-Caveat Lector- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 22:31:01 -0700 From: Sheila Goldner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Konformist: Save the Lives of Anti-IMF Activists Paul Lefrak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Save the Lives of Anti-IMF Activists Michael Eisenscher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Thursday, September 28, 2000 PLEASE POST WIDELY!! Although you won't find it in most US media, hundreds of young activists have been arrested and are being severely beaten, sexually abused and tortured in Vaclav Havel's Czech Republic, following demonstrations against the International Monetary Fund meeting taking place there. With Green Presidential candidate Ralph Nader taking a strong stand against such institutions of global capitalism as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization; and, with many of the activists having heard Nader's (and others') speeches encouraging them to participate in non-violent civil disobedience against such institutions, it is terribly important that Ralph -- and ALL OF US -- take immediate steps to protest the actions of the Czech authorities and to SAVE THESE PEOPLES' LIVES! This is not hype, this is what we are facing. And it is NOT what democracy looks like. Below are a few exerpts posted to the NYC Direct Action Network listserve, which tell us what we need to do. At the very least, please make the phone calls. All power to the people! Mitchel Cohen Brooklyn Greens / Green Party of NY ********************************************************* This press release from INPEG (below) in Prague, on beatings and human rights violations of people arrested in the protests is based on eyewitness accounts and is very disturbing. So is the report from the indymedia site (below). People should call and fax the following numbers and demand that these violations cease, and that all prisoners be given access to water, food, medical attention, phone calls, and legal assistance. If you can't get through to any of the numbers below (which may happen today because it is a national holiday), please call the Czech embassy in Washington, DC, as soon as possible: 202-274-9100; press 0 for operator Call and fax: Office of President Vaclav Havel: 011 4202 24310855 phone 011 4202 24373196 fax e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ministry of the Interior: 011 4202 61421115 011-4202/6143 3552-3 (fax) US Embassy in Czech Republic: 011 4202 57530663 011 4202 57532059 (fax) __________________________________ Attention News and Assignment Editors FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 2000 Contact: Chelsea Mozen 420 604 384452 or 02 6272349 To arrange interviews with witnesses recently released,, contact Cyan IMMEDIATELY: 0605 879 504 Shocking Human Rights Abuses Faced by Protestors in Jail Police Brutality Widespread, most severe for Czechs & Israelis PRAGUE - In addition to the mass denial of the legal rights, individuals have faced extreme brutality in Czech Jails. Paul Rosenthal from Seattle Washington who was released this morning from the Olsanska jail in Prague after forty hours states, "What is happening inside the Czech jails is more than frightening. People have no rights,they are being beaten severely, they are disappearing. Women are being forced to strip in front of male guards and perform exercises. People with serious medical problems have been denied help." The following are accounts confirmed by people that have been released from jail: � Women have been strip searched by male officers and have been forced to perform physical exercises for their enjoyment. � Many individuals are being denied water, food, and sleep; some are able to get food only if they pay guards, women and fascists are more likely to get water. � Many people released have reported that before reaching police stations, officers took individuals to isolated areas and beat them severely. � Two Norwegians that went to a police station on Trisparni Street near Vlatavska to report a stolen mobile phone witnessed behind briefly opened doors that a number of people were handcuffed to the wall and being beaten severely. This has also been confirmed by many reports from released persons that in the processing rooms groups of 40 to 60 people were asked to spread eagle while they were beaten, heads were knocked back, legs were kicked in, and numbers of men had their groins twisted or punched. Additionally people handcuffed were tossed down stairs. � There is one report that 22 people were crammed into a 4 square meter cell. � 30 People were detained at the Olsanska jail in an outdoor courtyard overnight with no blankets or food. They were later moved to Balkova near Pilsen. � Two Germans that were detained in Lupacova, Praha 3 on Wednesday for approximately eight hours were held with an Israeli, an American,a German, and an Italian. The Israeli had been beaten severely, had difficulty walking, a black eye, and likely had a broken rib. He has been denied medical attention � People with diabetes were not fed, people that needed medication were not given it, the British Embassy had to intervene to get medication into the jail. � A Norwegian woman held in jail with 30 other women witnessed a German woman with a badly injured leg where medics were denied. � Right to legal representation and advice, right to interpreters, right to food and water, right to basic medical attention, and the right to a phone call have all been ignored on a widespread scale. � Czechs and Israelis are being beaten more drastically and are being detained longer. � Many internationals are being moved from local stations to Balkova near Pilsen which has one of the worst human rights records in the Czech Republic. ### INPEG International Press Agent Office: 4202 2320830 Mobile: 420 604 384452 Press Center: Parizska 9, Praha 1 (202) 777-2646 x2570 - US voicemail/fax http://www.inpeg.org from (http://praha.indymedia.org/) UPDATE ON JAIL SITUATION IN PRAHA The OPH legal team is reporting that there are more than 859 prisoners being held as a result of S26 actions. The police are reporting that of that 859 around 200 are not Czech citizens. Only 20 have been charged. 30 people inside the jails have been denied food, water and sleep. We have reports of people having limbs broken and teeth knocked out. One woman has a broken spine. There is clear evidence of tourture by the police. -------------------------------------------------------------------- You've probably already heard of the tremendous victory in Prague, as the World Bank and IMF quit a day early and went home. This was won by the 10,000-15,000 who fashioned a festival of resistance to bring the international financial elite to accountability. 45 solidarity actions around the world: http://www.indymedia.org http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21913-2000Sep26.html http://prague.indymedia.org Although the media reports focused on the fraction engaged in the clash with police, the vast majority of participants were committed to non-violent blockade strategies, including a pink and silver contingent of samba dancers and the huge Ya Basta! group clad in padding, inner-tubes, and balloons who spent four hours pushing against a police blockade. The legal working group urgently needs money needed for the medical costs of people injured and hospitalized by police. See http://prague.indymedia.org for shocking news from the jails. As I write, hundreds of international protesters are being released from Balkova prison and transported to the borders. People are being dumped there with no money or possessions, which are either in Prague or were confiscated. Incredible needs remain for ongoing legal support, trials, and fines. Lawyers are few and vastly overworked. For information on making a donation contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or contribute to account number: 163 775 396/5100 swift code: INBACZPPIPB, Cs. Armady 35, 160 00, Prague 6 Czech Republic (specify legal support). <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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