Fatena in the Lazarus chappel in Rumst

After a brief introduction about Pen-Flanders and what we do in defending freedom of expression and authors world wide who get into trouble for their writing and for refugee authors like Fatena and many others. It is quite a feat for a poet who is a refugee from Palestine to do a reading. It involuntarily turns into a haunting reading in Arabic and whomever is accompanying her reading the real fine Dutch translation of her work. Yet people see her Palestinian scarf and soon the questions become political: The ancient writings as the Bible and the Koran are invoked. (yes the capitals matter in this case). One speaks about the destruction in the Gaza strip, the family living in the same house, because so many houses have been bombed to smithereens... Interesting is that when Fatena is in Palestine, she feels not death around her but life, people carrying on the best they can, children playing in the rubble and new life coming into this world. So the will to survive is stronger in the volatile situation in Gaza than in Flanders, yet she thinks more about death when here... Was it a gloomy morning in the wonderful Lazarus chapel? Not at all! People listened to her even not understanding a word, were captivated by the beauty of the sound, understanding the content only when read in Dutch. Having just heard how she read the particular poem, which stanzas were loud and fiery and which one quiet and plaintive, I could kind of follow in her footsteps. The discussion went on after the the time was up, with a warm kindness, a glass and some nibbles and questions and opinions flew around in a real meeting of the spirits. Again, an inter cultural encounter, with widely differing opinions, some being pro Jewish, others more differentiated in the way they expressed their questions or worries. The appreciation for having learned something new and  having heard beautiful poetry was the prevailing mood.

The new system ransacked

Five o'clock  the new speaker phone system worked and looked good. About five hours later a troubled young, swanky oriental man walked from the Harmony Park kicking at cars, breaking windows, making serious dents, screaming. People called the police and by the time he arrived at our front door at least four calls had gone out to the police. Thus at a certain point four police cars were in front of the building. The one which arrived first just happened to drive by and saw that something was seriously wrong. The heavy glass pane at the entrance was kicked at and the new speaker phone system was demolished in a frenzy. I don't know what addled the young man, nor what troubles he had. The neighbors recuperated as many of the parts that were laying around as possible. I realized that these police vans go through a lot of wear and tear since the people they transport are often in an 'acting out' phase. The police never got violent, nor aggressive with the young man, so it was a job well done. I hope he'll be all right after sleeping off what ever it was...

Twenty years after the genocide in Rwanda

 Kris Berwouts and Ivan Godfroid (right), both are Central Africa specialists. Twenty years after the genocide in Rwanda they are sharing their knowledge and feelings about what happened there and and what the situation in the region and in Rwanda itself is to date.

The basis for the discussion is Ivan's poetry book 'Omgewoelde aarde' (Disturbed earth). The book is in three sections. The first one with the motto: During the day Imana (god) roams over the earth, at night he comes to sleep in Rwanda. En deep expression of the beauty and peacefulness of the country. The second motto is: to where the river runs also the rocks roll. The unrest, the uneasiness, the doom is present. Every noise could be the last thing one hears... Foreboding and the reality of it. the third section opens with the motto: It is not the pain of the moment which kills but it's constant memory. The Oratorium for Rwanda was played and the contrast between the joyful strong rhythmic music we are used to hear with the deep inwardness and silence was chilling. Jean De Mey performed a beautiful and haunting improvisation rendering the screams and pain of those mad hundred days in 1994 in which 800.000 people were slaughtered in one hundred days. Rwanda is hauntingly beautiful country, machetes are still the tool of choice and are seen everywhere. Hope lies with the new post genocide generation. Yet overpopulation could destabilize the whole region including the North-east of Congo. Every twenty years the population doubles. Every twenty years there is less land per person to live off and  the seeds of new conflicts lay dormant, for now.

Master Muharrem Erbey

Here you see a picture of the happy times of Mater Huharrem Erbey. He is surrounded by his wife and two sons, all looking happy and content together. He is a highly respected human rights lawyer, He compiled the reports on disappearances, cases of torture and extra-judicial killings. He represented individuals on all court levels, including the European Court of Human Rights.

He also is a published author, editor and columnist. In 2007 Erbey

co-edited a publication of Kurdish and Turkish stories by 35 authors. It was distributed for free by Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality to the local people. The mayor then was prosecuted for doing so under a law which prohibited the use of the Kurdish alphabet and has in the mean time been abolished. Master Erbey defended the mayor and landed in jail himself.

He is deeply unhappy in jail, longs for freedom and misses his family as much as they miss him. Life in prison is unhealthy, so he also physically is suffering. I am convinced that Muharrem never used violence, nor incited people to use violence.  In his own words:"I have been incarcerated for the last three years… because of the speeches I have made on human rights and the peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue at parliaments in Britain, Sweden, Belgium and at the UN in Geneva. My speeches and comments never contained words of violence."

Please take action!
There are a number of actions that PEN members can take:
 .Write to your country’s Turkish ambassador (contact details of Turkish embassies worldwide can be found here)
·for European centres: Raise Erbey’s case with your Member of European Parliament (MEP)
·Write letters and postcards of support to Muharrem Erbey in prison. Such correspondence can provide an important psychological lift and has been greatly appreciated by Muharrem Erbey in the past
· Write blog pieces about Muharrem Erbey’s case and share these on social media, particularly around the date of his next trial session on January13, 2014.
·Write articles and letters that will raise awareness of Muharrem Erbey’s case in your local and national media.


Muharrem Erbey’s Prison Address
Muharrem Erbey
Diyarbakır D Tipi Yüksek Güvenlikli Kapalı Ceza İnfaz Kurumu
Diyarbakır
Turkey

Bones: one wonders...

Last night's episode of Bones raised a few questions. Near Seattle in the woods a piece of an arm is found and thus Bones and Booth go and investigate. They meet the Native American Forest Ranger, called Sherman. After General Sherman? After the tank named after the aforementioned general? After the best known wonderful poet and prose writer Sherman Alexie who lives in Seattle and hails from the Spokane Reservation... and is part of a milti-lingual project 'Harbors of the West' third part of the trilogy 'Sounds of Harbor'. Of course the ranger is immediately the prime suspect. It turns out there are marks on an arm that was found pointing to cannibalism. A dash of witchcraft is added to the mix of the script for good measure. When the ranger sees the FBI agent and his special expert 'Bones', he runs away. When caught and asked for the reason his reply is: "I don't want to be another Leonard Peltier. FBI and Indians don't mix well. Remember Wounded Knee?" Of course the ranger didn't kill anyone, nor eat anyone besides a black bear whose meat is in his deep freezer; a felony for which he is immediately handcuffed and put in jail. The series wouldn't be called 'Bones' if remains of victims weren't a full part of the script: thus a hand and more human bones are found in a killed bear. The interesting thing is that in different parts of the USA, e.g. in the Appalachian mountains a few years ago the remains of a young girl were found dating back to the 16th century, a girl who had been cannibalized, probably during a big famine. So I wonder: Are the contemporary Hollywood scripts based on a lot of research or are they kind of inside jokes and chuckles for the in crowd.

Of course we know that many Hollywood actors have been staunch supporters of Native American causes and especially of Leonard Peltier. May he be freed.

German TV: June 12.

After the Hopi Katsinam auction

Interview with José – A general impression

José was curious about what happened an wondered how sometimes with wrong intentions people often do work together, each in his/her on way. She thought of the Fondation Joe Dassin, the young Hopi man from Third Mesa, the American woman who was ‘escorted’ out of the room, the French journalist, the Survival people demonstration in front of the entrance distributing flyers. She had the feeling that many people came because of the commotion of the last days and found it strange that I was asked whether I was for or against the sale upon entering the building for the auction. Since I replied I was an observer we were let in. Watching what was happening around us she came to the conclusion that buying something would be unethical, on the same level as buying from a ‘drunken Hopi’. When two pieces were flagged as falling under CITES, she wondered how they got to Paris in the first place.

She questioned the attitude of the people from the auction House Neret-Minet: Although we were allowed to take as many pictures as we wanted of the Katsinam, no photographs were allowed during the actual auction nor protest. When someone uttered just one word beside placing a bit, that person was immediately ‘escorted’ out of the room or their material was confiscated for a short time. In a few instances she felt the aggression of the auction house personnel had been provoked by an activist but was genuinely offended by the attitude of the ‘bouncers’: as if this were in a bar and drunks misbehaving were 'escorted' out.

She said: “From a purely European point of view there is nothing wrong with the auction because of the ruling of the judge ‘not wanting to create a precedent which would make the sale of religious art and objects impossible’. In one breath she questioned the role of the two ‘specialists’ deciding age, authenticity, whether rare or exceptional. If they know so much, she objected, why do they insist on calling them ‘Masks’ instead of ‘Friends’ like the Hopi do.

She was absolutely shocked by their comment on the inside of certain Friends: “Beautiful patina of certain ‘masks’’ because they have been used in ceremonial and sacred dances.” She felt that part of the dancers with the Friends was being sold too. Yet, she conceded, that if one didn’t know about the significance of all this for Hopi, that then the protest might be seen as ridiculous and naive and people asking themselves : what do I have to do with it?

P.S.: Another person learned from a Director of an Ethnological Museum in France that they would want the pieces and then could make a copy for the tribes 'if the tribes didn't take care of them properly'. Their discussion had been in general about ‘African Art’ and ‘Native American Art’. That shocked me!

A quote by a friend of the Hopi.

Mr. Gilles Néret-Minet, the director of the Paris auction house, has said repeatedly that he will not delay the $1 million sale. Gilles Neret-Minet told the New York Times that the Hopi should understand the sale as an "homage" to them. "Even if it chagrins them, for the tribe this is not a negative, I think the Hopis should be happy that so many people want to understand and analyze their civilization."

I quote a friend of mine and a friend to the Hopi: "The Hopi Tribe has had it's "civilization" "analyzed" invasively for far too long. They do not want to be "analyzed" anymore. Theirs is a culture to be preserved for the Hopi People, not inspected, analyzed, stolen from or sold. Stealing and selling their sacred objects can never be considered an "homage. "That's just an excuse, a rationalization. This whole episode only serves to demonstrate Mr. Néret-Minet's ignorance and greed. He should not dare tell the Hopi People what is good for them; transplanted Europeans have been doing that for over 500 years and they are tired of it. Nothing about this should make the Hopi People "happy" as he asserts. Ignorant and insensitive statements like that can only serve to inflame the situation.

Also, assertions that there is no need to pay attention to the Constitution of the Hopi Tribe because they are not a "state," are completely absurd. The United States of America recognized the tribes as sovereign nations deserving of treaties just like any other sovereign nation and, as such, the Tribes rise above the status of even the 50 states of these United States. Further, many nations recognize the Tribes as sovereigns and some have their own recognized visas, etc. So, the Hopi Tribe has the status of a sovereign recognized to deal with the Federal Government of the United States on a government-to-government or nation-to-nation basis. I believe this qualifies the Tribe as at least a "state.""

A last remark from me: Hopi in their own language means: peaceful people. In dealing with this subject we have to remain polite. The Hopi do not want demonstrations at the auction house if the sale would go through.

AFP article about the sale of Hopi Friends in Paris, April 12

Opposition to the sale of seventy Hopi masks in Paris

The auction house Néret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou maintain the auctioning of seventy sacred masks of the Hopi Indians, to be held on Friday, April 12^th at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris. The Museum of Northern Arizona, the Heard Museum of Phoenix and also the Bureau for the Preservation of Hopi Culture have called for its cancellation, claiming their property rights. These Katsinam masks (see picture),  worn by the dancers during religious ceremonies forbidden for white people, are considered sacred by the Hopi tribe, which lives in the North-East of Arizona. Several such items have been sold in Paris when the collection of André Breton got dispersed in 2003. These pieces can now be found in the great European Museums, the auction house reminds us. They emphasize that the Hopi base themselves on an article of the Hopi constitution which is not recognized in France because it is not a state, in order to reclaim items which have been acquired in a completely legal way by a great French collector.(AFP- Agence Press France)

A few thoughts: The pride in European museums seems to me a strange line of defense: should the Hopi come to Europe to hold the ceremonies in the 'great European Museums'? A second thought is that the Hopi as well as the other Pueblo like Zuni, Acoma and Jemez are nations within the USA. I would assume that the USA through their Department of Foreign Affairs could represent the Hopi Nation.

A son of a Nazi and a Jewish boy embrace

Koenraad is the youngest child of a Flemish family that turned pro Hitler after the first world war. He is a great artist, draws and sculpts and plays the piano. On the window in the early 1940's they had a sign 'Juden raus'. Although the piano teacher was allowed in, teaching him a minuet. Koenraad couldn't live with the guilt he felt for the pain his family had caused and started telling his story on stage, showing the drawings he did about the subject. About a year ago Sacha Rangoni asked him whether he would tell his story for a major Jewish organization. Koenraad immediately agreed. He had read something about a boy who 11 years old had jumped from a train and suspected that one of is brothers had guarded the Kazerne Dosin from where this boy and his family had been deported.

Simon, the youngest child of a Jewish family was on the train of the 20st convoy to a death camp: 30 wagons, 1600 people were on the train. Of course nobody expected to be gassed. They were told they had to work in Germany. This was the only convoy the Belgian resistance tried to stop: they saved 17 people. And also Simon. The door of their wagon had been pried open and his mother brought him to the door waiting till the train was slowing down and ordered him to jump. He was 11 years old and all alone. He too plays the piano, yet loved Jazz. Running away he kept humming, hearing in his head In the mood by Glen Miller.

Both men, in their eighties met and embraced. Simon told us: Kids don't understand war. They were crushed by it and they are all victims. Children in wars are not responsible!

Soon their common book, yes they became friends, will be brought out. "L'enfant du 20ième convoy". These men in their great humanity showed how we can heal each other and made me think about forgiveness, pardon and the power to heal this holds. At the end both men played for us and received a standing applause. David, president of PEN-Flanders did another great job. We cannot do enough to oppose fascism.

Antifascist reflections I

Seeing last night a TV item about the Flemish National Sing-along in Antwerp I felt my stomach tighten. I saw the usual suspects from nva and it's unloved mayor sitting brotherly side by side with the Vlaams Belang (former Flemish Block. Looking at the images I saw faces of people I have spoken with and realized how insidious nationalism can be. Good five-thousand people opened thousandfold their throat in unison. If it were mere folklore, I might not feel so uncomfortable with it. Yet this singing is a political signal:" Flemish independence is no luxury" What? It foolishness, a luxury we cannot afford. In Kenya today there are elections and there too are two ethnic, linguistic groups. Last elections 1300 people died in the uproar. In Belgium it are not the people who die, but the state which is slaughtered. After the last general elections, you'll remember over 555 day's of negotiations were needed to find a livable compromise. If however Flanders would be independent, we would have an outbreak of pestilent nationalism. The flags and banner-waving, the strange uniforms reminiscent of a certain WWII faction, I saw it all on TV.

What about working together, being an open society, inclusive and working for peace and a clean environment having friends who speak other languages, even languages one doesn't understand, broadens the mind. Antwerp is great city, being taken down by a faction of the Flemish ruling class, but with these people I can only imagine dystopian futures...

Schubert for docters without borders

Christopher Stokes, the General Director of Doctors without Borders - an international and independent medical and humanitarian organization - held a moving introduction about their work in Syria. They help people in life threatening situations in case of armed conflicts, epidemics or natural disasters. They are neutral and have no ties to political, economic or governmental authorities. 89 % of their funds comes from private donors. This was the third edition of a fund raiser organized by Les Lux. They invited Lucas Blondeel on the piano, German Judith Ermert on the cello and bas-bariton Werner Van Mechelen. Songs, a sonata, impromptus on the piano, all that was offered in the gorgeous baroque Amuz church with excellent acoustics. I must compliment the organizers Aly Talen, Inez Vanoverschelde and Frank De Vos with a job well done. German romantic music with lyrics by Mayerhofen and Goethe was soothing to the soul and might bring hope and help to many people in need.

The first hospitals Doctors without Borders build for the Syrian refugees was in a  cave, a farmhouse and near the Turkish border where by then five refugee camps had sprung up. By now 70.000 people have died, hospitals are created in cellars and every one needing medical assistance is helped. It was a beautiful evening and drinking a glass of champaign for a good cause was a novel way of advocacy to me.

Wolves and ranchers

There is a rancher I know, a good person, I even call him my friend, yet... He kills coyotes to protect his cattle, notwithstanding the fact that he says that feral dogs are worse than coyotes and wolves. Predators are beautiful and contribute to a viable ecological system. I don't understand the demonizing of wolves and coyotes. My friend once even shot a coyote from his truck while I was riding 'shotgun' with him. I must admit it made me more distant towards this person. I endorse the wolf protection actions of the Center for Biological Diversity. I also endorse US Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and US Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, with US Rep. Raul Grijalva of New Mexico as a lead sponsor. Right now they are circulating a letter to their colleagues in the US Congress, expressing support for America's wolves still under federal protections, and that those federal protections remain in place. I quote from the Center for Biological Diversity:

As if the persecution and killing of over 1,000 wolves, over the past six months alone, in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Minnesota and Wisconsin, is not enough, the US Fish & Wildlife Service now wants to remove federal protections for wolves in the remaining states where they are still under federal  protection. This unethical, anti-ecology political maneuver includes states that have just a few dozen wolves or none at all! How ridiculous is such a proposal? Why even have an Endangered Species Act if corrupt federal officials or any corrupt state government can declare a persecuted and endangered animal unworthy of protection due to lies, mythology and dirty politics? 

When I first came to Arizona, I used to hear the coyotes every night. Their night song was a reassurance, a connection to all what lives, made the stars shine brighter and the full moon more purposeful. Last year was the first time I didn't even see nor hear a coyote and I miss them bitterly. It just doesn't feel right. Also, I once encountered a red timber wolf near the Colorado river, about four in the afternoon. We looked at each other. I saw his magical brown eyes, he must not have sensed any danger coming from me, so he slowed, glanced back at me and went his way disappearing in the desert. That was however in the early '90's... Yet I can still feel the enchantment thinking about my coyotes and wolf encounters.

The magnificent chaos and women's lives

The magnificent chaos and women’s lives is to me the perfect title for a page about a contemporary female writer from India. The most famous author is without doubt Arundhati Roy. With her debut novel ‘God of small things’ she won the Booker prize in 1997. At the last count the book had been translated into 40 languages. The book is set in Kerala, India. She uses her own experiences as to what it is like to grow up in Kerala. Interestingly it is the place in the world where all the world religions/ideologies coincide: Christianity (her mother was Christian), Hinduism, Marxism and Islam.  One could call the book a tale of the decline and fall of an Indian family. Through a mixture of past and present, we learn about the night of Sophie Mol’s death. The book begins in 1969 when the twins are 7. They never have really grown up and still live in a world of their own making. The characters are exactly that: a character: the elegant grandmother, scheming Baby Kochamma, the house servant, the charming uncle, an Oxford educated Marxist taking over the family pickling business and of course ruining it. The untouchable carpenter is the only one who can influence life and not just accept it as it comes… When I read the book in 1997 I loved it for its sheer luxury of language: language like a Cirque du Soleil exuberant balancing acts, sharp and funny, metaphors and strange riddles and nonsense rhymes, nuanced and convoluted… I would love to quote from the book alas, somebody is reading it since a couple of years and I forgot who has the book…  Read the book, after all the drama, there is also a residue of tenderness and happiness that will stay with you after you closed the book. Take this roller coaster ride.

 Suzanna Arundhati Roy was born on the 24^th of November 1961. Her father was a Bengali Hindu tea planter, who was not really part of her life. She left home at the age of 16, living precariously in a squatter’s colony in Delhi. She was trained as an architect, and wrote two screenplays for films. She used the proceeds of her prize and book to become a full time social activist using her writing skills for political essays. She wanted to make a difference. Sadly she lost the fight against a large dam as construction started in 2003. Sometimes the bulldozer is mightier than the pen. She also is a travel writer, before going on holiday to India, look for travel books….

Snow - and refugee camps on the Syrian borders

The first minuscule snow flakes made me smile, hid the church-towers in the distance like a fine fog. Then the flakes grew bigger and I saw the roof tiles getting fluffy edges and the flat roofs turning white. It quietens the city. Time to think and meditate. I have seen pictures of the official Syrian refugee camps in Turkey. In this horrible war cluster bombs are being used in the cities. It is a known fact that those kill mainly children rummaging among the debris of their homes. So families flee with their children and their elders and end up in the no-mans-land between the Turkish and the Syrian border. These people have nothing. Turkey is nice and warm in summer but now there is a harsh winter too. Blankets, sleeping bags, tents is the minimum a family need to protect itself from the elements. The Pen Writers in Prison Committee still received messages about human rights violations in the beginning of the destruction of the country. Now since months and months nothing came through. It is also a shame how cities on the United Nations list of cultural heritage of the world are bombed to smithereens, regardless of the inhabitants. I know people looking for a way to help, to make a difference, if they found a way. I'll let you all know. It is a humanitarian emergency.

Broomstick Revolution

Grandma Edna tells us:
*
“WE NEED CHANGES in this world,
really big BIG changes.
I’m prayin’ they’ll be peaceable changes,
not violent and bloody ones.
I’d like to see a peaceable revolution,
a revolution of broomsticks instead o’ guns.
Call it a Broomstick Revolution.
*
That’s right.
We the People—
AND ESPECIALLY US WOMEN!—
pick up our broomsticks
and work together to Sweep Injustice Out!
~
YOU CAN’T JOIN the Broomstick Revolution.
You’re already PART of it
if you believe in peace and Mother Earth
and respect for all living things.
~
The Broomstick Revolution is NOT an organization.
The Broomstick Revolution is inside of each of us,
in every beating heart of humankind,
a sacred place where we listen to the Creator
and follow Creator’s Instructions
to sweep out injustice and violence.
~
NEVER raise a broom in violence.
Your broomstick is a symbol of PEACE.
Peace is our purpose.
Peace is our method.
Peace is our philosophy.
Peace is our Goal.
ONLY PEACE WILL BE EFFECTIVE!
~
MAKE PEACE YOUR
CENTRAL THOUGHT!
~
I’D LIKE TO SEE THAT ‘60’S PEACE SYMBOL
painted on the broom-heads.
Then plant’m like FLOWERS OF PEACE
in your front yards, on streetcorners,
in front o’ stores and schools and churches and banks.
Plant’m by the millions. When they rip’ m out, plant’m again!
AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!
Ain’t no end to how many agains there can be!
~
Love all people, even--especially--your 'enemies'.
We want to save the world, not destroy it.
Let everyone—even the One Percent—be included!
~
Some advice: Stay out of big crowds
that are easily turned into mobs.
They’re waitin’ for mobs.
Work alone or in small groups,
groups of Leaders.
There are no followers
in the Broomstick Revolution.
We are ALL LEADERS!
TELL’M GRANDMA EDNA TOLD YOU SO!

No more bombing of civilians

My grandfather collected stamps: big books with old stamps, but also a smaller one with stamps emitted by the United Nations. So I knew about Palestine and Israel when I was about seven years old. I have always worked for peace, believing in negotiations. A few days ago Rabbi Alissa Wise remarked that the current assault on Gaza is being paid for by the blank check from the US government to the Israeli military. So basically all US citizens pay for bombing citizens in Gaza. Bombing citizens who ever does it morally wrong. Unacceptable. It is also an infringement on human rights of the civilian victims. So no more tax dollars for consistently violating human rights. Gaza has one and half million people living on a very small area: It is probably the largest open air prison, about 140 square miles. There are regular food shortages, people loose hope, children are stressed and hungry. 

Some 10% of children under five in the Gaza Strip have had their growth stunted due to prolonged exposure to malnutrition. "Stunting (chronic malnutrition) is not improving and may be deteriorating," concluded the World Health Organisation in May of this year. For those of you who understand German I post an interview with Gunter Grass.

So: Please no more killing of children. A Flander's Pen colleague took too many pictures of these gruesome after the first attack. I only post one. One kid who might survive in that first night 25 children died or were severely wounded.

Drones - Text from Amnesty USA

Today I bring the thoughtful text of Amnesty USA concerning drones, a subject which has since the beginning bothered me. It seems clean and clear but it kills. Remember: Thou shallt not kill.

Amnesty USA's text:

I am writing to urge you to take immediate steps to bring the United States government's policies on the use of armed drones, and other such "targeted killings" or "signature strikes", in line with US obligations under international human rights law and, in the very limited circumstances where it also applies, international humanitarian law.

What has already been publicly revealed about these policies and practices is enough to conclude that the current US approach is unlawful, violating the fundamental human right of anyone, wherever in the world they may be found, not to be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. However, it is clear that many details about the legal and factual underpinnings for both the policies and for particular killings are still being kept secret. This would include the alleged 2010 classified Department of Justice (Office of Legal Counsel) memorandum reported to give the legal justification for the killing of US citizens without trial in certain circumstances, such as occurred in the case of Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011.

We in the public may not yet know all the individual names or identities of the people who the US government has killed under these policies, but we do know some things more generally about them. We know that among those killed were some who were essentially accused in secret of crimes or other wrongdoing but in respect of whom no efforts were made to bring them to justice in a court of law. We know that there were others about whom the government had no specific information but who may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. We know that among those killed have been men of different ages, women, and children. We also know that every one of the people the government has killed, whoever they were and whatever they may have been believed to have done, had the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. International human rights standards define what is and is not an arbitrary deprivation of life. Outside of specific recognized zones of armed conflict, states must comply with law enforcement standards. The integrity of the international system for protection of human rights depends in no small part on states respecting the fundamental principle that the more permissive targeting rules under the laws of war apply only within such zones of armed conflict.

While I recognize that some of the killings in question, if conducted in the context of specific recognized zones of armed conflict may not be in violation of international human rights or international humanitarian law, current US policies appear also to permit extrajudicial executions in violation of international human rights law, virtually anywhere in the world. Among the particular concerns of Amnesty International are:

- the government's continued reliance on a "global war" legal theory that treats the entire world as a battlefield between the USA and armed groups, on which lethal force may potentially be used virtually anywhere at any time without regard to human rights standards;

- the administration's invocation of the right to use force in self-defence to justify the deliberate killing of virtually anyone suspected of involvement of any kind in relation to a range of armed groups and/or terrorism against the USA, particularly through the adoption of a radical re-interpretation of the concept of "imminence";

- reports that a "guilty until proven innocent" approach is taken to military-age males who are killed by a strike, even if there is no specific evidence that they were directly participating in hostilities in a specific armed conflict;

- the fact that key factual and legal details of the killing programme remain shrouded in secrecy.

These aspects of US policy and practice are not only of concern in their own right: they also weaken the credibility of the USA as an advocate for respect for human rights by other states; they set dangerous precedents that other states may exploit to avoid responsibility for their own unlawful killings; and if unchecked there is a real risk that the US "global war" doctrine will further corrode the foundations of the international framework for protection of human rights. There has also been widespread speculation that current US policies and practices with respect to such killings may inadvertently be building support for the very armed groups and terror attacks that US officials say provide its justification.

I call on you to

- Ensure that the US refrains from all unlawful use of lethal force, including against individuals suspected of terrorism.

- Ensure maximum effort by the US, in cooperation with other states, to ensure that those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the USA, and for planning or carrying out similar such attacks anywhere in the world, are brought to justice for their crimes in fair and public trials without recourse to the death penalty.

- Disclose further legal and factual details about US policy and practices for so-called 'targeted killings', 'signature strikes', and "Terrorist Attack Disruption Strikes", including the alleged 2010 classified Department of Justice (Office of Legal Counsel) memorandum reported to give the legal justification for the killing of US citizens without trial in certain circumstances, such as occurred in the case of Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011.

- End claims that the USA is authorized by international law to use lethal force anywhere in the world under the theory that it is involved in a 'global war' against al-Qa'ida and other armed groups and individuals.

- Recognize the application of international human rights law to all US counter-terrorism operations including those outside US territory.

- Bring US policies and practices on the use of lethal force in counter-terrorism operations in line with the USA's international human rights obligations, particularly, by:

- Ensuring that any use of lethal force outside of specific recognized zones of armed conflict complies fully with the USA's obligations under international human rights law, including by limiting the use of force in accordance with international human rights standards for the use of force in law enforcement;

 - Ensuring that any use of lethal force within a specific recognized zone of armed conflict complies fully with the USA's obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, including by recognizing and respecting the rule that if there is doubt as to whether a person is a civilian, the person is to be considered a civilian.

- Ensuring independent and impartial investigations in all cases of alleged extrajudicial executions or other unlawful killings, respect for the rights of family members of those killed, and effective redress and remedy where killings are found to have been unlawful.

Unintended consequences

For while I wrote monthly a piece for the eight page Chronicle. Often I would deal with strange differences between the USA and Europe. I wrote my 500 words one a month before I left for an other stay at the 'gas station' dealing with the different views about guns and Uzi's and the high tech bow and arrows a friend had so he could hunt without a permit. Anyway, the conclusion ran something along the following line: seen I had not been raised in a gun culture that I didn't own neither a gun, a revolver nor a rifle and since I felt I would be a danger to myself if I would try to use one I would probably be shot with my own gun. Being on my own however I did not want to give the impression that I was totally defenseless. The people knew my two dogs, so I could invoke them for the job. And I remembered that upon leaving the last time, being halfway through the process of adding a kitchen to my place that I had left a crowbar next to the bed. So my last line was just that: But I have a crowbar next to the bed. I return and we muddle on doing the kitchen. In such cases all the neighbors come by and give their opinion and good advice. So one of neighbors after the inspection of the going-ons called me over and said: I wouldn't if I were you use the crow bar, you could crack someone's skull with that. Go get yourself a baseball bat. That will hurt the other person less.

Theater play: FLOU - (Blurred)

The author of this strangely beautiful play is actress Abke Haring performing together with Han Kerkhoffs the play FLOU. In a disquieting opening with electronic music the two actors stand absolutely still next to each other holding hands. The rectangle on the floor and the floating roof above their life represents an abstract home. During the music drops fall in an array of glass containers. The roof leaks. The couple battles out their pain in a discouraging silence. The repetitive dialogs are pure poetry. His unwillingness to speak is magnified by her voicing his thoughts which he calls nagging in the drip drop on the stage. There is a moving part when they put small glass saucers under falling drops - yet they fail doing it together. Grim. The two longer monologues of the man are very sexual in a strangely ordinary language, talking as he is about wild sex in the deep freeze compartment of the supermarket. His language here is coarse, uncaring about her feelings. Every kind of frozen or fresh produce is used in this wild fantasy of an impromptu encounter with a past flame. At the same time it is almost hilarious. Yet it is obvious the couple doesn't have a lot of sex, or anything else with each other but being stuck, powerless to go or to let go, unable to be fulfilled by each other. The whole performance is punctuated by long eloquent silences, communicating something important, they are unable to share. Towards the end the woman asks to let her grow in 'a being without words', thus seeking the ultimate intimacy of being understood and understanding without words. Words have been used before, are charged and therefore treacherous. Yet this kind of silence would also be a hell of loss, emptiness, and a disappearing self... An intriguing performance balancing, as the author qualifies it, between duet and duel.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday it was Leonard Peltier's birthday. Two dear friends, Unciya and Hakata, run the Flemish Leonard Peltier Chapter and decided to do something for his birthday. So in a small literary café Den Hopsack a reading was organized from his prison writings My Life is My Sundance. Of course reading the whole book Is a bit long. I was asked to compose an overview of his thoughts in the book and to read it to the audience. Hakata had made an excellent slide show, running slowly in te background. And Unciya, she rebel roused the people present explaining about AIM and why they do what they can for Leonard. They made some money to be send to the defense team.