Security Archives - Page 3 of 3

City Bike Thefts On The Increase

Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Information, News No Responses »

Sep 092011

With thanks to Carl Gerrard and Grampian Police.

Bicycle theft in Aberdeen is on the increase and police say it’s largely because people are not taking simple precautions. As bicycle use increases it appears that opportunities for thieves is also on the rise.
Grampian Police are delighted to be working with The Aberdeen Cycle Forum to try and remind all cyclist across Aberdeen to take proper security precautions to look after their bikes.

Constable Kevin Murray of Aberdeen Division Crime Reduction Unit Advised:

“I would ask all bike owners to take a little time to think about the exact location you are going to, how you will secure the bike and what you are going to secure it to in the street.

“This thought process can assist in preventing the bike from ever being stolen in the first place. Most thefts are still opportunist and even if you are just going into a shop for just a couple of minutes that is sufficient time for someone to steal your bike.”

Constable Murray continued:

“A simple but effective method of securing your bike in the street, is to lock it, using a good quality lock such as a ‘D’ lock, at the dedicated bike bars found in and around the city centre. Also consider securing it to immoveable street furniture which is in line of sight of a public space CCTV camera.”

Carl Gerrard, secretary of the Aberdeen Cycle Forum told Aberdeen Voice:

“Since 2008 cycle use has increased 20% inAberdeen. It’s a sad fact that cycle theft has also increased. The good news is that by following a few common sense tips on the ACF website (www.aberdeencycleforum.org.uk) cyclists can both greatly reduce the chance of becoming a victim and increase the chance of getting their bike back should the worst happen.”

“Having your bike stolen results in both financial costs, and the inconvenience of having to use another mode of transport. We are delighted to be working with Grampian Police to raise awareness in this area.”

Only 10% of the bikes recovered by Grampian Police are returned to their owners due to the poor descriptions, however, owners can ensure their chances of having their vehicle returned is increased.

Constable Murray added:

“In an effort to improve descriptions provided to police I would like to remind all bike owners to utilise the Bike Passport form which can be found on the Grampian Police website under the crime reduction pages of the advice centre section.

“It is difficult to give the police or your insurer an accurate description of your bike once it has been stolen, however if once you purchase your bike you security mark it, complete this form, which includes an image of your bike and keep it safe, it will provide a more accurate description of your bike to increase the chance of officers being able to reunite you with your stolen pedal cycle if recovered.”

For more advice on bike and shed security visit The Aberdeen Cycle Forum website at www.aberdeencycleforum.org.uk or contact your local Crime Reduction Officer on 0845 600 5700.

Libya Ablaze

Articles, Community, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Sep 012011

By Jonathan Hamilton Russell.

In June of this year I wrote an article on the situation in Libya called ‘Libya another Brutal Conflict’.
In it I suggested a way forward would have been via negotiations, which would include the expectation for fair elections run by the United Nations, the withdrawal of NATO and the use of UN peacekeepers.

Qaddafi would have been forced to face his opposition but in a non-bloody way. Only if such negotiations failed would military action be considered.

The mantra regarding the war on Iraq was ‘weapons of mass destruction’; this proved to be a lie. The mantra in relation t oLibya has been ‘the defence of innocent civilians’. This, as the conflict has escalated, has proved clearly not to be the real objective. Investigations by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and a UN commission headed by the legal scholar Cheri Bassioni found there was no evidence of the atrocity stories which were given as the reasons for NATO action.

Yet this was not listened to by our politicians and was not widely reported by the media. What has clearly happened is a mission of regime change which went far beyond the UN mandate. Such developments were opposed by the US Congress and never properly debated in our own Parliament.

Rather than protecting civilians, NATO weapons have inevitably killed them.

Their targets increasingly widened from attacking tanks that were moving towards Benghazi, to attacking all Libyan Military installations, to attacking any building that was seen as supporting the Gaddafi administration.

Inevitably there were civilian casualties. On the day of the rebel attack on Tripoli, more bombs were dropped than on any other day in NATO’s history. The rebels were also being supported and trained by troops from NATO countries, and as evidenced by the Sunday Times, some were Libyan exiles living in the UK. This has led to an even more bitter war between the ‘rebels and Kaddafi loyalists with disastrous human consequences.

The hospitals are not coping and Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are reporting human rights violations on all sides. Human Rights Watch consider that the evidence suggests that the old governments Khamis Brigade killed 45 detainees. The horrors of what happened to Kaddafi troops and the disappearance of all the medical staff at Abu- Salim hospital is just unfolding as are other atrocities, but these are only the most heavily reported incidents.

We never seem to learn the lesson of the horrors that war can bring.

Richard Seymour in the Guardian reported on Peter Bouckaert from Human Rights Watch findings that he had not identified one mercenary among scores of men being arrested and falsely labelled as such by journalists. Many Libyans are black but have been labelled as black mercenaries from Africa and led to racist incidents.

Qaddafi’s regime became increasingly oppressive over time

On top of this, much of the country’s infra-structure has been destroyed. The Libyan Transitional Council estimate it will take ten years to repair the damage done to the country’s infrastructure.

So what is the future for Libya? It is almost certain that Qaddafi will be eventually defeated, but how long that takes and at what continuing human cost is still to be seen. Worryingly, anyone supporting Qaddafi will not be seen as a civilian but as a supporter of a mad and dangerous dictator. The rebels are not a united force. The National Transitional Council has been recognised by over 40 foreign states; however, has it been recognised by the militias on the ground?

Abul Fatah Younes, the leader of the Rebel army, was murdered by one of the Islamic militias and this in turn led to the sacking of the whole cabinet by Musta Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Government.

Will this Government be able to rule or will fighting continue between the various factions, in particular those aligned to a more Islamic agenda and those not? These groupings are now highly armed and as our policies did in Afghanistan, they could easily come back to bite western interests. Atiyha Abdl al Rahman, the deputy leader of Al-Qaida who was killed by US drones in Pakistan, was Libyan.

Qaddafi’s regime became increasingly oppressive over time. In his early years as a revolutionary leader, he was involved in pulling down prisons. Being active himself over the years led to the atrocities that more recently took place of Islamists in Libyan prisons. Hopefully human rights will improve, but that has yet to be seen, and Libya was far from being the only country which has tortured and killed the more extreme Islamists.

Any new government will still have to find ways of dealing with Islamic groups and could end up being equally oppressive.

The Qaddafi regime was oppressive to its enemies, they did however have the highest social indicators in the Third World with better housing, health care and standards of living than in other Middle East and third world countries. As with Iraq these social strengths and the resulting effects on the countries well-being are sure to decline particularly if conflict continues.

Libya was not a country in debt, but it is now, and like us it will have to become beholden to the banks for money borrowed to rebuild the country. Who will own the huge reserves held in foreign banks which were there in part to deal with Libya’s future when the oil stocks have gone?

This has caused considerable indignation on the African continent.

Libya has historically produced 1.5 to 2 million barrels of oil a day. Qaddafi was hated by the west for nationalising Libyan oil and though he has more recently been co-operating with Western firms he has still been directing considerable investment into the economy and saving for its future.

Any new government will, unless clearly Islamic, be beholden to the West, and as such oil is almost certain to be obtained by the West more cheaply; the cost of oil on the markets has already gone down. Libya will also likely have military NATO bases for any future developments in the Middle East.

The poorer Libyans will, I suspect, be those who will be the most badly affected but others will gain and disparities in wealth will increase to the overall detriment of the country. Hopefully human rights will improve, but that has yet to be seen. Qaddafi was supportive of women’s involvement in society and was one of the reasons that he opposed so strongly the more extreme tenants of Islam and its supporters in Libya.

The future for women could go either way, but is certain to cause tension in the new Libya.

Qaddafi was instrumental in setting up the African Union and financially supported African infrastructure projects. The West, unless replaced by Chinese interests, will now have greater control over the African continent. However despite for instance South Africa supporting Resolution 1973 which led to intervention in Libya, their and other African countries attempts through the African Union to set up peace talks were knocked back. This has caused considerable indignation on the African continent.

overall spending on wars leads to fewer resources to be spent on other areas

Due to the way that NATO overstepped the UN resolution, there is now reluctance by many countries to do anything in Syria or the other Middle East countries. Damage has been done to International relations and the workings of the United Nations due to NATO’s actions.

Why have we, and why are we continuing to arm dictatorships in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, etc. which are oppressive to their people? In fact, why are we arming any country? All armaments have the potential for use both between warring countries and on countries own citizens. Yet selling more arms is a key target of the present UK Government.

The selling of arms does lead to profit and work for those involved and money for Government. However overall spending on wars leads to fewer resources to be spent on other areas and in the United Kingdom, France and the United States it will lead to increased cuts in public services which will affect us all, but in particular the more vulnerable people in our society.

The United Nations was set up to try and stop wars between countries. Libya had not invaded another country.

The intervention was, however, based around the doctrine of ‘the responsibility to protect’ following The Rwandan genocide. The way NATO has acted by clearly taking sides in Libya has brought this doctrine into disrespect. The press in the UK have in the main been heralding the success of the Libyan intervention, but if you dig deeper this can only be questioned.

The United Nations needs itself to have increased power to stop the manipulation that has clearly taken place around the Libyan conflict.

So what can we do?

We can protest. Stop the War and CND are holding an anti-war rally on October 8th to mark 10 years of military intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya. The demonstrations against the Iraq war may not have stopped the war but they did shake the establishment and led in part to the downfall of Tony Blair
We can support the United Nations associations to help make this a stronger organisation that gets back to its original basis for existing
We can protest against our pension funds being invested in the arms trade as is in the case of Aberdeen City Councils pension fund.
Campaign Against the Arms Trade ( CAAT ) will be holding their yearly demonstration on September 13th in London. ‘ Cut the Arms Trade not public services’. Please see: Stop the War or CAAT website.

Libya : Another Brutal Conflict

Articles, Community, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Jun 102011

By Jonathan Hamilton Russell.

The situation in Libya is complex and an understanding requires a historical perspective and the realisation that Libya is a tribal society which has many tribal and political interests. Gaddafi when he took power in Libya in 1969, in a bloodless coup, nationalised the oil and took it away from Western Control.

He used the money gained to invest in the social structure, i.e. health, education and social housing in Libya.

Gaddafi became involved in supporting’ Liberation’ wars in Africa and Ireland and this along with the Lockerbie tragedy led to sanctions and to initial bombings by the US in 1986. Sanctions led to a decline in the wealth of Libya and In the late 90’s Gaddafi changed his policy to the West due to the effects of these sanctions and to his even greater dislike of fundamentalist Islam in the form of Al Qaida and the Taliban. Libya was returned into the international fold and welcomed warmly by our own Prime Minister at the time Tony Blair.

Gaddafi admits that he has carried out human rights violations and torture on his opposition in particular to those linked to Al Qaida, to whom he is strongly opposed and for this he should, like any other abuser of human rights, be prosecuted. Al Qaida has had a strong following in Libya and Libyans were the largest grouping of fighters within Al Qaida in Iraq.

Gaddafi says he got his lead on the use of torture from the United States and if he is to be tried for human rights and war crimes so should lots of other national leaders and all those affiliated to NATO.

Gaddafi was instrumental in setting up the African Union and has helped in the development of infrastructure projects in Africa. According to the United Nations, Libya until the present conflict had the best social indicators in the Third World. Gaddafi has promoted the equality of women and is opposed to the backward attitude of most of the Arab world in relation to their attitudes towards women. Gaddafi did instigate his own form of democracy very similar to Soviet Style Workers committees and had no formal position as head of state. In reality he has been at the head of the country and has increasingly been concerned about hanging on to power.

Gaddafi is a complex man who has done both good and bad but the media portrayal of an evil dictator is to say the least over simplistic This does not mean that his desire to hold onto power has not led to an over controlling and oppressive state but it does mean that our response to him should be more balanced particularly when you compare Libya to other regimes in the Middle East which are equally repressive but also have greater disparities in wealth. There have been reports of Gaddafi’s troops having been involved with rape in Misrata a common occurrence in war which is barbaric and unacceptable.

The United Nations staff, on the ground in Libya say there is no hard evidence of this. However a spokesperson from the International Court on war crimes say they have evidence that systematic rape is being used by the Gaddaffi regime. This clearly needs further investigation before any firm conclusion can be reached.

Libya is a tribal society and the West of the country has benefited more than the East.

The bombings were aimed at stopping a humanitarian disaster yet where has the outcry been about those supporters of Gaddafi tortured and killed

Gaddafi clearly has his opponents but these are a mixture of Western sympathisers including those who want more democracy and those who follow Al Qaida. The majority of leadership of the Rebels in Banghazi is presently made up of ex Libyan Government ministers who previously had no interest in Western Democracy but are defecting as they see the imminent collapse of the regime.

A significant number of the more experienced of those fighting for the revolution gained their military skills fighting for Al Qaida in Iraq and are to be feared by many of those who support Gaddafi. Getting rid of Gaddafi is not likely to lead to a peaceful democratic Libya but is much more likely to lead to greater internal division and continued violence.

The oil is to be found in the East of the country.

The eastern leaders have already agreed to give oil contracts to the West. The bombings were aimed at stopping a humanitarian disaster yet where has the outcry been about those supporters of Gaddafi tortured and killed, the killings and general plight of African Workers and to the casualties of NATO bombings? Why has Libya been selected for this type of intervention when the evidence is that equally bad oppression is taking place in other Middle Eastern countries.

Libya compared with most countries had only a small army and arms sales to Saudi Arabia – an equally oppressive state – are far greater. From 2008 until the last quarter of 2010 arms sales to Saudi Arabia from the UK were three times less than those to Libya.

War is always brutal and people always suffer on all sides, yet it appears to have become the norm to intervene in this way rather than to find ways forward via negotiation. This policy of military intervention has been used to disastrous effect in Iraq, Afghanistan Pakistan and Palestine.

The only beneficiaries of these conflicts are the arms companies burgeoning profits. Ordinary people on the ground pay for war by the murder or mutilation of their loved ones. Why were the attempts by the African Union and Venezuela to act as an intermediary for negotiations in the Libyan conflict so easily turned down? Nor any other attempts to broker negotiations put in place? Surely all forms of negotiation should have tried before the policy of protecting civilians turned into a military intervention aimed at regime change at any cost.

The cost of this action and the resulting likely cries for more military spending will lead to even greater cuts in our own social spending

NATO has moved from a position of ‘protecting civilians’ to regime change and is in effect putting many civilian lives in jeopardy.

This policy has never been sanctioned by our own Parliament and does not fit with the United Nations own charter as Libya has not invaded another country.

Our own Prime Minister, who was caught promoting the sale of arms to Middle East dictators at the beginning of the Middle East uprisings, has with his ally President Sarkozy of France been the main instigators of this military Intervention in Libya and have in many ways replaced Bush and Blair as the main instigators of military intervention in other states. President Obama initially hesitated but – as has sadly become his style – eventually taken a hawkish position in Foreign policy.

The results of these actions have lead to more civilian casualties and to the destruction of buildings and infrastructure and to the loss of social gains. The cost of this action and the resulting likely cries for more military spending will lead to even greater cuts in our own social spending. The United States spent over £750 million on the conflict in its first few weeks. In the UK the corresponding figure currently stands at around £300 million and it is forecasted that this will rise to one billion by September.

One factor that has got lost is that when Libya’s Foreign Secretary Moussa Koussa was interviewed by the Scottish police in relation to the Lockerbie bombings, yet we have heard nothing of these interviews.

Surely if he had evidence of Libya’s involvement this would have been given huge publicity and given as a justification for military action. Dr Jim Swire has warned against any evidence from defectors being taken seriously as they have interests of self-preservation. There is still significant concern about the correctness of the present verdict regarding the Lockerbie bombing

We appear to have become numb to the use of brutal military action by our own Government and have fallen for the media’s over-simplistic justification of getting rid of a mad and brutal dictator. NATO has extended it’s timescale for operations and calls from South Africa are going unheeded. Al Jazeera has shown footage of Western troops West of Misrata yet one of the main points of the UN Security Council was to exclude foreign involvement on the ground.

I believe that a negotiated settlement should be sought with the clear aim of setting up elections. It would then be up to all the Libyan people to decide on their future. All bombings by NATO should stop while negotiations take place. One of the main demands of the UN Security council resolution was for a cease fire. Given any ceasefire it should be United Nations Peacekeeping forces that should be put on the ground not NATO troops that are on the ground.

All those responsible for war crimes and torture should be tried at the International War Crimes court.

A Legend By Lunchtime?

Aberdeen City, Articles, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Oct 152010

Last week, as Donald Trump arrived in Aberdeen ahead of his controversial honorary doctorate award from RGU, Aberdeen Voice was already busy drip-feeding leaked details of the scheduled time and place of the ceremony.

As many individuals and organisations pondered how to act on the information, one former Gordon’s student wasted no time in laying the foundations for a course of action which would raise his profile beyond all- including his own- expectations.

If Andy Warhol is correct in that we will all have 15 minutes of fame in our lifetime, then we are pleased to extend John Russell’s remaining credit to tell his story to Aberdeen Voice;

Small Banner Which Was Displayed At RGU Demo.

“Friday 8th of October 2010. For myself, a mad and memorable day. It all began earlier with a slightly tongue in cheek conversation on Facebook. I had suggested that as I lived across from RGU, I should hang a banner to display my opposition to Trump’s award and his threat to evict families from their homes.

I attended RGU – or RGIT as it was then known – many years ago, and feel that, compared to myself and my fellow students, Donald had contributed very little of benefit to the citizens of Aberdeen. I was also ashamed that despite these dunes being a designated SSSI, Trump’s plan was allowed to proceed.

The raw material for 2 banners was acquired from a charity shop and delivered to my house on the Thursday afternoon. The phrase “Shame on you RGU” popped into my head. I then added “Dump Trump” on the bottom of the larger banner. Job done.

I hung it out of my window at about 7am thinking to catch the morning traffic, some of whom would be lecturers and students arriving at RGU.

By 8am a police land rover had parked outside my house and 4 officers were looking up at my banner. I was hit by the realisation that I had started something with no thought as to the possible outcome. Later still a sea of photographers were taking photos of my house while with each bus and car that passed people stared and pointed.

My nerves were on edge as Donald Trump appeared. I stood on a low wall and unfurled my banner

Around 11am I saw a fleet of 5 black Range Rovers pass by. I decided to wander across the road and see what was happening. Security was everywhere, and my immediate thought was; who was paying for this?

I stood opposite the fleet of Range Rovers, much to the annoyance of the Bruce Willis wannabes guarding them.

Regularly updating my Facebook page, I drew nervous looks from the security staff. I went back home to pick up a jacket and tucked the smaller banner inside so as not to draw attention to myself. Returning to the same spot, I updated my facebook page, hoping that by getting information out asap, this might benefit others. Eventually a security person came over and asked me to move.

When I asked why, he replied: “no reason”, but added that there was a space set aside for the press. I couldn’t help smiling at his assumption that I was from the press as I proceeded to the designated area – 15ft from where the now Doctor Donald would soon emerge.

My nerves were on edge as Donald Trump appeared; I stood on a low wall and unfurled my banner which read “shame on you RGU”.

Donald looked at me for a few moments.

I was approached by a member of his security team, who immediately ordered me to get off the wall, to which I replied in the negative. Again he asked and again he was given the same reply. Then in a much firmer voice, he said;

Trump Entourage Vehicles. Note the registration numbers. Something ironic about one of them ending in CPO? (click to enlarge)

“Sir, I am telling you to get off the wall”

Who did he think he was talking to?

I told him I was not moving, and suggested if he dare put one finger on me…..
To my amusement he then turned and walked away to catch up with Doctor Donald and the car collection – Doctor Donald’s five Range Rovers, the 3 Bentleys with personalised registrations, a number of Jags including Sir Ian’s which took pride of place in the convoy.

Delighted with this unexpected response I shouted out, “nice one Donald!”, and added that Scotland was not for sale.

I was then asked to pose for the various photographers and stood for 5 minutes while a sea of flash bulbs went off in front of me. I was asked to give interviews, but felt this part was better left to others. I had played my part. “

A Close Encounter With Dr Trump

Aberdeen City, Articles, Featured, Information, Opinion No Responses »

Oct 152010

By Gail Riekie.

Henceforth, if anyone asks which institution awarded my PhD, I shall be very careful to say “The University of Aberdeen, that’s Aberdeen University, not Robert Gordon University”, or as it may soon, I fear, be renamed, The Donald Trump University.

Last Friday (8th October), first thing, I encountered my Ferryhill neighbour, a lecturer at RGU, as we were both walking our dogs in Duthie Park. Are you free for a coffee this morning, or are you busy, I asked? She said she was working at home, as a certain controversial degree ceremony was taking place at her workplace at 10 am.

I shall not rehearse all the arguments against Donald Trump and his golf resort here. Where in fact to begin?

The damage to a precious and scientifically special environment, the loss of an amenity, the contempt for local democracy and planning processes, Trump’s past record of reneging on agreements and his bully boy tactics against local residents. I could go on. You get where I stand on this issue.

When I first moved to Aberdeen, twelve years ago, I was awestruck by the magnificent stretch of coastline north of Aberdeen. Scotland’s mountains, lochs and islands are justly celebrated, but to stumble upon this beguiling other world of colossal dunes and pristine beaches was like discovering a well kept and very special secret. Why was this wonderland not more widely recognised? Did people not realise what a treasure lay on their doorstep?

At 50m intervals, big men in private security uniforms were surrounding the building. I was ordered off the premises

In July this year I took my new fox terrier puppy Bertie for a walk at Balmedie, a place where his predecessor, the Hamish the Westie, had many times joyfully romped. I tried to follow a favourite route, north along the beach and back inland through the shifting dune complex.

Only to encounter a line of notices, marching over the dunes, saying ‘Warning. Construction Site. Keep Out!’ The reality of the Trump situation finally hit home and I duly went home feeling sick at heart.

So anyway, back to last Friday morning. Work duties for the week completed, I decided to go any investigate what was up at RGU. I parked my car at Sainsbury’s in Garthdee, walked with wee Bertie along the river Dee and tried to approach the Faculty of Health and Social Care from the rear. We often walk around this area after a supermarket shop, to my knowledge, no-one objects. Except for this time.

At 50m intervals, big men in private security uniforms were surrounding the building. I was ordered off the premises “because of what is happening here today”. So I circuited round to the front, where, from a position amongst the bushes, above the front entrance to the FHSC building, I could see a small crowd of press and men in suits, with more arriving by the minute, mostly in 4WD vehicles. Very soon, another uniformed man approached me.

“What are you doing here?”
“Oh I often walk my dog round the campus, and this morning I was just a little curious to see what was happening with this Donald Trump degree ceremony”.

“Where are you from?”

“I stay in Ferryhill, just a mile over that way.” I wave my arm eastwards. He looks puzzled. I continue “and where are you from, by the way?” His African accent was even less Aberdonian than my English one and he stomped off to find the boss. The boss did sound local, and was all smiles. “Ah, is that a fox terrier, what a great wee chappie, I used to have a Scottie myself. Do come down here to the public viewing area, just behind the barricades, thank you.”

So I stood there alone in an area fenced off for ‘public viewing’, becoming increasingly bedraggled in the persistent drizzle. (Dr Trump’s golfers will soon be familiar with this experience). Where were the other protesters?

A cameraman took lengthy footage of Bertie, who, rather disappointingly in the circumstances, sat there looking all cute and not displaying any of his feisty terrier tendencies. ‘The Donald’ was already inside, I learned, and I decided not to wait any longer.

Later that day, a friend in Edinburgh texted to ask “was that Bertie I saw on the BBC news?

Menie Meanies

Aberdeenshire, Articles, Featured, News No Responses »

Aug 062010

As the construction of the Menie golf course and infrastructure begins, Voice reader Debra Storr highlights a continuing personal struggle for long-standing residents of the area.

From 28 July, Michael and Sheila Forbes and Michael’s mother Molly were without water for seven days as construction work on the Trump Organisation’s Menie resort cut off their supply. It was restored on Tuesday August 3.
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