Declare solidarity with Odisha grassroots movements! Stop the Niyamgiri mine once and for all!

Noise demonstration and picket at India High Commission, Aldwych, WC2B 4NA, Holborn Tube, 2 – 4pm, Thursday 6th December.

On Thursday 6th December tribals and farmers of the grassroots organisations Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti, Loka Sangram Mancha, Samajwadi Jan Parishad, and Sachetana Nagarika Mancha will hold one of the largest demonstrations ever on the threatened Niyamgiri mountain since the movement began. In anticipation of the final Supreme Court decision on the planned mega-mine ten thousand people are expected to rally on the mountain in a show of defiance. They will call for closure of the sinking Lanjigarh refinery and an absolute ban on the so-far-unsuccessful attempt to mine bauxite on their sacred hills.

Here in London we will be holding a noise demonstration outside the India High Commission in Aldwych calling for the Indian Government to put a final stop to this contested project, and for the state owned Orissa Mining Corporation to be pulled out of dodgy deals it has made with Vedanta in an attempt to force the mine through the courts on Vedanta’s behalf.

Please join us and bring drums, pots and pans and anything that makes noise! The movements in Orissa will feel your solidarity!

The Mark Kennedy case illustrated how deeply Iceland is involved in European secret police networks that have been infiltrating environmentalist, anarchist and other leftist resistance movements since the late 1990s. The exposure of the undercover policeman also showed that it is near impossible to bring illegal practises of cross-border policing to courts: It is mostly unclear, which police authority in which country is responsible. In 2005 Kennedy infiltrated the Saving Iceland campaign, which resisted the dams at Kárahnjúkar in Iceland’s eastern highlands. He used his Icelandic connections and experience for a European-wide speaking tour to infiltrate activist groups in numerous countries.

Iceland is also involved in policing the EU migration regime, which will start the huge surveillance network EUROSUR in two years. This satellite surveillance involving usage of drones is complemented by the “Smart Border Package” facilitating border crossing by using biometric features and other technical tools. At the same time the EU changes the Schengen Border Codex, in which Iceland is also taking part. The agreement was one of the most important achievements for free travel within the EU. Now France and Germany constrain more border controls to block international protesters or exclude countries like Greece from the Schengen system. Iceland uses the measure, for example, to control the movements of motorcycle gangs.

To block unwanted migrants crossing the Evros river between Greece and Turkey, the EU is running a research program regarding the usage of land robots for border surveillance. The EU border agency FRONTEX, for which the Icelandic Coast Guard has worked in the Mediterranean, is now operating together with the Turkish government and is helping to install a police and customs centre at the common border with Bulgaria and Greece. For the first time, this structure includes the police agency EUROPOL, whose guidelines normally exclude the fight against migration.

To the contrary, the main pillar of EUROPOL becomes the control of so called “cybercrime” and “cyberterrorism”. The agency is running large databases, surveillance technology and digital forensic tools to support the police forces of the 27 member states in cross-border operations. EUROPOL is more and more controlling alleged “suspicious” behaviour on the internet, which leads to more need of safety for cyber activists as well as all citizens.

In his talk, Monroy will explain briefly the police networks built up by the European Union concerning undercover policing, the fight against unwanted migration and cyberspace. Monroy will also attempt to explain how Iceland is involved in or affected by current and future projects.

The talk will take place in the Reykjavík Academia, which also houses Iceland’s only anarchist library, on Monday July 23 at 20:00. The Academia is located at Hringbraut 121, 107 Reykjavík. The talk will be in English and entrance is free.

For more information write to savingiceland [at] riseup.net

Saving Iceland’s archive of articles regarding the Mark Kennedy case

Matthias Monroy, journalist and political activist

Eight women have filed legal action against the Metropolitan Police. Five officers have been named that have infiltrated leftist movements since the 1980’s, and used deceit to create sexual relationships with these women. Among them is the former undercover officer Mark Kennedy, who worked for the German police in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern und Baden-Wuerttemberg. The open statement of these women contradicts the claims of Kennedy, that he only had sexual relationships with two women.

Andrej Hunko further stated:

“The courageous step of these eight women must also have consequences in Germany.

According to media reports, Kennedy was operating in 22 countries. It follows then, that Kennedy likely also used such illegal tactics in these countries. In my opinion, the Kennedy operations went against the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8, which protects the rights for private and family life, including the right to form relationships without unjustified interference by the state.

According to Mark Kennedy, it is unlikely that his commanding officers did not know about his sexual relationships. The women involved speak about an ‘institutionalised sexism within the police’.

Although the British Interior Minister announced a restructuring of the undercover operations earlier this year, it appears that only cosmetic changes have taken place. Further investigations have been delayed. The demands for an independent investigation commission has already been denied.

The German policing agencies responsible for the operations of Mark Kennedy must now release all information about his scandalous operation. The German National Criminal Police (BKA) must immediately open up the workings of this network: the police acted as a central point for these cross -border undercover exchanges, and took part in secret international working groups. A recently begun German-British initiative has attempted, at the EU level, to keep such undercover operations a large secret.

The British government must accept that in many countries, there is a need for strong investigations into this affair. Only then can there be the creation of a proper international, and especially independent investigation commission. Then the practices of these undercover officers could be exposed, whether they are in Iceland, Italy, France, Ireland, USA, Germany, or anywhere else”.

Through survivors’ testimonies, Kandhamal 2008 examines how Hindu supremacist groups turned two communities – Adivasi (indigenous) Konds and Pano Dalit Christians – against each other, with the tacit support of the State Government and local administration. More than 50,000 people became refugees, 5,000 houses were burnt and destroyed, at least 400 churches, prayer halls and institutions were desecrated, demolished or burnt down. This region is extremely poor, but rich in mineral resources which have attracted multinational mining companies including British firm Vedanta. The Odisha Government has ruthlessly pursued neo-liberal land acquisition policies formulated by the UK’s (Department for International Development (DfID) and the World Bank. The Konds have consistently fought this corporate land grab and the film highlights how Hindu supremacist groups and the State Government have sought to undermine that struggle.

Kandhamal 2008 will be premiered on Tuesday, 1 November, in Rm CLM.6.02 Clement House, London School of Economics at 7.15 pm. Director and researcher Samarendra Das, who was born in Odisha and has lived most of his life in Kandhamal, will discuss the background to and making of the film. Samarendra’s book, Out of this Earth: East India Adivasis and the Aluminium Cartel (Orient Black Swan, 2010), which was co-written by anthropologist Felix Padel, is a thorough study of the aluminium industry and its global impacts. For more information about the documentary screening contact:  sasg at southasiasolidarity.org.

Protesters claim this is a British issue as both Cairn and Vedanta are British companies, and have been aided by David Cameron and the British Ambassador to India in pushing the deal through. The leaflets highlight Vedanta CEO Anil Agarwal’s position as the 17th richest man in Britain and claim the British government has allowed him to evade millions of pounds worth of tax using Jersey and Bahamas based tax havens. One of the placards showed Cairn CEO Bill Gammell and Vedanta CEO Anil Agarwal in bed with David Cameron and read ‘Bill Gammell, Anil Agarwal, David Cameron in bed for oil’ while another slogan accused all three of having ‘blood on their hands’. A stack of leaflets was handed in to the building to distribute to Cairn Energy staff and a security guard warned those gathered that the police would be called if they remained at the building. This warning was taken seriously in the light of Cairn Energy’s zero tolerance policy on protests at the same offices by Greenpeace a month earlier, at which the company took out injunctions against Greenpeace preventing them from publishing any pictures of the event. The protesters left after an hour.

Below is a press release that followed the protest. Download the leaflet that was distributed at the protest here: Cairn India AGM leaflet.

__________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

18th August 2011

PROTESTERS TARGET CAIRN INDIA IN EDINBURGH

Exactly one month after Greenpeace occupied Cairn Energy’s Edinburgh offices to protest their Arctic oil drilling(1), the offices have been targeted again by campaigners objecting to Britain’s role in the take-over of key subsidiary Cairn India by British-Indian mining company Vedanta Resources plc. On the day of Cairn India’s AGM in Mumbai, protesters banged pots and pans to disturb the Edinburgh offices and shouted ‘Vedanta – blood on your hands’ and ‘Cameron get out of India’. They are angry that Vedanta – already accused of multiple violations of environmental law in India(2) – are being allowed to buy an oil company which is drilling in sensitive frontier oil fields around Sri Lanka’s coral reefs, and even angrier that David Cameron has personally helped to pave the way for the deal.

Vedanta has waited a year to complete its 58% buyout of Cairn India (leaving 22% with parent company Cairn Energy). When the Indian government delayed the deal citing uncertainty over Vedanta’s safety record and ability to handle ‘strategic oilfields’, David Cameron sent a personal letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to prevent ‘unnecessary delays'(3). Britain’s Indian High Commissioner Richard Stagg also wrote to the Indian PM over a royalties dispute between Cairn India and Rajasthani state oil company ONGC which was hampering progress on the deal, telling him that any change in financial conditions could ‘render the proposed transaction unviable'(4). Vedanta currently own 28.5% and await a Cairn India shareholder resolution to complete the deal.

Miriam Rose from the group Foil Vedanta said the protest was in solidarity with people affected by Vedanta’s activities in India:

Vedanta has been found guilty of flooding a village with toxic mine waste, killing 40 workers when a poorly built chimney collapsed, illegally grabbing tribal land and polluting major rivers. How can a company with such a poor track record be trusted to deep drill for oil in the most bio-diverse area of Sri Lanka’s coast? Vedanta are a British company and should be accountable to British law for their crimes. Instead Anil Agarwal’s cosy relationship with the UK government has helped him become one of the richest men in Britain. His politician friends even help his business and allow him to evade millions of pounds of tax by keeping his earnings in tax havens.(5)(6)

Cairn India have already begun drilling in Block SL-2007-01-001 of Sri Lanka’s Mannar basin, using a fifth generation Japanese drill ship the ‘Chikyu’ which was damaged in the Sendai tsunami and awaits repair on one of its thrusters. The block extends right to the edge of the Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary, a pristine coral reef which is thought to be the most biodiverse area off India’s coasts(7).

Cairn employees have expressed fear over the Vedanta takeover, worried about pay and working conditions and that the mining giant has no experience in the risky business of oil(8).
__________________________________________________________________

Notes and References:

For a profile of Cairn India see here and for Vedanta here.

(1) See: Police make arrests in Greenpeace ‘polar bear’ protest

(2) Vedanta’s Environmental and Human Rights Crimes Identified by the Indian Authorities
Vedanta’s bauxite mining has killed thousands, mainly Adivasi (indigenous) people, in India in accidents, police firings, forced displacement, injury and illness. It has displaced thousands of families and destroyed the environment, contaminating drinking water and devastating vast tracts of fertile land in an area of Odisha which has experienced famine regularly since 2007.

In Niyamgiri, Odisha: In August 2010 India’s then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh stopped Vedanta from mining the Niyamgiri mountain which is the sacred mountain of the Dongria Kondh adivasis in Odisha. But Vedanta has now appealed to the Supreme Court against this decision.

In Lanjigarh, Odisha: In August 2010, the Environment Ministry ruled that Vedanta and its subsidiary Sterlite had contravened the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 by illegally clearing forest to establish its alumina refinery in Lanjigarh in 2006 and by again by expanding the plant in 2009. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh criticised the Supreme Court for allowing the Lanjigarh project. The National Human Rights Commission identified 3.66 acres within the refinery that legally belong to Adivasis. Following this, the administration has now registered a case of land-grab against the company. This is the first time that Vedanta’s illegal land-grabbing has been ‘officially proved’.

However Vedanta’s environmental crimes continued On 5 April and again on 16th May this year a wall of the red mud impoundment (storing toxic waste) collapsed, polluting the Vansadhara river. The wall had not been properly constructed despite warnings from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board in December 2008 when it had previously collapsed.

In Puri, Odisha: In November 2010 the Odisha High Court ruled that Vedanta’s acquisition of thousands of acres of land in Puri for the so-called Vedanta University was illegal and void. The court ordered Vedanta to return the land it had stolen to the original owners.

In Jharsuguda, Odisha: In September 2010 the Odisha State Pollution Control Board found that Vedanta’s 500,000 tonne smelter and another nine captive power plants in the Jharsuguda district of north Odisha were operating without clearances from it and were violating water and air pollution Acts.

In Advalpal,Goa: In November 2009 the Bombay High Court ruled that Vedanta’s Sesa Goa iron ore subsidiary, the largest exporter of iron ore in India, was illegally dumping mining waste near Advalpal village in north Goa. On 6 June 2010, the dumps collapsed due to heavy rains. Tonnes of mining waste overflowed into a stream leading to floods. The Indian Bureau of Mines found that the mining plan had been violated.

In Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu: In September 2010, the Madras High Court ordered Vedanta to stop production at its Thoothukudi copper smelter for environmental reasons — a decision that has been overturned by a stay order of the Supreme Court for the time being. Villagers from Thoothukudi complain of severe respiratory ailments

In Korba,Chhattisgarh: Vedanta and its subsidiary BALCO (which is 100% managed by Vedanta) have been found culpable for the collapse of a power plant chimney causing the deaths of 40 people. Vedanta built the chimney on state-owned forest land and had ignored ‘stop notices’ and threats of legal action and dismantling of construction work by the Korba Municipal Corporation. The chimney collapsed, according to a report commissioned by the Korba police, because of “careless, poor construction practice and poor workmanship in the construction of piles” and “improper cement content in the concrete mix” and because new layers of the chimney were being built before lower levels had been given time to cure properly”.

In Zambia: In December 2010,Vedanta’s Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) was fined in court for polluting the very river it had poisoned four years earlier in the north of the country. In November 2006, effluents cascaded from a burst slurry pipeline into the Kafue river, raising chemical concentrations to 1,000% of acceptable levels for copper, 77,000% of those for manganese and 10,000% for cobalt. Following the most recent event, the UK company was also found guilty of willfully failing to report it to the authorities.

(3) James Lamont and Amy Kazmin in New Delhi, and Alex Barker in London, Financial Times, Feb 18^th 2011 ‘Cameron intervenes in Cairn sale’

(4) EI Finance. April 27, 2011. ‘Vedanta Buys Smaller Cairn India Stake as Delays Continues’

(5) Vedanta’s CEO, Anil Agarwal is the seventeenth richest person in Britain, whose personal wealth has grown even in the recession by 583% according to 2010 figs5.

(6) Vedanta plc is a London listed FTSE 100 Mining Corporation owned by Anil Agarwal and his family through a number of shell companies in tax havens – Bahamas-based company Volcan Investments Limited, Twinstar Holdings Ltd, THL KCM Ltd in Mauritius and Vedanta Resources Cyprus Ltd and others6

(7) Arijit Barman, Business Standard, Mumbai, August 17, 2011. ‘A year on, Cairn drills into Sri Lankan waters’.

(8) Himangshu Watts, 12/8/11, ‘Cairn India staff keep fingers crossed on future in Vedanta’, Economic Times of India.

The Saving Iceland network has spent some time examining the report authored  by the National Commissioner’s ‘National Security Unit’ published on May 17. Already at this stage we would like to make a considerable number of remarks.

First of all we have to express our astonishment if Ögmundur Jónasson, the Minister of the Interior is going to accept as valid the poorly reasoned cover-ups that are resorted to by the report’s authors. It is also remarkable how superficial and simply untrue the Minister’s own interpretation of the report has been so far. Unfortunately the same is true of the coverage of the report made by some of the Icelandic corporate media.

The report’s most serious flaw is of course the fact that it completely evades the responsibility that it was officially intended to assume. The only de facto information about the report’s actual subject is on page 12,  where it is stated that the police received “confidential information” concerning the intended protests against the Kárahnjúkar dam from both domestic and foreign “informers”, and that this information was used to organize the police’s reaction.

On page 18 it says that “during an overhaul of data at the National Commissioner office, no information came to light that makes it possible to ascertain if this British police spy [Mark Kennedy] was here in Iceland with the knowledge of the police or with their collaboration in 2005”. This is obviously an attempt to avoid giving a clear answer to the question of whether the police were aware of Kennedy’s presence here in Iceland, by referring to the supposed non-existence of “data”. According to this, all authorities could always avoid all official obligation to inform simply by deleting or not entering data about certain events. This is a completely unacceptable conclusion.

It is important to note that neither the Interior Minister nor the National Commissioner have answered a list of questions from our lawyer, formally requesting further information about the Icelandic police’s surveillance of individuals within the Saving Iceland network, and, no less importantly, the actual wording of the query made by the Minister of the Interior to the National Commissioner’s National Security Unit. Since the Minister and the National Commissioner do not provide precise answers about the specific stipulations to the enquiry, it is hard to make a clear estimate of the precise extent to which the report avoids giving answers, although it becomes clear, from reading the report, that its authors entirely avoid answering the questions about Saving Iceland and Mark Kennedy that it was reportedly supposed to answer.

It is also unbelievable, in accordance with general research methods, that the report’s authors did not contact individuals who have been active with the Saving Iceland movement, but instead based the chapter about Mark Kennedy on reports from the British newspaper Guardian, which are full of inaccuracies repeatedly corrected by Saving Iceland.

Criminalizing Resistance Constitutes an Assault on Democracy

The report is a textbook example of the violently hostile attitude of the Icelandic authorities’ against political dissidents and groups using civil disobedience, treating them as if they were dealing with criminal organizations. Immediately on the first page of the report the National Commissioner makes himself guilty of criminalizing our movement. As a whole the report partners us, environmentalists, up with the “criminal organization Hells Angels”, which has recently become in Iceland a sort of a cloak for any kind of State intervention that entails curtailing constitutional human rights.

In this context it is very important to be able to know the details of the Interior Minister’s original query (as a matter of fact, it is strange that this is not clearly explained in the report), as it is especially odd to ask for an investigation into two such fundamentally unrelated associations in the same report. Of course it gives a completely wrong picture of the topics that need to be cleared up concerning Saving Iceland, a nature conservation organization, whose actions hardly justify that it be referred to at the same instance as the Hells Angels. This has to be explained by the authorities.

The National Commissioner is even so unfortunate as to blurt out that his office has performed its duties “… concerning the fight against organized crime and direct action-groups like the Saving Iceland organization.” This is an explicit acknowledgement that the National Commissioner considers one of his duties to “fight against” environmentalist groups such as Saving Iceland.

It is very difficult to see where these duties are called upon, in the quoted police law, whose 5th article addresses the Commissioner’s duty to coordinate his operations but says nothing about an obligation to fight against voluntary organizations any more than what can be expected. There is only a description of the Commissioner’s variety of administrative duties, i.e. “… to operate a police investigative department and a national security unit that investigates high treason and the violation of the cabinet government and its supreme authorities, and estimates the threat of terrorism and organized crime.”

It is not in the hands of a police force, in a state that wants to pride itself on upholding democracy, to “fight against” political dissidence. Hence we find ourselves moved to ask if the National Commissioner has completely lost himself in the high jinks and really considers himself to officiate duties in a fascist state like the ones for example under which the people of South-America have often had to live?

In the above-mentioned reference on page 1 it says that the department in question “investigates treason and the violation of the cabinet government and its supreme authorities, and estimates the threat of terrorism and organized crime.” According to this definition it is difficult to see that the National Security Unit had any legal authority to interfere with Saving Iceland, but if deemed so, it would be intriguing to know under which of these topics Saving Iceland has been categorized.

Obvious Evasions

The section of the report relating to Saving Iceland is completely consistent with the previous report about the police’s interference into the affairs of Saving Iceland, written by the director of Iceland’s police academy at the request of the Minister of Justice in 2009. Paragraphs of laws and the police’s modus operandi are patronisingly detailed, but the hoped for analysis is nowhere to be found. (The said report is, incidentally, printed with double-spacing and contains long references to articles of law, possibly in an attempt to conceal how little meaningful analysis it contains. It would be interesting to see what would remain if the long quotes on articles of law are removed and the text printed with single-spacing.)

On page 2 there is a long list of the particular tasks that are in the hands of the National Commissioner’s National Security Unit. Despite of a list in 12 separate parts, there is no mention of which of these tasks concern the topics that were to be investigated in the report.

On page 15 it is stated that the police acted in accordance with information that they received from abroad, as well as from within Iceland. What foreign agency is responsible for informing the Icelandic police? How can it be argued that the police’s response was based on the information they received when the actual information has not been specified? The fact that the protests “might proliferate” is not a valid reason for preventative police actions. The likelihood of sabotage taking place is an unreasoned assertion. The police might have received information saying that very “determined activists” would be likely to join Saving Iceland, but it does not follow that protest is necessarily illegal, and the existence of “activists” does not legitimize the use of police force.

The reports’ authors attempt to convince the Minister, and other readers, with peculiar meticulousness, that according to international police agreements neither the Minister, nor those whose rights the police have violated, should be given access to the evidence. The efforts of the National Commissioner to hide behind confidentiality towards foreign police-spies does little to convince, but rather reveals a determination to avoid exposing the Commissioner’s own involvement in violations of human rights against individuals who have been active with Saving Iceland.

On page 3 there is a chapter about the so-called “third-party-rule”, which the report’s authors attempt to stretch by applying its confidentiality stipulation to include the very same Interior Minister who actually commissioned the report. The Minister is the supreme authority of the Icelandic police, hence it is incomprehensible how he can be considered a “third party” by the report’s authors.

It is worth noting that on page 15, the above-mentioned report by the Police Academy director is quoted as stating that the police did not use eavesdropping in connection with the protests. It may be worth considering if the reason for quoting the 2009 report on this issue is an attempt to avoid exposing the electronic spying that took place. If the National Commissioner considered Saving Iceland to be a great terrorist threat, it is extremely strange if our communications were not tapped. If it really was the case that the National Commissioner had reason to believe that we posed a terrorist threat, and yet he did not order that we were electronically spied on, it is fair to say that he seriously failed his duties.

The 15th article of administration laws nr. 37/1993 deals with information rights and says that “a person or party connected to a particular case has the right to see the relevant documents and other data. The data has to be made available to this person or party, with the only exception if the case is of that essence, or the amount of documents is so high, that it makes revealing data very problematic.” Articles of law about secrecy stipulations do not have limiting effects on the duty to provide documents concerning this article of law.

It is clear that the National Commissioner admits to have worked closely with the British authorities concerning the surveillance of Saving Iceland. He also admits to have received information not only from abroad but also from within Iceland. This information has been gathered by spying, in other words: By violating the privacy of our personal lives. To state that no recorded documents can be found in the offices of the National Commissioner about this co-operation with the British authorities is nothing but obvious evasions.

Independent Investigation

The Minister of the Interior is now issuing the police with expanded proactive investigation permits. In the discussion in parliament following the publication of this report the Minister has been at particular pains that the focus on the issue should be on preventing the police from using these new powers of proactive investigation to violate the rights of political dissident groups. Although the minister has announced in connection with this report, that he thinks that “the authorities’ interference of this sort against politically motivated protest is a direct assault on democracy,” there does not seem to be any real intent behind his words to deal with the Icelandic and British police respective forces documented violations against Saving Iceland.

Thus we ask: Is the Minister of the Interior really condoning the police’s violations, clearly confirmed in the report, of our constitutional right to privacy, and by planting an agent provocateur in our movement for several years, who did his best to entrap us (nota bene, without success!) into major acts of terrorism? Has the Minister, in his fascination with proactive investigation permits, reached the conclusion that the significance and seriousness of law-violations that have already been committed are less serious than those being planned or which have never been committed?

If the Interior Minister considers this report satisfactory we cannot help seriously doubting that while he is in charge of this Ministry the task of tailoring laws and regulations, which he claims to want to promote in order to defend political resistance groups in Iceland from Big Brother’s human rights violations, is in the right hands.

Saving Iceland request that Ögmundur Jónasson send this report back to the National Commissioner on the basis that it simply is unsatisfactory. Otherwise we believe there is a pressing need for an independent investigation to be carried out under the auspices of parties with no obvious interests to protect such as the National Commissioner.

See also:

New Photographic Evidence Shows that the Icelandic Police Lied About their Dealings with Mark Kennedy

In January 2011, when the illegal covert actions of UK police in Icelandic jurisdiction hit the pages of the international media, the local police forces of the two Icelandic towns Seydisfjörður and Eskifjörður in Eastern Iceland issued a statement in response to queries from the Icelandic National Broadcaster (RUV). The Broadcaster asked if the Icelandic police had been aware of the infiltration of the Saving Iceland network by British police spy Mark Kennedy. According to the Broadcaster the two police forces denied that they had had any “dealings with Kennedy during the protests against the Kárahnjúkar dams.”

Saving Iceland can now reveal evidence that shows clearly that the two police forces are not telling the truth about their dealings with Kennedy. The top photograph accompanying this statement shows two Icelandic police officers grappling with Mark Kennedy during a Saving Iceland action that took place on 26 July 2005 at the site of the Kárahnjúkar central dam. Clearly the incident pictured shows that the Icelandic police most certainly had “dealings” with the British spy.

Furthermore, there are numerous witnesses to the event when the Icelandic police detained a number of Saving Iceland activists at Kárahnjúkar, also in July 2005, and the officers collected the passports of the activists in order to register and photocopy them. Kennedy was one of those whose passport was confiscated in this manner by the police. The records of these passports are available to the authorities, unless they have been tampered with by those who are authorised to access the records.

The above shows that the two respective police forces are lying about their dealings with the British police spy. These dealings in fact turn out to have been considerable, although what has been photographed and entered into police records may just be an indication of much deeper involvement of Icelandic authorities.

Who was Kennedy’s runner in Iceland?

It is standard police procedure with the UK police that a spy like Kennedy will always be backed up by a “minder”. This is a police officer which follows the spy where ever he goes at a “safe” distance and which the spy can always get in contact with 24 hours round the clock. Kennedy himself described this procedure in an interview in the Daily Telegraph.

According to Kennedy this agent would travel on his trail where ever he went abroad. One can assume that during Kennedy’s stay at Kárahnjúkar this “minder” agent will have been based in a hotel at Egilsstaðir, the town nearest to the Kárahnjúkar dams, or at Hallormstaður forest, or possibly even, in the event of close collaboration with the Icelandic authorities, in the work camp village at the dam site itself.

It is more than likely that if the British authorities notified Icelandic authorities of the infiltrator in the Saving Iceland camp that, rather than jeopardize the guise of Kennedy, the Icelandic authorities will have been in more regular contact with his “minder”.

A clumsy cover-up

The fact that the Icelandic police find it necessary to use clumsy lies to cover over their involvement with Kennedy and his superiors, indicates that they are responding to orders from above to suppress information that would potentially seriously compromise Icelandic and UK authorities.

The Icelandic police have already as far back as in 2006 confirmed close collaboration with the UK police on the issue of the Saving Iceland network:

“The published confirmation [in the Police Magazine] of close collaboration between British and Icelandic authorities on the issue of Saving Iceland in the winter of 2005-2006 together with the statements of the police in Seydisfjordur and Eskifjordur, that contradict the evidence that Saving Iceland is in possession of, gives ample grounds to assume that the Icelandic authorities were in the know about Mark Kennedy’s infiltration of Saving Iceland.”

So far the the National Commissioner of the Police of Iceland has refused to answer the question posed by the National Broadcaster about if the UK police notified Icelandic authorities about the Kennedy infiltration of Saving Iceland.

Despite the assurances made in January in parliament by Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and also Ögmundur Jónasson the Minister of the Interior, that they would do their utmost to uncover the truth of this ugly case they have so far done nothing to come clean about this considerable significant breach of human rights and of Icelandic and international laws.

Icelandic authorities using delaying tactics

At a meeting with the Minister of the Interior Saving Iceland founder Ólafur Páll Sigurdsson requested that he be given access to all official records of the dealings of the police with Saving Iceland, including all records of official spying carried out by the police about himself and other environmentalists involved in the struggle for the preservation of the Icelandic environment.

The Icelandic authorities are deliberately dragging their heels about the Kennedy case. So far nothing has been forthcoming from Icelandic authorities but sophistry, evasions and lies.

The Ministry of the Interior has stated in correspondence with the legal representative of Saving Iceland that no disclosures are to be expected until the report from the National Commissioner sees the light of day. From the tone and context of the correspondence it is implied that it may be a considerable amount of time until the report will be made available.

Hence it can be concluded that the authorities are using this report as tactical means to delay and defuse the serious consequences that the unraveling of the truth may have.

This is in direct contrast with both the German and Irish authorities. Both the German and Irish police have made official statements in which they admit their awareness of Kennedy’s operations within their jurisdictions.

These arrogant tactics of deliberate bureaucratic stalling and red tape sophistry are nothing new when it comes to Icelandic authorities when they want to deflect attention from inconvenient issues and delay the course of transparency and justice.

The reluctance of the Icelandic authorities to own up to the truth in the Kennedy case reveals yet again how this government has far from discontinued the tradition of unaccountability and repressive methods of former Iceland governments. This is most evident in their continued political repression of Icelandic radicals and specifically the new powers of proactive investigations that the Minister of the Interior is attempting to hand over to the Icelandic police.

Recent history shows irrefutably that the Icelandic police can not be trusted to not abuse such powers when it comes to legitimate political groups opposed to government policy. New regulations are not likely to have any more effect on a police force which has grown accustomed to routinely ignore and set aside current legislations regarding the rights of citizens to protest, even clauses dealing with the sanctuary of privacy in the Constitution.

The Saving Iceland network demand that the Icelandic authorities desist from this game of lies and evasions and immediately reveal the facts about not only the Kennedy case but all their records of dealings with Saving Iceland and the spying that they have conducted into the affairs of Saving Iceland and the individuals in our network.

We call on all those who have voiced concern about this blatant violation of civil and human rights and who have expressed their wish to see the truth about this case to mount pressure on the Icelandic government to discontinue this travesty of justice.

Additional references:

 http://www.savingiceland.org/?s=Mark+Ken…
http://www.savingiceland.org/tag/repression/

http://www.savingiceland.org/tag/rvk9/

http://www.savingiceland.org/is/tag/rvk-9/

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Due to the fact that the Ministry of Environment has now certified the land-use plan of Flóahreppur and Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur municipalities, allowing for the construction of three dams by Urriðafoss, Hvammur and Holt, the environmentalist organization Sól á Suðurlandi (Sun in the South) challenges the government to state officially that no dams will be built in the lower Þjórsá river, against the peoples wishes.

Sól á Suðurlandi wants the plans for dams in Þjórsá to be finally discounted, to end the split and uncertainty that have predominated our societies for many years. It is important to decide in a profound way that these constructions will not take place. Thereby a reconciliation would be made in our societies and both grassy farmsteads and wild nature spared.

It is worth pointing out that Landsvirkjun [national energy company] has still not attained contracts with all the landowners that will undergo disruption it the construction takes place. The lands of these people might be taken with expropriation, following with appropriate economical and emotional damage. Sól á Suðurlandi declares full solidarity and support with the landowners that still have not negotiated with Landsvirkjun. Furthermore, the organization understands the situation of landowners who have already negotiated, as many of them were met with hard conditions by Landsvirkjun. We condemn Landsvirkjun’s methods of work, as the company deliberately prevented solidarity amongst landowners by the use of collusion. Sól á Suðurlandi also declares its worries about the powers of developers in the making of land-use plans in such small municipalities, and asks for clear laws about how the costs will be paid in the future.

If dams will be built in lower Þjórsá our societies will undergo serious disruption during the time of construction. The economy of many of the locals will be left in confusion, either temporarily or for the future. The flowering development of agriculture and tourism will be endangered, not to mention that it is unclear if the construction will create any jobs at all. Beyond this disruption are the uncounted effects of dams in lower Þjórsá on the natural conditions and biosphere around the river.

Due to these social, economical and ecological factors, Sól á Suðurlandi asks the government to publish a conclusive statement where dams in lower Þjórsá are rejected.
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To read the most recent update on the situation around the Þjórsá dams, click here.

Who is in power? Naalakkersuisut or Alcoa?

Last week’s meeting between members of the Greenland Government (Naalakkersuisut) and Alcoa clearly shows the power relationship between the industry giant and our nation, that has characterized the project’s development from the beginning, Alcoa dictates and Naalakkersuisut obey across the population.

This form of government is undemocratic and demeaning to our people who are still recovering from 250 years of colonial rule.

Alcoa has made it clear to Naalakkersuisut that a condition to continue the aluminum project in Maniitsoq is the issue of cheap foreign labor will be resolved immediately.

In two large departments of the government, business department and the EPA recent years lawmaking has been highly in favor of the industry giants who get their wishes fulfilled as they want it, even an entire company Greenland Development (GD) has been set up with seven employees working to get Alcoa established in the country.

While the majority of the public institutions increasingly are subjects to cutdowns, E.G. by halts in hirings, GD has just hired a new employee to provide more public information, hence the company has now three people working media issues. Conversely, EPA lacks four employees to provide an adequate assessment of environmental impacts of aluminum project.

Having a public information led by GD with overt interests in having the aluminum industry established in the country that is based on studies funded by the same company, while agencies to scrutinize other consequences get cut in appropriations, is extremely worrying for the country’s democracy and integrity.

Who do Naalakkersuisut work for? Alcoa or the people of Greenland?

It is now up to Naalakkersuisut whether to follow their own principle of involving the public, including the labor union (SIK) and other organizations, or whether they will continue to be dictated by Alcoa and other industry giants.

Time will tell what the next requirement from Alcoa will be. Lower wages during the operation? Lower environmental or safety standards? What will be the next …

On behalf of Against Aluminium Smelter in Greenland,
Bjarne Lyberth, Chairman,

On behalf of Avataq,
Mikkel Myrup, Chairman,

This statement of the Ministry of the Interior does not answer any of the questions raised or alter any of the conclusions drawn in our statement.

Just to name one:

“The published confirmation [in the Police Magazine] of close collaboration between British and Icelandic authorities on the issue of Saving Iceland in the winter of 2005-2006 together with the statements of the police in Seydisfjordur and Eskifjordur, that contradict the evidence that Saving Iceland is in possession of, gives ample grounds to assume that the Icelandic authorities were in the know about Mark Kennedy’s infiltration of Saving Iceland.”

The rest of the world is certain to be watching with interest to see exactly how the Icelandic National Police chooses to present their version of the serious violations of law and human rights that have been conducted in their own jurisdiction.

Whilst Saving Iceland applauds the efforts of the National Police to persevere in this strenuous investigation of their own organization, we shall not be holding our breath until Commissioner Johannessen and his spin masters decide when they find it fit to finally lay their Golden Egg.

In other articles that are concerned with Mark Kennedy’s involvement with British groups the Guardian several times quotes British activists in saying that Kennedy did not act as a strategist or decision maker in their movement, but that he made him himself useful as a driver and an energetic facilitator in day to day logistics. One source is reported by the Guardian in even going so far to say that Kennedy was not considered the sharpest knife in the box. This would make the Guardians’ claims about his supposed vital role in Saving Iceland surprising to say the least.

We have written this further detailed statement to discuss the various claims made in relation to Kennedy’s role in Iceland. These claims include: that Kennedy was pivotal in the birth of Iceland’s environmental movement; that he was instrumental in training Icelanders in direct action; that he was a key figure in various protests in the east of the country; and that he was a key decision maker within Saving Iceland.

Kennedy had no role in the birth of Icelandic environmentalism
Mark Kennedy did not return to Iceland for the 2006 protest camps at Karahnjukar, Snaefell and Reydarfjordur. Although he continued attending some of our gatherings for a while, his activities within the campaign gradually diminished, and finally ceased in 2007.

It appears the Guardian reporters are quite ignorant of Icelandic environmentalism in claiming that Kennedy “played a key role” in forming it. Saving Iceland is by no means the only nature protection group in Iceland. There are several other Icelandic environmentalist groups and NGOs, some older than the Saving Iceland network. Kennedy was also not instrumental in founding Saving Iceland in 2005 as the Guardian claims, as SI was in fact formed in 2004.

Kennedy did not provide training to Icelandic protesters and did not play an important role in actions
Mark Kennedy was never a trainer for Saving Iceland nor did he train any Icelanders. The only training he may have taken part in is training Icelandic policemen during their self confessed “collaboration” with the UK police, in 2005-2006. The purpose of this collaboration was to help Icelandic police to deal with SI activists.

Kennedy did not play a major role in actions in Iceland in 2005. He had already left the protest camp before it was evicted from Karahnjukar, and was not present when we relocated at Vad Farm in Skriddal. Kennedy only participated in two mass lock-ons at the Karahnjukar dam site, prior to the eviction, and consequently he played no part in a number of actions we carried out following the eviction later that summer, both at Karahnjukar and at the construction site of the ALCOA smelter in Reydarfjordur, or the actions we carried out in the Reykjavik area in August. Kennedy also never ran errands to Reykjavik on behalf of SI; as far as we know, he never set foot in the capital.

Thus the following statements published in the Guardian are nonsense: “It was during this campaign that Kennedy showed the Icelandic activists the techniques of ‘lock down’ – when protesters attach themselves to an immobile object – and how to block roads by constructing tripods from scaffolding, placing a protester at the apex” and “Undercover police officer made himself indispensable to the movement, activist claims”. It is worth noting that a reporter who uses the words ‘lock-down’ for a practice that is generally referred to by activists as ‘lock-on’, clearly does not know much about direct action protests.

None of the activists in the first two lock-ons at Karahnjukar in 2005 were actually Icelandic; these were the only actions Kennedy was part of in Iceland. All the people involved apart from Kennedy were highly experienced activists from different countries who had no need of any training or introduction to such methods, by Kennedy or anyone else. Furthermore, road blocks and tripods were not even employed that summer. SI did not use tripods as means of protest until in the summer of 2008 at the site of a Century Aluminum smelter in Hvalfjordur, near Reykjavik, several years after Kennedy had come to Iceland.

Saving Iceland founder Olafur Pall Sigurdsson had already organized several direct action workshops for several days for Icelandic activists in Reykjavik, in collaboration with the Icelandic peace movement in the spring of 2004 and again under the banner of SI in June 2005. These workshops were given by other foreign trainers. Both courses were publicised openly and reported on by the Icelandic media with a certain amount of puzzled amusement.

It is possible that Mark Kennedy exaggerated his importance to Jason Kirkpatrick, one of the Guardian’s sources. Also, the so-called ‘training videos’ Kennedy showed to Kirkpatrick were in fact footage from the real actions at Karahnjukar. DVDs with this footage were in circulation amongst activist and media all over Europe. There have never been any training videos of SI activists, let alone any with Mark Kennedy as a trainer.
The actual direct action training courses in Iceland took place in May 2004 and June 2005, while Kennedy did not come to Iceland until July 2005, after the protests at the G8 summit in Gleneagles. Consequently, Kirkpatrick’s testimony is founded on the boasting claims of a professional liar, i.e. Kennedy.

As regards Kennedy’s involvement in SI info tours and his supposedly vital role in linking Sigurdsson with other European activists. Kennedy’s role was limited to driving and carrying out some of the logistics for a few of the many trips Sigurdsson and others undertook to publicize the struggle to save the Icelandic highlands. To say that Kennedy was vital in introducing SI to foreign activists or that he introduced direct action to Iceland is therefore utterly false.

Kennedy was never a key decision-maker in Saving Iceland
Likewise, the claim that “Kennedy quickly became a […] key decision-maker” in Saving Iceland is completely erroneous. Saving Iceland is not a hierarchical organisation but a loose campaign, we have no leaders and important roles are shared and rotated. We count on a fluid group of inspired and dedicated people contributing from time to time to the best of their capacity and interests. The emphasis on ‘key-decision makers’ is a form of dramatisation that may help sell newspapers, but shows a lack of understanding of the basic mode of organisation of most of the networks that are written about in the Kennedy case. Besides, if most of the British activists did not find Kennedy to be the sharpest knife in the box, why should SI have found him to be any sharper? Several other people were much more capable and dedicated than he was when it came to strategy and decision-making.

During the few years Mark Kennedy was involved with SI, he was simply one of a large and very active group of foreigners who contributed their efforts to the organization. Indeed, the only remarkable thing about Kennedy’s involvement in Saving Iceland is the fact that he was a police spy.

The reports of the Guardian are misleading, they misrepresent the true context of Kennedy’s involvement and are not in keeping with the integrity that the Guardian journalists at first wished to project in their communications with Saving Iceland. Saving Iceland demands to see the real truth that lies behind Kennedy’s heinous personal betrayals in the name of state-sanctioned violations of basic human rights.

Kennedy did act as an agent-provocateur
Saving Iceland can now confirm that Mark Kennedy did certainly act as an agent provocateur within our network, regularly calling for more extreme forms of protest, and that he abused trust in clearly an illegal manner, even using sex as a means to gain access.

We want to see that the truth about his betrayals while under the command of the British authorities, and possibly in collaboration with the Icelandic authorities, be exposed and that those responsible be made to answer for their actions. The British and Icelandic police and governments, for whom Kennedy seems to have gathered information, must end their silence about which agencies and authorities were aware of his undercover work in Iceland.

Kennedy himself has now confirmed, in an interview with the Daily Mail, that when operating in Germany he was always in direct contact with the German authorities and personally passed on information to the German police. This has been confirmed in the Bundestag by high-ranking German police officers. The Daily Mail reports that “Kennedy says he would travel abroad with fellow activists, and feed information back to his British superiors to share with other nations. ‘Activism has no borders,’ he says. ‘I would never go abroad without authority from my superiors and the local police.’” Why should the case be any different when it comes to Icelandic authorities?

Illegal Icelandic collaboration with British services?
Saving Iceland will in the next few days publish evidence that shows that the police in Seydisfjordur and Eskifjordur did not tell the truth in their statement to the Icelandic National Broadcaster by stating that they did not have any “dealings” with Mark Stone/Kennedy in 2005. Later, after a lengthy delay in answering, the Icelandic State Police, “refused to comment” on the National Broadcasters’ question if the State Police was aware of a British police spy in SI. Saving Iceland asks: What are the State Police hiding?

Finally, on 2 February, Haraldur Johannesen, head of the Icelandic State Police, asserted in a meeting with Ögmundur Jonasson, the Icelandic Minister of Internal Affairs, that the State Police had no idea that the British agent was operating in Icelandic jurisdiction. (Update.) Apparently the Minister ordered the police officer to submit a report about this.

Icelandic legislation does not allow pre-emptive investigations. If the British police was operating without the knowledge of Icelandic authorities they were clearly violating Icelandic jurisdiction. If the Icelandic police received any of the information gathered by Mark Kennedy they broke the law.

The published confirmation [in the Police Magazine] of close collaboration between British and Icelandic authorities on the issue of Saving Iceland in the winter of 2005-2006 together with the statements of the police in Seydisfjordur and Eskifjordur, that contradict the evidence that Saving Iceland is in possession of, gives ample grounds to assume that the Icelandic authorities were in the know about Mark Kennedy’s infiltration of Saving Iceland.

Instead of reporting made-up spectacle, the Guardian and other media should now focus on breaking open the silence of the British and Icelandic governments as regards to whom Kennedy’s information was passed on and which agencies/authorities were aware of his undercover work in Iceland.

“The trial of the ‘Reykjavik 9’ is an attempt to criminalise retroactively Iceland’s democratic protests in 2008 and thus depoliticise them. The defendants include Solveig Jonsdottir, the leader of Attac,” said Andrej Hunko, Member of the German Bundestag, regarding the trial of the nine Icelandic activists. “The charges are based on the accusation of an ‘offence against Parliament’. This can mean up to life imprisonment, and carries a minimum sentence of one year’s imprisonment,” explained Mr Hunko, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

It was the determined mass protests in December 2008, known as the “saucepan revolution”, which finally forced the resignation of the conservative government, which was embroiled in the banking scandal. Two days before the blockade of Parliament at the heart of the current trial, 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos was shot dead by the police in Greece. Across Europe, social movements had taken to the streets.

“The charge of an ‘offence against the Icelandic Parliament’ has only been resorted to once in Iceland’s history: in 1949, when demonstrators opposed Nato accession. This demonstrates the political nature of this clause.

“However, the blockade of Parliament led to elections and political change. Instead of the accused now being threatened with prison sentences, tribute ought to be paid to their political activism,” Mr Hunk continued.

“Furthermore, since 2005 Mark Kennedy, the recently unmasked spy for the British police, had been targeting the Icelandic activists who went on to participate in the peaceful revolution. The cross-border deployment of undercover agents which has now come to light represents, in my views, a coordinated, Europe-wide campaign targeting social movements. For this reason, I have today written to Icelandic parliamentarians and the Ministry of the Interior informing them about the parliamentary initiatives in Germany regarding the illegal undercover operation involving Mark Kennedy and proposing a dialogue,” Mr Hunko said in conclusion.

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www.andrej-hunko.de

http://www.rvk9.org/in-english/

Saving Iceland would like to make it clear that we are mindful about keeping our vow to respect and protect the privacy of all the great people who have taken part in our struggle against the corporate destruction of Icelandic nature.

By entering into discussions with journalists on matters outside the sphere of the issues of our struggle, such as the private lives of individuals in our network, we would be in serious breach of the trust and solidarity that has been the core of our network.

Below is a statement Saving Iceland released to the Guardian on 13 January 2011. This is the only platform that we are prepared to discuss Mark Kennedy’s time with Saving Iceland.

Regrettably we are not prepared to participate in an interview about the police spy Mark Kennedy. However, we would like to make the following statement:

Yes, Mark Kennedy came to Iceland in the summer of 2005 and took part in actions against ALCOA and the dams at Karahnjukar.

His case is a clear example about how low governments are prepared to stoop to, in this case the British and Icelandic, in their attempts to criminalize people who use their right to protest and who challenge the abuses of power by the State and corporations.

What we find interesting in this context is whether the Icelandic police were made aware by the British authorities of the presence of this British police spy in the Saving Iceland camp and if they received any of the information gathered by him while he was active as an agent.

So far the Icelandic State police have not answered the request of the Icelandic National Broadcasting about whether they communicated with Mark Kennedy and his superiors. Only the local police force in the east, where the dams and ALCOA factory are located, have issued an evasive answer stating that they had not “intervened” with the “protester” Mark Stone during the protests.

It is also interesting whether Mark Kennedy took part in the training of Icelandic police officers when they attended a course with the British police in the winter of 2005-2006 where they received training in how to violate groups such as Saving Iceland.

Clearly the presence of Mark Kennedy in Icelandic jurisdiction, as an active agent of the British police, violated Icelandic and international laws, even if there was an official collaboration between the two authorities in this respect.

In either case the one or both governments are guilty of violating basic human rights of the people they were spying on.

The Saving Iceland Collective.

It states that:

– Environmental impacts of the project are high and cannot be mitigated.
– 17,000 ha of untouched wilderness will be affected
– Greenhouse gas emissions of the project would constitute 14% of Iceland’s total.
– There is a high amount of uncertainty regarding the full impact of the planned geothermal power plants and particularly their impact of the geothermal energy resource base.
– The assessed energy projects are not sufficient to power the smelter, with 140 MW of capacity missing.

“These reports confirms three key elements of critique that Saving Iceland voiced now several years ago,” says Jaap Krater, a spokesperson for Saving Iceland.

“The first is that the environmental impact of the drilling in the north would be much greater than Alcoa claimed.”

“Secondly, when the joint impact assessment was announced we insisted that possible dams in Skjalfandafljot, Jökulsá Eystri, Jökulsá Vestri (both in the Skagafjörður region) and Jökulsá á Fjöllum should be assessed for environmental impact. Now our calculations that the northern geothermal fields will not produce enough energy for the smelter are proving correct.”

“Thirdly, we have said that carbon emissions from the projects would be extremely high and would make it very difficult for Iceland to meet its international obligations. This is also confirmed,” explains Krater.

“If Iceland wishes to become an EU member, then this impact assessment will surely be the kiss of death for the Alcoa Bakki project.

Saving Iceland’s energy calculations were reported in Morgunblaðið in August 2008 (1), while the greenhouse gas issues were published in a recent international book publication (2).

References

(1) Bakki Impact Assessment Should Include Dams, by Jaap Krater, Morgunbladid, August 22nd 2008, in Icelandic here and English here.

(2) Development of Iceland’s geothermal energy potential for aluminium production – a critical analysis, by Jaap Krater and Miriam Rose, In: Abrahamsky, K. (ed.) (2010) Sparking a World-wide Energy Revolution: Social Struggles in the Transition to a Post-Petrol World. AK Press, Edinburgh. p. 319-333. Also published on Saving Iceland’s website here.

For the last decade, Samarendra has been involved with the struggle of the Dongria Kondh tribe in Odisha, India, against the British mining enterprise Vedanta, which plans to mine bauxite for aluminium production on the tribes’ lands – the Niyamgiri hills. The struggle has gained strength lately and for example, many official parties have sold their shares in Vedanta on the grounds that the company does not live up to expected demands about respect to human rights and local communities. Samarendra’s part in this can not be undermined, but he has written hundreds of articles, published and edited books, and made documentaries about the struggle and related issues. The new book, Out of This Earth, can be called the “black book” of the aluminium industry, since it addresses all the dark sides of the industry. In a press release from the publisher, Orient Black Swan, this says e.g. about the book:

“Aluminium is a metal we take for granted in hundreds of artefacts. But what do we understand about its real costs? This book traces a hidden history, coming alive through hundreds of voices and stories, of how one country after another swallowed promises of prosperity, and plunged into a cycle of exploitation and unrepayable debt. What is the link between the massive meltdown of Iceland’s banks, and the promotion of dams and smelters? Between the mafia-style looting of Russia’s assets and the rise to power of a succession of aluminium barons? Why did the US set a limit during the 1950s-60s and start to outsource aluminium factories to other, poorer countries, such as Ghana, Guinea, Jamaica, India?”

In the book, Samarendra and Felix discuss how industries like the aluminium industry are driven by an international cartel that fuses mining companies, investment bankers, government deals, metals traders and arms manufacturers. Their input into the discourse here in Iceland comes at the most needed time, now the plan still seems to by to build more aluminium smelters and the discussion about the selling of geothermal energy company H.S. Orka to the Canadian Magma Energy – a company that has its roots in metal mining in South America – seems to be reaching its climax.

This is not the first time that Samarendra comes to Iceland. He was here in the summer of 2008, when Saving Iceland’s resistance camp took place in Hellisheiði, where Reykjavík Energy (O.R.) is enlarging its geothermal power plant. That summer Samarendra had a well attended talk in the Reykjavík Academia, along with Andri Snær Magnason, the author of the book and documentary, Dreamland. After the talk it seemed like all of a sudden a discussion about the global context of aluminium production appeared in Icelandic society. And finally the biggest Icelandic media talked about bauxite mining in context without aluminum production of this country.

This is the third time that Saving Iceland organizes visits and talks of foreign guests here in Iceland. In the summer of 2007, an international conference called The Global Consequences of Heavy Industry and Large Dams took place in Ölfus, South Iceland. There, people from five continents came together and shared their stories of the environmental and social impacts of energy and aluminium production.

Like said before Samarendra will have more talks while he is in the country, which will be advertised later. We encourage medias to come to the talk on Wednesday, in Reykjavík Academia, as well as interviewing Samarendra – about the book, aluminium industry and the struggle of India’s tribal people. Those who want to talk to him are asked to contact Saving Iceland through this email:  savingiceland at riseup.net.

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The whole press release about the book can be seen here: Out of This Earth: East India Adivasis and the Aluminium Cartel

Read a recent article by Miriam Rose, about the struggle of the Dongria Kondh tribe: The Suffering of the Humble.. and Our Complicity

Read two article by Samarendra Das and Felix Padel: Agya, What Do You Mean by Development? and Double Death – Aluminum’s Link with Genocide

Following is the announcement from the group behind the petition along with the demands:

Within few days, the final deals concerning Magma Energy Sweden AB’s purchase of HS Orka will get signed. That will give Magma the full private right of utilization over these important and valuable resources for the next 65 years, with a possibility for a further 65 year extension! The company is buying these rights into our resources very cheaply compared to other countries, for an unusually long time compared to other countries and on terms which seem to benefit the buyer in all aspects. Some arguments have been made, stating that we can’t afford not to sell wheras the country needs foreign investors into the country to create employment. But the fact of the matter is that Magma is actually getting the main part of the loans for the purchase in Iceland – on terms which for some reason are not on offer to other companies.

According to reliable economic forecasts, pure green energy is getting more sought, and therefore more valuable, with every passing day in a world threatened by a looming energy resource shortage. If they treat their energy resources responsibly, the people of Iceland should be able to benefit hugely from them.

The sale of HS Orka is a trial of the resource- and energy policies of the coming years.

The times are hard and we cannot afford to purchase HS Orka ourselves, we say. But can we really afford not to?

If the public were given jurisdiction in this matter of high interest to participate in forming a long-sighted and just resource- and energy policie with a referendum – following an honest and transparent debate, the energy could remain as our most solid property – and source of income, including the energy on the Southern Peninsula that’s being given away. A democratic policy making like that could become an important example for the rest of the world.

Because of multiple misunderstandings and administrative screw-ups the deal on Magmas purchase could now manage to pass through without us having had the time to value it with proper resources on the whole of the matter and it’s possible consequences. We’re facing decisions that aren’t going to be made by appointed councils or elected politicians. There is full reason to call for the authorities to look into the matter on counts of the 12^th article of laws concerning foreign investment in business activity on Iceland, which states; “If the minister of trade suspects that a certain foreign investment can cause threat to the national security or goes against the general rule, public safety or public health and in the cases of serious economical, national or environmentaldifficulties in specific industries or areas, that seem to be ongoing, he can and may stop that investment…” If the deal truly is as unfavourable as it seems, then there’s more reasons for the government to breach it surfacing every day.

It’s neccessary to point out here that the decisions which led to this case were taken by elected and public officials who got heavily criticised in the parlament’s SIC-report (a report of a special committee investigating the causes of the economical collapse). It’s important that we learn from past mistakes, and that’s why we want to encourage the inhabitants of Iceland to put pressure on the government by declaring their wishes about the future rule for ownership of energy resources.

The signatures of the nation on this petition is a demand of popular will the authorities must listen to.

Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Jón Þórisson, Oddný Eir Ævarsdóttir

The declaration on the petition states:

I demand that the authorities stop the sale of HS Orka, and for the parlament to put out a referendum on the ownership of energy resources in the country and their utilization.
Signed:

The Struggle So Far
The campaign to defend Europe’s greatest remaining wilderness continues. For the past five years summer direct action camps in Iceland have targeted aluminium smelters, mega-dams and geothermal power plants.

After the terrible destruction as a result of building Europe’s largest dam at Kárahnjúkar and massive geothermal plants at Hengill, there is still time to crush the ‘master plan’ that would have each major glacial river dammed, every substantial geothermal field exploited and the construction of aluminium smelters, an oil refinery, data farms and silicon factories. This would not only destroy unique landscapes and ecosystems but also lead to a massive increase in Iceland’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Political Landscape
Saving Iceland has reintroduced civil disobedience and anarchist ideas into Icelandic grassroots and demonstrated numerous methods of direct action, many of which were utilized in a highly successful manner in the ‘Kitchen Utensils Uprising´ of last year, where experienced Saving Iceland activists constantly stood in the forefront pushing boundaries. Saving Iceland and our work throughout the years was a major catalyst in toppling the corrupt pro-heavy industry ‘Alcoa government’.

However, last year´s general elections were a major blow for the environmental movement in Iceland, with the ‘Left Greens’ booting their own minister of the environment out for being genuinely concerned about environmental values. The leader of the party denounced their own environmental policies for being too ‘puritanical’ to be applicable in such times of financial crisis. With this and the continuing of the People’s Alliance in government we are still looking at a heavily fortified pro-heavy industry government, doing away with any pretence of being green or even remotely progressive. On top of this, corrupt labour unions are firmly in the grip of the aluminium lobby calling for job growth regardless of the environmental costs.

The Situation Now
The deep financial and ethical crisis that hit Iceland in the autumn of 2008 caused the energy companies temporary difficulties in obtaining foreign loans for their projects, but the aluminium lobbyists are more bloody minded than ever. Now their argument is that with the economic collapse, Iceland can simply not afford to take note of environmental concerns. This actually exposes the underlying truth that the aluminium lobby have always been aware of the validity of the environmentalists point of view. The aluminium lobby want to further their horrors, on grounds of a crisis which they are largely responsible for having created.

The banking side of the crash tends to be overemphasized while other major drivers of the crash are often ignored. The report of the Special Investigation Commission (SIC), which looked into the events leading up to and causing the financial crash, has however focused on the effects of heavy industry in a key chapter of their report. The expansion of Iceland’s financial system beyond the country’s sustainable limits, is unequivocally traced back to the enormous projects of the heavy industry build-up. This chapter has been ignored by the media, and so has another chapter that stated the media’s own culpability as unquestioning servants of the bank and industrial establishments.

A fundamental problem with the SIC report and the general atmosphere of denial that greeted it is that the report comes from within the very heart of the rotten State of Iceland. As such its real function is to keep all the options for dealing with the huge amount of corruption and democracy deficit safely within the sphere of the courts and parliamentary politics: Firmly under the control of the very establishment that created all this power abuse in the first place.

In case of the financial frauds this will mean years of long, drawn-out court cases which will gradually loose all meaning to the public, which have been left to pay the massive debts generated by the frauds.

In case of the deep rooted culture of corruption and the climate of fear which the aluminium corporations and power companies so thrive in, the promises of transparency and democracy are nothing but a smokescreen for an even greater corporate plunder of the countries’ energy resources. This plunder, supported by restructuring obligations in loan agreements with the IMF, is a continuation of a deeply corrupt policy of privatisation and ruthless industrialisation, the very same policies that created the crisis.

Current action targets
The Century aluminium smelter in Helguvík, targeted by Saving Iceland last two summers, is still slowly being built. Where the electricity for the plant is to come from is still uncertain, but it will require up to eight new power plants, at least seven of which will be geothermal on the Reykjanes Peninsula (HS/MAGMA) and Hellisheiði (OR – Reykjavik Energy). One of the geothermal plants powering Century’s smelter could be in Bitra, close to Hengill, and the eighth power plant will probably be a large dam on the beautiful Þjórsá River that Landsvirkjun (National Power Company) is eager to build as soon as they can. Norðurþing is in negotiations with Alcoa about an aluminium smelter in Bakki/Húsavík with energy coming from fragile wilderness areas in the north. Platina Resources want to do gold and other mining research in the Eastfjords.

Take action!
This year, instead of organizing a summer protest camp, we call for resistance throughout the seasons. We especially call for Icelanders to take action all year round but also environmentalists worldwide to come to Iceland, where we will warmly welcome any kind of individual actions against the aluminium corporations and the energy companies active in destroying the environment.

Symbolic actions have turned out not to be enough to stop the forces of destruction. The aim of actions should be to prevent any further rape of the land. Saving Iceland gives its wholehearted solidarity to any actions that hit the aluminium industry and the power companies where its most effective.

Even if you can not come to Iceland to do direct actions your help to our struggle with solidarity actions, donations, translations and by spreading the word will be invaluable.

For information on targets read:

The Nature Killers

The Saving Iceland European Target Brochure

S.I. European Target Brochure Update

On Thursday, July 8th at about 12:30, 20 people went to the Icelandic consulate in Barcelona to show there outrage against the Icelandic state; for there existence and there heavy repression of the 9 people of Reykjavík because of their actions at the parliament December 8th 2008. If there were any kind of true democracy their demands would have been welcomed and allowed a space. But since obviously there can never be true state democracy, the peoples demands were repressed and silenced.

It is obvious that these actions by the state of Iceland are politically and ideologically motivated. Targeting specific people out of the thousands that protested, and even out of the people who entered the parliament this particular day. In these actions it is also obvious that the government is trying to set a precedent, to squash any future dissidence and outrage that could disrupt their status quo. The repressive measures even extended to the consulate, where it seems that they asked for assistance by the most aggressive riot police in Barcelona, the Mossos.

There were more than 20 Mossos in the entrance of the building and 4 riot vans were in the surrounding block. The building which houses the Icelandic consulate has many different offices and normally only has one guard. The consulate is on the 8th floor of this building. When we arrived we were told we would not be allowed inside this building as a group, and that only one person could come inside to talk to someone that was not from the parliament itself, but a director of the building. During the demonstration, other people continuously walked inside and out from the building. When we got there, the police had told us that the consulate was closed and that some director from the building would come down to hear our demands and relay them to the consulate. After this, two people left to call the consulate, who answered the phone and had said that they were open. Then we tried to call and hand the phone to the policeman but he would not accept and kept with his position of them being closed.

We demonstrated in the streets for a little over an hour, with banners saying in Catalan, “Stop the repression against the activists in Iceland!” and “If the Reykjavik 9 fall, so will the Icelandic state!” We passed out leaflets about the repression and situation in Iceland from last winter, banged pots and pans, and shouted slogans in support of the Reykjavik 9 and anti capitalist chants. These continued repressive measures to blockade the entrance to this place that is legal to enter any other time – just like the parliament in December of 2008 – show once again that the Icelandic state will take all measures to keep their status quo, and suspend all civil rights that are even left under their state apparatus.

But what they don’t realize is that the struggle will not die, it will only strengthen. And that the Reykjavik 9 are not alone in this struggle. Your struggle is our struggle! No political prisoners! All political prisoners must be set free!

From Barcelona: Complete solidarity with the Reykjavik 9!