Katenies at the Superior Court in Cornwall, Ontario

The following important news comes via No One Is Illegal Montreal:

[Included below are links and the text of some recent articles concerning Katenies and her refusal to recognize the jurisdiction of Canadian colonial courts and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). Katenies again refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the Superior Court in Cornwall, Ontario this past July 14, 2008. She is due to appear before a judge in the Superior Court of Ontario in Alexandria on October 21, 2008. It appears as if both Katenies and Kahentinetha will be charged criminally in relation to the CBSA attack on them on June 14, 2008. More updates to come.]

Mohawk Nation News: Stone Wall in Cornwall
Article linked HERE.

Cornwall Standard Freeholder: Protesters pack city courtroom
Article below and linked here: http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1114035

Ottawa Indymedia/The Dominion: Mohawk Grandmother challenges border jurisdiction (Video)
Video linked here: http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/lia_tarachansky/1931

Statement: Solidarity with Katenies! "Canada" has no jurisdiction over Mohawk land
Statement below and also linked here: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2008/07/solidarite-with-katenies.html; to endorse the statement, e-mail indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com

Background Info/Previous Articles & Audio:

http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2008/06/katenies-cbsa-background.html


INFO: indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com – 514-848-7583
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Protesters pack city courtroom;
Cornwall Standard Freeholder

Protesters from Ottawa, Montreal and Hamilton packed a Cornwall courtroom Monday in support of Janet Davis, a New York State Iroquois woman who was arrested on June 14 at the Cornwall border crossing in relation to three Customs Act charges from 2003.

Davis, 43, who is also known by her Iroquois name of Katenies, is facing two additional charges of failing to appear in court after she allegedly passed through the border in 2003 without stopping for a Canada Customs agent.

She claims the Canadian judicial system has no jurisdiction over her as an indigenous woman, and even filed a motion in January 2007 to dismiss the charges on those grounds.

The motion was denied, but Davis renewed her objections yesterday by demanding that the court provide written proof of their authority to arrest her and charge her based on what she calls "colonial law."

"My people never gave up their rights or their land to anyone, it was taken from us, these laws were forced on us," said Davis outside the Cornwall courthouse.

"They have no jurisdiction here. I've asked them a question and they have refused to answer it. Where do they get this authority?"

Davis added that she signed her official objection to the court with her fingerprint instead of a written signature as a statement of her individuality as a native woman.

About 30 people packed the courtroom yesterday morning as Davis, who has refused representation, addressed Justice of the Peace Linda Leblanc along with Frank Horn, a Cornwall defence lawyer who says he was only there with Davis as a friend of the court.

"Katenies stands by the Two Row Wampum Treaty," said Horn, referring to an agreement signed between the Dutch and the Iroquois Nation of northern New York in 1613.

"Two cultures may live side by side, but they will never cross. She feels that these charges are a crossover between our two cultures, and that's not right."

Horn was also present in court to object to the treatment of his sister, Kahentinetha Horn, who was with Davis in June.

Horn said both Davis and Kahentinetha, who is 68 years old, were handcuffed and wrestled to the ground by border guards, treatment he said led his sister to suffer a heart attack and be rushed by ambulance to Cornwall Community Hospital.

"She hasn't been the same since this happened," he said. "She won't leave the house, and she's already been back in the hospital once since June. It's just terrible what our family has been going through."

Horn said tensions have been mounting over the past few months between border guards and those from the Akwesasne reserve, adding that many believe the guards are unfairly targeting aboriginals as an excuse to beef up security.

"The Harper government has this whole strategy to get tough at the borders, and they're using our people as the means to stir up Canadians and say: 'Look, we've got this issue at the border, so we've got to increase security,'" he said. "My people don't appreciate being used in that manner."

Horn said many aboriginals are getting sick of the treatment, and protests such as yesterday's will continue until the message is received.

Davis' case will go to trial in Alexandria court starting Oct. 21, 2008.

Original article here: http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1114035
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Solidarity with Katenies!
"Canada" has no jurisdiction over Mohawk land

On July 14, 2008, Mohawk grandmother and activist Katenies appeared before a judge in the Superior Court of Cornwall, Ontario. And again, Katenies refused to recognize the authority of the courts, and demanded that Canadian officials prove they have jurisdiction over her as an Indigenous woman. She has been ordered to appear in court again on October 21, 2008, in Alexandria, Ontario.

On June 14, 2008, Katenies -- accompanied by Kahentinetha of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory – was targeted for arrest by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards on an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, and offenses resulting from her refusal to appear in court and validate the colonial justice system.

Katenies has maintained since 2003 that border officials and the Canadian colonial courts have no jurisdiction over Kanion'ke:haka people or land. In January 2007, Katenies served court officials with a Motion to Dismiss, demanding that they establish jurisdiction, if any, over Mohawks and their ability to travel freely between "Canada" and the "United States".

During the CBSA attack, Katenies and Kahentinetha – who are both writers and contributors to Mohawk Nation News (MNN) – were treated brutally by border guards. Both were handcuffed and tackled to the ground. Katenies was jailed for three days. Kahentinetha suffered a heart attack and had to be hospitalized for several days.

As mainly non-native groups and collectives based in settler communities on or near Mohawk lands, we are publicly standing in support of Katenies, and demand all charges against her by the colonial courts be dropped. We also condemn the brutal attacks by the CBSA on both Katenies and Kahentinetha on June 14, 2008 and declare our solidarity with Indigenous struggles for land, freedom and self-determination.

Endorsed by:
Agitate (Ottawa)
Les Apatrides Anonymes (Montreal)
Block the Empire-Montreal
Coalition Guerre à la guerre (Quebec City)
Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (Montreal)
Collectif pour l'Autonomie du Peuple Mapuche (Montreal)
Comité Solidarité Nouveau Equateur (Montreal)
Common Cause Ontario
CUPE Local 3906 (Hamilton)
DIRA Bibliothèque Anarchiste (Montreal)
Kingston Indigenous Solidarity Network
La Otra Campaña (Montreal)
NEFAC-Montreal
No One Is Illegal-Kingston
No One Is Illegal-Montreal
No One Is Illegal-Ottawa
No One Is Illegal-Toronto
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (Toronto)
OPIRG-Carleton
OPIRG/GRIPO-Ottawa
Ottawa Raging Grannies
People's Global Action Bloc (Ottawa)
Peterborough Coalition Against Poverty
Peterborough Coalition for Palestine Solidarity
Solidarity Across Borders (Montreal)
and others.

Reports about the CBSA attack, and background information, are linked at the following
website: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2008/06/katenies-cbsa-background.html

To endorse this statement, please e-mail indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com; Katenies' next scheduled court date is October 21, 2008 in Alexandria, Ontario.

Man Being Starved by U.S. Prison

The following from Philly's Human Rights Coalition/Fed Up! Chapter:

Distribute Far and Wide and Please Take Immediate Action

HRC/Fed Up! has received correspondence from five prisoners in the Special Management Unit (SMU--the most restrictive hole in Pennsylvania) in the last week to report that prison guards and the Unit Manager are starving an inmate as a means of retaliation. We have also been contacted by the inmate's family.

Gary Tucker #FG8520 has been denied breakfast and lunch since 6/19/08, and not been fed at all since 6/26/08. Mr. Tucker was brutally assaulted by 5 or 6 prison guards on 1/29/08, and his efforts at pursuing a grievance in the matter were officially exhausted on 6/18/08.

Unit Manager Chambers, Correctional Officer Bankes, and Sgt. Jones have been implicated as the ringleaders of this targeted starvation. The official rationale given for depriving Mr. Tucker of his human rights--and potentially his life--is that he has been wearing a t-shirt wrapped around his head. Mr. Tucker claims to have been doing this since 2006, and other prisoners in the SMU have written to HRC that they too have wrapped t-shirts around their heads to test the policy. They still receive food.

Given the urgency of the situation we are asking that our allies and all those in solidarity with prisoners and advocates of fundamental human rights call SCI Camp HIll immediateley. Our brothers in the SMU have taken considerable risk to coordinate a letter-writing campaign on behalf of their fellow prisoner. Now it is up to us to do our part and demonstrate that their trust was well placed.

Contact SCI Camp Hill (717-737-4531) and ask for the Superintendent's Office, or ask to speak with Robert Volcheck or Unit Manager Chambers. I spoke with Volcheck last week and he claimed that prison guards feared that Mr. Tucker had concealed bodily waste within the towel wrapped around his head and was potentially planning to rush the door and jam his arm out the tiny tray slot and throw it at them. . . . Honestly, it was the most preposterous and downright stupid things I have ever heard.

When we call we should demand the following:

1-Stop Starving Gary Tucker! Give Mr. Tucker all his meals, everyday.
2-Remove Sgt. Jones and C/O Bankes from having contact with Mr. Tucker. These two were involved in the January assault, and while they need to have their employment terminated, for now let's insist that they be removed from proximity to Mr. Tucker.

Any additional questions, suggestions, or approaches are welcomed. Thanks to those who called for Michael Edwards and sent us feedback. We encourage others to send word and let us know that you called.

Solidarity,

Bret
HRC/Fed Up! Family

--
Human Rights Coalition - FedUp! Chapter
5125 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15224
412-361-3022 xt.4 hrcfedup@gmail.com
www.thomasmertoncenter.org/fedup/

An alert from the Friends and Families of Prisoners Emergency Response Network

Iraqi Uranium Comes thru Montreal

The following just out on CBC:

Uranium shipped to Montreal from Iraq in top secret mission
Last Updated: Saturday, July 5, 2008 | 7:27 PM ET Comments84Recommend54
The Associated Press

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program, a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium, reached Montreal on Saturday to complete a top-secret U.S. operation.

The removal of 550 metric tonnes of "yellowcake," the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment, included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a voyage across two oceans.

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars."

A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.

"We are pleased … that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," Krahn said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have guarded the 9,300-hectare yellowcake site since its discovery.

The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives — kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way.

It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

Diplomats and military leaders first weighed the idea of shipping the yellowcake overland to Kuwait's port on the Persian Gulf.

Such a route, however, would pass through Iraq's Shiite heartland and be within easy range of extremists.

The ship also would need to clear the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, where U.S. and Iranian ships often come in close contact.

Kuwaiti authorities, too, were reluctant to open their borders to the shipment despite top-level lobbying from Washington.
Deal reached earlier this year

The yellowcake still needed a final destination. Iraqi government officials sought buyers on the commercial market, where uranium prices spiked at about $120 per pound last year. It's currently selling for about half that.

The Cameco deal was reached earlier this year, the official said.

At that point, U.S.-led crews began removing the yellowcake from the Saddam-era containers, some leaking or weakened by corrosion, and reloading the material into about 3,500 secure barrels.

In April, truck convoys started moving the yellowcake from Tuwaitha to Baghdad's international airport.

Then, for two weeks in May, it was ferried on 37 flights to Diego Garcia, a speck of British territory in the Indian Ocean where the U.S. military maintains a base.

On June 3, an American ship left the island for Montreal.

While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called "dirty bomb" — a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material — it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast.

Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment.