Rene — Baghdad gets Independent Media Center + Int'l Campaign for Labor Rights
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6. BAGHDAD GETS INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER
A dozen Iraqis “unconnected with either the previous Baathist regime
or with the successor American government” have come together to
launch a Baghdad Independent Media Center website and bilingual
Arabic-English newspaper , Al-Muajaha (The Witness)–despite very
little money, limited equipment and unreliable electricity and phone
service. In their mission statement, they say: “Al-Muajaha is an
independent Iraqi newspaper representing all levels of Iraqi society.
We aim to help the world understand Iraq, and to help Iraq understand
the world. For decades, almost all governments in the world,
including our own, abused and terribly ignored the basic humanity of
the Iraqi people, Al-Muajaha aims to provide an open forum for all
Iraqis to freely debate current issues, and in so doing educate
themselves and the world. We aim to support the legitimate desires of
the Iraqi people by providing a voice for them that reach the world,
and we hope to promote understanding of the fundamental equality of
all peoples and nations under both human and divine law.”
The Baghdad IMC and Al-Muajaha are sponsored by the Chicago-based
activist group Voices in the Wilderness, and the Urbana-Champaign
IMC. Checks made out to “UCIMC” with “IMC-Baghdad” in their memo line
can be sent to:
Urbana-Champaign IMC
ATTN: Treasurer
218 West Main St.
Suite 110
Urbana, IL 61801
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7. INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR LABOR RIGHTS IN IRAQ
The International Liaison Committee for a Workers’ International
(ILC) has called a June 15 conference in Geneva in Defense of
Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), to be
attended by leaders of unions and federations from more than 40
countries. The first point on the agenda is a proposal to launch an
international campaign for labor rights in Iraq.
The ILC, a coalition of unions and political parties from 92
countries around the world, played an important role this past
February in obtaining the endorsements of unions representing more
than 130 million workers in 52 countries in support of the US Labor
Against War international declaration.
In recent weeks, the ILC was contacted by a representative coalition
of Iraqi unionists and political dissidents, most of them living in
exile in Europe or the Arab world, with a request for help in a
campaign for labor rights in Iraq. The ILC agreed to work on this
campaign and to summon the international labor movement for the
effort. Writes the ILC:
“In the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, with the US Army now
becoming an army of occupation to protect the corporate interests of
Bush’s anti-union cronies (Bechtel, SSA, MCI, Hailliburton, etc.)
who’ve received the big contracts to ‘rebuild Iraq,’ organizing a
concerted campaign to promote labor rights in Iraq, we believe, must
be a top priority for all unions and labor activists fighting for
peace and social justice the world over. Working people in Iraq will
need independent unions and all other rights codified in the ILO
conventions in the weeks and months to come. Independent unions and
full labor rights are the backbone of any society that claims to be
democratic.”
One ILC affiliate, the Open World Conference of Workers (OWC), has
launched a $5,000 fundraising effort for the campaign for labor
rights in Iraq. Checks payable to OWC can be sent to: OWC, c/o San
Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO), 1188 Franklin St. #203, San
Francisco, CA 94109.
(OWC press release, May 15)