Police Officer fires on Mexico City Students
By: Ambikaa Jaggi
A group of students from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) had been holding demonstrations and planning a strike for 20 November. Unfortunately, they were met with unjust force from the police. This strike was to memorialize forty-three students who due to their protesting, ‘disappeared’ and are suspected to be dead.
On September 26th, students from the Ayotzinapa teachers training college protested about the government’s prejudiced fundings, the employment practices and the unaffordable, reformed education system in Guerrero state. However, they were confronted by a hail of gunfire from which six were immediately shot dead. Based on an arrest warrant issued by the local mayor, the students were arrested and summarily executed by a gang. Later, the the mayor, along with his wife, went into hiding.
However the students of UNAM have brought this issue back to light, for the public to once again fight for their rights.
The incident started when police officers, on the pretext that a student had complained about the theft of their mobile phone, entered the university and, according to the students, started taking pictures. While it is not completely clear who initiated the violence, the students claim that the police force reacted aggressively to the questions raised about their photographs and violence eventually broke out. This led to a few individuals to set fire to a police vehicle marked as ‘law enforcement’. However according to the Attorney General of the Federal District of Mexico City, the entire situation was created and escalated by the students as “the officers were verbally and physically assaulted prior to the shooting, with a group surrounded their car and throwing rocks,” which led to later events.
Near the Che Guevara auditorium, a bastion of social change, the students gathered to discuss their plan of action for the National 20th November strike during which they were fired upon. A police officer, in an attempt to “break-up” the gathering fired a ‘warning’ shot in the air which ended up penetrating a student’s thigh. This initiated the main clash between the students and police force. As a result, two students were shot, who are now in a stable condition. As for the police officer who shot the bullets, he is currently in custody.
Source:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/11/15/mexico-guerrero-shooting.html
Hong Kong Riot
One country, two systems. In 1997 the British withdrew from Hong Kong, leaving the former colony under China’s sovereignty. Although under the political “umbrella”, the city of 7.2 million and their policies, are notably different from that of China’s. Restrictions on rights such as freedom of speech, expression, press, assembly and religion are prevalent in China but are traditionally not applied to the citizens of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is not a sub state, but a Special Administrative Region (SAR), by definition, a “unique geographical area with a high degree of autonomy set up by the People’s Republic of China.” This means that they are their own individual state with associated local administrators, but will still have areas such as national defence and foreign affairs governed by Beijing.
However the Hong Kong riots arose due to the infringement on Hong Kong’s sovereignty and “Basic Laws” by China. These laws allowed for Hong Kong to maintain their capitalist ideals and practices. By changing Hong Kong’s election process, only candidates approved by a Beijing nomination panel can run, which would definitely be communists. This restricts democratic leaders from discarding communist ideals and disallows Hong Kong to distance itself from China’s influence. In retaliation to this action, many citizens of Hong Kong have resorted to civil disobedience and are protesting through means such as blocking arterial routes, occupying causeways and using police tactics such as tear gas.
Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/16/world/asia/hong-kong-protests/
