Peacemakers like Margaretta D’Arcy uphold the greater moral law

Afri
Photograph taken in solidarity with jailed Peace Activist Margaretta D’Arcy at “Airing Erris: The Media and Shell Corrib” in Ceathrú Thaidhg, County Mayo on the 18th January

Signs of hope and causes for optimism are still to be found amid the bleak picture often presented on the daily news. Despite the realities of war, climate change and hunger, we can find hope and inspiration in those who continue to resist, to struggle, to challenge, and even to celebrate.

Imbolc, the ancient Irish festival that marks the beginning of spring, is almost upon us. It represents a time of new beginnings after the long, dark winter. In Irish tradition, people celebrated this time on February 1st, and honoured Brigid, who was noted in legend as a strong and fearless leader that carried a torch for peace, truth and justice. Continue reading “Peacemakers like Margaretta D’Arcy uphold the greater moral law” →

Release Peace Activist Margaretta D’Arcy

Afri
Photograph taken at “Airing Erris: The Media and Shell Corrib” on January 18th in Ceathrú Thaidhg, Co. Mayo in solidarity with jailed peace activist Magaretta D’Arcy. Photo: Dave Donnellan

Friday 17th of January 2014

Department of Justice, 94 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2

Peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy was arrested yesterday and brought to Limerick prison to serve a three month sentence. Ms D’Arcy suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is also being treated for cancer.

She was arrested and charged as a consequence of a peaceful protest against the use of Shannon Airport by US troops on their way to and from their wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere, due to the Irish Governments commitment to active participation and support for the doctrine of perpetual war. She refused to sign a bond to say that she would stay out of unauthorised zones at Shannon Airport.

Please contact Mr. Alan Shatter, Minister for Justice at: minister@justice.ie to seek her release and share this message with your friends.

Irish Culture Gang Storms Wales with the Manning Truthfest

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This weekend 10-11 January 2014 a gang of Irish musicians, performers and activists will travel to west Wales to present not one, not two, but three events in support of whistleblower and US prisoner Chelsea (Bradley) Manning and her mum and family members in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

Chelsea  Manning is serving a 35-year jail sentence in the US for releasing what was judged to be classified information. It included film of a murderous US helicopter gunship attack on civilians in Baghdad that killed 12 and seriously injured two children. The perpetrators of that crime walk free.

Chelsea Manning’s grandfather Billy Fox emigrated from Rathmines Dublin to Wales in 1948. So Afri invited Chelsea’s family from Wales to Dublin two months ago. His mum Susan, aunts Sharon and Mary, and his uncle Kevin made many friends during that visit, some of whom are among the return visitors to Wales this weekend taking part in The Manning Truthfest in Fishguard and Haverfordwest. Continue reading “Irish Culture Gang Storms Wales with the Manning Truthfest” →

The Manning Family Visit to Dublin

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From Left to Right: Joe Murray, Afri Co-ordinator, Susan Manning (mother of Chelsea Manning), and Gerry Conlon. Photo: Derek Speirs

Afri was proud and delighted to host a series of events and meetings in solidarity with imprisoned Chelsea (Bradley) Manning’s mother Susan, Aunts Mary and Sharon, and Uncle Kevin. The family travelled from their home in Haverford West, South Wales, to Dublin, the birthplace of their father. In what is a continuing indictment of the Irish Government’s subservience to US power, Pvt. Manning had transited through Shannon on the way to the war on Iraq. He was subsequently tortured in Kuwait and Quantico and is now serving 35 years imprisonment in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, for courageously exposing the horrors of the endless U.S ‘war on terror’.

Afri invited independent T.D. Catherine Murphy to host a meeting of TDs and Senators in the Dáil for the family which was attended by Joe Higgins, Clare Daly, Ming Flanagan, Sean Crowe and Katherine Zappone among others. The family was also welcomed on arrival at the Dáil by Senator David Norris. Very moving interviews with Sharon and Kevin were carried later on RTÉ news and on Drivetime. The visit was also covered by a number of newspapers and radio stations. The family also met with Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders and the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) Continue reading “The Manning Family Visit to Dublin” →

Use of Shannon Airport by U.S. Military Implicates Ireland in Iraqi/Afghan Slaughter

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Press Release

From left to right: Donal O’Kelly as an Irish politician, Dylan Tighe as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner and Raymond Keane as a US marine in a protest action to highlight the use of Shannon airport by the US military on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war earlier this year. Photo: Derek Speirs

The human rights group Afri has said it is dismayed but not surprised by the revelation, given in response to a Dáil question, that a US military aircraft “armed with a fixed weapon” stopped at Shannon airport early last month. Afri opposes the use of Shannon by US military because of the way it implicates Ireland in the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people in the US’s disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Afri believes, as confirmed by groups such as Shannon Watch, that weapons are regularly transported through Shannon, the only difference being that on this occasion the weapon was visible. The ongoing arrogance of the US was again in evidence in the failure by the Embassy even to answer questions about the type of aircraft or weapon where the aircraft had flown from or its destination.

Afri is appalled by the craven attitude of the Irish Government and by Mr Gilmore’s bending over backwards in an embarrassing attempt to explain and excuse this ‘administrative error’.

Afri once again calls on the Government to end this practice of participating in proxy war by handing our airports over to the US war machine.

Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy

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Bradley Manning
Ad sponsored by the Bradley Manning Support Network put up in Washington DC Metro in April 2013. Photo: Bradley Manning Support Network

Whistle-blower Bradley Manning was found not guilty of the charge of “Aiding the Enemy” by military judge Colonel Denise Lind.  However, he has been sentenced to 90 years after the court found him guilty of a number of other charges including passing on classified information to Wikileaks.

Manning has been held in custody since 2010 after it was alleged he leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the Wikileaks website, revealing information about US war crimes.

The International Peace Bureau have awarded the 2013 Sean MacBride Peace Prize to Manning for his courageous actions in informing the public about US war crimes. The IPB’s Co-President Tomas Magnusson commented: “When Manning revealed to the world the crimes being committed by the US military he did so as an act of obedience to this high moral duty [to make known war crimes and crimes against humanity]”. Continue reading “Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy” →