Democracy

A popular uprising against the brutal tyranny of the Omar al-Bashir regime is sweeping Sudan. It began with protest led by women students at Khartoum University but has spread throughout the country.

A popular uprising against the brutal tyranny of the Omar al-Bashir regime is sweeping Sudan. It began with protest led by women students at Khartoum University but has spread throughout the country, a protester, Zaidah, told Green Left Weekly. Sudanese refugee communities around the world have started holding actions in solidarity with the uprising and on July 20 was the Sydney community's turn. It will be only the first of many more actions, the protesters vowed.

Anti-uranium protesters' peaceful message of "uranium is just not cricket" was clearly too frightening for South Australian police who mobilised on horses and attacked the protest. Thirteen activists were arrested in the music festival at Roxby Downs Olympic Dam mine.

Support Assange and WikiLeaks activist Cassie Findlay was the chairperson of a July 16 Sydney rally to defend WikiLeaks. Her opening remarks to the rally are below. * * * Thank you for joining us today to remind the Australian government who it is answerable to. Today we have had our Prime Minister Julia Gillard inside Town Hall addressing the NSW Labor Conference. Perhaps she spoke about Labor’s publicly stated values of “social justice, compassion and a fair go for Australians, at home and abroad” Unless, apparently, you are Julian Assange.

Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Sydney branch secretary Paul McAleer gave the speech below at a July 16 rally in Sydney to support WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. * * * Comrades and friends, Congratulations to you all for your support of this important international rally for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Thank you to the previous speakers for your contributions and thank you to the organisers for the opportunity to speak.

About 400 people rallied at Sydney Town Hall on July 16 to show their support for WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. The protesters held a vibrant march through the city streets. Speakers at the rally included Kellie Tranter, lawyer and human rights activist, Paul McAleer, MUA Sydney branch secretary, Richard Neville, founder of Oz Magazine, Irene Doutney, Greens Councillor for the City of Sydney, Fred Fuentes, Latin American Social Forum, Jake Lynch, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and Gail Malone and Anne Picot from the Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition.

Human rights lawyer and activist Kellie Tranter gave the speech below at a July 16 rally in Sydney organised by the Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition. * * * I’d like to thank those involved in coordinating today’s event, and for the invitation to speak.

Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition activist Gail Malone gave the speech below at a July 16 rally in Sydney. * * * WikiLeaks is a gift to history. We now have, for the first time, the ability to write history not only through the eyes of the victors. WikiLeaks has become a leveler between people and government. They have ushered in an age where we, the people, have access to information once deemed for their eyes only.

The June 22 coup carried out against Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was an important blow to progressive movements across Latin America.

Trouble flared across Ireland's north on the night of July 12 as sectarian Orange Order marchers insisted on marching through nationalist areas, the Morning Star said the next day. It said serious rioting followed a unionist (supporters of Northern Ireland's union with Britain) parade through the the largely Catholic and Irish nationalist working-class suburb of Ardoyne in north Belfast.

Since the outbreak of a new protest wave on June 16 that has spread across Sudan, the National Congress Party (NCP) regime has conducted mass arrests of thousands of activists in a desperate attempt to quell the revolt.

The article below is based on a talk given at a Socialist Alliance meeting on June 26 in Melbourne by Chris Slee, a member of the SA Melbourne branch. * * * The Socialist Alliance supports the right of the Tamil people to self-determination. A resolution adopted at an SA national conference reads: "Socialist Alliance recognises that Tamils are an oppressed nation within Sri Lanka, and supports their right to self-determination.