London Iraq Feature Archive

26-09-2005 13:04

Simultaneous Anti-War Protests in UK and US

On Saturday 24th September tens of thousands of people took part in an anti-war demonstration in London [pics and report]. Organised by Stop the War Coalition, CND and MAB, the "March for Justice and Liberties" called for troops to pull out of Iraq as well as protesting against the ongoing erosion of civil liberties. Two feeder marches set off from East and South London, joining the main march at Parliament Square and taking two hours to reach Hyde Park for a rally. Organisers said up to 100,000 people had taken part, while police claimed only 10,000 people attended (see numbers controversy 1 | 2).

London Multimedia Reports: [March Pictures 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ] [Rally Pictures 1 | 2 ] [Placards and Banner Pictures 1 | 2 | 3 ] [Audio Interviews + Rally Speeches 1 | 2 | 3 ] [Video Reports 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]
See also Cambridge Peace Procession and USAF Croughton Peace Picnic

America Protest Reports: Meanwhile in the US hundreds of thousands marched against the iraq war and US military spending priorities in what activists say was a important illustration of the changing mood in America. Organisers said over 300,000 people joined the march on Washington, though again there was disagreement over the numbers [report]. Up to 50,000 people marched in San Francisco, and 15,000 in Los Angeles, while smaller protests were held in many other towns and cities across the US. See United for Peace and Justice | September Action
Read more >>

15-06-2005 13:17

Smash EDO Take On The Law

Update: A legal observer was arrested on the 16th , and has now been released on bail pending a pre-trial review at Brighton Magistrates court on Thursday 23rd June.

In a spectacular march through Brighton on Saturday June 11th, 150-200 protestors showed that they would not be intimidated by the violence meted out at the May 31 Big Demo at EDO MBM by Sussex police.

After an open mic event on The Level where several protestors spoke out against EDO MBM as well as the draconian Harassment Act interim Injunction brought by the company against peaceful protestors outside their factory, and Sussex Police’s brutality trying to enforce it, the march began.

24-04-2005 08:42

Middle East Film Festival

Indymedia London is organising a five day long Middle East film festival. Starting on Tuesday 26 until Saturday 30 of April, the festival will include films and talks form and about Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and more.

The festival is at RampART Creative Centre, Rampart Street, London E1. Events will start from 7pm each evening on Tuesday 26th to Friday 29th, and from 5pm Saturday 30th. It will include presentations by solidarity groups, international activists, film-makers, music, and food.

PROGRAMME:

TUESDAY 26th: MEDIA DISTORTION - 'Planet Of The Arabs' and main feature 'Control Room' a documentary on Al-Jazeera's coverage of the US/Iraq war.
WEDNESDAY 27th: IRAQ - 'The Oil Factor'
THURSDAY 28TH: LEBANON & AFGHANISTAN - film by Indymedia Beirut and 'Afghan Massacre'.
FRIDAY 29TH: PALESTINE/ISRAEL - 'The Sun Doesn't Shine In The Camp' a documentary on life in Balata Refugee Camp filmed by international activists and Palestinians. Followed by 'Gaza Strip'.
SATURDAY 30TH: PALESTINE/ISRAEL - 'Democracy Isn't Built On Demonstrators Bodies' a film from Anarchists Against The Wall. Followed by 'Behind The Fence'.

Suggested donation of £3 for entry each evening (but noone turned away for lack of funds) For more information about Indymedia film projects see Indymedia Cinema page.

09-04-2005 13:21

Week of Action Against Iraq Pillage

The first days of April were designated as a 'Week of action against the corporate pillage of Iraq' by a group known as the Corporate Pirates.

The week kicked off with an April Fool's Pro-Pillage party outside the offices of Windrush Communications, organiser of the Iraq Procurement Conferences. Around eighty people turned up in pirate costume to protest against the corporate piracy of Windrush. Reports: [1 | 2] Pictures: [1 | 2 | 3].

During the following days, a wide variety of events unfolded. These included: a training for Non-Violent Direct Action, an open meeting that included speakers from Iraq, a candlelit vigil outside the Windrush Offices, an attempt to disrupt the news broadcast announcements of the election with an anti-war message, a creative forum at the Rampart Social Centre, and on Wednesday 6th activists ended the week of action with a protest bading farewell to Windrush Communications.

Full report and Background information here.

22-03-2005 14:19

Mass Anti-War Protests Mark 2nd Anniversary of Attack on Iraq

Around the world, anti-war protests have been held on the 2nd anniversary of the attacks on Iraq [see global pictures].

On Saturday 19th March in London, a massive protest took place, passing by the US Embassy where members of the Military Families Against the War laid a coffin to remember the 100,000 plus dead caused by the war. Organisers claimed up to 200,000 people had marched through the streets of London. [see Short report | Statement to Blair + Bush | Policing Pictures | Anti-war Demo Pics | Samba Protest Pics | Creative Protest Images | Stop the War Demo Pics | Troops Out Images | Portrait Pictures | OutRage! Protest | Samba Surveillance | Policing Pictures + Report | US Embassy Pics | Assorted Protest Pictures | Picture Story | Placard-spotting Pics + Report | Summer of Dissent | Video Clips]

02-03-2005 23:55

Irish Embassy Occupied in Anti-War Action

British anti-war activists occupied the Irish Embassy in London on Wednesday 2nd March to protest the possible ten year jail sentence facing Ireland's Pitstop Ploughshares defendants when they go on trial in an Irish court on March 7th. See report and pics

The criminal charges facing the Irish peace activists (Deirdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Damien Moran & Ciaron O'Reilly) arise out of their disarming of a US Navy Plane at Shannon Airport on Feb 3rd 2003. The Irish Government continues to facilitate the US Military at Shannon Airport with thousands of US troops transiting through Shannon to and from Iraq each month. Just after the embassy opened for business, the protestors peacefully chained themselves together inside of the building in Grosvenor Place, whilst others have hung a banner reading, "PITSTOP PLOUGHSHARES: NOT GUILTY" outside.

See Indymedia Ireland | Trident Ploughshares
Read more >>

25-02-2005 09:23

Iraq-pillagers continue to be targetted

Thanks to the Coalition Provisional Authority's Order 39 the occupation of Iraq has coincided with a mass selling-off of Iraq's public assets. Here in the UK there has been an ongoing campaign opposing this process; a process which amounts in international law to the illegal pillage of Iraq. Read more >>

18-02-2005 16:16

Anti-War Action: F15 Rememberance and Protest

On the anniversary of the massive international February 15th Anti-War demonstrations in 2003 (largest anti-war demonstrations in living memory), people throughout the land paused to remember the dead and to protest against war. In London a 'die-in' protest outside Parliament briefly blocked traffic [pics | 2]. In Glasgow the Day of Civil Disobedience saw an army recruitment office closed for the day and people blocking roads (as well as a high level of police surveillance and initmidation).

Other events took place in Brighton, Bristol [pic], Cambridge, Oxford, Menwith Hill, as well as Canterbury, Edinburgh, Greenwich, Lewisham, Plymouth, and Leeds. In Swindon a naming the dead event took place, while Nottingham saw an anti-war Critical Mass bicycle protest. In Stirling [2] in Scotland, a protest was also held outside an Army recruitment centre.

Upcoming are the March 19th - International Anti-War + Anti-Neoliberalism Protests, which coincide with the 2nd anniversary of the 'Shock and Awe' attack on Iraq and the Brussels EU Summit, with protests expected across Europe [see call for PGA Blocs]. Here, the Stop The War Coalition, CND and the Muslin Association of Great Britain has called for a massive Troops Home" national demonstration in London, while the Scottish Coalition for Justice Not War and Justice for Gordon Gentle Campaign have called a Troops out of Iraq March and rally in Glasgow. In the US, protests are expected in over 50 cities. March 19th also marks the start of 'Counter Terror: Build Justice' - an International Month Of Peace Action.

See also: Update on Fairford Five Appeal | Stop the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill - the right to protest in Parliament Square under attack - and reports 2, 3, 4. Read more >>

08-12-2004 16:02

Anti-War Action In The Cabinet

On 23rd November, the Day of the Re-opening of Parliament in London, 4 activists did a series of theatrical die-ins to highlight what they call "the slaughter in Iraq"; they performed several die ins outside Downing Street, outside Parliament - and sensationaly, in yet another government security breah, .... INSIDE the Cabinet Office.

Anti-War protesters made a mockery of Tony Blair's key election pledge of security by entering the government building just minutes after the Queen's speech had announced new measures to tackle terrorism. As the whole of Whitehall bristled with armed police, the protestors by-passed supposedly impenetrable security to gain access to the Cabinet Office, which has a direct underground link to No 10 Downing Street.

25-11-2004 23:00

Victory for Iraq Pillage Protestors, case closed as Prosecution runs scared

On tuesday the 23rd of November almost 7 months since human rights activists Ewa Jasiewicz and Pennie Quinton were charged with aggravated trespass for entering the Iraq Procurement conference,a major contract signing event attended by the Iraq interim government ministers and Brian Wilson, Blair's envoy for reconstruction in Iraq held in London last April. In what was unquestionably a political decision by the CPS both women have been fully aqquited and awarded costs, despite a strong case against the protestors who managed to disrupt the conference when they unfurled banners and informed conference attendees that their order of business was infact nothing less then the pillage of Iraq and therefore illegal under the 1907 Hague regulations and the Geneva conventions.
The women's defense argued that they could not be charged with aggravated trespass, 'the of disruption of a lawful event' as infact the Iraq Procurement conference was unlawful as it was facilitating the pillage of Iraq which was under occupation by the US and the UK at the time of their action. Naomi Klein who was to have been a key witness at the trial attended a press conference at the NUJ on wednesday the 24th of November to speak about the implications of the CPS's decision in relation to this first attempt to put the Pillage of Iraq on trial.
See also Fallujah Eyewitness Newswire article (27th Nov).
Read more >>

11-11-2004 21:48

Protests and Blockades Against the Attack on Fallujah

Since the latest round of attacks on Fallujah by "coalition" forces started in earnest two weeks ago, and amid fears of a massive civilian death toll in the Iraqui city, London has seen a series of protests, actions and blockades in the Whitehall and Westminster area.

These started on Sunday 31st October with road blocks and the scaling of the gates to Downing Street, as well as the Foreign Office being splatterd with blood red paint [pics]. On Sunday 7th, there was a protest at Parliament Square, followed by campaigners laying flowers at the Cenotaph, before locking on and blocking Whitehall [see reports and pics 1, 2, 3, 4]. The next evening, on Monday the 8th, demonstrators meet up for non-violen direct action against the attack. They started by blocking the road at the top of Whitehall, followed by a loud protest in Leicester Square where the Queen was attending a cinema premiere. The action ended with a blockade in Picadilly Circus [Report]. On Wednesday the 10th demonstrators blocked Piccadilly Circus [Report and Pics]. And on Friday the 12th a rally for peace and protest against the attack on Fallujah took place in Brixton.

10-05-2004 12:31

Parliament Square Peace Campaigner Arrested

Brian Haw, the Parliament Square peace protestor, who has spent almost 3 years in a continuous anti-war protest vigil opposite the Houses of Parliament (1), has been arrested and his possessions / extensive protest display removed, in a sudden midnight police operation.

Reports 1 and 2

Update Sat 15 - Support Brian Haw at Bow St. Magistrates Court. Meet on Tuesday 18th May, at 10.00am outside the court.

21-04-2004 22:00 | 1 addition

Corporate Feeding Frenzy In Iraq

Between 26-28 April representatives from 300 companies - including Shell, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and US arms manufacturer Raytheon – will be attending a business conference in London entitled Iraq Procurement 2004: Meet the Buyers. They will be meeting members of the US occupation authority, the US-installed Iraqi “government”, and wealthy Iraqi business-people to discuss "the wide range of opportunities available" to make a profit out of the increasingly blood-soaked occupation of Iraq. The conference takes place in the context of a series of new laws passed by the US last September, that "effectively put [Iraq] up for sale" to foreign investors (Guardian, 22 Sept. 2003)

A growing body of evidence that the way in which the Bush administration has been "treating [reconstruction] contracts as prizes to be handed to their friends" has been "delaying Iraq's recovery, with potentially catastrophic consequences" (economist Paul Krugman, New York Times, 30thSept. 2003) On the other hand, US attempts to ‘restructure’ (rather than cancel) Iraq’s odious debts, attempts likely to "rob Iraq of [its] economic freedom by requiring that it adhere to an IMF structural adjustment program" (Jubilee Iraq). All of this as a backdrop for the killing of over 600 people in the US siege of Fallujah, "the vast majority of [whom] were women, children and the elderly" according to the director of the town’s general hospital (Guardian, 12 April)

A protest to coincide with the gala dinner for the business conference 'Iraq Procurement 2004' was called for Tuesday 27th April. See Photos: 1 | 2 | Protest website.
Read more on the Iraq Procurement conference [here.

Voices in the Wilderness UK has been campaigning on Iraq for the last six years. To visit the Iraqi procurement website and see the blatant carve up of Iraq see The Iraqi Procurement Conference where you can check out their agenda for the event.

21-03-2004 15:32

Anti-War Protests Mark One Year Anniversary

Protests have taken place in over 300 cities across the globe with millions of people marching on the first anniversary of the attacks upon Iraq (see global protest pictures).

There were protests in several cities around the country, including Glasgow [1,2, 3] and Bristol [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In London the Stop The War Coalition demonstration saw tens of thousands filling the streets throughout the afternoon in a march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square (see photo reports: one, two).
Photos: 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15
Videos: 1 | 2 | 3
Read report of an arrest after videoing a police FIT team.

Earlier two Greenpeace climbers had scaled Big Ben to unfurl a banner reading "Time For Truth". (NB the Indymedia UK servers were down for much of the day and throughout much of the evening)

See also:
Video from Dublin | Video & Photos from NYC | Report and Pics from Barcelona | Photo Gallery from Madrid 1+2+3
Read more >>

19-02-2004 08:22 | 3 additions

Anti-War protesters win landmark ruling in Human Rights case

JUDGEMENT: VICTORY ON ILLEGAL DETENTION

Today the court gave a landmark ruling that the police had unlawfully breached the Human Rights of anti-war protesters who were detained and prevented from attending a protest at RAF Fairford last March. The court firmly ruled the detention and forced return to London could not be justified and The right not to be arbitrarily detained (article 5 of Human rights convention) had been breached.

Giving judgment, Lord Justice May commented "For practical purposes none of the articles seized were to be regarded as offensive. Two pairs of scissors would not make much of an impression on the fences of the Air base.

However the court went on to rule that the police were acting lawfully in turning the protesters away from the demonstration, a conclusion Mr Halford (solicitor from Bindmans and Partners) described as inconsistent and unsatisfactory. He said:

"It can not be right for police to stifle protest by preventing attendance at a demonstration, simply on the grounds that some who might attend might cause trouble. That would allow the police to prevent any - and in fact every - demonstration taking place."

Leave for appeal has been granted to both sides.

Read Full Judicial Review Case Judgement Text:
Laporte, R v Gloucestershire Constabulary & Ors [2004] EWHC 253
Press Release text from Bindman and Partners
Pictures Outside Court | Video (14Mb .wmv) | Corporate Media Coverage

Previous Reports from Judicial Review Hearing:
Court Report (15/1) | Video of Protest Outside Royal Courts (15/1) | Comments | Corporate Media Reports (15/1)
See Press Release (15/1)
Fairford Coach Campaign Website | Archive Indymedia Coverage | Archive Video Report
Read more >>

15-01-2004 09:41

Judicial Review: 'Kidnapped' Protestors Challenge Police

Friday 16th Jan: A Judicial Review at the High Court yesterday began proceedings considering the lawfulness of the police actions last March when around 150 anti-war campaigners were 'coachnapped' - stopped and searched for almost two hours on their way to demonstration at RAF Fairford, then forcibly returned to London under police escort (pics). As the protestors put signs in the coach windows saying "Help We've Been Kidnapped" "Call the Media" and "Denied The Right To Protest The War", the police closed the motorway behind the coaches while police motorcycle outriders blocked motorway exits (see old report).

The campaigners claimed the police overstepped their powers and furthermore that they breached articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, guaranteeing freedom from arbitrary detention, the freedom of speech and assembly, and respect for physical and psychological integrity.

Police statements revealed that at 10.45am an order was issued by Chief Superintendent Lambert to stop and search the coaches including instructions for the coaches to be turned around and escorted non-stop back to London if any 'dangerous items' or items likely to be used to conceal identity were found. It is this order that will now be scrutinised. Michael Fordham acting on behalf of the protestors said the police were within their powers to seize certain items, and that they even possibly had the right to detain certain individuals under public order and common laws, but they overstepped the law and infringed both common law and human rights law, by the blanket nature of their action (despite intelligence notes showing that the police were aware that the coach passengers were made up of individuals and members of various groups) and the way evidence was used in an attempt to justify this.

The case continues today at the High Court and a decision is expected from Lord Justice May and Mr Justice Harrisonin in around three weeks time.

Court Report (15/1) | Video of Protest Outside Royal Courts | Comments | Corporate Media Reports
See Press Release | Campaign Website | Archive Indymedia Coverage | Archive Video Report
Read more >>

15-10-2003 15:15

Trade Union Delegation To Iraq

On October 5th six trade unionists from the FBU, TSSA, RMT and NUJ travelled to Baghdad for a series of meetings with the newly formed democratic Iraqi trade unions. The trip organised by the Stop the War Coalition and hosted by the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions was the first of its kind since the war and occupation. The tour stopped at various workplaces including a Metalworks, a Fire Station, a Transport Depot, an Oil Refinery, and Baghdad University.

All agreed that the delegation had been a success and hopefully the first of many to forge links with Iraqi workers who will soon be fighting attempted privatisation by western companies.

28-09-2003 09:29

End the Occupation Demo 27th Sept

Between 10 and 100 thousand people (eleven ?) from all over Britain marched against the occupation of Iraq in London yesterday.

Pictures and comments: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ]
Pictures, story and comments: [ 1 ]
Women contingent: [report and pics]
Video: [1 long clip, 1 short clip, 1 quicktime virtual tour of crowd]
Debate about coverage of demo on IMC: [ 1 ]

Simultaneously, in Edinburgh a banner drop and a rally took place, whilst it was streaming down with rain.

19-08-2003 23:00 | 2 additions

Judicial Review Granted in RAF Fairford Coach Case

Peace campaigners have won the right to challenge police decisions to detain and prevent them from demonstrating against the war on Iraq at Fairford air base in March this year. Over 120 people from two coaches were searched, detained, and forcibly returned to London with a huge police escort. Granting permission for their judicial review case to proceed Mr Justice Richards commented that the issues it raised were "substantial" and "of importance" to merit a full High Court hearing.

Read more >>

17-07-2003 13:41

LIBERTY Slams Use of Anti Terrorism Act to Suppress Peace Protests - Did the Home Secretary Lie to Parliament?

LIBERTY, the human rights group, has released a 13 page report focusing on the policing of anti-war demonstrators around USAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, during the concentrated bombing of Iraq earlier this year. The damning report details fundamental breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights in the extensive use of anti-terrorism laws to prevent citizens taking part in legitimate protest and to harrass them (by mid-april the campaign group Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors alone had recorded 89 stop and searches under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 carried out against just 26 people!), as well as the excessive use of various other public order legislation. At its most extreme an anti-terrorist order was served on an 11-year-old girl (her father is now seeking legal redress) and 3 coach loads of demonstrators were "kidnapped" by police (see indymedia feature), also the subject of a legal action (also see Fairford Coach Action).

Download full Liberty report: (pdf)
Corporate Media Coverage of Liberty report
War on Freedom and Democracy (10 page Statewatch pdf, Sept 02)

Read more >>

London Iraq Feature Archive

26-09-2005 13:04

15-06-2005 13:17

24-04-2005 08:42

09-04-2005 13:21

22-03-2005 14:19

02-03-2005 23:55

25-02-2005 09:23

18-02-2005 16:16

08-12-2004 16:02

25-11-2004 23:00

11-11-2004 21:48

10-05-2004 12:31

21-04-2004 22:00 | 1 addition

21-03-2004 15:32

19-02-2004 08:22 | 3 additions

15-01-2004 09:41

15-10-2003 15:15

28-09-2003 09:29

19-08-2003 23:00 | 2 additions

17-07-2003 13:41

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