Genetics – Page 13 – Earth First!

Support the Eco-Prisoners – Imbolc 2008 – they’re in there for us out here, please write

Spirit of Freedom
(February 2008)
Produced by
EARTH LIBERATION PRISONERS SUPPORT NETWORK

“The whole experience has been tough, but all the kind and strengthening words and wise thoughts from strangers made it much easier!”
(Former Swedish Animal Rights Prisoner)

Welcome to the February 2008 edition of Spirit of Freedom. As we enter February so we await three major events. First off, Jeff ‘Free’ Luers is due to be re-sentenced. We hope its good news. Secondly, Eric McDavid is also due to be sentenced. As soon as Eric has been sentenced we urge everyone to send him letters of support. And thirdly, the police informant Jacob Ferguson is also due to be sentenced. His cowardly deals and treachery means he won’t be sent to prison. But we await with interest to see what sentence this piece of scum does receive. If anyone hears, please do let ELP know. But whilst we await those three sentencings, please don’t forget all the other eco-prisoners. Remember, no matter where you are in the world, support the eco-prisoners and no compromise in defence of Mother Earth!

ECO-DEFENCE PRISONERS

Tre Arrow, CS# 05850722, Vancouver Island Regional Correction Center, 4216 Wilkinson Rd., Victoria, BC, V8Z 5B2, Canada. On remand accused of involvement with an arson on logging trucks and an arson on vehicles owned by a sand & gravel company. Both arsons occurred in the USA. Tre is fighting his extradition to the USA.

Grant Barnes #137563, San Carlos Correctional Facility, PO Box 3, Pueblo, CO 81002, USA. Serving 12 years for setting fire to a number of SUV vehicles. On one of the vehicles the letters ELF was spray-painted.

Nathan Block, #36359-086, FCI Lompoc, Federal Correctional Institution, 3600 Guard Road, Lompoc, CA 93436, USA. Serving 7 years & 8 months for an ELF arson against a Poplar Tree Farm and an ELF arson against an SUV dealership. Also admitted his role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy.

Marco Camenisch, Postfach 3143, CH-8105 Regensdorf, Switzerland. Serving 18 years. 1) Ten years for using explosives to destroy electricity pylons leading from nuclear power stations. 2) Eight years for the murder of a Swiss Boarder Guard whilst on the run. In ’02 Marco completed a 12-year sentence in Italy for destroying electricity pylons in Italy.

Rod Coronado – See details in Animal Liberation Prisoners List.

Ibai Ederra, Carcel de Pamplona, C/San Roque. Apdo. 250, 31080 – Iruñez – Pamplona, Navarra (España), Spain. Serving just under 5 years for sabotaging machinery at the controversial Itoiz dam construction site.

Jeffrey Luers, #1306729, Lane County Adult Corrections, 101 West 5th Ave, Eugene, OR 97401-2695, USA. Awaiting resentencing. Originally sentenced to 22 years & 8 months for arson on a SUV dealership & the attempted arson of an oil truck.

Eric McDavid X-2972521 4E 231A, Sacramento County Main Jail, 651 “I” Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA. Awaiting sentencing having been found guilty of planning to destroy the property of the U.S. Forestry Service, mobile phone masts and power plants.

Daniel McGowan #63794-053, Unit I, FCI Sandstone, Federal Correctional Institution, PO Box 1000, Sandstone, MN 55072, USA. Serving 7 years for an ELF arson against a Poplar Tree Farm and an ELF arson against an old growth logging corporation. Also admitted his role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy.

Christopher McIntosh #30512-013, FCI Fairton, PO Box 420, Fairton, NJ 08320, USA. Serving 8 years for setting fire to a McDonald’s restaurant.

Jonathan Paul – See details in Animal Liberation Prisoners List.

Costantino Ragusa, Casa Circondariale, Via Prati Nuovi 7, 27058 Voghera (PV), Italy. Il Silvestre activist serving 2½ years. 1) 18-months for burgling and firebombing a multinational company. 2) 12-months for organising an anti-GM protest. Costanino is also awaiting trial accused of using explosives to damage an electricity pylon in protest at nuclear energy.

Julio Villanueva, C.P. Prision De Pamplona, 31080, Iruna (Navarra), Spain.
Serving just under 5 years for sabotaging machinery at the controversial Itoiz dam construction site.

Joyanna Zacher, #36360-086, FCI Dublin, 5700 8th St.- Camp Parks- Unit F, Dublin, CA 94568, USA. Serving 7 years & 8 months for an ELF arson against a Poplar Tree Farm and an ELF arson against an SUV dealership. Also admitted her role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy.

ANIMAL LIBERATION PRISONERS

Jon Ablewhite TB4885, HMP Lowdham Grange, Lowdham, Nottingham, NG14 7DA, England. Serving 12 years for attempting to blackmail a farmer who supplied guinea pigs for vivisection.

Gregg Avery TA7450, HMP Winchester, Romsey Road, Winchester, SO22 5DF, England. On remand accused of conspiracy to blackmail, in relation to his involvement with the SHAC campaign.

Natasha Avery NR8987, HMP Bronzefield, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, Middx. TW15 3JZ, England. Jailed for breaching her parole conditions imposed on her for telling a fox hunting murdering scum what she thought of them. Also awaiting trial accused of conspiracy to blackmail, in relation to her involvement with the SHAC campaign.

Nathan Block – See details in Eco Defence Prisoners List.

Mel Broughton TN9138, HMP Woodhill, Tattenhoe Street, Milton Keynes, Bucks MK4 4DA, England. On remand accused of involvement with an arson and blackmail campaign against an Oxford University vivisection establishment.

Jacob Conroy #93501-011, FCI Victorville Medium I Federal Correctional Institution, P.O. Box 5300, Adelanto, CA 92301, USA. Serving 48 months imprisonment for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign.

Rod Coronado, Voice of the Earth, PO Box 732, Tucson, AZ 85702, USA. Due to be sentenced to one-year imprisonment after Rod informed people how to make an incendiary device during a speech at an animal rights gathering.

Donald Currie A3660AA, HMP Parkhurst, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 5NX, England. Serving an Indeterminate Sentence, of not less than six actual years, for carrying out arsons against targets associated the vivisection industry including HLS.

Lauren Gazzola #93497-011, FCI Danbury, Federal Correctional Institution, Route #37Danbury, CT 06811, USA. Serving 54 months imprisonment for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign.

Sarah Gisborne, LT5393, HMP Downview, Sutton Lane, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5PD, England. Serving 5½ years for conspiracy to cause criminal damage following the damaging of 8 vehicles owned by people linked to Huntingdon Life Science.

Joshua Harper #29429-086, FCI Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution, P.O. Box 5000, Sheridan, OR 97378 USA. Serving 36 months imprisonment for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign.

Kevin Kjonaas #93502-011, FCI Sandstone, PO Box 1000, Sandstone, MN 55072 USA. Serving 72 months imprisonment for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign.

Daniel McGowan – See details in Eco Defence Prisoners List.

Heather Nicholson VM4859, HMP Bronzefield, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, Middx. TW15 3JZ, England. On remand accused of conspiracy to blackmail, in relation to her involvement with the SHAC campaign.

Jonathan Paul, #07167-085, FCI Phoenix, Federal Correctional Institution, 37910 N 45th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85086, USA. Sentenced to 51 months for an ALF arson on a horse meat plant. Also admitted his role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy.

John Smith TB4887, HMP Lowdham Grange, Lowdham, Nottingham, NG14 7DA, England. Serving 12 years for attempting to blackmail a farmer who supplied guinea pigs for vivisection.

Andrew Stepanian #26399-050, FCI Butner Medium II Federal Correctional Institution, PO Box 1500, Butner, NC 27509 USA. Serving 36 months for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign.

Kerry Whitburn TB4886, HMP Lowdham Grange, Lowdham, Nottingham, NG14 7DA, England. Serving 12 years for attempting to blackmail a farmer who supplied guinea pigs for vivisection.

Joyanna Zacher – See details in Eco Defence Prisoners List.

PLOUGHSHARES PRISONERS

Helen Woodson, 03231-045, FMC Carswell – Admin. Max. Unit, POB 27137, Ft. Worth, TX 76127, USA. Serving 8 years 10 months for actions that focused on the interrelationship of war & the destruction of the natural world. The actions included pouring red paint over the security desk of a federal court and making threatening communications. Previously Helen had served 20½ years for: 1) Using a hammer to disarm a nuclear missile silo. 2) Burning $25,000 on the floor of a bank whilst denouncing war, environmental destruction & economic injustice. 3) Mailing warning letters with bullets attached to Government & corporate officials.

THE LECCE FIVE
The Lecce Five have been charged with “subversive association” accused of damaging Esso petrol pumps to oppose the War on Iraq; sabotaging the cash machines of a bank which funds an immigration centre; and targeting the multinational company Benetton in support of Mapuche land rights activists in Chile. All of the defendants are currently either under house arrest or released on bail.

ANTIFA PRISONERS

Lasandra Burwell W063658, Ohio Reformatory for Women, 1479 Collins Ave. Marysville, OH 43040, USA. Serving 5 years for taking part in an anti-fascist demonstration that turned into a riot.

Vahtang Devitlidze, ul. Libbedova 42, UO 68/2, otryad 14, brigada 142, g. Hagyshensk, Krasnodarskiy Kray, 352680 Russia. Serving 2½ years for stabbing a neo-nazi in the leg whilst defending himself from attack.

Augustin Kraus, Vazebni veznice, PP-1, Litomerice, 41 201, Czech Republic.
Serving 14 months for his participation in attacks against local neo-nazis. His charge was “bodily harm”. He speaks Czech, Slovak and Polish. You can also write him short postcards in English.

Gubski Maxim, VK-2 – 21, Batowa str. 4, Bobruisk, 213800 Belarus. Serving 3 years for fighting with neo-nazis.

Vladislav Vladimirovich Plyashkevich, IK-10 otryad 4, Novopoltsk-5 Vitebskaya oblast, 211440 Belarus. Serving 3 years for fighting with neo-nazis.

Christian Sümmermann, BNR: 727/07/7, JVA Tegel, Seidelstr. 39, 13507 Berlin, Germany. Serving 40 months for breaching the peace whilst serving a suspended sentence issued for anti-fascist activities.

Tomasz Wiloszewski, Zaklad Karny, Orzechowa 5, 98-200 Sieradz, Poland.
Serving 15 years for accidentally killing a neo-nazi whilst defending himself.

OTHER PRISONERS

Oscar Santa Maria Caro, CERESO, Miahuatlan de Porfirio Diaz, Oaxaca en Hall B, Cell 5., Mexico. On remand. The exact charges against Oscar are unknown but Oscar is a member of RATA, a known animal rights group.

Sacramento Delfino Cano Hernandez, CERESO, Miahuatlan de Porfirio Diaz, Oaxaca en Hall B, Cell 5., Mexico. On remand. Co-defendant of Oscar Santa Maria Caro.

Olga Aleksandrovna Nevskaya, UU163/5, 7 Otryad, pos. Dzerzhinskiy, Mozhaysk 140090 Moskovskaya oblast, Russia. Eco-activist serving 6 years for arson, criminal damage and causing explosions in protest at the war in Chechnya. Due for release in 2009.

Fran Thompson, #1090915 HU 1C, WERDCC, PO Box 300, Vandalia, MO 63382, USA.
Serving Life for killing, in self-defence, a stalker who had broken into her home. Before her imprisonment Fran was an eco, animal & anti-nuke campaigner.

MOVE
MOVE is an eco-revolutionary group who carried out protests in defence of all life. There are currently eight MOVE activists in prison each serving 100 years after been framed for the murder of a cop in 1979. 9th defendant, Merle Africa, died in prison in 1998.

Debbie Simms Africa (006307), Janet Holloway Africa (006308) and Janine Philips Africa (006309) all at: SCI Cambridge Springs, 451 Fullerton Ave, Cambridge Springs, PA 16403-1238, USA.

Michael Davis Africa (AM4973) and Charles Simms Africa (AM4975) both at SCI Graterford, PO Box 244, Graterford, PA 19426-0244, USA.

Edward Goodman Africa (AM4974), SCI Mahanoy, 301 Morea Rd, Frackville, PA 17932, USA.

William Philips Africa (AM4984) and Delbert Orr Africa (AM4985) both at SCI Dallas Drawer K, Dallas, PA 18612, USA.

Mumia Abu Jamal, (AM8335), SCI Greene, 175 Progress Drive, Waynesburg PA 15370, USA. In 1981 Mumia, former Black Panther and vocal supporter of MOVE, was framed for the murder of a cop. He was originally sentenced to death but is currently awaiting re-sentencing following a court hearing in 2001.

STATEMENT ON VIOLENCE
Some people listed in this newsletter have carried out violent actions. ‘Spirit of Freedom’ does not condone violence. But we are also against censorship & believe people can decide for themselves who they wish to support.

ABOUT E.L.P. SUPPORT NETWORK
ELP is an international eco-prisoner support network founded, in Britain, in 1993 to support jailed eco-activists. We support the prisoners by producing various regular prisoner lists:

Spirit of Freedom is ELP’s international monthly prisoner listing which is circulated by e-mail.

Urgent ELP! Bulletin is an e-mail service that distributes the names of any new eco-prisoner as soon as ELP gets their details. For more info e-mail ELP4321@hotmail.com

On-Line Newsletters – ELP has a number of websites that provide news, prisoner lists and additional info about ELP & the prisoners.

English language ELP Website
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk

North American ELP Website
www.ecoprisoners.org

Turkish language ELP Website
www.geocities.com/yesilanarsi/elp.htm

ELP Extra is an e-mail group that circulates the details of political prisoners, ELP learns about, who do not fall within the remit for support by ELP. To subscribe to the list e-mail ELP4321@Hotmail.com

Belgium ELP.SN is our Belgium contact. For more info e-mail elp_bel@hotmail.com

German ELP.SN is a prisoner led initiative run by eco-prisoner Marco Camenisch. For more info contact Marco Camenisch, Postfach 3143, CH-8105 Regensdorf, Switzerland.

North American ELP is our North American contact. For more information e-mail naelpsn@mutualaid.org

Turkey ELP.SN is our Turkish contact. For more info e-mail yesilanarsi@yahoo.com

Spring into action (though storms may be at the door) – the latest issue of the EF! Action Update has burst forth

Read all about occupations & lock-ons of big industrial places around the world, corporate & government blockades, squatting, airport invasions, subvertising, climate criminals locked & glued shut, trees climbed and chopped down, GM maize fields trashed, hunger strikes, burrowing under fences, jumping on whaling boats, Buying Nothing, Reclaiming the Streets and the unstoppable singing of Christmas songs, not to mention skating penguins. Even some upcoming dates to get stuck in or to meet other direct action crazies. We couldn’t make it up even if we tried.

Another bumper issue, with a special insert on Agrofuels including a list of refineries ‘in the pipeline’ or already on the ground, plus a legal update about the recent changes to your access to solicitors in police stations.

The latest issue of the Earth First! Action Update burst forth at the latest national meeting of the Camp for Climate Action (see climatecamp.org.uk for how the camp idea is audaciously morphing this year).

Download it to print out and share here. Do get in touch with the editorial collective to let them know if you’re dishing it up round your way, or need paper copies, or want to give them one of the rarer ingredients, dosh (to send it to prisoners, protest camps and far beyond) – their contact details and more are here.

GM Trees Chopped Down in New Zealand

19.1.2008

Anti-GM protesters have cut down 19 genetically modified pine trees at a research site near Rotorua. The attack happened at some stage over the weekend.

19.1.2008

Anti-GM protesters have cut down 19 genetically modified pine trees at a research site near Rotorua. The attack happened at some stage over the weekend.

A 1.5 metre hole was found along the fenceline, made of 3.5 metre high electrified wire. The crop destroyers are assumed to have burrowed through that hole before chopping down the trees, almost 1/4 of the 80 trees on the site.

Police found a spade with a “GE Free New Zealand” sticker on it leaning up against the fence. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Rotorua site was the same one protested against in 2005, where four people were arrested, one of whom was also pepper sprayed by Police. That protest was organised by the People’s Moratorium Enforcement Agency, who have celebrated the weekend’s action.

“The destruction of the GE trees in Rotorua highlights the resistance to genetic engineering in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Because ERMA is not stopping GE material from being released into the environment, the people of Aotearoa have to intervene,” said PMEA spokesperson Felicity Perry.

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On Monday, environmental saboteurs circumvented an electrified security fence by tunneling underneath it, and chopped down 20 genetically engineered trees.

Rotorua, New Zealand – Environmental saboteurs appear to be responsible for the destruction of field trial crop of genetically modified radiata pine and Norway spruce trees at the Crown Research Institute Scion’s base. On Monday, vandals circumvented an electrified security fence by tunneling underneath it, and chopped down 20 genetically engineered trees.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10487121

A spade with a “GE Free New Zealand” sticker was left behind, apparently to make sure authorities new why the nighttime raid was carried out. Researchers will likely be forced to abandon this particular experiment since a full 20% of their trees were destroyed.

http://gefree.org.nz

French Farmer Calls Off Hunger Strike

PARIS (AP) – Militant French farmer Jose Bove and about 15 supporters called off their hunger strike in its eighth day after the government ordered the suspension of the use of genetically modified corn Friday.

France will suspend cultivation of MON810, the seed for the only type of genetically modified corn now allowed in the country, until a European Union review is conducted, Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s office said.

The move was based on a recommendation this week by a government-appointed panel calling for ‘the need for additional analyses on the health and environmental effects of the genetically modified product MON810 in the long term,’ Fillon’s office said in a statement.

Bove and his supporters began the hunger strike Jan. 3, saying they hoped to pressure the government to make good on a promise in November to suspend cultivation of MON810. He said they only drank water or unsweetened tea during the protest.

The seed, which resists some types of insects, was authorized before a government-ordered moratorium on genetically modified products took effect in 1999. Last year, it was planted in about 54,000 acres in France – mainly in southern farmland.

Bove rose to fame in August 1999 when he and supporters used farm equipment to dismantle a McDonald’s branch under construction in Millau, in the foothills of France’s Massif Central mountains.

He has faced repeated trials and served jail time for destroying genetically modified crops.

The Associated Press, 11 January 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hq-PHd96BpmEGZYsFUZ4_KEto5zAD8U3VO802

Hunger strike in France to protest gene-altered crops

PARIS: The militant French sheep farmer Jose Bove and as many as 15 of his supporters were expected to begin a hunger strike Thursday aimed at raising pressure on the French government to impose a long-term ban on growing genetically modified crops.

In a newspaper interview published Wednesday, the anti-globalization activist vowed not to eat again until a ban was in place.

Bove captured worldwide attention for helping to organize the ransacking of a McDonald’s restaurant nine years ago to protest the influence of multinational corporations. Since then he has served time in a French prison for damaging gene-altered crops.

While his campaigns have struck a sympathetic chord in many parts of France and Europe where gene-altered foods are widely mistrusted – and where Bove is something of a folk hero – the latest protest against altered crops comes as divisions over the potential benefits of the technology appear to be deepening across the region.

Some European Union officials remain wary of using products that could endanger insects and fish and disturb ecosystems, but others have redoubled calls to ease restrictions on altered seeds as a way of keeping farming globally competitive at a time of skyrocketing food prices.

The European agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel, warned farm ministers in November that Europe’s resistance to importing genetically modified products like livestock feed was contributing to the rising cost of raising pigs and chickens and could pose a threat to the meat industry.

In October, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, disappointed supporters of a long-term ban by announcing a temporary freeze on genetically modified seeds pending the outcome of a review of the technology that is expected early this year.

Bove has said he is undertaking his hunger strike to push the French government into making a much longer-term commitment to end seed cultivation.

Genetically modified corn is already imported into several EU countries, including France and Germany, where it is used to feed animals like cows and chickens. But only one genetically modified crop is currently grown in Europe, a form of corn produced by Monsanto and nine other companies called Mon 810 that is the main target of Bové’s protest.

Austria, Hungary and Poland are among countries that already have banned the Monsanto corn.

A long-term ban ‘is the only thing that will put an end to this hunger strike,’ Bove told the French daily Sud Ouest in an interview published Wednesday. ‘Promises won’t be satisfactory.’

Bove told Sud Ouest that he would conduct the hunger strike in a well-known public location in Paris where he would not cause any security problems. He declined to reveal the whereabouts of the location before Thursday.

Bove began reducing his intake of alcohol, meat, eggs and cheese at the end of December to start accustoming his body to the fast, during which he said he expected to lose half-a-kilogram, or about one pound, of weight each day, he told another French newspaper, Midi Libre.

‘This hunger-strike is a well-considered commitment, not a suicidal act,’ Bove told Midi Libre.

By James Kanter International Herald Tribune, January 2 2008 http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/02/europe/gmo.php

French activist Bove to go on anti-GMO hunger strike

REUTERS, Dec 10 2007

TOULOUSE (Reuters) – French radical farmer Jose Bove, who became a worldwide celebrity for his fight against junk food, said on Monday he would go on a hunger strike to win a one-year ban on genetically modified (GMO) crops.

REUTERS, Dec 10 2007

Speaking at the Millau Court of Justice in southern France, where his four-month jail sentence for trashing a GMO field in 2004 was commuted to a fine, Bove said he would start his unlimited strike on January 3, along with 10 to 15 other activists.

The walrus-mustachioed, pipe-smoking Bove, sometimes dubbed France’s Robin Hood, spent six weeks in jail in 2003 for smashing up a McDonald’s restaurant in protest at tariffs imposed by the United States in retaliation for a European Union ban on imports of North American hormone-treated beef.

While GMO crops are common in the United States, France — Europe’s biggest grain producer — along with other European nations remain highly suspicious of them.

Supporters say it could lead to hardy strains to help feed the world’s poor. Opponents, which polls say include a majority of French people, fear they could harm humans and wildlife by triggering an uncontrolled spread of modified genes.

In an attempt to calm these concerns, France last week formally suspended the commercial use of GMO seeds until February 9 and ordered a biotech safety study.

It also set up a committee charged with assessing the health and environmental implications of using the only GMO seeds used in Europe, which are reliant on the MON 810 technology developed by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto.

‘This decree is ridiculous. It is a scarecrow,’ Bove said.

‘Everyone knows that there are no sowings during winter. We demand a real pause in GMO use in 2008. It must be a year without GMOs and we are stating this hunger strike to show our determination,’ he added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1011368420071210

Activist killed on GM action in Brazil – call to action for 8th November

Call for day of action on 8th November in solidarity with Brazilian GM activists after shootings on anti-GM land squat in Brazil

On October 21 at 1:30 p.m., gunmen attacked a Via Campesina encampment located at Syngenta’s 127-hectare farm used for field trials of genetically modified crops in Santa Tereza do Oeste, in Paraná, Brazil. During the attack, Valmir Mota de Oliveira, 42 years old (known as “Keno,”) activist and leader of the of the Movimento Sem Terra (the Brazilian Landless Rural Workers Movement), was killed at point-blank range by two shots to the chest. Two other MST leaders, Celso Barbosa and Célia Aparecida Lourenço, were pursued by the gunmen but managed to escape. Workers Gentil Couto Viera, Jonas Gomes de Queiroz, Domingos Barretos, Izabel Nascimento de Souza, and Hudson Cardin were seriously injured.

Call for day of action on 8th November in solidarity with Brazilian GM activists after shootings on anti-GM land squat in Brazil

To anyone who has been part of the fight against GM crops and corporate control of our lives in the UK, from sticking “GM” labels on a packet of bean feast to sneaking through the fields at the dead of night to destroy the crops and sabotage the test-sites: Keno and his companions are us. It is an accident of class politics and geography we are not (yet) receiving death threats.

Via Campesina had previously occupied the site in Brazil because of Syngenta’s illegal development of genetically modified (GM) seeds. Syngenta is the world’s largest producer of agrochemicals and the third largest commercial seed producer. They pulled out of the GM in the UK after their last attempt at a field trial was destroyed.

At dawn on October 21st, about 150 members of Via Campesina reoccupied Syngenta’s site, where they encountered four armed security guards, who were disarmed and left the site. At about 1 in the afternoon, Via Campesina reports, “a bus stopped in front of the entry gate and about forty armed gunmen got out, firing machine guns at the people that they saw in the encampment. They broke down the gate, then shot [Mota].

Mota, Lourenço and Barbosa had been receiving death threats and intimidation since the beginning of the year. They still continued to take action.

We need to act in solidarity, because this is the panorama, and it is only going to get worse. Sick though it is, responses from ‘concerned citizens’ in countries like ours can help protect activists like Keno and have an impact on companies like Syngenta.

La Via Campesina are calling on all organizations and movements to organize protest actions at Syngenta offices on the 8th November in the countries where they are based, and to hand deliver letters to the Brazilian and Swiss embassies, with the following demands:

1. The punishment of the material perpetrators and intellectual authors of this crime.
2. Expropriation of Syngenta lands, to be used for the production of native seeds, and that these lands be administered by rural peasants and farm workers.
3. The expulsion of Syngenta from Brazil.
4. That the Brazilian government headed by President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva adopt measures to ensure the physical integrity of the rural farm workers who are threatened by the armed men contracted by Syngenta.
5. That all organisations back up the initiatives of Amnesty International in their call to repudiate and condemn the actions of Syngenta.
6. That all organisations of Via Campesina in all countries organize days of action and protest in the Swiss and Brazilian Embassies, as well as at the offices of Syngenta this Thursday 8th November and on the 10th of December condemning this criminal act.
7. To send letters of protest to the following addresses:

Governador do Estado do Paraná
Exmo Governador do Estado do Paraná
Sr. Roberto Requião de Mello e Silva
Palácio Iguaçu
Praça Nossa Senhora de Salete, s/nº, 3º andar
Centro Cívico 80.530-909
Curitiba/PR – Brasil
Fax: + 55 41 3350 2935
Saudação: Vossa Excelência/ Your Excellency

Ministro da Justiça
Exmo Ministro da Justiça
Sr. Tarso Genro
Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco “T”
70712-902 – Brasília/DF – Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3322-6817
Saudação: Vossa Excelência/ Your Excellency

Cópias para:
Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos
Exmo. Secretário Especial
Sr. Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi
Esplanada dos Ministérios – Bloco “T” – 4º andar
70.064-900 – Brasília/DF – Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3226 7980
Saudação: Vossa Excelência/ Your Excellency

Copia al MST Brasil y Via Campesina : mstpr [NOSPAM] mst.org.br
viacampesina [NOSPAM] viacampesina.org
Send us a short report and photos of the actions organized to:
viacampesina [NOSPAM} viacampesina.org

SAMPLE LETTER –
Dear Sir:
I, [YOUR NAME / NAME OF ORGANIZATION] am writing to express my grave concern with regard to the October 21 murder of Valmir Mota de Oliveira, also known as Keno, of the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) and Via Campesina, in the Brazilian state of Paraná, who was shot twice and killed by armed gunmen on an experimental GMO farm of Syngenta Seeds in Santa Tereza do Oeste Paraná, Brazil. Keno’s death is a tremendous loss for his family, for those struggling for social justice and human rights in Brazil, and for the international network of friends and allies who continue to be shocked by the brutality of agribusiness expansion in Brazil.
It has been documented that at 1:30 p.m. of the day of the attack, a bus stopped in front of the entrance gate to the farm and an armed militia of approximately 40 heavily armed gunmen got out, firing at the people in the encampment. They broke down the gate, pursued and killed activist Keno with two shots to the chest, attempted to kill two other leaders, shot five other landless workers, and severely beat Isabel do Nascimento de Souza, who remains in serious condition at the hospital.
In addition, it has been noted that Syngenta was using the services of an armed militia which was acting through a front company, NF Security, in conjunction with the Rural Society of the Western Region (SRO) and the Movement of Rural Producers (MPR), which are tied to agribusiness.
While an inquiry has been opened in order to investigate these denunciations against your company and NF Security, we insist that you immediately suspend all contracting of private militias in Brazil to avoid any further violations of human rights.
Please see to it that the individuals involved in this attack, who are intimately linked to and paid by your company, are brought to justice. Also, please ensure that your company avoids further altercations with Brazil’s human rights and social justice movements, and that the right of Brazil’s people to peacefully organize be respected by your Brazil-based employees and functionaries.
Respectfully,
[YOUR NAME / NAME OF ORGANIZATION]
[LOCATION]

Autumn EF! Action Update out – and advance notice of the Winter Moot, 22-24 February (gathering of eco-activists), Nottingham

The latest issue of the quarterly EF!AU was dished up at the Anarchist Bookfair – bursting at the seams, it had to be turned into a bumper issue, with a round-up of the actions around the time of the Camp for Climate Action, plus loads of action reports from around the world since then – from pieing oil executives, blockading garages & airports, polar bears locking-on, sabotage, prisoners, occupied spaces, digger-diving, GM crop-trashing, to cake and the cunning use of mung beans (oh, and of course, much much more).

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The EF! Winter Moot will happen from 22nd – 24th February 2008, in Nottingham – more details nearer the time, as this is just advance notice.

It’s a gathering for environmental activists – in the past, it’s been a chance for people involved in all kinds of ecological direct action to get together for a weekend indoors to chat about where things are at in the UK, and so improve all aspects of how we work together, in order to take direct action in defence of the earth.

Contact 0845-0223 5254 for more info

Three arrested in GM crop protest

ABC News, Oct 23 2007

Three Greenpeace activists have been arrested during a protest at Murray Goulburn’s Melbourne headquarters.

Protesters went into the building demanding the co-operative support bans on genetically engineered food crops.

ABC News, Oct 23 2007

Three Greenpeace activists have been arrested during a protest at Murray Goulburn’s Melbourne headquarters.

Protesters went into the building demanding the co-operative support bans on genetically engineered food crops.

Police had to forcibly remove three campaigners from the premises, but several protesters remain outside.

Campaigner, Louise Sales, says the dairy giant supports the reintroduction of GE crops for use in stock feed.

‘Murray Goulburn play a pivotal role in the dairy industry not only in Victoria but also in all of Australia,’ she said.

‘We think its important that they support clean healthy food for consumers and stand up for farmers and protect our GE free status,’ she said.

‘So I had a brief interchange with the managing director but he was fairly hostile and wasn’t really ready to engage,’ Ms Sales said.

‘So we will continue to pursue a meeting with Murray Goulburn to talk about their policy,’ she said.

http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/23/2067318.htm?section=justin

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Greenpeace targets dairy giant over GM

Greenpeace activists are targetting a major milk processor in Melbourne, trying to halt the dairy industry’s support of genetically modified crops.

Murray Goulburn, produces milk, butter and cheese, and is one of the largest processors in the country.

Earlier this year the dairy industry reversed its position on the introduction of GM crops.

Louise Sales from Greenpeace says today’s protest at Murray Goulburn’s headquarters is an attempt to secure a meeting with management.

‘We believe they should be representing consumers, and consumers have made it clear they don’t want to eat GE food,’ she says.

‘Opinion polls consistently show that and Murray Goulburn should be respecting the wishes of its consumers and keeping its Devondale products GE free, and supporting the extension of the food crop bans.’

No-one from Murray Goulburn has been available for comment.

ABC Rural, 23/10/2007 http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2007/s2067586.htm

French GM maize decontamination action

Monsanto files suit against French GMO activists

Oct 19 (Reuters) – The French unit of U.S. Biotech giant Monsanto has filed a lawsuit following the latest destruction of some of its test fields for genetically-modified maize. In a statement issued on Friday, Monsanto said that unidentified activists had ransacked three test fields in Valdivienne in central France after dark on Thursday.

Monsanto files suit against French GMO activists

‘This senseless new act of violence penalises French research into biotech crops yet again and has no scientific basis,’ Monsanto said.

It used a procedure in French law allowing legal action to be brought against unknown defendants.

Activists have ruined other Monsanto GMO test fields this year, prompting a series of official complaints which the company has said typically leads to court action.

Industry groups have denounced such attacks as disastrous for the country’s agricultural research work.

Some farmers supportive of GMO crops have called on the government during government-led meetings on the environment to pass a GMO law as soon as possible, in part to stress the illegal nature of such activities.

Heated debate has surrounded the use of GMO products across Europe and in France, where many consumers and green groups doubt the safety of GMO products and fear that they will reduce biodiversity.

REUTERS, October 19 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1944836620071019