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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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 Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 3:10 am Post subject: Peace campaigner, 85, classified as 'domestic extremist' |
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Unbelievable. Well, no. Not any more. Ten years ago, it would have been unbelievable.
Peace campaigner, 85, classified by police as 'domestic extremist'
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For John Catt, protest has never been about chaining himself to a railing or blocking a road in an act of civil disobedience. The 85-year-old peace campaigner's far milder form of dissent typically involves turning up at a demonstration with his daughter, Linda, taking out his sketch pad and drawing the scene.
However this, it seems, has been enough for police to classify Catt and his 50-year-old daughter "domestic extremists", put their personal information on a clandestine national database and record their political activities in minute detail.
Secret files have revealed how police have systematically documented their political activities, undermining official claims that only hardcore activists were placed under surveillance.
The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) recorded their presence at more than 80 lawful demonstrations over four years, logging details such as their appearance, and slogans on their T-shirts.
Catt and his daughter, from Brighton, were aware that surveillance teams were often in the vicinity during their protests, but they had no idea how closely they were being monitored until their files were released under the Data Protection Act
Police said they did not legally have to disclose them, but did so to show there was "nothing sinister in what we hold".
The Catts, who have no criminal records, said they were "shocked and terrified" when they read their files. "Our activities were totally legitimate � we were not interested in non-violent direct action," said Linda . "My dad likes to sketch and I will hold a banner and shout a few things. But I'm careful about what I say."
They said the most worrying aspect was the seemingly banal information the surveillance officers had been logging, from observations about their demeanour and car number plates, to notes about their conversations with local reporters.
Amid the pages of detailed logs was an entry that noted how on the morning of 25 September 2005, John Catt was "clean shaven" when he attended a demonstration by Sussex Action for Peace. The Catts have been part of a long running campaign against an arms factory in Brighton, run by the American-owned EDO MBM Technology, over sales to Israel.
Since 2004, campaigners have mounted more or less weekly demonstrations outside the factory, in particular protests at which the activists bang drums and other objects to produce a cacophony.
Catt's artistic endeavours received particular scrutiny. "John Catt sat on a folding chair by the southern most gate of EDO MBM and appeared to be sketching," states one of several logs. "He was using his drawing pad to sketch a picture of the protest and police presence," said another from 10 March 2006. A separate report, about his sketch of a Guant�namo Bay detainee, noted: "John Catt was very quiet and was holding a board with orange people on it."
Last year, anti-EDO campaigners held a series of a "anti-war creativity" workshops with music, poetry and artwork. These included an exhibition of art by Catt and others, a fact recorded on the NPOIU database as "including ... the classic drawings of John Catt, veteran anti-war activist".
When the Guardian first revealed details about a police monitoring system that keeps tabs on political activists last year, police gave assurances they were not interested in everyday campaigners. They said surveillance was needed to monitor "domestic extremists" � a term that has no legal basis but is defined by police as activists who are determined to break the law to further their political aims.
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:35 am Post subject: |
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The Guardian, eh? 
Why did the evil secret police of GB-SS even reveal this? Oh, because that's what happens in democracies, that's why!
Hamas-leaning Turkish gov. kills dozens of Kurd civilians but this is what the OP chooses to cry about.... |
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HalfJapanese
Joined: 02 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:48 am Post subject: |
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This is all about "Track Trace & Databasing" the population, so they further monitor out activity.
They are trying to make everyone look like criminals "no judge no jury".
By releasing this article in itself is a psychological operation to scare people away from becoming informed and active in their community to defend their freedoms and rights. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
Hamas-leaning Turkish gov. kills dozens of Kurd civilians but this is what the OP chooses to cry about.... |
The OP lives in the UK, not Turkey. And if you care about those Kurds and the Turkish gov't's actions, why not start a thread about it instead of randomly bringing it up here? |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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Why? Because even if one buys into the leftist boo-hoo BS being propagated here, the OP has a long history of(well, issuing personal insults against posters exercising their democratic right of expression...but that's another story....)ignoring REAL atrocities in the world in favour of her chic, trendy, sanctimonious leftist anti-Zionist(the code word) "causes".
'Nuff said? |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:31 pm Post subject: |
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| You love throwing out the "leftist" label don't you? And on this issue, plenty of people on the right would be in agreement with Big Bird. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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I would hardly say it's surprising...attend a protest every now and again and probably nothing will happen.
But attending more than 80...well if you are a regular fixture at these events, people are eventually going to notice and think of you as more than just an ordinary campaigner. Not saying it's right or wrong...just saying that's what will happen as shown in the above article. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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In principle, I don't think the police monitoring protests and keeping records of what regular attendees do at those protests is necessarily a bad thing. Looking at the information on John Catt, for example, I think that information could actually be used to clear him in a situation where a protest erupted into violence, since it shows he has a record of peaceful attendance.
In reality, though, I doubt the above falls within the motives of the police organization in question, and as such it's understandable why people might object to it. |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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OK, then, BB: Provide some evidence that the "right" would take the OP's position....
BTW: I don't "love'' throwing out the ''leftist label''. I jest calls 'em as Ize seeze 'em....
Ball four! |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 4:48 am Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
OK, then, BB: Provide some evidence that the "right" would take the OP's position....
BTW: I don't "love'' throwing out the ''leftist label''. I jest calls 'em as Ize seeze 'em....
Ball four! |
The the Cato Institute and pretty much any libertarian. Ontheway can correct me if I'm wrong. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:10 am Post subject: |
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Eric Margolis of the Toronto Sun would be another example of a right-winger who has been highly critical of the War On Terror, and American mideast policy in general.
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I�ve been called a lot of things in my times, but never a liberal Democrat - until recently. In American political argot, `liberal� means leftwing.
But some of my bigwig Republican pals in California have been accusing me of having become a liberal because of my criticism of Calamity George Bush and my evident lack of enthusiasm for Sen. John McCain�s Republicans.
As a lifelong Republican, I am more likely to become a Seventh Day Adventist or Rosicrucian than a liberal Democrat!
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Republicans disgraced the nation by all their lies about Iraq, endorsing torture, assassinations, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, secret prisons, kidnapping, kangaroo courts, spying on US citizens and undermining America�s Constitution. Too many cowardly Democrats joined this lynch mob. Such vile behavior made me ashamed to call myself an American.
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:54 am Post subject: |
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Margolis is a HIGHLY suspect source.
Anyway, what the hell does he have to do with last weekend? Diddly. My so-called "right" friends all agree that the police did a fine job(I might add that I'm not the biggest fan of Can. police officers, as opposed to the concept of POLICE) and were perhaps a bit too lax in cracking down on the leftist agitators, which is what they richly deserved.
BTW: Being a libertarian doesn't mean being an anarchist thug! |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:04 am Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
Margolis is a HIGHLY suspect source.
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No. He's a highly credible source. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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| mises wrote: |
| Mosley wrote: |
Margolis is a HIGHLY suspect source.
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No. He's a highly credible source. |
Someone who claims that Operation Barbarossa was a "preventative war" forced on Hitler is not very credible.
As is someone who attempts to somewhat exonerate Hitler, by stating the Allies shared the blame for starting WWII. Well yes, if defending their allies and themselves is a blameworthy act, then I guess one could see it that way. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2010 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| mises wrote: |
| Mosley wrote: |
Margolis is a HIGHLY suspect source.
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No. He's a highly credible source. |
Someone who claims that Operation Barbarossa was a "preventative war" forced on Hitler is not very credible.
As is someone who attempts to somewhat exonerate Hitler, by stating the Allies shared the blame for starting WWII. Well yes, if defending their allies and themselves is a blameworthy act, then I guess one could see it that way. |
Ha. TUM goes right to WW2. I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
I am also completely unmoved. EM is a highly credible source. |
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