repressione dissenso

Criminal conspiracy aimed at disturbing the peace.Five Just Stop Oil activists, including one of its co-founders, 58-year-old Roger Hallam, on July 18 were sentenced to unprecedented prison terms for planning to block the M25 motorway in November 2022:a Zoom call was sufficient for the conviction which, according to the sentence, demonstrated "the intricate planning and sophistication of the disruptive action" and constituted "irrefutable proof" of the existence of a criminal conspiracy. Who are the Just Stop Oil activists? Just Stop Oil is a British group of climate activists, founded in 2022 and known for its disruptive actions, such as blocking major roads, disrupting sporting events, throwing cornmeal paint on monuments such as Stonehenge.The group calls its protest tactics actions of “non-violent civil resistance to pressure the British government” on the issue of anthropogenic climate change.The first Just Stop Oil protests aimed to stop al...

The weekly round-up on the climate crisis and data on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. European countries must end the repression and criminalization of peaceful climate protests and act urgently to reduce emissions in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C, he has declared the United Nations special rapporteur on environmental defenders, Michel Forst. At the end of a year-long investigation, which included gathering evidence from several European countries, Forst said the crackdown on peaceful environmental activists around the world poses a grave threat to democracy and human rights.All states involved in the UN expert's investigation into environmental defenders have joined the Aarhus Convention, which holds that peaceful environmental protest is a legitimate exercise of the public's right to participate in decision-making processes and that those who participate must be protected.Yet the response to peaceful environmental pr...

“COP28:governments speak, the earth sinks."It is the slogan used by Extinction Rebellion on December 9, when activists staged a nonviolent protest action coordinated in five cities.Arrests immediately followed: 28, specifically, on charges of interruption of public service, private violence, unauthorized demonstration and spillage of dangerous substances.Five people were served with a 4-year expulsion order - which includes not being able to return to the municipality from which they are removed - and another three with a 48-hour urban warning - an administrative sanction with a removal order.The group's press office was also stopped and then accused. It is only the latest act of a progressive trend towards criminalization of dissent which we have been witnessing in recent years, and which is affecting climate activists in particular.Criminalization also happens when it comes to nonviolent protests, and it was the same in this case:yes, because what the newspapers defined as "envir...

An investigation has exposed a complex system of monitoring and attacking critics of the agrochemical and biotechnology sector, run by companies with deep ties to the pesticide and GMO businesses.These companies would have created a sort of "private social network", an exclusive platform on which to collect and share information on public figures, academics and activists who oppose or criticize their work.The targets also include representatives of the United Nations.The service would be operated by v-Fluence, a company specializing in intelligence gathering and crisis communications management.The company, founded by Jay Byrne, former Monsanto executive, a leading figure in the agrochemical sector, provides tools to monitor and respond to criticism of the industry.Investigations also reveal that part of the financing for these operations may come from United States government. The documents that reveal the fact were released by LighthouseReports, a major collaborative journa...