Ukraine Death Camps: Google wants us to forget

(Image above: Graves dug ready at the childrens home in Kalinovka where Albert Pavlov reported from in February 2008)

"You can make money without doing evil" is the Google motto.

Some years earlier an academic paper had proposed an even more radical idea, that a different way of doing business could be applied to resolve major social problems.

This story is about the author of that paper, how he put his concept into practice and how Google had a part in obstructing it. .

Background

Following publication of an article written by my colleague on a citizens action network describing Death Camps For Children in Ukraine, a furious and anonymous defamation campaign was launched on Google Blogger.

The article described organised crime siphons resources meant for the most vulnerable of disabled children and it led on to an influential strategy paper proposing a national scale fund for social enterprise along with childcare and other reforms. It also led to a smear campaign hosted on Google's Blogspot in which a UK barrister had a role, in defending the blogger's anonymity,

Terry Hallman's efforts were commended as an Example of Excellence by British Telecom in their Better World campaign and the story was to be verified by the Sunday Times 5 years later.

Threats of litigation from this barrister, the blogger's sibling, have not dissuaded us, but have persuaded Google to delete the name of the smear blog author, who has aspirations for political office, from my own blog.

Terry's death in August 2011 was reported by friends at the Maidan civic action network who also published correspondence with the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where at the time Barack Obama and Joe Biden served as members

Newly elected British Prime Minister David Cameron was also called on for support in June 2010

A message to Google Blogger support on May 2 2007

Dear Blogger Team

On 23 October of last year, I received your complaint "[#79555182] Confidential Information" in which you pointed out that posting confidential information violated your terms of service. The post in question, naming another blog owner was also removed by yourselves.

In reply, I pointed out that prior to this, my colleague had contacted you about the activities of the blog owner in question under complaint "[#78859533] Fraud".
Your response in this case was to say that you were unable to remove the content in question. For the record, this content defames my colleague, myself and others, publishes my home and business address, company registration details and a copy of a strategy plan which is our intellectual property and issued with a copyright declaration which the blogger has removed.

In this campaign against us, which has now gone on for more than 6 months there is one fundamental difference between the two blogs in question. Mine began after your refusal to take action and was authored in my real name. The other published anonymously, was the work of a public figure with ambitions of political office.

You will also note from this detractors official political blog, that it contains redirection code, such that readers are routed directly to the the offending defamation blog, so there can be no question of the owner's identity.

I take it therefore, that Google has been intimidated in the same way as ourselves, otherwise there can be no reason why someone like myself posting factual information and putting my name to it, can be censored in favour of an anonymous detractor who you will not act against.

To me, this reeks of hypocrisy and undermines the very essence of what Google presents in the motto "Do No Evil" , which I suggest should now be amended to "Evil thrives when Google people do nothing"

Jeff Mowatt

February 2011 News breaks after 5 years about the Torez facility which was the location described in 2006.

 

In 2012 BBC4 delivered a 90 minute documentary on Ukraine's Forgotten Children. the location, though unstated was Kalinovka pictured above.

 

So who or what deserves to be forgotten?

Before his death in 2011, Terry Hallman made this point about those who are seen to be of lesser value:

"Allowing that some people do not matter, as things are turning out, allows that other people do not matter and those cracks are widening to swallow up more and more people. Social enterprise is the first concerted effort in the Information Age to at least attempt to rectify that problem, if only because letting it get worse and worse threatens more and more of us. Growing numbers of people are coming to understand that “them” might equal “me.” Call it compassion, or call it enlightened and increasingly impassioned self-interest. Either way, we are all in this together, and we will each have to decide for ourselves what it means to ignore someone to death, or not."

The civic activist that reported his death to me wrote of their conversation in his last few hours: , :

"The author of breakthru report “Death camps for children” Terry Hallman suddenly died of grave disease on Aug 18 2011. On his death bed he was speaking only of his mission – rescuing of these unlucky kids. His dream was to get them new homes filled with care and love. His quest would be continued as he wished.

Only after his death he allowed to publish his communication with Ukrainian and US authorities about the issue".

The full letter may be found here.   :