civil

Death Vans

In a move that is eerily echoes the mobile Nazi gas chambers China has begun to use specially designed busses as mobile centres of execution where they administer death by lethal injection. It is no secret that China has capital punishment, but the amount of capital punishments undertaken remains undeclared by the Chinese government.

Death Van

Product Specifications (via USA Today):
Cost: $37,500 to $75,000, depending on vehicle’s size
Length: 20 to 26 feet
Top speed: 65 to 80 mph

The van is divided into three sections:

Execution chamber: in the back, with blacked-out windows; seats beside the stretcher for a court doctor and guards; sterilizer for injection equipment; wash basin
Observation area: in the middle, with a glass window separating it from execution area; can accommodate six people; official-in-charge oversees the execution through monitors connected to the prisoner and gives instruction via walkie-talkie.
Driver area


Banality of Evil
In an earlier post I wrote about the banality of evil â?? here is another excellent example. How does it feel to design such a vehicle? Does the designer add this to his/her CV? What about the company that sells them? What does the sales rep think when he/she wakes up in the morning? Is it a good thing that they are selling well?

This is an excellent example of the responsibility of the designer which I hope to make use of in my teaching. The main point is to problematize around designer responsibility and the issue of whether it is right (ethically & morally) that the designer does his/her best to solve the needs and meet the requirements of the customer.

Death in China
Amnesty International writes that capital punishment can be used â??â?¦for as many as 68 crimes, including non-violent crimes such as tax fraud, embezzlement and drug offences. 1,770 executions were reportedly carried out in China during 2005.â??

USA Today report that the majority of these executions are by firing squad but death by lethal injection is growing. China has introduced mobile execution vehicles where lethal injections are administered as a

â??â?¦civilized alternative to the firing squad, ending the life of the condemned more quickly, clinically and safely.â??

It has been speculated that one reason for the transfer to lethal injection is that the method keeps the organs in better condition for removal and sale. For a longer report on the Chinese death penalty read this Amnesty report (March 2004)

(via Space and Culture)

Posted on by mklang

Does Bodström dream of high-tech hammers?

The Swedish Minister of Justice Thomas Bodström can without a doubt be placed among the European Ministerâ??s most hostile to civil liberties (older posts about this here & here & here). Besides blogging about it (along with many others) Henrik Sandklef and I wrote a debate article concerning this mans naïve faith in technological solutions to crime. It was published in the newspaper (in Swedish) and the Minister replied â?? well sort ofâ?¦he never actually met our arguments on civil rights violations, but claimed that the police needed tools to do their job (in Swedish).

Yesterday the Chairman of the Swedish Police Union, Björn Ericson, wrote in a debate article (in Swedish) that despite the Ministerâ??s claims that the police force has increased by 1500 policemen the actual numbers show that the number of policemen have decreased by almost 700 since 1997. Ericson wonders whether the 1500 policemen are all working deep undercover since nobody besides the Minister seems to know where they are.

Besides the politics (it is, after all, an election year), Ericson brings up a vital point in his article. Who will watch the tapes, analyse the data and read the log files? Much of the current wisdom concerning police enforcement deals with the importance of visibility. Policemen on the streets. It is not only important that the police patrol but also that they be seen to be patrolling.

Technology costs. The cost of building and maintaining a high-tech police force will create higher costs for the police. This will mean that they will have to make budget choices. Either be visible or spend money on technology. Our Minister has shown his inclination lies in the dream of a technological future â?? but what is missing in this dream?

Implementing the high-tech surveillance society will entail making choices. Simple choices with far reaching effects. The Bodström vision entails moving the police from all types of prevention and focus them on the cure. In the long run prevention is more cost efficient than cure. All the high-tech in the world cannot, will not, prevent crime. The only aspect of use is that high-tech may provide proof in the ensuing court case. And this can only be achieved through the trampling of civil liberties and therefore must only be used as little as possible.

The choices the police are being forced to make will therefore change their purpose. They will not be about the prevention of crime but rather the police will become the servants of the courts, the errand boys of the prosecutor. Despite their handcuffs, handguns and truncheons their primary work will be the collection of data for analysis. This is not unworthy work but it does not prevent the bulk of most crimes.

Technology such as that of bugging (phones and computers), DNA databases and surveillance cameras are all tools. Tools work well to resolve certain problems. With the right tools people became efficient â?? a large part of human development can be studied in the development of certain tools (fire, bronze axes, steam engines, silicon chipsâ?¦) but with the wrong tools the work becomes difficult, if not impossible. Of course you can bang in a nail with a screwdriver â?? but at a cost.

Most violent crimes (Terrorism, Saturday-night brawling, violence and abuse at home) will not be prevented by buying technology. The 9/11 terrorists used their own names â?? it would not have mattered to them if they had been asked to donate DNA. Putting more, and better trained, police on the streets â?? does have an effect on crime.

More patrolling policemen would not have prevented 9/11 â?? there is no way to prevent the determined. More patrolling police will not prevent abuse in homes. This takes an even more costly prevention â?? education and social welfare. But it is a better preventative cure for most other crimes. In addition to this it does not violate the civil rights of law-abiding people in the hope of catching the criminal.

There is a saying: When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Thomas Bodström is busying buying the dream of the big high-tech hammer and no matter how many different problems people attempt to explain to him with this approach all he can see is nails â?? and he cannot wait to pound us down.

Posted on by mklang

blogg against torture

Yesterday (June, 12) the American Medical Association took an important ethical policy decision against medical participation in interrogations “Physicians must not conduct, directly participate in, or monitor an interrogation with an intent to intervene, because this undermines the physicianâ??s role as healer.â??
The UN has declared that the 26th June is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – what are we going to do about it?
There is no single face of torture. Unfortunately there happens to be several examples of the cruelty and heartlessness of men (no gender bias intended). Examples include the statement by Rear-Admiral Harris about the three suicides of prisoners under his responsibility was â??â?¦not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfareâ?¦â?? or the comment of Nick Harvey when faced with the news that after WWII British troops had starved prisoners and tortured them with equipment taken from Gestapo prisons, says â??Itâ??s too late for anyone to be held personally responsible, or held politically to accountâ?¦â??

Ok so issues such as time, energy and emotional baggage tend to get in the way of a more active support. There is however a way of supporting without much effort. This is not a trivialisation – on the contrary it is the promotion of information to raise awareness. Not to let uncomfortable information slip into oblivion.

The group known as Torture Awareness Month has a blogrole going. By going to http://blogagainsttorture.blogspot.com/ and do two things:

All you need to do to join is (1) promise to do a blog post about torture in the month of June, (2) link to Torture Awareness Month somewhere your blog. Do both of these things, and we will link to you from our blogrolls.

Donâ??t forget to go to Torture Awareness Month to learn more about what is, and can be done, to raise awareness against torture. But don’t stop there. The information about torture, its causes, effects and how to work against it.

Some background…

The United Nations has declared the 26 June to be International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The UN position against torture is based primarily on article 5 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, â??no one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishmentâ??

This is further qualified by the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the sentiments are echoed in conventions such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which adds that: â??No one shall be subjected without his [or her] free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.â??

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Online Civil Disobedience

One of my research areas is the odd but interesting area of online civil disobedience. The basic problem her is whether or not the internet can be used in political forms of protest. The trend has been to limit the ability to use denial of service (even manual attacks) and web page defacement as legitimate forms of political protest. My opinion has been that this discriminates against online activities. For my arguments read the chapter Participation in the draft of my thesis Disruptive Technology here.

Five years ago the groups “Libertad” and “Kein Mensch ist illegal” (No Human is Illegal) organised 13000 people in an online blockade (With a script- client- based distributed denial of service attack) of the airline Lufthansa. The protest was against the companies part in the deportation of asylum seekers.

Now the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt says online demonstration is not force but a legitimate form of political protest.

Decision by the Frankfurt Appellate Court (in German only, 22.05.2006)
http://www.libertad.de/service/downloads/pdf/olg220506.pdf

Statement by Libertad on the ruling (in German only, 1.06.2006)
http://www.libertad.de/inhalt/projekte/depclass/verfahren/libpe010606.shtml

In German (1.06.2006)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/73755
In English (2.06.2006)
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/73827

(via EDRI newsletter)

Posted on by mklang

Politics in Games

Violence and ideologies in games have long been under discussion. On the one side computer game advocates argue that computer games are not the cause of violence while others claim that computer games are harmful. The truth is never as simple as either side would like to claim.

Americas Army is the official US army game and was developed by the US army (beginning in 1999) the goal is to allow players to develop into specialist â??Green Beretâ?? soldiers. The website contains information about US army recruitment centres.

Afkar Media is producing â??al-Qurayshâ??, a real time strategy game that tells the story of the first 100 years of Islam from the viewpoint of four different nations – Bedouins, Arabs, Persians, and Romans. The planned release date is September. Afkar Media hopes the game will help to reverse negative connotations of Islam in the west and evoke new pride among young Muslims. (Christian Science Monitor).

Last year Afkar Media launched the game Under Seige, which was inspired by actual Hizbollah missions. An earlier game on the same theme is Special Force. They write on their website:

â??The game â??Special Forceâ?? is based upon reality, meaning that the game is based on events that took place in a land called Lebanon. Lebanon was invaded by â??Israelâ?? in 1978 & 1982, and was forced to withdrawâ?¦we decided to produce a game that will be educational for our future generations and for all freedom lovers of this worldâ?¦â??

Games such as these are criticised for simply reversing stereotypes while their supporters claim to redress the balance in a genre dominated by western forces defeating Arabs.

Does Civilisation create a â??beat-them-upâ?? â??winner-take-allâ?? view of history? Do Counterstrike and Vice City lead to conflict? And then what do the Sims tell us about ourselves and which values do they re-inforce?

It is interesting to note that all sides seem to argue that â??the otherâ?? is unfairly portraying them as the evil enemy. The question of political propaganda in games is a large unexplored area. Taylorâ??s â??Munitions of the Mindâ?? is an excellent starting point for those wishing to better understand the history and impact of propaganda from a non-game perspective.

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Breeding Brutality

What happens when you train young people to kill and then pump them full of rhetoric and send them off to occupy a foreign country? The answer is tragedies like Haditha.

The strange thing is that there have not been many more tragedies and that the people who send their armies to war seem to be â??shockedâ?? and â??surprisedâ?? by these events. What were they expecting?

In the wake of the massacre at Haditha where US marines have allegedly killed 24 innocent civilians the discussions about battlefield and occupation conduct has taken off. On the one hand there have been â??damage controlâ?? actions such as the news that following Haditha servicemen are to be given ethics training, or as it was termed in a military statement â??core warrior valuesâ?? (BBC Online 1 June).

On the other hand there is sad news in relation to how abuses by servicemen are being treated. In the UK the Court Marshal cases lead to acquittals: â??The acquittals call into question the future of Britainâ??s court martial system for dealing with serviceman accused of committing abuses while on duty.â?? (The Times June 7)

None of this should be surprising â?? its just tragic. Monbiot writes about the brutalising effect of occupations and closes his article with the words:

Why should we be surprised by these events? This is what happens when one country occupies another. When troops are far from home, exercising power over people they donâ??t understand, knowing that the population harbours those who would kill them if they could, their anger and fear and frustration turns into a hatred of all â??micksâ?? or â??gooksâ?? or â??hajjisâ??. Occupations brutalise both the occupiers and the occupied. It is our refusal to learn that lesson which allows new colonial adventures to take place. (Originally published in The Guardian 6 June 2006).

Why is this interesting for me? Well in part becuase the horrors of war have a tendency to be forgotten since they are uncomfortable and a colleague of mine has asked me to participate in an exciting project on the legal use of lethal force in the military. This will be as part of a larger project on Military Violence and Killing. My part is to look at the Swedish militaries legal framework for use of lethal force and then, if time permits, attempt to ascertain whether this legal framework is reflected in the training and understanding of the men and women who will be forced into situations where lethal violence may occur.

This is particularly interesting since the Swedish military is gradually moving towards a position of more active participation in overseas peacekeeping/peacemaking action.

Posted on by mklang

Wanted: Swedish Activist Wiki

Sweden has had a long reputation for being boring. Many Swedes prefer to think of this not as boring but as safe. Trygghet (security) is very big here. Traditionally most of this security was believed to come from the state which would protect its citizens from the cradle to the grave in the classic welfare state captured in the Swedish term Folkhem (Peoples Home). In part this security comes from a long period of neutrality and lack of war or civil conflict.

The upside with security is trust. Swedes tend to be trusting and can therefore get on with their lives. The downside is that trusting people make easy targets.

Sweden does not have a strong individualistic rights based approach and therefore are very easily caught with their trousers down when official agencies approach them. A good example of this was this weeks police raid on the Pirate Bay where amongst other things:

  1. The police took more servers than they needed â?? thereby disrupting the communication of organisations not connected with the raid.
  2. The Pirate Bayâ??s legal representative was asked (required?) to leave a DNA sample â?? a gross misuse of the purpose of DNA tests and a form of intimidation.
  3. The status of surplus information is unclear at present â?? therefore creating an opening for police fishing expeditions.

How does one move from a position of trust and security to a greater awareness of individual rights, legal requirements and the demands which can be made on the legal system? Education.

To achieve this I think there is a need to create a website (preferably a wiki) on the legal position of online activists containing information about rights and obligations in the case of police actions.

A site such as this would provide information on (amongst other things):

  1. What can the police take (and limitations)?
  2. How much or how little should the activist do to help?
  3. Must the activist hand over encryption keys?
  4. What should the activist think about (ask for receipts etcâ?¦)
  5. What happens in the police station? (rights, obligations and experiences)

So does anyone want to start a wiki?

Examples of sites:

Activist Rights – Australia – Demonstrating and Civil Disobedience – FreeBeagles Legal Advice

Posted on by mklang

Ten Important Stories

Concerned that some issues continue not to receive sustained media attention or slip off the radar screen, the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) has unveiled a new list of “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About.”

2006 is the third year that the “top” ten unreported stories have been presented. If you are like me then you have probably never heard of this list or many of the stories. Read them and help publish them. So how can this happen? Well if the mainstream media doesn’t cover it then it should be blogged…

Liberia: Development challenges top agenda as the nation recovers from years of civil strife

Lost in migration: Asylum seekers face challenges amid efforts to stem flows of illegal migrants

DR of Congo: As the country moves boldly towards historic vote, humanitarian concerns continue to demand attention

Nepal’s hidden tragedy: Children caught in the conflict

Somalia: Security vacuum compounding effects of drought

Protracted refugee situations: Millions caught in limbo, with no solutions in sight

South Asian earthquake: Relief effort saves lives, stems losses, but reconstruction tasks loom large

Behind bars, beyond justice: An untold story of children in conflict with the law

From water wars to bridges of cooperation: Exploring the peace-building potential of a shared resource

Côte d’Ivoire: A strike away from igniting violence amidst a faltering peace process

Posted on by mklang

Read this book

The blurb on the back of the book is important since it has to interest the reader and at the same time be a factual discription – without being too long, complex or explanatory… So after a period of thought and procrastination this is what I have:

This work is on the democratic effects of attempts to regulate disruptive technology. By looking at the phenomenon of online civil disobedience, viruses, spyware, online games, software standards and Internet censorship this work shows the effects of regulation upon the core democratic values of Participation, Communication, Integrity, Property, Access and Autonomy.

Social interaction and organisation are, in part, shaped by the technology used. The social differences between the technology of snail-mail and the technology of e-mail are defined by features that the technology allows, and the limitations that constrain, the user modes of interaction. Therefore technological innovation and development over time affects the ways in which social interaction and communication are carried out. Certain forms of gradual technological innovation and development may be easily assimilated while other forms are more disruptive. This disruption can be seen in the way which new technologies affect the organisation of social interaction and are called, in this work: disruptive technology.

This work studies regulation as an attempt to come to terms with the disruptive effects of technology upon social interaction. This is done by focusing on the attempts to regulate the disruptive effects of Internet technology and the consequences of these regulatory attempts on the IT-based participatory democracy. In conclusion, this work will show that the regulation of technology is the regulation of democracy.

Would you read this book? If so you can download it here.

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Free Films Online

While the main discussion on online films revolves (rightly or wrongly) on pirates downloading material. This discussion sometimes forgets that we have now reached a period when a number of films are being released into the public domain. Here is a selection of films available at the Internet Archive. Browsing their collection is lots of fun and may seriously threaten thesis work.

Things to Come (1936), William Cameron Menzies (dir.), The metropolis of Everytown is a city threatened by world war. Pacifist intellectuals try to turn the tide but efforts go unheeded by the self-interested classes, and war arrives with tanks and aeroplanes and gas bombs. The war continues for thirty years, its original purpose forgotten. Everytown is destroyed by air raids and civilization degenerates… (imdb) (Public Domain).

Le Voyage Dans La Lune (dir. George Meiles), an old 1902 film from france about a small group of scientists that travel to space on a rocket to get to the moon. (Licensed via CC Att-NC-SA).

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) (dir. Roy William Neill) Based on the Sir Authur Conan Doyle story “The Dancing Men”, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are placed in WWII europe to help protect a scientist and his invention from the Nazis. (Licensed via CC Att).

The Kid (1921) (dir. Charlie Chaplin) The Kid was Charlie Chaplin’s first full-length movie. It, more than anything else to that date, made Chaplin a living legend. It took over a year to produce, and was an incredible success for Chaplin. (Public Domain).

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) (dir. Alfred Hitchcock) While travelling in Switzerland, the child of a well-off couple is kidnapped. She is held to ensure that her father does not reveal what he knows about a planned assassination. Since they can’t talk to the authorities, the parents plan to begin the search for their daughter on their own. This is the original, British-made movie from 1934 and is now in the Public Domain.

Mechanical Monsters (1941) A ten minute Superman cartoon where he battles a criminal mastermind and his robot army (imdb) (Public Domain).

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) (dir. Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton) the story of a naive, college-educated dandy who must prove himself to his working-class father, a hot-headed riverboat captain, while courting the daughter of his father’s rival, who threatens to put Steamboat Bill, Sr. and his paddle-wheeler out of business. (Public Domain).

The New Adventures of Tarzan. (1935) (dir. Edward Kull) Not many realize this feature, along with ‘Tarzan and the Green Goddess’, were produced by E.R. Burroughs, himself. He wanted a screen portrayal of Tarzan as he had written him, a noble intelligent Ape Man/Lord Greystoke, not as Hollywood had made him (“Me Tarzan, you Jane”). And NO Cheetah.

Three Stooges – Color Craziness (1965) “The New Three Stooges” featured the animated adventures of Moe, Larry, & Curly Joe. The cartoons were introduced by live-action inserts with the real Stooges. These inserts were some of the only Stooges material ever filmed in color, and they also feature long-time Stooge collaberator Emil Sitka. (Public Domain).

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