Saakashvili regime in Georgia using sonic blasters on civilians?
Remember those sonic blasters I blogged about here on BoingBoing (and reported on NPR) a while back? Noah Shachtman at Wired reports that the Saakashvili regime in Georgia is using them to crush protestors.
Link 1, Link 2.This English-language footage from Russia Today shows riot police rolling through the streets of Tblisi in pickup trucks, small dishes in hand. A high frequency pulse follows. "Georgian police used an acoustic gun -- it's a non-lethal weapon that disorients people for a period of time," says one "special weapons expert."
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I don't quite get the focus on the sonic blasters, which seemed like the least disturbing option they were using.
I also saw tear gas, rubber bullets, high pressure water cannons, batons and a general beating the crap out of people, all of which seem far more likely to cause serious injury.
Just seems strange that the story isn't titled, "Georgian troops beat the crap out of unresisting protestors". That's the real crime here, isn't it?
Seeing as they look so much like the Combine, I half-expect them to unleash Striders, Headcrabs and Hunters upon the populi next.
A troop of well-seasoned Masonna fans might fare better... this is disgusting behavior for police, seriously.
Would a similarly shaped dish reflect the signal back?
I am getting kind of mixed feeling about this story. On the one hand there is the standard negative of police forces oppressing protesters. On the other hand, like #1 mentioned, there are far more lethal methods they could be using.
I first mentioned this to BoingBoing on Nov 8 here: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/11/08/georgian-riot-cops-i.html
I wrote in my comment:
"I saw footage (via Miro) from this protest, the masks were definitely necessary given the copious tear gas canisters dispatched to disperse the crowd. The gas was quickly followed by cops with clubs, water cannons, and the infamous LRAD, or long-range acoustic device covered previously on boingboing (the benefits of American sponsorship no doubt)."
The footage in question came from the "EuroNews No Comment" feed on Miro. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a link to the clip on their website at the time. (I should looked on YouTube, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj1hGarg8lk )
Thank you for picking it up. What would be most valuable to understand now is the exact extent of US (government and/or corporate) support for these repressive measures ongoing in Georgia. Just speculation, but without western assistance, I don't believe we'd see the LRAD turn up in Tbilisi. The US role in Georgia has been subject to some scrutiny, and it has served as an archetypical example of the United States controversial attention to former Easter Block countries.
The United States has pushed for Georgia to become a full member of NATO, and there was speculation of interference in the turmoil that occurred in the country a few years ago.
Democracy Now! has done some reporting on the issue:
"Saving President Bush: Send in James Baker (2003)
When the President’s in trouble there is one man he turns to more than any other: James A. Baker III. He was Bush’s man during the Florida recount, he was in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia just months before the government fell."
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/08/150250
"Pipeline to Promise or Pipeline to Peril? New U.S.-Backed Oil Route Starts Moving Crude Oil From Azerbaijan to the West (2005)
The route of the pipeline is reportedly designed to only go through nations with strong U.S. support like Azerbaijan and Georgia, which have both been criticized for human rights abuses."
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/27/1410246
It's not that there are more lethal methods they would use in that context, because those methods would not necessarily be used. This all just looks like the authorities making a big deal out of nothing, so they use all these non-lethal gadgets so they can huff and puff in public. Sure, people got hurt as they did in the old days when the margins of authority bumped up against the protestors (or vice versa), but you didn't have yahoos with freaky sirens putt-putting around for next to no reason. I just don't buy the idea that 10 years ago the protestors would have been mowed down with machine guns for the same cause because the cops didn't have anything nicer. The cops would have just been more tolerant (if you can imagine).
It seems a convenient way for the "American sponsors" to test out their LRAD devices in real crowd control situations.
Coming soon to a place near you...
Is it just me, or are most news outlets ignoring the fact that this oppressive government in Georgia is the "democratic" pro-US regime that was supported in its rise to power by the Bush administration? The Saakashvili regime is basically in place solely to back US interests and oppose Russia's, with no concern for the Georgians themselves.
wow. Those mickey masked mans on those weird sounding trucks mmust be the most horrifying vision I ever saw..
Before commenting about "US support of oppressive governments" and other thoughts, I suggest you read up a bit on the issue here. The BBC has some interesting coverage. The facts here are
1) that the newly elected government was "stormed" by the opposition supporters while parliment was in session.
2) The riot police were trying to suppressing that attack on a sitting parliment.
3) The opposition claims the elections were fraudulent (it appears they are correct based on international views).
4) The US and UN are in fact urging restraint and it doesn't appear we support the results of the fraudulent election of this RECENTLY elected government.
5) It appears the US supported the outgoing - now opposition - government, in 2003/2005;
6) and ironically the US provided the riot gear to THAT 2003/2005 government - which is now the one in opposition.
One story from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3230384.stm
Saturday's dramatic developments began when thousands of people led by Mr Saakashvili (opposition leader) stormed the parliament building.
Mr Shevardnadze (new leader) had been addressing the first session of the newly-elected parliament after the victory of his party and its allies in the 2 November elections, which were declared fraudulent by international observers.
The president was bundled away by armed bodyguards as protesters entered the building.
Opposition supporters then drove Mr Shevardnadze's supporters from parliament under a hail of books and pens after some fist-fights.
Live television pictures showed scenes reminiscent of the revolutions that toppled the communist governments of Eastern Europe more than a decade ago.
Mr Saakashvili and other opposition leaders declared they had carried out a bloodless - or "velvet" - revolution.
Just wait until they start breaking out the microwave pain rays. Y'all remember those in the news don't you?
Of course this would NEVER happen in the United States.
Of course not.
Aviewpoint, your chronology is seriously flawed.
Eduard Shevardnadze stepped down in 2003 after a bloodless US-backed revolution. Shevardnadze, a Cold War leader, has always been pro-Russian and was never in particularly close terms with the US government.
Pro-Western Saakashvili replaced Shevardnadze in 2003 and has been in power since. Initially hailed in the west as a romantic revolutionary hero, he's since been criticized for monopolizing power, using excessive force to quell protests and organizing a putsch against the supporters of the old regime.
The BBC story you link to is from 2003, before the revolution - that's why Saakashvili is described as the leader of the opposition.
It does seem likely that the sonic blasters come from the US, as it wouldn't otherwise be very likely that a cutting-edge crowd-controlling technology would surface in Georgia, of all places. It does look a bit like a human experiment: now, when the US police introduces this controversial (and potentially dangerous?) new technology in the States, they'll be able to refer to other (friendly) governments history of using that same technology with success.
this is great news! we are closing in fast on this utopia:
http://www.flawijn.be/wp-content/thx1138.jpg
For disclosure sake, BoingBoing might want to note that Russia Today is a Russian state-owned news program.
To quote Wikipedia:
"Russia Today TV, more often known as Russia Today is a global English-language news channel from Russia, owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia's state news agency, RIA-Novosti."
Considering the demonstrators are pro-Russian trying to oust the pro-Western government put in place by the Rose Revolution and Russia has been notorious in its use of news for propaganda lately, the report may carry a lot of bias.
Related to the LRADs, and now in regular use in at least 10 municipalities in the USA, are the so-called "rumblers" which blast you if you don't get out of the way of emergency vehicles fast enough because you're clueless, deaf or are listening to loud music. The feeling has been described as making your stomach jump around.
Disrupters aren't far behind! Then maybe Scanners! 'splode! Yay!
Muad'Dib!
Acoustic gun my ass. They were playing Britny Spears new song. Now that is cruel and unusual punishment.