Freedomedia

The North Korean government has announced that two American journalists who were captured near the Chinese border will stand trial for entering the country illegally.

The two reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are employed by Al Gore’s San Francisco-based cable outlet Current TV. They were arrested on March 17 while reporting from the frozen Tumen, which forms the border between China and North Korea. They were working on a story about North Korean refugees.

But one would never know that two of Current’s reporters could spend the next five to ten years in a North Korean labor camp by visiting the company’s Web Site. In fact, Pacifica has confirmed that any effort to publicize the plight of the two reporters in the company’s online forums is quickly scrubbed from the site.

Current TV has not issued a public statement about its reporters and repeated calls seeking comment have gone unreturned. When journalist Ian Port visited Current’s headquarters, he was told to turn off his camera and asked to leave.

The company’s silence has generated concern from reporters and press activists around the world. Curt Hopkins, the Executive Director for the Committee to Protect Bloggers, told Pacifica that while security experts sometimes recommend keeping quiet to ensure the quick return of captives, the silence could actually delay their release.

Hopkins: We were told by people in larger organizations than our own that the best thing to do is to kind of shut up and if you just don’t stir up anything, they’ll be released. I’m sure that does happen every once in a while, and I’m also certain that given former Vice President’s Gore’s connection with diplomatic circles that probably every diplomatic thing is being done. However, there’s just a tendency in general to advocate for silence, and my experience, having been contacted as the head of the Committee to Protect Bloggers by a number of different people who knew they were going to be questioned by the security forces in their country, they said to me, ‘don’t do anything right now, but if you don’t hear from me in 48 hours just sound the alarm as loud as you possibly could’

Hopkins said that Current’s decision to censor comments posted on its Web site about its imprisoned reporters leaves him feeling like the company has abandoned its reporters.

Hopkins: I just think it makes them an organization, which no reasonable journalist, whether citizen or professional, would have anything to do with, because whatever is going on behind the scenes, and it may be quite a lot, I don’t know, but I’m not going to take that chance. I won’t work for them. Because for all I know their main consideration is their IPO. They don’t have so much as a badge on their site that says ‘don’t forget these two’. … If I’m working for you, you owe me. If I’m risking myself and going to strange situations and so on, I’m not just in your debt, you’re in my debt and you damn well better step up if something like this happens.

Robert Wood, a spokesperson for the State Department said at a press conference today that the United States is quietly working to secure the release of Lee and Ling.

Wood: The best I can tell you is we’ve seen these reports. And again, we continue to call on the North Koreans to release the two Americans so they can be returned to their families. We’ll continue to work this issue through diplomatic channels. As I’ve said we’re trying to work this quietly and we’re going to continue to work it, but I don’t have much to say beyond that right now.

But with no formal diplomatic relations between the US and North Korea, the process of negotiating their release is difficult. John Feffer is the Co-director of Foreign Policy and Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies. He says that Current’s decision not to comment may be the best approach to secure their release.

Feffer: Once you raise a public human cry, you may very well block the option of pursuing quiet diplomacy, so I think most folks concerned with the case are trying, at least at this point, to see what can be done quietly, and I think that’s appropriate. … Pursuing the quiet approach, at least at this point, seems to promise the greatest likelihood of success.

Robert Mahoney, the deputy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists told Pacifica that while there have been indications that Lee and Ling are being treated humanely, neither humanitarian groups nor the US Government have been granted access to them. A Swedish representative did visit the two reporters last month.

Mahoney: North Korea is probably the most heavily censored country in the world. It doesn’t have any press except for government press and so therefore it’s an extremely difficult country to report from. We have seen that these two journalists were detained on the border with china in circumstances which, as far as we can tell, are not fully explained. It therefore is extremely difficult to get information about them and to work for their release with a government that has a history of not taking the world’s opinion into consideration.

Reporter’s without Borders has created a petition of journalists and bloggers calling for the release of the two Current reporters.

Brendan McShane Creamer, a Philadelphia resident who knows Laura Ling’s sister Lisa, has created a Facebook group about the plight of thejournalists, which now has more than 2,500 members calling for theirrelease.

Creamer has organized a candle-light vigil in front of Current TV’s San Francisco headquarters at 7 o’clock Tuesday night, and another vigil will be held at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks California at the same time.

Creamer: I decided Current would be a great place to start and then Del Campo High School is where Laura Ling attended high school, and Lisa Ling also attended there. I’ve been in contact with Lisa Ling and so, with her permission and everything, I’ve been putting information out on the group page on Facebook and e-mailing people. She just sent me a message to send out to everyone on Facebook, on the group page, and she has it posted on her page, thanking everyone for this vigil, and stating the reasons why she can’t come out in public and be in the public eye in regards to this story.

On May 21, another vigil will be held in New York City in front of MSNBC, which is being organized by retired JAG lawyer and legal analyst Gwendolyn Lindsay Jackson.

Jackson told Pacifica that she felt compelled to do whatever she can to help Ling and Lee return home safe and return home soon.

Jackson: I just really feel for these families and I feel for these women, because they can’t be forgotten. Commonsense would tell you that if you forget about somebody it doesn’t go away if you sweep it under the rug. Clearly if efforts were being made behind the scenes during the height of the scare with the North Koreans launching that rocket a few weeks ago, well that’s already happened, its done, things should have moved on by now. The longer this drags on, the more worrisome it becomes for me, as a human being.

For Pacifica Radio in Berkeley, I’m Josh Wolf

         

© zoriah/www.zoriah.com

Zoriah has a gift for photography. I first came across his work last night, and immediately felt the impact. But even before I was moved by his images, I was blown away by his story.

As an embedded journalist in Iraq, Zoriah has been traveling with the multi-national forces and covering the occupation first-hand. On June 26 he witnessed the immediate aftermath of a suicide bombing that left several dozen people dead.

Zoriah writes:

We are searching homes for weapons and information regarding Al Qaeda in Iraq, when a message comes over the radio. “We have one killed in actions (KIA), and two wounded in action (WIA)…”

We grab our gear, throwing on our body armor, Kevlar helmets, gloves, goggles, and other proactive gear as we run out of the house…

I have nearly 70lbs. (31kg.) of equipment strapped to my body and, although I am in good physical shape, I feel the heat burning my lungs every time I inhale. We see people running down the street in panic.

The soldier who is running next to me glances onto the pavement at the same time as I do. There is an ear on the ground. About five feet away, we see a chunk of scalp with hair on a palm sized piece of skull. We look at each other, realizing that we are walking into true madness …and this is just the beginning.

During the next few minutes, Zoriah documents the carnage snapping as quickly as he can. Before long he is ordered out of the area, but not before capturing at least two images of a Marine that had been killed in the attack.

On June 30, several days after the attack, Zoriah uploads his images and his account of the event to his blog.

By July 1, he had been removed from his assignment by the US Marine Corps (more…)

         

At tonight’s Berkeley City Council Meeting, council member Donna Spring will ask for an urgent agenda item be added to confront the University over blocking the public sidewalk along Piedmont Ave at the Oak Grove.

SPRING: “I’m hoping that six members of the council will be willing to add it to the agenda, and there I want to make a motion to ask that we write a letter to the university telling them that we need our sidewalk back again. We need public access and to get their barriers off the public sidewalks. If they want to restrict the tree sitters they’re gonna have to do it on their own property. Not use the public right-of-way to try to restrict the tree sitters from getting food and water.

Protesters first occupied the trees in the Oak Grove more than 18 months ago in an effort to stop a planned Sports complex adjacent to the stadium at UC Berkeley. Last Monday, in anticipation of a judge’s ruling, UC Berkeley brought in a Watsonville tree service company to remove the sitters’ platforms and traverse lines.

On Sunday, police blocked supporters from providing food and water to the tree sitters. Ayr a supporter of the Oak Grove, told KPFA that he did not know how much food or water the tree sitters have left, but indicated the situation is not urgent.

Ayr:“Obviously as each day passes their rations are getting lower and lower being that we’re not able to get them any new stuff, so we’re demanding that the university allow food and water in.”

Dan Mogulof, executive director of public affairs at the university, said that the university feels it has achieved its goal of making it difficult for the tree sitters to maintain their protest.

Mogulof: “If they’re tired and if they’re hungry and thirsty then all they need do is come down and they can have everything they need. Having said that, we continue to monitor the situation on a day-by-day basis. We’re in constant contact with the people in the trees, they’re telling us that they have adequate supplies. But if we perceive, or hear about any significant change in the status quo, in so far as their health and safety and well-being is concerned, we’ll be ready to reevaluate our current position.”

Mogulof would not say whether or not the university would allow the protesters access to food or water after they exhaust their existing supplies. In a formal letter to City Manager Phil Kamlarz, the university affirmed that it is monitoring the health of the tree sitters, and will provide food and water to any protesters who come down.

Mayor Tom Bates said that he does not feel the University should take action against the tree sitters until the legal case has been completely resolved.

Bates: “Eventually this is gonna wind down, just not that far off. The future is here, so it looks like, very shortly, we’ll have a definitive answer to the question, “Can they cut down the trees?” And if they can cut down the trees in the near future, which I wouldn’t like to see happen, and hope doesn’t happen, then obviously the tree sitters are gonna have to come out of the trees. So it seems to me that, right now, that the university oughta not try to starve them out, or not allow them to have water too, in order to stay in the trees until we get a definitive answer from the judge.”

Mogulof said he did not know why the university contracted with Williams Tree Service in Watsonville.

Mogulof: “I personally have no idea where that firm is from I wasn’t a party to any of those conversations, but to the best of my knowledge we selected a firm that had had specific experience with these sorts of events and activities in the past and were adaquetly trained and experienced to manage the situation. The fact is, is that no one was seriously injured last week, that we did manage to achieve our objectives and as far as I know the only one seriously injured was an arborist who was bit by one of the protesters.”

The company has done business with UC Santa Cruz in the past. During the winter break, Williams Tree Service removed materials left near the site of a tree sit there. The Metro Santa Cruz Newspaper reports that the tree service’s activities at the Santa Cruz site led vandals to damage company property held in its service yard. Citing safety concerns the University is refusing to speak publicly about the Tree Service company.

Dennis Williams of Williams Tree Service also refused to comment on the companies operations saying that he can’t speak about the matter until he has permission from the University police department. Mogoluf said he was unaware of any orders prohibiting Williams Tree Service from speaking to the media, and KPFA was unable to secure permission for Williams by the time of this broadcast.

For KPFA, in Berkeley, I’m Josh Wolf.

         

Click to Play

As the battle between tree sitters in the Oak Grove near the Berkeley stadium and arborists hired by the university to cut traverse lines and remove platforms continued for the second day Wednesday, one supporter climbed a light pole to join the protestors in the trees. This rough video captures what happened.

         

The University of California at Berkeley held a press conference to respond to a judgement by Barbara Miller of Alameda County Superior Court. In brief, the UC contends that the ruling is a victory with a few minor hurdles that must be overcome before the sports training complex can be erected.

Click To Play

         

Rock the Vote recently held a call out to recruit a number of correspondents to Rock the Trail. As part of the application, I had to write a series of essays and produce a two-to-four minute video package on “Our World: My Country as I see it.”

Click to Play

This is the piece that I put together with a musical backing that I added after posting my original application (the music is from Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I which has been released for free, but I’m not sure if the rights include using the tracks in other media and I didn’t want to send MTV an entry that possibly infringes on any copyrights).

My 300 word essay on Sustaining young voter participation beyond 2008 is after the break… (more…)

         

“You’ll be the first one cited and released,” the officer reassured me as I protested my unlawful detention. While I was the first to be led away in handcuffs, this wasn’t the “catch and release” operation the cop had suggested it was. I actually wouldn’t be released until six that evening. It was 10:30AM, and I was just about to take a break from filming and grab something for breakfast. I knew I should’ve eaten before I left, but had wanted to begin filming as early as possible.

I attended the protests as a journalist, and had been actively working to stay out of the officers’ way as I filmed the various actions commemorating the five-year anniversary of the war. I don’t pretend to be neutral; I marched down the streets in a state of rage and sadness the day the bombs first dropped, but I was clearly acting as a news gatherer at the time of my arrest. The police didn’t care, and throughout the day several other journalists would find themselves imprisoned for reporting on the day’s dissent. (more…)

         

click here to download

As I got on BART on my way home from work tonight the woman behind me suggested that I look a lot like “Josh Wolf,” and a conversation quickly developed as we travelled into San Francisco. Her name is Poonam and she explained to me about how she and the rest of the Green Guerrillas Against Greenwash have been mounting an assault against the local energy monopoly PG&E, and their recent ad campaign Let’s Green This City.

The Guerrillas have allied themselves with the Community Choice Energy Alliance and together they are working to ensure that the city and county of San Francisco implement Community Choice Aggregation to allow the city to develop its own energy plan.

The goal is for 51% of San Francisco’s energy usage to come from renewable resources by the year 2017 without raising costs for consumers and both groups feel that this target is achievable if, and only if, the city cuts its ties with PG&E.

I joined Poonam and the rest of the Green Guerillas in a house in the Mission where we dined on homemade gourmet vegetarian food and sipped vintage red wine as we discussed the need for clean energy and the Guerilla’s plans to make sure that it’s more than just a pipe dream.

Earlier in the day the group had staged an action in front of City Hall to raise awareness about Gavin Newsom’s questionable relationship with the energy juggernaut, and much of the meeting was spent de-briefing the days activities and brainstorming for future actions.

Unfortunately I missed the protest, but I did find a video on Indybay that helped fill me in on what I missed. The clip above was derived from that video; I removed one scene for pacing and clarity purposes.