The Invisibles: Filmmakers give voice to brutalized migrants

The Invisibles: Filmmakers give voice to brutalized migrants


By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Photos: The Invisibles


TUCSON -- The women and children are raped. They are kidnapped. Those who can not remember the names of their relatives in the United States with money, have the tips of their tongues cut off. Those who can not pay the kidnappers are tortured, chopped into pieces and their bodies burned in boiling pots of diesel oil. Some are still alive when they are thrown in.

The Mexican government knows this, but does nothing to stop it.

These are the “Invisibles.”

These are the stories of migrants traveling on foot from southern Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. They are traveling north through Mexico, risking their lives to help their families.

Their stories are told in “The Invisibles,” which premiered on the campus of the University of Arizona on Sunday afternoon.

With striking cinematography, and powerful stories, this is the reality of the death walk. The filmmakers execute the four short films in perfect style, weaving stories of struggle and tragedy, while revealing the face of humanity.

A 17-year-old tells of her family being robbed. Then she was raped. More than half of the women migrants are raped. A man in a hospital bed tells of being thrown from a train. Along the train route, kidnappers hide waiting to kidnap the migrants.

Why? As one young mother put it: There is no work at home and everything is expensive. When her children needed school supplies and she could not buy them, she made the decision to travel on foot from Central America, risking all for a job in the US.

Filmmaker Marc Silver answered questions about the film after Sunday afternoon’s screening. Silver described his early interest in resistance efforts, which led to the profound truth of the deaths of migrants in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. Amnesty International learned of the project and is now sponsoring the effort to bring about education.

When asked if migrants were reluctant to tell their story, Silver said that they were glad to have an opportunity to tell their stories, to share the horror of the abuse they had suffered in Mexico.

The four-part “The Invisibles,” is co-directed by Silver and actor Gael Garcia Bernal, star of “The Motorcycle Diaries.” The four segments are part of a feature length film now being filmed which will include the story of migrants dying in the Sonoran Desert.



Silver said he was pleased with the cooperation he has received in southern Arizona. “No one wants to see more people die in the desert.”

When asked what could be done, Silver recommended helping Tucson-based humanitarian aid organizations, including No More Deaths, the Samaritans and those who put out water for migrants at Humane Borders.

But Silver said what is needed is systematic change, change that encompasses trade and economic changes.

The Spanish language four-part series, “The Invisibles,” with English subtitles, will be shown on Mexico television to bring awareness to the abuse and torture of migrants ongoing in Mexico.

Silver said telling these stories has been empowering to the migrants who suffer abuse. It is also empowering to those who hear their stories, stories of resilience and courage.

Silver said there are also acts of kindness by those who try and make a difference, like the volunteers in migrant shelters, who are also targeted with abuse for helping migrants.

Then, there are village women who throw bags of oranges or tortillas to those migrants riding on top of trains.

brendanorrell@gmail.com

Watch video and read more:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/widespread-abuse-migrants-mexico-human-rights-crisis-2010-04-27

Photos: World Indigenous Peoples Day Tucson

Indigenous Peoples 2010 in Tucson, Arizona

Article and photos by the Indigenous Alliance without Borders/Alianza Indigena sin Fronteras

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on Monday, August 9th, 2010 hosted at the YWCA Frances McClelland Leadership Center in Tucson, Arizona was a profound success. Thank You to each and every one of you for marking this day of celebration for indigenous peoples!
The celebratory gala brought together speakers, panelists, activists/youth activists, and a wonderful crowd of supporters from the southwest region of the United States and northern Mexico. The day is marked by the United Nations resolution 49/214, and subsequent resolution 59/174, to promote the heritages of the world’s indigenous peoples. The focus of the event in Tucson shadowed the U.N. resolution “to further strengthen international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment, and social and economic development.”
The event kicked off with a lovely drum circle performed by the Panther Creek Singers. Jose Matus, Program Director of Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders and Yaqui Ceremonial leader, gave a gracious welcome followed by an opening prayer led by Tupac Enrique of Tonatierra.
Beloved poet and writer, Simon Ortiz of Acoma Pueblo heritage, addressed the audience with an insightful keynote speech. Six different speakers/panelists illuminated the event with their sage perspectives on indigenous rights, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, indigenous women’s rights, Arizona state laws SB1070 and HB2281, and civil rights conflicts occurring at a localized level. This was followed up with a Q & A session where audience members were able to ask speaker/panelist a question.
The following is a list of speakers/panelists:
Shannon Rivers – Akimel O’odham Activist
Wenona Benally – Diné/Navajo Attorney
Professor James Anaya – United Nations Special Rapporteur, University of Arizona Law Professor
Attorney Antonio Bustamente – Civil Rights lawyer
Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez – University of Arizona Chican@ Studies Professor and Indigenous/Chican@ Activist
Leilani Clark – Coalicion dé Derechos Humanos and Youth Indigenous Chican@ Activist

Indigenous Women’s rights conflicts became a focus of conversation amongst the panelists. Following the incredible reporting from international NGO’s such as Amnesty International’s “Stolen Sisters” reporting and the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s “Sisters in Spirit” continuing initiative, it is clear that indigenous women’s rights needs to be brought to the forefront of further discussion.
The highlight of the celebration was the short interlude between speakers. The YWCA Nuestra Voz Youth group enlightened the audience with a beautiful interpretation on the negative impact of racism and stereotyping. Other youth from the southern Arizona community joined the event and regaled their humanistic experience with United States immigration policies. Their undaunted courage and resolve to overcome any obstacle did not go unnoticed. They are, indeed, the future leaders of our global community.
The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples engagement was sponsored by Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders, Coalicion dé Derechos Humanos, Indigenous Environmental Network, the International Indian Treaty Council, The Seventh Generation Fund, Inc., Tonatierra, the Yoeme Commission on Human Rights, and the YWCA in Tucson.
We give a heartfelt thank you to each speaker for sharing their experience with us. Thank You Simon Ortiz for your beautiful address. We offer sincere gratitude to the YWCA Frances McClelland Leadership Center for allowing us to host this event in their beautiful facility and for the fine performance from their youth group.

Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, a non-profit organization based out of Tucson, Arizona, is a grassroots indigenous organization promoting rights for indigenous peoples along the southern United States and Mexico border region. We promote respect for Indigenous peoples’ human, civil, and sovereignty rights; promote self determination, rights of mobility and passage in crossing the United States and Mexico border, and environmental protection of native lands and sacred sites.

Canada Jails Refugees

Canada Jails Refugees
By No One is Illegal Vancouver
Friday August 13, 2010, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories– No One Is Illegal dropped a large banner which read: “Canada Jails Refugees” above Highway 1 in Vancouver/Burnaby this morning during rush-hour traffic. The banner drop was in response to the ongoing stigmatization and public hysteria around the MV Sun Sea, carrying 490 Tamil asylum seekers to BC. Now that the ship has been boarded by the Navy, Armed Forces, Canadian Border Services Agency, and RCMP, it is expected that these migrants will be incarcerated in prisons within the week. Canada’s immigration legislation permits immigration officials to hold the Tamil refugee claimants in a state of indefinite detention without charge based only on a mere suspicion of inadmissibility on so-called security grounds. This form of arbitrary and indefinite immigration detention has previously been condemned internationally as a breach of fundamental human rights. More: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2160

Militarizing the Border and Keeping Afghan Secrets

The Wikileaks secret that the US doesn't want leaked: The US pays the Taliban

By Brenda Norrell
Narcosphere
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2010/08/militarizing-border-and-hiding-afghan-secrets

Obama signed the $600 million border security bill into law, so now there will be more US military on the border to run drugs and terrorize border residents, including Indigenous Peoples and other people of color.

In case you missed it, the FBI had to halt the sting operation Operation Lively Green, because so many of US soldiers wanted to smuggle cocaine from Nogales to Phoenix.

Meanwhile, organizations rush to chastise Wikileaks for the release of information. However, few have the courage to blame President Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, for continuing the war in Afghanistan.

Few people are holding the US responsible for war crimes: US assassinations, torture and kidnapping, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, and the widespread killing of civilians with remote-controlled drones and the reckless, out-of-control US military.

One of the facts that the US would like to keep secret is that the US has been paying the Taliban and resistance forces. Wikileaks documents confirm that the United States is funding both sides of the war through bribes paid to the Taliban and other resistance forces.

If you're unfamiliar with how the US funds the enemy, including guerrillas, to keep wars going and destabilize governments, the US Army black ops has posted their manual online for you, "A Leader's Handbook to Unconventional Warfare:" http://www.soc.mil/swcs/swmag/Assets/SWCS%20Publications/Leaders%20Guide%20Final.pdf

The US Army Special Operations handbook describes how the US develops and works with guerrillas and resistance forces (otherwise known as terrorists.) The US handbook says it uses them to carry out acts of violence, including "Acts of sabotage (in urban centers.)"

What few are discussing is the fact that the US contracts to private security contractors alone are enough incentive for the US and its corporate warmonger partners to keep the war going. This includes Blackwater (which is now XE and still receiving US contracts in Afghanistan) CACI, DynCorp and all the others.

One DynCorp International document on Wikileaks shows that DynCorp employees were hired by the US as assassins in Iraq. DynCorp mercenaries were told to shoot to kill and that warning shots are not permitted. DynCorp was told to "Use deadly force; shoot at vehicles; stop, detain and search civilians.”

Now, the media spin doctors controlling Congress and the White House are proving to be an economic boom for the private security contractors, other war profiteers and private prison contractors.

Private prison contractors like GEO and Corrections Corporations of America (CCA) are salivating at the border over new contracts to imprison migrants and people of color for dollars.

Boeing and the Israeli Apartheid border wall builder Elbit Systems have already made their fortunes on the Arizona border, building a piece here and there of a border wall, and a string of spy towers on the Arizona border that don't work. While stuffing their pockets with dollars from US contracts, Boeing violated federal law by digging up O'odham ancestors on O'odham land and violated most federal environmental laws which now endangers the jaguar and other wildlife.

In the swing of things, the Arizona state government is happy to create new laws such as SB 1070 to fill private prisons with people of color. After all, prisons are one of the top employers in southern Arizona.

The Arizona state government is also proud to have a racist sheriff for Maricopa County. Sheriff Joe Arpaio and sanctified hate groups are an image of the new racist Arizona that the state government would like to project.

But as long as CNN and the other media are marching to the orders of the spin doctors, you won't find the truth there.

Also see:
Increase in border militarization means more deaths and human rights abuses:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2010/08/obama-and-congress-increase-border.html