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Photos from Civil Liberties Conference at Nottm Uni

Disillusioned kid | 20.04.2008 19:29 | Education | Repression

A selection of photos taken at the Civil Liberties conference organised by Nottingham Student Peace Movement at the Portland Building, University of Nottingham in Saturday April 19.

The organisers of the conference explain the motivations for the conference: "Spurred into action by the use of the 'War On Terror' to establish a police state in the UK, NSPM has decided to gather minds together. With the advent of SOCPA, increased policing, FIT teams and CCTV surveillance, our human rights are being eroded steadily. Students at Nottingham will be the first to be given ID cards. Why is this happening? Who benefits? Will it stop terrorism? Is the ‘terrorist threat’ worth acting on?"

Speakers included Maya Evans (the first person prosecuted under section 132 of SOCPA 2005), Paragon Law, Campaign Againat Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) and Notts Indymedia.

The event was also used to promote the showing of the film On The Verge which police have attempted to ban. This will take place at the Portland Building at 7pm Wednesday 23rd April/

Nottingham Student Peace Movement

http://www.su-web.nottingham.ac.uk/~nspm/

Disillusioned kid

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

The problem with "ID cards do not stop terrorism"

21.04.2008 13:18

Looks like a good conference - nice one!

Regarding the Justice Not Vengeance Anti-ID badges (fourth photo), unfortunately there's a big problem with this "ID cards do not stop terrorism" argument.

While technically "true", in that ID cards don't stop terrorism, it really plays into the government's hands, and should be avoided at all costs.

Quoting from our "Stop Using Their Logic" piece, which we wrote in October 2006 aimed at other anti-ID campaigners - specifically NO2ID - who were using this argument a lot at the time (and still do on occasion):

In asserting that the scheme "won't stop terrorism" we help to perpetuate the inflated sense of terrorism as a major and constant threat to our safety, rather than confronting the climate of fear that the government is happy to foster and manipulate in order to cast itself as a necessary protecting power, and challenging at base the government's attempt to force through repressive legislation under the guise of vital anti-terror action.

So basically, when we say "ID cards won't stop terrorism", we fall at the first hurdle - in effect focussing on a symptom, not a cause. Instead what we need to question the legitimacy of the entire politics-of-fear surrounding all "terrorism" legislation.

You can download our "Stop Using Their Logic" paper as a PDF here.

Roger Geowell, Notts Defy-ID
mail e-mail: info@nottingham-defy-id.org.uk
Homepage: http://www.nottingham-defy-id.org.uk/

Problematising terrorism

21.04.2008 13:55

I think the place that JNV are coming from is that terrorism is created by the foreign policies of powerful states and, therefore, that ID cards cannot stop this. Probably something we would agree on?

Whilst I agree with you that (non-state) terrorism gets far more publicity than is warranted by incidence rates, because our views about it have been manipulated by the state and mass media it is sometimes necessary to talk about its causes and disconnect it from the state's claims that terrorism is against freedom, progress, etc.

Anti state

Footage to come shortly

21.04.2008 14:24

When I get to use an internet connection that is my own.

Cameramonkey

Ceasefire

22.04.2008 01:38

You can download the edition of Ceasefire pictured here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/108721736/ceasefire_spring_2008_-_final_copy2.pdf.
(It's a pdf file that prints perfectly on A4).
We're distributing widely on campus and in various cafés. Please consider making a donation if you have the opportunity.

Jamal

UK Indymedia