UNITED STATES: Left internet site censored
Since 1993, the Burn! internet site has been an important source of solidarity for militant liberation movements. Burn! hosts the web sites of groups in the front line of struggles in Chiapas (Mexico), Kurdistan, East Timor, Ireland, Colombia, Peru and many other places.On May 31, the administration of the University of California, San Diego, department of communication disconnected Burn! from the internet and deleted its web and email addresses.
The web site was closed with just 24 hours warning, preventing Burn! from contacting its users to explain what had happened. When activists retrieved their computer equipment, they found it inoperable.
The department cited an unusual increase in protest calls as the reason for the closure. Burn! is visited by several thousand international web surfers each day. Considering the traffic and the partisan nature of the pages its hosts, and the fact that the movements represented are considered by the US ruling class to be direct threats to its interests, it is not surprising that complaints are common.
It is believed the increase in complaints â especially from very senior figures in the university's hierarchy â was due to Burn!'s solidarity with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The week before the disconnection, the director of the department of communication hinted that the FARC material should be removed from the site. This coincided with a letter-writing campaign by right-wing groups in Colombia to have Burn! closed.
Green Left Weekly readers are asked to send letters of protest at the closure to the director of the department of communications, Carol Padden, at <cpadden@ucsd.edu>. Please send copies to <burn-censored@groundwork.ucsd.edu>.
The Groundwork Collective has agreed to host Burn! until its address is reinstated by the University of California, San Diego. Burn! can be accessed at <http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/burn> or <http://www.sindominio.net/burn>.
BY NORM DIXON