(OPE-L) Response to Amnesty Int. ban of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised]

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Mike L tried to post the following.  If anyone on the list is
having a problem receiving and/or posting messages, please contact
me ASAP./In solidarity, Jerry


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Response to Amnesty Int. ban of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
From: "michael a. lebowitz" <mlebowit@xxxxxx>
Date: Wed, November 5, 2003 1:44 pm

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS AND PROTEST IMMEDIATELY TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.
         in solidarity,
          michael

>
>SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S CENSORSHIP OF "LA
> REVOLUCION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED"
>FIRMA LA PETICION EN CONTRA DE LA CENSURA DE "LA REVOLUCION NO SERA
> TRANSMITIDA" DE AMNESTIA INTERNACIONAL
><http://65.54.246.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=a98e2c65d49f48d54d11444999fca34e&lat=1068055168&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2epetitiononline%2ecom%2fvendoc%2fpetition%2ehtml>http://www.petitiononline.com/vendoc/petition.html
> To complain directly to the Amnesty International Film Festival please
> use  the below information:
>
>Don Wright - Regional Development Coordinator, BC/Yukon
>(604) 313-4069 E-mail:
><http://by2fd.bay2.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?mailto=1&msg=MSG1068013826.140&start=1752411&len=23613&src=&type=x&to=dwright%40amnesty%2eca&cc=&bcc=&subject=&body=&curmbox=F000000001&a=de4b2c1df457d18157f7108c504ae283>dwright@xxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>Amnesty International Canadian Section (E.S.)
>Pacific Regional Office
>#203 - 45 Dunlevy Street
>Vancouver, BC
>V6A 3A3
>Phone- (604) 294-5160
>Fax- (604) 294-5130
>E-mail -
><http://by2fd.bay2.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?mailto=1&msg=MSG1068013826.140&start=1752411&len=23613&src=&type=x&to=pro%40amnesty%2eca&cc=&bcc=&subject=&body=&curmbox=F000000001&a=de4b2c1df457d18157f7108c504ae283>pro@xxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>Statement in Support of the public viewings and screenings of the
> Documentary Film ?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised?
>To:  Amnesty International, others
>
>Two statements of support of the documentary. See also
><http://65.54.246.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=9812b8a55b6e71e71f193368475e2a47&lat=1068055168&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2evenezuelanalysis%2ecom%2fpetition%2f>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/petition/
>
>
>Statement in Support of the Documentary Film ?The Revolution Will Not
> Be  Televised?
>
>We write to express our deepest support for public viewings and
> screenings  of the award-winning documentary film, ?The Revolution Will
> Not Be  Televised.? In light of the recent suspension of the film?s
> screening at  the Amnesty International Film Festival to be held at the
> Pacific  Cinematheque in Vancouver, British Columbia, from November
> 6-9, 2003, as a  result of pressure from opposition groups in Venezuela
> and their  international counterparts, we find it essential to declare
> our support  for this revealing film, which evidences heinous human
> rights violations  carried out during the April 2002 coup d?etat in
> Venezuela.
>
>?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised? is an extraordinary documentary
> by  Irish filmmakers Kim Bartley and Donnacha O?Briain, who by
> happenstance  were able to document the events surrounding the April
> 2002 coup d?etat  against democratically elected President Chávez of
> Venezuela. The  filmmakers were able to remain in the presidential
> palace in Venezuela and  document while opposition forces violently
> overtook the government and  dismantled Venezuela?s pillar democratic
> institutions, including the  National Assembly, the Supreme Court, the
> Constitution and the offices of  the Ombudsman and Attorney General.
> The film exposes the atrocious human  rights violations committed with
> the purpose of executing the coup  successfully, including:
>
>- The extrajudicial killing of more than 50 people;
>- The torture of pro-government supporters and government officials; -
> The kidnapping and unlawful detention of President Chávez for a 48-hour
>  period;
>- The arbitrary arrest and persecution of pro-government supporters and
>  officials;
>- The violation of rights to political participation and
>self-determination by unjustly imposing an unelected de facto
> government  on citizens;
>- The violation of freedom of expression and public access to
> information  by perpetuating a media-led blackout on informati on
> during the mass  protests demanding President Chávez?s return to power,
> and distorting news  and manipulating images that were used as
> justification for violence,  aggression and the coup itself.
>
>These crimes violate fundamental rights embodied in the American
> Convention on Human Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
> the  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American
>  Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man and the Constitution of
> the  Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Amnesty International has
> documented  these atrocities in their 2003 Annual Report:
>http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/Ven-summary-eng.
>
>The film is presently being screened at film festivals and theaters
> around  the world. It has provided insight into a historical event with
> exclusive  footage that reveals details of this unconstitutional and
> undemocratic  overthrow of an elected-leader that were previously
> omitted by the  international mass media. As protectors and defenders
> of international  human rights, we strongly believe this film is
> poignant evidence of human  rights violations carried out by the coup
> leaders. By allowing the  international public to view this documentary
> account of the events of  April 2002, the audience is able to bear
> witness to these inexcusable acts  and arrive at their own conclusions.
>
>We find it unacceptable that Amnesty International, a worldwide
>organization campaigning for internationally recognized human rights,
> would bow down to pressure from groups opposing the film?s subject
> matter  and therefore remove it from its upcoming festival in British
> Columbia.  Amnesty International has decided to eliminate the film from
> their  upcoming festival based on two reasons: 1) Amnesty International
> claims  the film?s subject matter does not address human rights issues;
> and 2)  Amnesty International believes that screening the film would
> further  polarize the Venezuelan people and potentially create more
> violence within  Venezuela.
>
>These reasons are without justification. Firs t of all, the film
> specifically documents the above-mentioned human rights abuses as a
> result  of opposition forces carrying out an illegal coup d?etat,
> dismantling  democratic institutions and imposing a blackout on
> information so facts  would not be revealed to either the Venezuelan
> people or the international  community. Additionally, Amnesty
> International independently selected the  film as a part of its
> festival in Canada. Therefore, the organization must  have believed the
> film?s subject matter was in line with the festival  theme. It was only
> upon receipt of a petition from opposition forces in  Venezuela and
> their international counterparts that Amnesty decided to  remove the
> film from the festival schedule. Finally, since the film is  currently
> showing in theaters around the world, its viewing at a festival  in
> Vancouver, Canada would no more affect internal Venezuelan politics
> than any other screening.
>
>Amnesty International claims to work in pursuit of universal protection
>  and recognition of human rights and to maintain an independence of any
>  government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. Yet, by
>  choosing to remove the film from its festival, it is siding with those
>  groups opposing its factual content and documentary perspective.
> Furthermore, we view this as an outright case of censorship of this
> important portrayal of historical events central to the theme of human
> rights and believe it is deplorable that an international defender of
> human rights would choose to censor in the face of pressure, rather
> than  vehemently protect the paramount right of public access to
> information. By  taking this action, Amnesty International is
> perpetuating the blackout on  information imposed by the coup leaders
> in Venezuela during April 2002.
>
>If Amnesty International is truly concerned with the impartial
> protection  of human rights, it would follow that screening a film that
> exposes  horrific human rights violations would be in line with its
> mission. We  therefore urge Amnesty International to reconsider its
> decision to revoke  the film, ?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised?,
> from the upcoming  festival in Vancouver, British Columbia. We also
> reiterate our profound  support for this important chronicle of the
> unjustifiable coup d?etat of  April 2002 in Venezuela that resulted in
> innocent lives lost and harmed  and the deprivation of basic human
> rights.
>
>Initial endorsing organizations and individuals:
>
>- International Women?s Human Rights Clinic, CUNY Law School, New York
> - Venezuela Solidarity Committee in New York
>- Unión Nacional de Trabajadores (UNT)
>- Aporrea.org
>- Opción de Izquierda Revolucionaria (OIR)
>- Movimineto 13 de Abril - Proyecto Nuestra América
>- UTOPIA
>- Juventud de Izquierda Revolucionaria (JIR)
>- Fundación Cultural Simón Bolívar
>- Coordinadora Simón Bolívar
>- Círculo Bolivariano Profesor Alberto Lovera (New York)
>- Venezuelanalysis.com
>- Eva Golinger-Moncada
>- Martín Sánchez
>
>
>
>
>----------
>The new <http://g.msn.com/8HMBENCA/2737??PS=>MSN 8: smart spam
> protection  and 2 months FREE*
>Project-X list:
>initiated for the (re)building of the Left.

---------------------
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Office Fax:   (604) 291-5944
Home:   Phone (604) 689-9510


PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS AND PROTEST IMMEDIATELY TO AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL.

        

in
solidarity,

        

michael

 
SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S CENSORSHIP OF "LA REVOLUCION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED"
FIRMA LA PETICION EN CONTRA DE LA CENSURA DE "LA REVOLUCION NO SERA TRANSMITIDA" DE AMNESTIA INTERNACIONAL
http://www.petitiononline.com/vendoc/petition.html
To complain directly to the Amnesty International Film Festival please use the below information:
 
Don Wright - Regional Development Coordinator, BC/Yukon
(604) 313-4069 E-mail: dwright@xxxxxxxxxx
 
Amnesty International Canadian Section (E.S.)
Pacific Regional Office
#203 - 45 Dunlevy Street
Vancouver, BC
V6A 3A3
Phone- (604) 294-5160
Fax- (604) 294-5130
E-mail - pro@xxxxxxxxxx
 
Statement in Support of the public viewings and screenings of the Documentary Film ?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised?

To:  Amnesty International, others

Two statements of support of the documentary. See also http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/petition/

Statement in Support of the Documentary Film ?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised?

We write to express our deepest support for public viewings and screenings of the award-winning documentary film, ?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.? In light of the recent suspension of the film?s screening at the Amnesty International Film Festival to be held at the Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver, British Columbia, from November 6-9, 2003, as a result of pressure from opposition groups in Venezuela and their international counterparts, we find it essential to declare our support for this revealing film, which evidences heinous human rights violations carried out during the April 2002 coup d?etat in Venezuela.

?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised? is an extraordinary documentary by Irish filmmakers Kim Bartley and Donnacha O?Briain, who by happenstance were able to document the events surrounding the April 2002 coup d?etat against democratically elected President Chávez of Venezuela. The filmmakers were able to remain in the presidential palace in Venezuela and document while opposition forces violently overtook the government and dismantled Venezuela?s pillar democratic institutions, including the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, the Constitution and the offices of the Ombudsman and Attorney General. The film exposes the atrocious human rights violations committed with the purpose of executing the coup successfully, including:

- The extrajudicial killing of more than 50 people;

- The torture of pro-government supporters and government officials;

- The kidnapping and unlawful detention of President Chávez for a 48-hour period;

- The arbitrary arrest and persecution of pro-government supporters and officials;

- The violation of rights to political participation and self-determination by unjustly imposing an unelected de facto government on citizens;

- The violation of freedom of _expression_ and public access to information by perpetuating a media-led blackout on informati on during the mass protests demanding President Chávez?s return to power, and distorting news and manipulating images that were used as justification for violence, aggression and the coup itself.

These crimes violate fundamental rights embodied in the American Convention on Human Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man and the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Amnesty International has documented these atrocities in their 2003 Annual Report: http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/Ven-summary-eng.

The film is presently being screened at film festivals and theaters around the world. It has provided insight into a historical event with exclusive footage that reveals details of this unconstitutional and undemocratic overthrow of an elected-leader that were previously omitted by the international mass media. As protectors and defenders of international human rights, we strongly believe this film is poignant evidence of human rights violations carried out by the coup leaders. By allowing the international public to view this documentary account of the events of April 2002, the audience is able to bear witness to these inexcusable acts and arrive at their own conclusions.

We find it unacceptable that Amnesty International, a worldwide organization campaigning for internationally recognized human rights, would bow down to pressure from groups opposing the film?s subject matter and therefore remove it from its upcoming festival in British Columbia. Amnesty International has decided to eliminate the film from their upcoming festival based on two reasons: 1) Amnesty International claims the film?s subject matter does not address human rights issues; and 2) Amnesty International believes that screening the film would further polarize the Venezuelan people and potentially create more violence within Venezuela.

These reasons are without justification. Firs t of all, the film specifically documents the above-mentioned human rights abuses as a result of opposition forces carrying out an illegal coup d?etat, dismantling democratic institutions and imposing a blackout on information so facts would not be revealed to either the Venezuelan people or the international community. Additionally, Amnesty International independently selected the film as a part of its festival in Canada. Therefore, the organization must have believed the film?s subject matter was in line with the festival theme. It was only upon receipt of a petition from opposition forces in Venezuela and their international counterparts that Amnesty decided to remove the film from the festival schedule. Finally, since the film is currently showing in theaters around the world, its viewing at a festival in Vancouver, Canada would no more affect internal Venezuelan politics than any other screening.

Amnesty International claims to work in pursuit of universal protection and recognition of human rights and to maintain an independence of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. Yet, by choosing to remove the film from its festival, it is siding with those groups opposing its factual content and documentary perspective. Furthermore, we view this as an outright case of censorship of this important portrayal of historical events central to the theme of human rights and believe it is deplorable that an international defender of human rights would choose to censor in the face of pressure, rather than vehemently protect the paramount right of public access to information. By taking this action, Amnesty International is perpetuating the blackout on information imposed by the coup leaders in Venezuela during April 2002.

If Amnesty International is truly concerned with the impartial protection of human rights, it would follow that screening a film that exposes horrific human rights violations would be in line with its mission. We therefore urge Amnesty International to reconsider its decision to revoke the film, ?The Revolution Will Not Be Televised?, from the upcoming festival in Vancouver, British Columbia. We also reiterate our profound support for this important chronicle of the unjustifiable coup d?etat of April 2002 in Venezuela that resulted in innocent lives lost and harmed and the deprivation of basic human rights.

Initial endorsing organizations and individuals:

- International Women?s Human Rights Clinic, CUNY Law School, New York

- Venezuela Solidarity Committee in New York

- Unión Nacional de Trabajadores (UNT)

- Aporrea.org

- Opción de Izquierda Revolucionaria (OIR)

- Movimineto 13 de Abril - Proyecto Nuestra América

- UTOPIA

- Juventud de Izquierda Revolucionaria (JIR)

- Fundación Cultural Simón Bolívar

- Coordinadora Simón Bolívar

- Círculo Bolivariano Profesor Alberto Lovera (New York)

- Venezuelanalysis.com

- Eva Golinger-Moncada

- Martín Sánchez

---

The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE*
Project-X list:
initiated for the (re)building of the Left.

---------------------

Michael A. Lebowitz

Professor Emeritus

Economics Department

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6

Office Fax:   (604) 291-5944

Home:   Phone (604) 689-9510