Guinea’s independent press group threatened by military

afrol News, 27 November - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has raised alarm with the safety and protection of the media in Guinea following an alleged plot by the military junta, targeting the independent media.

RSF said it had learned from a source within the military government in Conakry that the Lynx-Lance press group and some of its journalists could be the target of an “operation.” Consisting of two weeklies, “La Lance” and the satirical “Le Lynx”, with a combined print run that is the largest in Guinea, the group is renowned for being independent and outspoken.

“We are taking this information and the threat it entails very seriously,” RSF said. “With a climate of fear still prevailing within the Guinean media, we will hold the junta responsible for any use of violence against the Lynx-Lance press group and its employees. We also urge Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré, who is mediating in the Guinean crisis, to ask the junta to respect media freedom and the expression of diverse views.”

RSF said in a statement that it was told that the operation would consist of a night-time raid on the press group’s headquarters and “ambushes” against some of its journalists, further adding that the source said these attacks would be blamed on “uncontrolled elements.” It appears that the military have decided to “silence” the Lynx-Lance group because of its perceived support for the opposition, the media watchdog said.

Souleymane Diallo, the head of the Lynx-Lance group, also reportedly told Reporters Without Borders: “We must not let ourselves be discouraged by this information. We will continue to do our job with objectivity, as we always do.”

In a separate case, Reporters Without Borders had deplored the fact that Talibé Barry, the editor of the L’Indépendant press group, was summoned for questioning at the headquarters of the national gendarmerie on 11 November in connection with an article about the disappearance of a soldier.

Guinea’s journalists meanwhile regard Cheikh Fantamady Condé’s recent appointment as information and culture minister as a backward step for press freedom. Mr Condé is said to believe in media uniformity and is keeping Radio Télévision Guinéenne (RTG) and the other state media under close control, ensuring that their coverage of political developments is muted.

Ever since the military dispersed an opposition protest in a Conakry stadium with great loss of life on 28 September, many Guinean journalists have been living in fear, in part because of reliable reports that a blacklist of journalists has been compiled by staunch supporters of Guinea’s military leader, Capt Dadis Camara, for an operation called “Dadis or death.”

In the immediate aftermath of the 28 September massacre, the junta organised a manhunt for the “traitors” within the media who had “sold out Guinea” to the international community by covering the massacre. Several journalists who work for international media or online media have fled the country because of death threats. Some, who Reporters Without Borders prefers not to name, are seeking asylum abroad.

Com certo atraso (justificado pelo terrível fim de semestre universitário), o Blog do Rugby traz o time candango do Brasília Rugby, campeão do Pequi Nations 2009, e os Harlequins, da Inglaterra.

Nome: Brasília Rugby

Cidade/Estado: Brasília/DF

Campo: Estádio Vasco Viana de Andrade – Metropolitana – núcleo Bandeirante; e Asa Norte 307/308

Títulos: Campeão do Pequi Nations 2009; Campeão da IV Etapa do Campeonato Paulista do Interior 2007 – Campinas-SP; Campeão Taça Estímulo (Taça de Madeira) no Torneio Internacional de Sevens de São José dos Campos.

Site: www.brasiliarugby.com.br

O Brasília Rugby Clube, BRC, foi o primeiro clube de Rugby na capital federal. Criado em 2000, a equipe foi fundada por J.R. Zakrzewski e alguns estrangeiros praticantes de Rugby em seus países de origem. Juntamente com alguns brasilienses interessados, deram início às atividades do time em 2001. Em meados de 2002, um grupo de franceses liderados por Bruno Guerrard, e outros representades da Embaixada Francesa, criou o Rugby Sem Fronteiras, RSF; clube que chegou a participar de alguns campeonatos nacionais. Ambos os clubes contaram com a identificação de vários brasileiros com o esporte, e rapidamente angariaram vários atletas.
Infelizmente a falta de apoio e de estrutura durante os anos que se seguiram acabou por diminuir o interesse dos atletas e aumentar a dificuldade em conseguir novos membros. Em meados de 2005, as diretorias dos clubes decidiram unir forças para o desenvolvimento do rugby no Distrito Federal. A fusão dos dois times foi feita com o objetivo de participar do Campeonato Brasileiro – 2ª Divisão no mesmo ano, e desenvolvimento de vários projetos para 2006 e anos seguintes.

Levando as cores e a bandeira do DF no brasão, o novo clube, o Brasília Rugby, teve rápida identificação com o povo candango. Com a experiência dos membros do RSF que já haviam disputado o Brasileiro em 2004 e a vontade dos membros do BRC, a primeira conquista veio logo. Em junho, o time foi Campeão da Taça Estímulo do Torneio Internacional de Sevens de São José dos Campos, dada ao melhor time estreiante. Teve também eleito o jogador revelação do campeonato, Cedric Wamba. No Brasileiro, a equipe conseguiu uma vitória em casa diante do BH Rugby e foi derrotada pela o Rio Union no Rio de Janeiro, terminando a competição em 3° lugar juntamente com o Pasteur.

Em 2008, o clube iniciou um projeto de fortalecimento interno e formação de equipes juvenis. Por fim, em 2009, o Brasilia ingressou no Pequi Nations, torneio que envolve equipes do Centro-Oeste brasileiro, e foi campeão.

Fonte: site oficial do clube

Nome: Harlequin Football Club

Cidade/País: Londres, Inglaterra

Estádio: Twickenham Stoop Stadium (capacidade: 12,700)

Títulos: Copa da Inglaterra (John Player Cup/Pilkington Cup): 2; European Shield/Challenge Cup: 1 (2001 e 2004)

Site: www.quins.co.uk

O genuíno clube londrino. O Harlequin F.C., mais conhecido como Harlequins, ou simplesmente Quins, é um dos mais famosos clubes de rugby da Inglaterra. E também um dos mais antigos. Fundado em 1866 com o nome de Hampstead Football Club, em alusão ao bairro central de Londres onde o clube foi fundado – um dos bairros mais caros da cidade. O clube foi fundado por jovens empregados que trabalhavam nas empresas financeiras da City londrina. Em 1870, contudo, buscando se desvincular de sua identidade restrita ao bairro de origem, o clube mudou de nome para Harlequin F.C. A mudança de nome foi curiosa. Para não precisar mudar as iniciais do nome (HFC), os membros recorreram ao dicionário. A palavra Harlequin foi escolhida, mas não sem criar polêmica. Um racha entre os membros se seguiu à mudança de nome. O antigo Hampstead foi dividido em dois clubes: o Harlequin F.C. e o Wasps F.C. (atual London Wasps).

A fama do clube vem de seu famoso e pitoresco uniforme, dividido em 4 partes no tronco, cada uma com sua cor, mais as mangas. A meias também são coloridas, fazendo jus ao nome da equipe – harlequin traduzido para o português é arlequim, um bufão ou um palhaço, muito comum como figura carnavalesca. A fama boêmia do clube e de seus torcedores também é notória, o que uma das agremiações de rugby com mais torcedores na Inglaterra, apesar de não possuir títulos expressivos. Não à toa que o nome “Harlequins” se espalhou pelo mundo e dá nome a uma porção de equipes nos mais variados países: de Dubai a Melbourne, de Hangzhou, na China, a Dallas, o nome e o tradicional uniforme são verdadeiros ícones do rugby.

Em 1906, a RFU convidou a equipe a usar o recém construído estádio de Twickenham como casa. Mesmo tendo passado por mais de 15 sedes diferentes, os Harlequins mantiveram sua identidade vinculado a Twickenham, e desde 1963 mandam suas partidas no The Stoop, pequeno porém muito atmosférico estádio vizinho ao grande templo do rugby inglês, o estádio de Twickenham.

Apesar de não ser conhecido pelos títulos, os Harlequins já tiveram grandes equipes. Tiveram um dos melhores times do país até a Primeira Guerra Mundial, e voltaram ter proeminência no cenário inglês na década de 1980, quando conquistaram a John Player Cup (a Copa da Inglaterra), em 1988. O segundo título da competição, já sob o nome de Pilkington Cup, veio em 1991, e atingiram mais três vezes as semi-finais. O primeiro título internacional veio em 2001, no European Shield (atual European Challenge Cup), ao derrotarem o Narbonne, da França, por incríveis 42 x 33. O bicampeonato da competição veio em 2004, com vitória na final sobre outra equipe francesa, o Montferrand (atual Clermont), por emocionantes 27 x 26. O sucesso europeu, contudo, foi eclipsado pelo rebaixamento no Campeonato Inglês, na temporada 2004-05. A promoção de volta à elite do rugby inglês veio no ano seguinte. Por questões de patrocínio, o time também era conhecido como NEC Harlequins. Agora, com patrocinador principal novo, a equipe principal voltou a ter apenas o nome do clube: Harlequins.

Em 2006, o clube iniciou sua empreitada no Rugby League, fundando o Harlequins Rugby League, única equipe londrina que disputa a Super League (divisão de elite do rugby league inglês). Todavia, a direção das equipes de rugby union e de rugby league são mantidas completamente separadas.

Dentre os grandes jogadores que vestiram a emblemática camisa dos Quins o brilhante hooker inglês Keith Wood (ex-melhor do mundo segundo a IRB), o ex-all black Andrew Mehrtens, o abertura francês Thierry Lacroix e os ex-centros ingleses Will Greenwood e Will Carling, que atuaram pelos British & Irish Lions.

India’s war on Maoists, described by prime minister Manmohan Singh as the “gravest internal threat” facing the country has begun to ensnare journalists too.

Laxman Choudhury, a stringer with the Oriya daily Sambad, picked up eight weeks ago because eight leaflets of Maoist “literature” addressed to him were found with a bus conductor, is still in jail.

Newspaper facsimile: courtesy The Indian Express

Also read: BBC journalists secure abducted cop’s release

There’s a new ism in town, Arnab-ism

Speak out. Sign the petition. Free Maziar Bahari

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Eletto lo scorso week end dal congresso del RSF, il nuovo leader del partito

Des Dalton originario di Athy, contea di Kildare, è stato eletto come nuovo leader del Republican Sinn Fein, partito politico repubblicano ritenuto connesso al gruppo paramilitare Continuity IRA.
Il partito formatosi nel 1986, era fino ad ora stato da Ruairi O’Bradaigh che aveva recentemente annunciato le proprie dimissioni.
Dalton è membro del RSF dal 1989 ed ha ricoperto la carica di vice-presidente del partito dal 2003.
Il Republican Sinn Fein è formato da membri del Sinn Fein, che si sono staccati dal maggior partito repubblicano dopo la sua decisione di entrare nel parlamento irlandese, se eletto, ponendo così fine la politica di astensionismo adottata in origine. Decisione quella dello Sinn Fein, che secondo gli scissionisti non avrebbe mai portato alla riunificazione dell’Irlanda.

Traduci l’articolo…

Republican party picks new leader (BBC News Northern Ireland)
Des Dalton is the new leader of Republican Sinn Fein
The political party believed to be linked to the dissident republican paramilitary group, the Continuity IRA, has chosen a new leader.
Des Dalton from Athy, County Kildare, was elected at the Republican Sinn Fein party conference at the weekend.
The party was formed after splitting from Sinn Fein in 1986 and had been led by Ruairi O’Bradaigh since then.
Mr O’Bradaigh, who is 76, announced in September that he was standing down, citing reasons of age and health.
Mr Dalton has been a member of Republican Sinn Fein since 1989 and has been a vice-president of the party since 2003.
Republican Sinn Fein is a small fringe party which has just one councillor in the Republic of Ireland.
It was formed by members of Sinn Fein who walked out over a decision to enter the Irish parliament, if elected, thus ending the party’s policy of abstention.
The people who walked out feared that Sinn Fein leaders would take the Provisional IRA down a constitutional path which, they believed, would never deliver a united Ireland.

‘[…] since information wants to be free, then so do the people who have it – setting the stage for a titanic political struggle between the last Soviet-style dictatorship in the world and the first Internet insurgency. Call it the Digital Revolution versus the Cuban Revolution’.[1]

The Digital Revolution in Cuba is facing several difficulties, due to technical, economical and political factors. First of all, Cuba’s Internet connection ‘es super lenta’ (is extremely slow)[2]. Cuba uses a satellite connection with a 65 Mb/s upload bandwidth and a 124 MB/s download bandwidth for the users of entire island. American legislation, due to the US trade embargo, forbids US investment in Cuban telecommunications and the installation of a rapid fiber optic cable for reasonable Internet velocity[3].

Secondly, few people have access to the Internet. There is distinguishable information available about the possibility of buying/owning proper computers and I couldn’t discover whether it is allowed or not. But PCs are very expensive and actual connection to the Internet is limited. Internet is accessible in cybercafés and some hotels, but two Reporters Without Borders journalists experienced difficulties as registration by name and ID number is usually required[4] and their online behaviour strictly being watched by the cybercafés’ employees[5].

Furthermore, there are two types of Internet; the ‘national Internet’ and the ‘international Internet’. The first is a sort of intranet that, concluding from various contradicting sources[6] [7], provides solely email and some Internet pages (.cu) maintained by Cuban authorities. The second is the ‘international’ Internet as we know it.

Besides the extremely slow connection, the cost for accessing Internet is really high. Most Cubans are obligated to use the intranet because the tariffs for the international Internet are too expensive (about 4 Euros for one hour, which is about one third of the average monthly wage and just enough to lead 3 internet pages)[8].

For the people who can access/afford the cybercafés, the PCs are installed with some kind of software that triggers an alert message when it notices subversive keywords and consequently the application – word processor or browser – closes automatically[9].

Additionally, the government traces all email for dissident of subversive content.[10] This results in ‘self-censorship’, and discourages users from transferring political sensitive information. People are careful about what they write and which pages they visit, as harsh punishments are risked for spreading counter-revolutionary content[11] [12].

Contradictorily, the government doesn’t seem to be blocking much of the international Internet. According to the Reporters Without Borders research in 2006, big news sites such as BBC and lemunde.fr are normally accessible[13], and no huge numbers of Internet pages were found. Nevertheless, censorship also occurs for commercial ends[14], and some sites that promote non-state regulated commercial sites are not accessible for Cubans. Whether the sites are blocked by the government isn’t approved, ‘but Cuban authorities have in the past reportedly prohibited access to pages they consider “counter-revolutionary,” including blogs critical of the socialist system’[15].

Besides the lack of broad and open access to its citizens, Cubans also face reverse censorship by US. For instance, Cubans claim that Google blocks access to Cubans with no clear reason why[16]. Also, recently Microsoft seems to be blocking Cubans from using the MSN messenger[17] and Windows, as a consequence of the US trade embargo[18].

So, Cubans seem to have a hard time exploring the World Wide Web, due to high costs, extremely slow Internet and strict monitoring by the government.  According to the available sources, censorship consists of deliberately limiting Cubans from accessing the international Internet pages and monitoring subversive content on PCs and in email. But if that is the case – the fear of the masses connecting to the World Wide Web, how can we explain the government’s agreement with the first plans for providing the island with faster Internet connections being already made? Earlier this year Venezuela announced having plans to lay a sub-marine fiber optics cable to connect Cuba and Venezuela that is expected to be ready in 2010. Also, as a result of the eased long-standing restrictions on telecom links to Cuba by the Obama administration in April this year[19], the US also seem to be willing to connect the island by fiber optics.

This contradicts the aforementioned observations of the government deliberately denying access to the major part of the population. Thereby, in relation to the conspiracy between RSF and Washington and RSF always willing to (arbitrary) stigmatize countries targeted by the US, there exist some rumours that RSF made the US paid agents appear as ‘independent journalists’, although information on this particular issue is fully available and irrefutable[20]. Furthermore, several ‘independent (Cuban) journalists’ seem to take money from US programs designed to overthrow the Cuban government and constitution[21].

It is extremely difficult to get an objective view of the Cuban Internet situation, as information on the Internet from various sources is very contradictory and some of the (main) sources might be biased. Analysing and describing the current Cuban Internet behaviour was very complicated, as I doubted the reliability, due to the complicated relation between Cuba and the US, of the sources. Facts about the number of users, the tariffs in cybercafés, the websites accessible for citizens and the possibilities for having access and computers are not very consistent. For example, are Cubans at all interested in using the Internet as a political liberation tool[22]? We haven’t heard the opinion of the masses yet, as it is only a mere part of the Cuban population, able to pay the expensive price for Internet usage or with abroad connections to publish their blogpostings, we ‘hear’ online. News from either pro-Cuban, non-Cuban or Cuban but not pro is very contradictory, due to several complicated political, social and economical factors. Only local, objective research will clarify these complicated factors but very interesting situation of today’s Cuban Internet.

[2] Voeux, Claire. ‘I tested the Cuban Internet for you’, RSF Report 2006. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[3] ONI Report on Cuba, http://opennet.net/research/profiles/cuba

[4] Voeux, Claire. ‘I tested the Cuban Internet for you’, RSF Report 2006. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[5] Voeux, Claire. ‘Cuba’s Way Of Controlling The Internet’, RSF Report 2006. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[6] RSF Report 2006 about internet usage in Cuba. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[7] ONI Report on Cuba, http://opennet.net/research/profiles/cuba

[8] RSF Report 2006 about internet usage in Cuba. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[9] Voeux, Claire. ‘Cuba’s Way Of Controlling The Internet’, RSF Report 2006. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[10] RSF Report 2006 about internet usage in Cuba. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[11] RSF Report 2006 about internet usage in Cuba. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[12] ONI Report on Cuba, http://opennet.net/research/profiles/cuba

[13] Voeux, Claire. ‘Cuba’s Way Of Controlling The Internet’, RSF Report 2006. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[14] Faris, R. and Villeneuve, N. ‘Measuring Global Internet Filtering’ in R. Deibert et al. ‘Access denied: The practice and policy of global Internet filtering’. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (2008)

[15] Israel, Esteban. ‘Cubans say access to online market site is blocked’, International Business Times. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[16] Valle, Amaury E. del. ‘Does Google Censor Cuba?’, Juventudrebelde.co.cu, last viewed 2009/11/04

[17] Protalinski, Emil. ‘Microsoft Blocks Messenger in US Embargoed Countries’, Arstechnica.com. Last viewed 2009/11/04)

[18] Symmes, Patrick. ‘Che Is Dead’, Wired. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[19] Telegeography. ‘TeleCuba to lay first US-Cuba fibre-optic cable’. Last viewed 2009/11/04

[20] Lanrami, Salim. ‘Reporters without Borders remains silent about the journalist tortured in Guantánamo’, Globalresearch.ca. Last viewed, 2009/11/11

[21] Anderson, Tim. ‘Cuba and its ‘Independent Journalists’. Thegreenleft.org.au. Last viewed 2009/11/11

[22] Frank, Marc. ‘Cuba may allow for less state control of economy’, Havana Journal. Last viewed 2009/11/04

Si fuera una socia como dios manda, o sea, de las que hacen lo que se llama “vida social”, me apuntaría sin dudarlo a la inauguración de la exposición de Sara Janini.  

Aunque su apellido es ilustre para los aficionados a la fotografía, dice no tener demasiada influencia familiar. Está claro. Son dos conceptos muy diferentes. Y, visto hoy, el pictorialismo nos ha dejado una buena cantidad de imágenes bastante demodé… que me encantan.

Aunque también encontremos tipos, trajes y paisajes en las imágenes de Sara Janini, todo el parecido con las a menudo idílicas imágenes pictorialistas, queda ahí. Su visión de los paisajes y gentes de África, Asia y Oceania tiene una fuerza tremenda. Es difícil comentar el trabajo de diez años pero, aunque diverso, es coherente. No sé si me gusta más su fotografía en blanco y negro -limpia, precisa, delicada- o sus impactantes imágenes en color (creo que hoy no me voy a quitar de la cabeza esa calle en Tokyo y esos edificios en Shanghai). Me encanta cómo compone, sobre todo los retratos a dos personajes, cómo maneja los planos y las yuxtaposiciones que a veces presenta con conceptos extremos pero complementarios. Lo mismo utiliza la luz para diseccionar los más mínimos detalles de una escena cotidiana que busca la ternura de un niño. Y me gusta su mirada, con esa curiosidad respetuosa que tienen los buenos fotógrafos…

Ah, no lo he dicho: Territorio Dong va a estar en la Real Sociedad Fotográfica del 12 de noviembre al 11 de diciembre. Pecado mortal si no me paso.

Brasil é o 71º melhor entre 175 países no quesito liberdade de imprensa, de acordo com a publicação anual da organização Repórteres Sem Fronteiras (RSF), divulgado nesta terça-feira (20).

O índice da RSF considera os acontecimentos relacionados ao fazer jornalístico e à liberdade nos meios de comunicação entre setembro de 2008 e setembro de 2009.

O Brasil aparece com 15,88 pontos. No ano anterior, somou 18 e ficou em 82º lugar. A nota é regressiva, tendo como pontuação ideal o zero.

Ainda segundo o relatório, a Europa se mantém como um modelo para o resto do mundo, tendo como os melhores países para o trabalho jornalístico a Dinamarca, Finlândia, Irlanda, Noruega e Suécia.

Os últimos classificados, que mantém práticas reprováveis em matéria de liberdade, são Eriteia, Coreia do Norte, Turcomenistão, Irã e Birmânia.

Após a vitória de Barack Obama nas últimas eleições, a evolução dos EUA é a mais destacada na nova classificação, pois avançou do 40º lugar para o 20º, voltando ao grupo dos 25 países com maior liberdade de imprensa.

Brasil e Moçambique foram os únicos países de língua portuguesa que subiram posições nesta edição.

Estonia was today named as one of the world’s ten best countries for freedom of the press by the international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym RSF). The annual ranking looks at violations of press freedoms in 175 countries and covers print, broadcast, and online journalism.

Estonia retained the top-10 ranking it has held for four consecutive years. It placed 6th, immediately behind a five-way tie for first place among Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. Estonia’s rankings over the last four years have been impressive:

• 2006: 6th (tie)
• 2007: 3rd (tie)
• 2008: 4th (tie)
• 2009: 6th

According to the RSF website, “Reporters Without Borders compiles the index every year on the basis of questionnaires that are completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts around the world.”

See the complete list here, and some good analysis of the rankings here and here.

DOJ stalls FOIA request on telecom immunity lobbying efforts from EFF

Obama sides with Republicans against Patriot Act civil liberties reforms

Feingold explains problems with Judiciary Committee from Daily Kos

FTC seeks to restrict gift giving to bloggers from Wall St Journal

Disclosure laws have reduced lobbyist donations from Open Secrets

Novaya Gazeta being sued by Stalin’s grandson & Chechen warlord from RSF

Senate votes for Franken’s Defense budget amendment from NY Times

Portland: Oregonian announces major reorganization of news coverage

Media Council Hawaii files FCC complaint over TV merger

Free speech lawsuit against Vancouver Olympic rules from Boing Boing

Google CEO Eric Schmidt: We paid $1 billion premium for YouTube from CNET

Microsoft, Google may make tweets accessible in real-time searches from Wired

Scissione all’interno del Continuity a causa di disaccordi di intenti

Divisione all’interno del Continuity IRA dopo il rifiuto del direttivo dell’organizzazione paramilitare repubblicana di intensificare le azioni in Irlanda del Nord.
Il CIRA Army Council (forte presenza di membri del Republican Sinn Fein nel suo organico) infatti sembra non ritenere giustificato l’uso della violenza in Irlanda del Nord nonostante non ci sia stat alcuna formale ammissione. Ne è conseguito il rifiuto (è il terzo negli ultimi due anni) di convocare il ‘congresso militare generale’ per eleggere un nuovo comando.
I servizi di sicurezza e le forze di polizia ritengo questo uno step molto importante nelle dimaniche repubblicane. La scissione del CIRA potrebbe infatti dare origine ad una nuova organizzazione oppure gli elementi separatisti potrebbero andare a gonfiare le file del Real IRA.
Il Republican Sinn Fein sta per perdere il suo leader nonchè ex capo di stato maggiore dell’IRA, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh  e un’analista di intelligence ha spiegato che il “RSF sta sempre più adottando una posizione più neutrale verso l’uso della violenza in Irlanda del Nord. Ci sono certamente membri del RSF che credono che avere un ala militare sia un ostacolo che impedisce al partito di avanzare politicamente”.
Il candidato alla successi di Ó Brádaigh è Des Long (l’attuale vicepresidente), che ha dichiarato di non essere a conoscenza della scissione ma di dissensi all’interno del gruppo paramilitare, “la frammentazione non porterà a nulla. Se hanno proposte differenti, devono sedersi e presentarle”.
Des Long ha anche ammesso di esser uno dei sostenitori dell’uso della violenza in Irlanda del Nord, posizione questa condivisa dal Republican Sinn Fein. “Non condannerei mai chi imbraccia le armi contro l’occupazione del nostro Paese, ma c’è bisogno di controllo e disciplina”.
I servizi di sicurezza ritengono che possa essere una delle fazioni scissioniste, responsabile dell’omicidio di Stephen Carroll, ufficiale della PSNI freddato il 9 marzo scorso, in un attentato rivendicato dal CIRA.

Traduci l’articolo…

Real IRA may be the winners of Continuity’s big split (Times On Line)
The Continuity IRA (CIRA) has split up over the organisation’s refusal to appoint a new leadership and to step up attacks against the security forces in Northern Ireland.
The security services believe recent bomb attacks and the murder of a police officer in Armagh last March, for which the republican group claimed responsibility, were not sanctioned by its leadership. The attacks were carried out by factions of the CIRA in Fermanagh, Armagh and Monaghan operating independently.
The hardliners believe the CIRA army council, which is dominated by members of Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), no longer consider that the use of violence is justified, but will not admit this.
The CIRA’s refusal to hold a “general army convention” to elect a new leadership has also provoked divisions. The terrorist group has refused requests to organise an army convention on three separate occasions in the past two years, citing security reasons.
The CIRA army council is appointed by the army executive, veteran republicans who are mainly drawn from the ranks of RSF. Its executive has the power to appoint new army council members. The executive is in turn elected at a general army convention, or special delegate conference.
Another gripe which prompted the split is the refusal of Saoirse, the RSF newspaper, to publish details of attacks carried out by the CIRA, the military wing of RSF.
The security services believe the split is a significant development. Gardai and MI5, the British security service, believe that the breakaway factions may eventually amalgamate or join the Real IRA (RIRA) to create a new organisation, but it will take at least two years for this to happen.
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, a former IRA chief of staff and president of RSF, is preparing to retire in November. His withdrawal is likely to provoke a change in RSF policy and direction, according to both republican and security sources.
“RSF will either become more militant or adopt a more neutral stance towards the use of violence in Northern Ireland. There are certainly people in RSF who believe that having a military wing is a hindrance and is preventing the party from making political gains,” said one intelligence analyst.
Des Long, the party’s vice president and Ó Brádaigh’s likely successor, said that he was “unaware” of a split, but admitted he was conscious of dissent within the paramilitary group.
“There may be some (CIRA) people who believe that enough is not being done, but fragmenting won’t achieve anything. If there are differences, they should sit down and sort them out,” said Long.
He said he personally continued to support the use of violence against the security forces in Northern Ireland.
“This is also the position of Republican Sinn Fein. I would never condemn anyone who takes up arms against the occupation of our country, but it has to be controlled and disciplined,” he said.
Long added that the decision by Saoirse not to publish articles on the CIRA was made by the newspaper’s editorial board, but he noted that RSF had not condemned any attacks claimed by the paramilitary group.
The security services believe the breakaway factions have been responsible for several attacks, including the murder of Stephen Carroll, a PSNI officer who was shot dead in March in Craigavon.
The intelligence assessment is based on analysis of information gleaned from listening devices and informants.
Carroll was the first member of the PSNI killed by the CIRA, which was also involved in the Omagh bombing that killed 29 people and unborn twin girls in August 1998.