in a two-bedroom Deluxe holiday home, inclusive of return car ferry crossing.
Coupled with egg hunts and a host of Easter-themed activities, each park boasts activities to suit all the family including heated indoor pools, go karting, bike hire, kid's clubs, ten-pin bowling, pitch & putt and tennis courts, amongst many others. For bookings and further information call 0818 300 400 or visit www.irishferries.com/haven


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Aria Resort Sets Standards on Las Vegas Strip with Revamped Ultra-Luxury Skyvillas
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, January 28, 2022 / TRAVELINDEX / Aria Resort thought of everything, so you can forget it all. The 2,060 square-foot Sky Suites Two Bedroom Penthouse is the ultimate in contemporary sophistication. Luxuries include custom residential decor, unmatched amenities, dramatic views of Las Vegas, our signature one-touch room controls and, of course, exclusivity. Las Vegas may be your destination, but it won't be until you enter your Penthouse that you'll realize you've arrived.
• Discover the World's Best Luxury Hotels with Prestigious Hotel Awards at Top25Hotels.com
The seven superlative two-bedroom Skyvillas flaunt a unique palette, personality, and layout. The designers hit a bull's-eye with a soft contemporary design aesthetic inside that displays a contrasting, brightly-lit Vegas through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the outside. The tasteful, individualistic jewel-toned furnishings give the room a touch of regality. While utterly lavish, the living rooms also create an intimate ambiance with flow-through sofas and furniture. All said and done, the suites and Skyvillas are Aria's highlight, and luckily for regular Richie Richs, they just got even better.
The Sky Suites are commodious rooms ranging from 1,050 to 2,060 square feet inundated with muted blues and silvers. The suites impress with their mid-century modern styling, seen in one- and two-bedroom accommodations. Sky Suites offer their guests a personal concierge, private pool, private entrance, and some moments of frivolity with game kits such as backgammon, checkers, and chess. While the high rollers can always go to the casino floor for guests who would want to soak up the luxury of the suites they can try live roulette games. Something more adventurous on your mind? The 24-hour concierge team is at your disposal to secure difficult last-minute reservations, tickets, and the like.
Anton Nikodemus, President & COO of Aria, said, "In reimagining Aria's Skyvillas and Sky Suites, our crown jewels, we took great care to consider what would enhance and differentiate ARIA's award-winning experience. Inspiring design and breathtaking views are complemented by exceptional, detail-oriented service, creating unparalleled stays for our guests."
• Discover the World's Best Luxury Hotels with Prestigious Hotel Awards at Top25Hotels.com
These 2,000- to 7,000-square-foot residences sit at the apex of Aria, offering posh art-deco bathrooms (stocked with the likes of Hermès, Bulgari, or Creed products), blue-chip art, and fully-stocked caparisoned bars, among other fancy aspects. Skyvillas come with their own in-villa kitchens for esteemed guests who are particular about their tastes and don't find à la carte tempting. Aria puts a celebrity chef in charge of preparing a memorable meal followed by a cigar sommelier, who, if called upon, will bring up a selection of impossible-to-find offerings. Before these high-tech accouterments even begin to work their charm, guests are floored with Rolls-Royce Phantoms and Champagne-baring butlers who whisk them directly up to their accommodations.


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I recently gave a Web presentation comprised almost entirely of slides from different surveys. This was a bit of an experiment and, sad to say, it didn't seem terribly successful. I did weave the slides into a nice little story line – marketers know they need better technology, poor data is the root of their problem, and we know how to solve this – but even that wasn't enough. Pity.
Still, preparing the slides gave me a chance to scan the surveys in my archives, which was entertaining in its own little way. Many surveys ask similar questions, which gave me some choices during my preparation. But I didn't look carefully at how they compare.
Today I'll do that. I've chosen one of the most popular questions: what are the barriers to marketing technology adoption? I have versions of this from seven different surveys within the past year.
Of course, each survey uses different terms. To make the comparison, I collapsed the various answers into a few reasonably-distinct categories, committing a certain amount of shoe-horning along the way. I then recorded where each answer ranked in each survey, compiled the results, and did a crude ranking with a combination of mathematical wizardly and body english. (Multiple answers for the same survey indicate I placed several questions into the same category.)
Results are below. I've shaded the first ranked answers in orange and the second and third ranked answers in yellow.
My first observation was the sheer inconsistency of the answers. Budget issues emerged as a clear number one, but they reached that rank on just four of the seven surveys and ranked quite low on the other two that included them. The second-ranked item (marketing process) was never listed first; it ended where it did because it had the most twos and threes. No other item was ranked first more than once or in the top three more than twice.
Things made a bit more sense when I looked at the survey audiences. Winterberry and Forrester were specifically about online marketing, Gleanster and Marketing Sherpa were B2B surveys, and IBM and the two CMO Council studies were of general marketers. Since most B2B marketing is also online, it makes sense to look at the first four as one group and the other three as another.
Now we see some interesting consistencies:
• Budget isn't much of an issue for the online and B2B marketers, but dominant for the mixed marketers.
• Marketing process and marketing staff skills are major concerns for online and B2B but rarely mentioned by the mixed marketers.
• Senior management support, and to a lesser extent IT support and technology capabilities, are significant barriers for mixed marketers but don't slow down the online and B2B groups.
• Metrics, organizational silos, and the economy are cited occasionally by both groups but don't seem to be major issues for either.
So there's a fairly coherent picture after all.
• Online and B2B marketers are struggling to keep up with a rapidly changing marketplace, meaning their biggest problems are people and process. The importance of their work is obvious enough that budgets and senior management support are generally available. They have the technical savvy and independence to avoid issues with IT support and organizational silos.
• Mixed marketers, working in traditional channels, still struggle with budgets, metrics, and senior management. They have mature marketing organizations, so process and skills are in place, at least for traditional programs. They do struggle more with IT, technology, and organizational silos, because they lack their own technical skills and have limited clout in the organization.
• Everybody says they care about metrics but it's rarely a top priority.
Or at least that's my take. I've displayed the actual surveys below – if you reach other conclusions or spot any other patterns, let me know.


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C-Level Technology and Investor Software-Defined Storage Event to Take Place During VMworld 2014 US
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Thursday, July 3rd 2014 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nexenta (@Nexenta), the global leader of Software-Defined Storage (SDS) (#softwaredefinedstorage)
solutions, today announced that Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former Secretary of State and Former U.S. Senator from New
York, will deliver the keynote address at Nexenta's OpenSDx Summit on Thursday, August 28, 2014 in San Francisco.
Coinciding with the last day of VMworld 2014, Nexenta's OpenSDx Summit is an invitation-only event that convenes more
than 400 CEOs, CIOs, investors and VIPs. Nexenta hosts this annual event to discuss the importance and advancement of
software-defined technologies, and the impact that they have on organizations around the world as they embrace the
Software-Defined Data Center. OpenSDx Summit will include industry expert panels and thought-provoking conversations
around Big Data, the Internet of Things, mobility, social media, and other topics.
"We are thrilled to have Secretary Clinton deliver the keynote address at OpenSDx Summit," said Tarkan Maner, Chairman
and CEO of Nexenta. "Now more than ever, the public and private sectors need to collaborate to provide technology that
can drive innovation in the global economy. OpenSDx Summit will address the key technological and business issues that
will become the backbone for doing business for the next five-ten years."
After nearly four decades of public service as an advocate for children and families, First Lady, Senator, and U.S. Secretary
of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton now helps lead the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. She is also the author of
the new book, Hard Choices, which chronicles her efforts to restore America's leadership after eight years in which it was
badly eroded. From repairing our fraying alliances to negotiating a cease-fire in Gaza that defended Israel's security and
headed off another war in the Middle East, to mobilizing an international coalition to impose crippling sanctions against
Iran, to standing up to China and helping reassert the United States as a Pacific power, thanks to Hillary's leadership,
people were finally able to say: America's back. She championed human rights, internet freedom, religious freedom, and
rights and opportunities for women and girls, LGBT people, and young people around the world, as she has her entire
career. She also went to bat for American workers and companies around the world to boost exports, create jobs back
home, and level the playing field against unfair competition from China and elsewhere. At the Clinton Foundation, Hillary
continues her work on behalf of women and girls, in support of early childhood development, and to help young people
get the skills they need to find good jobs and participate in the global economy. She remains committed to making the
American Dream an American reality.
For more information on Nexenta OpenSDx Summit, contact Nexenta.
About Nexenta
Nexenta is the global leader in Software-Defined Storage, delivering easy-to-use, secure and ultra-low cost storage
software solutions. Nexenta solutions are hardware-, protocol-, and app-agnostic, providing innovation freedom and
speed for organizations to realize "true" benefits of Software-Defined Infrastructure-centric Cloud Computing. Nexenta
enables workloads from rich media-driven Social Living to Mobility; from the Internet of Things to Big Data; from
OpenStack and CloudStack to Do-It-Yourself Cloud deployments. Founded around an "open source" platform and
industry-disruptive vision, Nexenta delivers its award- and patent-winning software-only unified storage management
solutions with a global partner network. For more information visit www.nexenta.com, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and
YouTube. Also, download the newly published Nexenta Special Edition Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC) for
Dummies eBook.
Allison Darin, 831-359-8208
Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net/news/11523/en


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Dr. Andrew Chadeayne invented SwimSpray in 2010, because the chlorine from swimming pools was driving him crazy. Dr. Chadeayne has been a swimmer his entire life.Like many swimmers, Dr. Chadeayne wasn't bothered by the smell of chlorine: "I actually liked the smell, because it reminded me of swimming." However, after earning his PhD in chemistry from Cornell University he became concerned about what that chlorine smell meant: "You smell like chlorine, because you are covered in chlorine. It's like walking around covered in bleach all day. That's not good for you."
Dr. Chadeayne solved swimmers' chlorine problems by using his chemistry background. After several months of testing, Dr. Chadeayne arrived at a unique vitamin C formulation. His wife named it SwimSpray. "At first, I only shared it with my friends. But soon, we all noticed that SwimSpray was really amazing. The chlorine smell was 100% gone. Our hair felt soft. Our skin stopped itching. It was absolutely incredible - a night and day difference. That's when we realized that we should share the formula with other swimmers." Dr. Chadeayne joined up with several of his former Princeton Swimming and Diving teammates to turn his invention into a commercial product.
SwimSpray has received widespread praise, because it solves swimmers' number one problem with the sport - chlorine. "I think people just gave up on this problem," says Dr. Chadeayne, "Swimmers' shampoos have been notoriously ineffective since I was a little kid. Once folks use SwimSpray, they are shocked at the difference."


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Get Connected with Custom Kit Home Builders in Oregon
Connect with an Oregon Lindal dealer today. Lindal dealers offer site visits, design assistance, pricing, and facilitate materials delivery. They will help connect you with reputable home builders in Oregon. Together, we will take your dream home from original conception to livable reality. Click to select the dealer of your choice from the list below. Contact them for information on home designs, pricing, and a free consultation and site visit.
CENTRAL OREGON CEDAR HOMES >> Serving Central and Southern Oregon.
WY'EAST HOMES LLC >> Serving clients in northwest Oregon and southern Washington State.
The First Kit Homes in Oregon
Did you know that many of the original kit homes in Oregon were Lindal Cedar Homes? Lindal started in the boom years in the US and Canada following WWII as a company selling floor plans and exterior materials packages. Lindal provided wood of a quality not available at the local lumber supply facility, including the Western red cedar sourced from Canadian forests in the Pacific Northwest that is used in our post-and-beam construction to this day. These kit homes were delivered to sites worldwide. Ambitious home builders in Oregon and elsewhere built thousands of Lindal homes over the years. Today, we continue to operate through a network of local independent Lindal distributors and custom home builders in Oregon who help our clients through every step of the design and build process. Though current regulations and permitting issues make it difficult for people to build their own new home as in times past, many of our more entrepreneurial clients still take an active part in the design, construction, and finishing of their beautiful new home. Find out why Lindal is known not only for designing the preeminent kit homes in Oregon, but for over 75 years of working with new home builders and creating beautiful custom built homes in Oregon.
Read more about Kit Homes in Oregon and elsewhere.
Custom Built Homes in Oregon
Lindal bridges the divide between the kind of pre-built home that Oregon home builders will construct for a development company, and fully custom built home in Oregon. That's because our design system gives new home builders in Oregon several options for going through the design/build process.
From initial design to 3D rendering to newly constructed dream home! Lindal Cedar Homes' design services program options help ensure you get the home you want, built for your site, budget and lifestyle.
Take a plan straight out of one of our home design plan books, modify an existing design, or work with our architectural designer for a fully custom creation.
1. Personalize an Existing Lindal Floor Plan
Many homeowners use their favorite Lindal plan from one of our home design plan books as the point of departure for creating their original home. A few simple modifications can have a great impact on the style of your Lindal home. Some changes are as simple as the choice of exterior materials and accents, or a change in the shape or placement of windows. Your local independent LindaI dealer will help you explore the many ways that such modifications can have a tremendous visual, lifestyle, and budget impact.
2. Lindal Sketch Services
Start with one of Lindal's plans or join the growing number of homeowners who design their own Lindal original from the ground up. After your ideas and budget are outlined, your dealer reviews your plans with Lindal's Design Team, who will provide you with a quick sketch to show you what your home will look like. We also give you the approximate Lindal package price based on the information and personal Lindal specifications you provide, such as the type of siding, style of windows, placement of cedar ceiling liner, etc. Your dealer is your personal contact with Lindal Sketch Services and your guide to designing your new home.
3. Custom Design Services by OM Studio Design
For a custom-fit solution to your new home, we partner with you, your Lindal dealer, and our architectural designer, who uses advanced meeting and visualization methods in an engaging and efficient manner. Our process includes live design reviews in online meetings where decisions are made on plans and digital models. This approach honors and fulfills your wishes for a collaborative approach to custom design within Lindal's post-and-beam system.
Learn more about OM Studio Design Services.
Small House Builders in Oregon
We get many queries about small homes and small house builders in Oregon. Because of Lindal's flexible, modular approach to home design, we can create houses ranging from less than 500 square feet to well over 3,000 square feet. Take a look at the wide range of small homes we have available by registering to see all our plan books online and viewing the Small Treasures plan book, or by taking a look at some of our small house plans. Because of recent changes in the laws in the Seattle area, we've helped clients build many ADUs and DADUs in the city. Read more >>


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Belarus evicts leading human rights organization
26 November 2012. A leading Belarusian human rights NGO had its office confiscated in the capital Minsk on Monday, in what Amnesty International called a blatant violation of Belarus' international human rights obligations.
Representatives of the Ministry of Justice, police and a city gas company arrived at the Minsk office of Human Rights Centre Viasna on Monday morning to close it down and seal off the premises.
The eviction – which comes shortly after Belarus denied an Amnesty International representative access to the country – was part of a sentence imposed on Viasna's chair Ales Bialiatski a year ago.
"The confiscation of Viasna's office is a blatant violation of Belarus' international human rights obligations to respect and protect the right to freedom of association," said David Díaz-Jogeix, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme.
"The right to form associations – even if they peacefully promote ideas that differ with popular opinion in society and the government – is a basic human right and a cornerstone of any democratic society. The Belarusian Constitution guarantees everyone the right to freedom of association, yet every day we see the rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression violated in Belarus."
Bialiatski – chair of Viasna as well as Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights – was arrested in central Minsk on 4 August 2011.
He was put on trial and on 24 November last year he
was convicted of tax evasion "on a large scale" – relating to the use of
personal bank accounts in Lithuania and Poland to support Viasna's human rights
work in Belarus.
Amnesty International has declared Bialiatski a prisoner of conscience, and
previously said his trial was unfair. The organization pointed out that
Bialiatski was forced to open accounts abroad after the Belarusian authorities
de-recognized Viasna in 2003, which barred the NGO from registering or opening
a bank account in Belarus.
Bialiatski's conviction carried a four-and-a-half year
prison sentence – which he is currently serving in a prison colony – as well as
a fine and the confiscation of property, including Viasna's office.
On 17 November, Bialiatski's wife Natalia Pinchuk received a letter from the
First of May district court in Minsk informing her that Viasna's office and all
other property would be confiscated on 26 November.
"Neither repression against our leader and members of the Human Rights Centre Viasna, nor the confiscation of our office will stop the work," said Valentin Stefanovich, Viasna's acting head.
"We are not going to stop any aspects of the legitimate human rights work of the organization. All victims of human rights violations can count on us as before for help and support," Stefanovich said.
Stifling human rights work
The confiscation of Viasna's office comes amid an increasingly difficult climate for those working to defend human rights in Belarus.
On 10 October the Belarusian authorities denied an
Amnesty International researcher an entry visa for the first time since the
organization began working on the country in the 1990s.
"Despite being given several opportunities, the Belarusian authorities have
failed to clarify why the organization was denied a visa for the first time in
more than a decade, leading us to conclude that the decision was politically
motivated," said Díaz-Jogeix.