Accent of Women

Lynas Rare Earth is proposing to dump over 1 million tons of radioactive waste in landfill in the pristine tropical rainforest near the city of Kuantan in Malaysia. The forest reserve at Bukit Ketam is linked to the water catchment that supplies water to over 90% of the population in Kuantan. Lynas has submitted a massive environmental impact assessment to the Malaysian authorities, which is light on safeguards and seeks to carve out the forest for its dump.  On today’s program, Lee Tan, an activist with Aid Watch, currently working to stop the waste dump.

International Women’s Day, acknowledged on March 8 every year, is a day of activism, struggle and the continuation of the global movement to end sexist oppression. In those parts of the world where IWD is a struggle, and not a cupcake breakfast or morning tea, many of those demonstrations were brutally repressed. Azerbaijan is one such part of the world. On today’s show, we look at what happened at this year’s IWD march and rally in Baku, Azerbaijan. I speak with feminist and political activist, Rabiyya Mammodova. As one of the organisers for this year’s rally, just before it was scheduled to begin, Rabiyya and her comrades were arrested, kidnapped, beaten, and then released at the end of the rally.

International Women’s Day, acknowledged on March 8 every year, is a day of activism, struggle and the continuation of the global movement to end sexist oppression. Today’s show is a dedication to all women globally, struggling for freedom, equality and peace. On today’s show, we turn our attention to Filipina women and their specific show. My guest today is Nes Govanzo, an organiser in Gabriela, a grassroots-based alliance of more than 200 organizations, institutions and programs based in communities, workplaces and schools throughout all regions and major provinces and cities in the Philippines. It also has chapters in eight countries outside of the Philippines.

Farmers have been striking in India since August last year in opposition to a tranche of agri-reform laws that were passed in September. The protests have been massive – tens of millions of people – but then again, India has a population of 1.4 billion people. So what are these farmers protests about and how should we understand them? On the show today is Shivani Kaul from Bigool Mazdoor Dasta.

Following the major rallies across the country last week to commemorate Invasion Day, the date on which, in 1788, the rising of the flag of Great Britain by Governor Arthur Philip at Port Jackson in NSW, this week on the show, we talk about what next, where to. I spoke with two of the organisers of the Melbourne Rally, Meriki Onus and Crystal McKinnon, from the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. Their overall message is that for Aboriginal activists it’s business as usual, continuing the fight against racism, settler colonialism and working with communities experiencing the direct consequences of these systems of oppression.

In a landmark verdict in Greece’s highest-profile political trial in decades, an Athens court found the neo-fascist party Golden Dawn guilty of running a criminal organization as it rose to prominence during the coun-try’s financial crisis, systematically targeting migrants and left-wing critics. The party was banned on 7 October.The party member who stabbed prominent rapper, Pavlos Fyssas, was Giorgos Roupakias, and he was found guilty of murder on Wednesday. Another five Golden Dawn supporters or members were found guilty of attempted murder over assaults on three Egyptian fishermen in 2012, while four were found guilty of caus-ing bodily harm over assaults on members of Greece’s Communist Party trade union in 2013.On today’s program, I speak with Katerina Thoidou from an organisation called World Against Racism called KEERFA in Greece. Katerina was one of the people that gave evidence in the Golden Dawn trial

Hospital cleaning workers were arrested in June for staging peaceful protest against their union busting employer – a contractor for Ipoh hospital. In spite of the whole world thanking frontline workers for putting their lives at risk to fight COVID 19, the Malaysian government, the operator of Ipoh hospital, has continued with its anti-worker, and anti-union policies, privatising key public services, and allowing contractor companies to smash the unions.In Malaysia, like most parts of the world, hospital cleaning workers are amongst the most precarious and the most poorly paid.  The newly unionised cleaning workers of Ipoh district hospital are being paid below the nationally declared poverty line. Today’s Accent of Women discusses what happened when 5 members of the union were arrested for peacefully protesting, and what is next in their struggle – Saras, the union’s secretary was among the 5 arrestees and is this week’s special guest.

Several thousand anti-government protesters have been rallying in Thailand’s capital for the last three weeks, calling for a new constitution, new elections and an end to repressive laws.In the last week, two leaders of the movement were arrested, resulting in ever greater resolve amongst the protest movement. The pair were charged with sedition and breaking coronavirus rules, before being released on bail.And the demonstrations are likely to grow into an even larger movement as the economy worsens amid the coronavirus pandemic.On todays show we speak with Lek Yimprasert, exiled Thai activist living in Finland.

On July 3, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11479, known as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, into law. The law grants sweeping police state powers, including the authorization of warrantless wiretapping and surveillance, and warrantless arrests for up to 24 days of anyone accused by a presidentially-appointed commission of “terrorism.” On today’s program we speak with May Kotsakis, the Co-chairperson of the Philippines Australia Solidarity Association.

One of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists is facing up to six years in prison after she was found guilty of “cyberlibel” charges on 15 June this year, a verdict condemned as setting “an extraordinarily damaging precedent” for press freedoms in the Philippines. Her name is Maria Ressa, and the offending article was about corruption of a Philippines Supreme Court Judge.Since the election of President Duterte in the Philippines in 2016, there has been a significant deterioration in civil liberties and workers’ rights. This verdict comes at a time of civil crackdown, concealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the context of the murderous war on drugs. Today’s Accent of Women features Maria Ressa herself, the journalist facing 6 years of prison following a guilty verdict. She is the CEO and executive editor, and in which that offending article was published.