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ACEH: Solidarity campaign wins activists' release

BY PIP HINMAN When Indonesian judge Asril Marwan on December 30 sentenced Joy-Lee Sadler to four months' jail and Lesley McCulloch to five months, he declared that McCulloch should have received a harsher sentence because her actions "could have

Doctors protest war on Iraq

BY MARG PERROTT A delegation of doctors representing the Australian Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) delivered a “Prescription for Peace” to Prime Minister John Howard at his Kirribilli home on January 12. The prescription,

UNITED STATES: 'Drop Bush not bombs!'

Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States mobilised on January 18 to oppose a US-led war on Iraq. A crowd estimated at between 100,000 and 200,000 rallied and marched in Washington. They listened to the radical British band

Corporate media denounces DEST agreement

BY PAUL OBOOHOV CANBERRA — The corporate media on January 14 and 15 denounced new “flexible” leave conditions contained in the latest industrial agreement for employees of the federal Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST).

Poetry of a detained asylum seeker

REVIEW BY SARAH STEPHEN Poetry by Mohsen Soltani ZandVocals by Annette Hughes, Yvette Duncan and Jane CamachoMusic by Geoffrey Datson$20, order at <www.stickylabel.com.au/mohsen.html> or <http://www.chilout.org>Send cheque or

MALAYSIA: Socialists' bid for registration rejected again

BY EVA CHENG Four years ago, Malaysia's Registrar of Societies (ROS) turned down the Malaysian Socialist Party's (PSM) application to be an officially registered party. A subsequent appeal to the Home Ministry was turned down. In September

Shell: the 'dragon' must be slain

Riding the Dragon: Royal Dutch Shell and the Fossil FireBy Jack DoyleEnvironmental Health Fund, BostonAvailable for free download at <http://www.shellfacts.com>Hard copies can be ordered from Gary Cohen, Environmental Health Fund, 41

Lessons from the militant past

Three Strikes: Miners, Musicians, Salesgirls and the Fighting Spirit of Labor's Last Century by Howard Zinn, Dana Frank, Robin DG Kelley Beacon Press, 2001 174 pages, $34.50 (pb) Three Strikes: Labor's Heartland Losses and What They Mean

Trade unions can stop the war

Anti-war activists around the world have been inspired by two train drivers who, on January 8, refused to drive a freight train from Glasgow to the Glen Douglas NATO base on Scotland's west coast. The drivers believed the train was carrying

Have you got what it takes? Joining the Australian killing machine

BY CHRIS LATHAM In 2002, 5836 people joined the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as regular members — about 700 more than joined in 2001. The vast majority of them were young people between the ages of 18 and 24. While no survey has been taken

Nauru: 'Do not force us to return'

[The following letter was sent to Australian human rights groups on January 2 by an Afghan asylum seeker imprisoned in Topside camp on Nauru.] Since December 24, the detainees of State House detention [one of the two detention

Picnic for peace

BY BRONWYN JENNINGS GEELONG — One hundred people attended a January 18 "picnic for peace" on the Geelong waterfront, initiated by the Geelong Greens. Federal ALP member for Geelong, Gavin O'Connor spoke out against a war on Iraq outlining the