Cash for Kalimero! Supporting Prisoners of the Social War in France

Source: Cette Semaine

These past months, in different cities, including during unpermitted demos or riots, many of us have been thrilled by the number of offensive actions in the street. From clashes with the guard dogs of the state and property to the broken windows of shops and even the pillaging of their contents; from attacks on journalist-cops to overcoming the pacifiers of the day: all of this has shaken the arrogance of the powerful. In all forms of struggle — which aren’t limited to “social movements” — self-organization and direct action are indispensable if we are to break with the pacification world of commodities and with state terrorism. Because to claim that it’s unimaginable for individuals to directly oppose the existing order is just a veiled way of saying that social revolt is simply impossible.

Repression is not just the moment when the flashball or baton comes to strike recalcitrant bodies, it’s each moment of daily life under the domination of the State and Capital, through their thousands of omnipresent  psychological and physical manifestations that coerce the poor into accepting a shitty life. It’s the prisons that lock up ever more people for ever longer sentences, in order to punish, isolate, break, and store them, out of sight of the peaceful consciences of good citizens. It’s also the outside prison, built from measures like electronic bracelets, house arrest, exclusion areas, bail conditions, and so on.

The Kalimero solidarity fund for prisoners of the social war was created in the days following the movement against the CPE [1] and has existed for ten years now in the Paris area. Its first text laid out the basis for its activities in these terms: “Because we know that the police and the justice system are nothing but machines of war that seek to crush all desire for revolt, we will not tearfully position ourselves as victims. The task we set for ourselves is to provide concrete, material support to our comrades and friends (even if we don’t know them) primarily though monthly stipends for prisoners, technical support for their defense, and the creation of a counter-force both inside and outside the court.”

Currently and for the past several month, we have been sending regular mandates to many people locked up, including those awaiting trial for the attack on the police car that was burned during the demonstration on May 18, 2016, to one of the rioters from Beaumont-sur-Oise held in custody after the death of Adama Traore at the hands of the gendarmes in July 2016 [2], and to a comrade sentenced to ten month in prison following the ransacking “Jaguar” demo on April 14 2016. Several initiatives have already been organized to continue topping up the fund, such as the concert last October in Montreuil during the weekend of solidarity with prisoners of the social war.

Because we don’t intend to simply react to repression against the so-called “social movement”, we also seek to place our actions within a continuity of revolt, which can be individual or collective and can take many forms. Because the sentences and pre-trial custody handed down by judges during the instruction [3] are far too long. Because the Kalimero fund can only send these monthly stipends if there’s a number of different initiatives to bring in the cash. Because there is no truce in the social war.  For these reasons, we call on all of your to more than ever increase your solidarity contributions to top up the fund, whether that’s by individual transfers (either one-time or recurring) or by organizing events (concerts, meals, or other) in order to turn over some or all of the money raised to the fund.

You can find us every second Thursday of the month during the Kalimero meetings in Montreuil to chat or to pass us an envelope, or you can reach us by email (kalimeroparis@riseup.net) to arrange a bank transfer. [Translator: International transfers can be expensive and take a little time. Consider talking about this with your pals and pooling several donations together into a single transfer. Contact Kalimero Paris and ask for their account details and IBAN number].

Some participants in Kalimero Paris
February 2017

Endnotes

1] The CPE was a reform to the labour code essentially excluding a section of young workers from the usual protections. The movement to oppose it in 2006 was probably the biggest in the past several decades in France, in terms of number of participants, scale of disruption, and level of organization and co-ordination

2] Adama Traore was killed by gendarmes during a routine stop this August. His city, Beaumont-sur-Oise, has been the site of many demonstrations, riots, and attacks on police/gendarmes since. Local police have responded by locking up Adama’s brothers, one of whom is still in custody

3] A period of the criminal process when a judge determines what charges should be pursued and under what conditions. Kind of similar to the preliminary inquiry in some anglo countries, except it’s run entirely by a judge