Lip-stitching and attempted self-immolation are among increasingly extreme acts of self-harm taking place in Australiaβs two offshore detention camps in recent weeks.
Hunger strikes, cutting and attempted hangings have already become widespread in the tent city on Nauru. But, on February 19, for the first time since the βdark daysβ of former prime minister John Howardβs βPacific solution,β refugees stitched their mouths closed to protest their arbitrary and indefinite detention.
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Simon Butler was a 25-year-old activist who helped organise the mass in February and March 2003 against the invasion of Iraq. He was also a leader of the socialist youth group Resistance and the student anti-war movement Books Not Bombs, which Resistance initiated.
Najeeba Wazefadost came to Australia as a child refugee in September 2000 by a perilous journey by boat. She is now president of Hazara Women of Australia and I interviewed her for ΒιΆΉΣ³» TV at a 500-strong Hazara community demonstration in the centre of Sydney on February 20 to protest the ongoing massacres of Shia in Pakistan.
This statement was released by Stop CSG Illawarra on February 19.
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The NSW government has announced new coal seam gas (CSG) rules, including a ban on CSG development in residential areas and critical industry clusters, such as horse breeders and wine producers. But they also stated this would only apply to new CSG exploration, assessment and production activities, and they have not ruled out .
This statement was released by the Moreland councillor Sue Bolton on February 20.
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Experienced crane driver and union activist Billy Ramsay was killed on the Grocon construction site in central Melbourne on February 18. This news was buried many pages inside the Murdoch-owned Herald Sun daily tabloid.
Vice-President Nicolas Maduro congratulated Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa for his βgiganticβ victory in Ecuadorβs presidential and parliamentary elections on February 17. Correa received 57% of the vote, achieving a strong lead ahead of the runner-up, banker Guillermo Lasso who got 24.06% of the vote. βWeβre very happy, and weβve communicated our congratulations from the whole people of Venezuela, from our president Hugo Chavez, to President Rafael Correa,β Maduro said.
Venezuelans rallied in support of their president, Hugo Chavez, on February 18 after his surprise return from treatment in Cuba.
In the early morning, Chavez had announced on Twitter he had arrived in Caracas after more than two months of cancer treatment in Havana.
Chavez tweeted: βWeβve arrived once again to the Venezuelan Homeland. Thank you God! Thank you beloved people! Weβll continue treatment here.β
Upon his return, Chavez was taken to the Dr Carlos Arvelo military hospital in Caracas, where he will continue treatment.
The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN) released documents exposing the βappallingβ extent of child self-harm in a Darwin detention centre on February 18.
DASSAN obtained the documents via a Freedom of Information request, which took the department of immigration more than nine months to release. They detail 26 cases of self-harm by detained refugees aged 9 to 17 between August 2010 and November 2011.
Spokesperson Fernanda Dahlstrom said the documents βconcern one detention centre over a relatively short period of timeβ.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was re-elected in the first round of the country's February 17 presidential poll. Preliminary results released with 30% of the votes counted gave Correa 58% of the votes, compared with 24% for the runner-up, right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso, ABC.net.au said on February 18.
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