> >charges against Pinochet, bringing to 100 the total number of charges filed >in Chile against the former dictator. Pinochet is also facing a separate >trial which may result in his being stripped of the parliamentary immunity >he holds as a senator-for- life. [CNN en Espanol 3/11/00 from Reuters] > >Michael Townley, a US citizen who worked for Pinochet's notorious secret >police, the National Intelligence Department (DINA), has admitted that he >planned the September 1974 car bomb assassination in Buenos Aires of exiled >Chilean former army chief Carlos Prats and his wife Sofia Cuthbert. >Townley's admission was reported by the electronic daily El Mostrador and >confirmed to the Argentine daily La Nacion by sources close to the case. >The Prats case is currently being investigated in Argentina by Judge Maria >Servini de Cubria. Servini submitted questions to Townley last November >[see Update #488], but only recently received the recording of his >testimony from US judicial sources. Townley lives in the US under >government protection. [El Diario (La Paz) 5/10/00; La Hora (Quito) 5/10/00 >from AFP] > >Meanwhile, another Argentine judge, Claudio Bonadio, is investigating >another Operation Condor case: the abduction and disappearance of three >Argentines in 1980 in Brazil. The investigation is causing a stir in >Brazil, where military and political sectors fear it could unleash a wave >of trials against officials for the disappearances of 400 people during >Brazil's military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. [Clarin 5/13/00] > >Retired Chilean general Humberto Gordon, former chief of the National >Information Department (CNI), was ordered arrested on May 10, along with >three other former CNI officials, all charged with involvement in the >September 1986 abduction and execution of four leftists. The CNI was >Pinochet's secret police agency in the later years of his dictatorship, >following the disbanding of the DINA. The executions were considered to >have been carried out in retaliation for a failed attack on Pinochet by the >Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR). Gordon was arrested last year on >charges of covering up the 1982 murder of union leader Tucapel Jimenez, but >was released on probation. [CNN en Espanol 3/10/00 from Reuters; La Hora >(Quito) 5/11/00 from AFP] > >ISSN#: 1084-922X. The Weekly News Update on the Americas is published >weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York. A one-year >subscription (52 issues) is $25. To subscribe, send a check or money order >for US $25 payable to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette Street, >New York, NY 10012. Please specify if you want the electronic or print >version: they are identical in content, but the electronic version is >delivered directly to your email address; the print version is sent via >first class mail. For more information about electronic subscriptions, >contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Back issues and source materials are available on >request. > >***** > >ARM THE SPIRIT >P.O. Box 6326, Station A >Toronto, Ontario >M5W 1P7, Canada >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Web: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats >- Wednesday, 17 May 2000 - > >----- >____________________________________________________________________ > >MOTHERS OF PRISONERS JOIN MRTA HUNGERSTRIKE >____________________________________________________________________ > >(Source: Voz Rebelde, [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Translated by Arm The >Spirit) > >[Since May 11, 2000, the mothers of political prisoners have been on >hungerstrike in Peru. Please send letters to embassies and consulates to >support this action!] > >"They Are Simply Demanding The Most Basic Things In The World..." > >Hungerstrike In Peru's Maximum Security Prison > >Since May 1st, political prisoners Victor Polay, Pieter Cardenas, and >Miguel Rincon have been on unlimited hungerstrike. The three activists from >the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) are imprisoned in underground >concrete cells in the Maximum Security Prison inside the Callao Marine >Base. On May 5th, the solidarity organization 'Rote Hilfe' in Hamburg, >Germany spoke by telephone with Victor's mother and the mother of another >political prisoner (to protect her identity, we will call her 'Maria'). > >Rote Hilfe: What are the demands of the hungerstrikers? > >Otilia Polay: What they are demanding is the simplest thing in the world: >an end to isolation. They want to be treated like other inmates in Peruvian >prisons. They want to have visits from relatives, they want the right to >meet with their attorneys. These are basic things. They are not demanding >their freedom, they're not demanding anything really, other than the right >to have some time outside in the yard and the right to see and speak >directly with their relatives. > >Maria: Their demands have been summarized into four points: An end to >isolation detention, the abolition of the Anti-Terror Law, access to >information and media, and weekly visits from relatives. > >Rote Hilfe: These demands were also issued during a month-long hungerstrike >last October. What effects did that strike have? > >Otilia Polay: They were not successful that time. When they ended the >strike, it was promised that they would receive humane treatment, but that >didn't happen. Nothing happened. > >Maria: At the moment, the situation is especially serious, because in Peru >there is no single media outlet which will take a stand on this issue - the >only news you might hear is that there is a hungerstrike going on. As you >know, there is no free press here in Peru, no freedom of expression. In >particular, it's impossible to speak of anything related to the theme of >terrorism. That's the worst thing you can do, because if you speak out on >behalf of someone imprisoned for terrorism, you will be a marked person. >Your life will become very difficult. It's impossible to talk about these >things, it's impossible to become active on behalf of someone imprisoned >for terrorism. So nobody says anything, not even the Human Rights Ombudsman >office. > >Rote Hilfe: What is daily life like for the prisoners in isolation? > >Otilia Polay: They have been in a terribly inhumane situation for more than >seven years now, detained in prison cells which should really be called >tombs. These cells are 180cm wide and 200cm long. The only furniture they >have is a 50cm slab of concrete. The toilet is also built into the wall of >the cell. And if they want to use water, they have to ask for it. The >entire cell is made of concrete, 3 meters high. The ceiling has a small >15x15cm window which lets in light. So the cell is poorly lit all day long. >One wall is made of steel with a 30x10cm slit which is used for passing >meals into the cell. So the prisoners get their food from someone without >even seeing their face. The prisoners are not allowed to talk to anyone >except the commander of the marine base. Their recreation time consists of >30 minutes in a tiny yard - alone! They are taken there one by one, in >turns, so that they never see each other. They are not allowed to have >radios, newspapers, or magazines. They are not allowed to have anything >which could give them information about the outside world. > >Rote Hilfe: Can the prisoners receive visitors? > >Maria: We have not been allowed in since the hungerstrike began. Usually we >are allowed to visit for half an hour once a month. > >Otilia Polay: Only two relatives are allowed to visit, and they must be >direct relatives, such as parents, children, or spouse. Nobody else. No >friends or other relatives are allowed to visit them. Attorneys have only >limited chances to visit the prisoners. The prisoners send letters to the >Human Rights Ombudsman, to the Minister of Justice, and so on, but their >letters never arrive. For us, this is a tragedy which we have been living >through for several years. I don't think there's a justice system like >Peru's anywhere else in the world. All of this is an act of revenge against >the prisoners, because they refused to sign certain papers, they refused to >show the government in a good light. The prisoners were not willing to >abandon their political beliefs. > >Rote Hilfe Hamburg > >Con las Masas y las Armas, Patria o Muerte ... VENCEREMOS! MRTA Solidarity >Page - http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats/mrta.htm > >Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information collective >based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, >including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed >communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. >We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials on >our listserv called ATS-L. For more information, contact us at the address >above. > >***** > >PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE >The Pan-African Research and Documentation Center >211 SCB Box 47, Wayne State University >Detroit, MI 48202 >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >- Tuesday, 16 May 2000 - > >----- >____________________________________________________________________ > >EX-DETROIT COP SENTENCED IN BEATING DEATH OF MALICE GREEN >____________________________________________________________________ > >Weekly Dispatch III >PANW Correspondent > >DETROIT, 16 May (PANW)--A former Detroit police officer, Larry Nevers, was >sentenced today by Judge Boykins in Wayne County Circuit Court for the >involuntary manslaughter conviction in the beating death of Detroiter >Malice Green, 35, in November of 1992. > >Nevers, along with Walter Budzyn, were originally convicted in the Detroit >Recorder's Court during a highly publicized trial in 1993. Both of the >convictions of Budzyn and Nevers were over turned on appeal. However, >charges were reinstated by the Wayne County Prosecutor's office resulting >in reconvictions for both former officers. > >Budzyn was allowed to remain out of prison with a time-served sentence in >1998. > >In Judge Boykins' courtroom on Tuesday, Nevers was sentenced to a 7-15 year >term for the reconviction. He was then ordered immediately sent back to >prison to serve out the remainder of his term. > >Most Detroit residents who had monitored the re-trial were satisfied that >Nevers would be returning to prison for at least three years. > >Nevers' conviction and sentencing comes at a time when the Detroit Police >Department and the Archer Mayoral administration has come under heavy >scrunity by the public and the media for its persistent problems related to >the use of lethal and excessive force. > >Recent media reports indicate that Detroit has the highest rate of legal >judgements against brutal police officers in the United States. > >Pan-African News Wire articles may be freely distributed for non-profit >educational and research purposes. We request that the original source be >cited when the dispatches are circulated. Distribution for profit is >strictly prohibited without the expressed consent of the Pan-African News >Wire. > >***** > >REDWOOD SUMMER JUSTICE PROJECT >P.O. Box 14720 >Santa Rosa, CA 95402-6720 >Tel: 707-887-0262 >Fax: 707-887-0865 >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Web: http://www.monitor.net/~bari >- Monday, 15 May 2000 - > >----- >____________________________________________________________________ > >EARTH FIRST!ERS GET THEIR DAY IN COURT. TRIAL DATE SET IN CIVIL RIGHTS CASE. >10th Anniversary Commemoration of the car-bombing of Judi Bari and Darryl >Cherney >____________________________________________________________________ > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE >MAY 15, 2000 > >Contacts: Alicia Littletree (707) 462-9145, Noelle Hanrahan (415) 648-4505, >Redwood Summer Justice Project (707) 887-0262 > >Oakland, CA--On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the car-bombing of Earth >First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, a federal judge has set a >trial date for their landmark civil rights lawsuit against the Federal >Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Oakland Police (OPD). > >On October 1, 2001 a federal jury will hear dramatic evidence proving that >the FBI and the Oakland Police conducted an illegal campaign to disrupt and >destroy Earth First!s Redwood Summer campaign protesting cut-and-run >logging of California's old-growth redwood forest. > >On May 24, 1990 Earth First! organizers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were >targets of a car-bomb assassination attempt in Oakland California as they >were on their way to a Redwood Summer organizing event. The bombing was >preceded by an aggressive campaign of threats and harassment aimed at >stopping their nonviolent defense of Northern California's ancient redwood >forest. > >The FBI and Oakland police arrived on the scene of the blast within minutes >and ignored all the evidence that Judi and Darryl were victims of a >politically-motivated bomb attack. Instead, the government agents conspired >to frame Bari and Cherney, arresting them within hours for transporting >explosives and using this violent attack against the environmentalists to >falsely associate them with bombs. With the police and FBI investigation >focusing only on the victims, the real bombers were never apprehended and >remain at large. Evidence gathered in the civil rights lawsuit so far, >including dramatic police photos and thousands of pages of FBI files, >substantiates Bari and Cherney's claim of egregious police abuse. > >In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the bombing, Redwood Summer >Justice Project is sponsoring a series of events in the Bay Area calling >for justice for Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. > >On Wednesday, May 24th, commemorate the tenth anniversary of the car-bomb >assassination attempt with U. Utah Phillips, Laurie Lewis, dozens of >fiddlers and others will "Fiddle Down the FBI!" Date: Wednesday, May 24/00; >Time: 11:30 am Location: San Francisco Federal Building 450 Golden Gate at >Polk in San Francisco > >***** > >WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE >Published by the International Committee >of the Fourth International (ICFI) >Web: http://www.wsws.org/ >E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >- Saturday, 20 May 2000 - > >----- >___________________________________________________________________________ > >FORMER KLANSMEN INDICTED FOR MURDER IN 1963 BOMBING OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA >CHURCH >___________________________________________________________________________ > >News & Analysis: North America >By Jerry White >http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/birm-m20.shtml > >Two former Ku Klux Klansmen who have long been suspects in the 1963 bombing >that killed four black girls in a Birmingham, Alabama church surrendered to >authorities Wednesday. They turned themselves in after they were indicted >by a state grand jury on four counts each of first-degree and reckless >murder. > >After nearly 37 years, Thomas Blanton, Jr., 61, of Birmingham, and Bobby >Cherry, 69, of Mabank, Texas will stand trial for one of the most >horrifying acts by Southern racists during the civil rights era. > >The September 15, 1963 blast at the 16th Street Baptist Church killed >Denise McNair, 11, and Cynthia Wesley, Carole Rosamond Robertson and Addie >Mae Collins, who were 14 years of age. The four children were in the >dressing room in the church basement when the bomb, apparently hidden >beneath the church steps the night before, detonated at 10:19 a.m., as the >children were assembling for closing prayers following Sunday school >classes. Some 400 people were in the church at the time, including 80 >children attending the church's monthly Youth Fellowship Day services. > >A contemporary account said dozens of survivors, their faces dripping blood >from the glass that flew out of the church's stained glass windows, >staggered around the building in a cloud of white dust raised by the >explosion. The blast crushed two nearby cars like toys and blew out windows >blocks away. Stunned churchgoers and residents of the neighborhood >desperately began digging in the rubble and ashes to search for other >survivors. > >The bodies of the four little girls, ripped and disfigured by the >explosion, were found underneath the rubble. Another 22 adults and children >were injured by the blast. > >Hundreds of Birmingham police and state troopers, sent into the area by >Alabama Governor George Wallace, fired rifles in the air to break up the >crowd of thousands of angry blacks residents who came to the scene >following the explosion. Wallace also put 500 national guardsmen on alert. >That evening a policeman shot 16-year-old Johnny Robinson in the back, >killing him, and racist youth murdered Virgil Ware, 13, who was riding his >bicycle in a suburb north of the city. Several black-owned businesses were >also fire-bombed. > >The 16th Street Baptist Church was targeted because it was the center of >civil rights activity in Birmingham, a city which Martin Luther King called >the "symbol of hardcore resistance to integration." King and local civil >rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth used the church as a staging ground >for marches and rallies against segregation, including the Children's >Crusade for equality and integration of the city's public schools. The >unforgettable scenes of black workers and youth being knocked down by >high-pressure water hoses and savagely attacked by Police Chief Bull >Connor's police dogs in May 1963 took place only blocks from the church. > >The bombing was the twenty-first in Birmingham in eight years and the third >in just 11 days following federal orders to integrate the city's public >schools. The city had gained the nickname "Bombingham" on account of its >violent KKK chapter, Eastview Klavern 13, which attacked the homes, >businesses and churches of blacks without fear of punishment by law >enforcement officials. Civil rights leaders estimated that a least a third >of the officers in the Birmingham Police Department were either members or >sympathizers of the KKK. > >The governor of Alabama was George Wallace, who pledged during his >inaugural speech, just nine months before the church bombing, that he would >defend "Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, and Segregation, Forever!" >In June 1963, Wallace defied federal orders and stood in front of the >entrance to the University of Alabama to block black students from entering >the school. > >The role of the FBI > >Little has been reported in media accounts of the current case about a >crucial aspect of the Birmingham church bombing: the role of the Federal >Bureau of Investigation in tolerating, if not directing aiding, the >murderous activities of local Klansmen. As early as 1964, the men who were >indicted this week were identified in FBI files as having helped a >well-known Birmingham racist, Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss, bomb the >16th Street Baptist Church. A May 13, 1965 memorandum to FBI director J. >Edgar Hoover concluded that "the bombing was the handiwork of former >Klansmen Robert E. Chambliss, Bobby Frank Cherry, Herman Frank Cash and >Thomas E. Blanton, Jr." FBI informants in the KKK said the four men went to >the church that night to plant the bomb. > >According to a 1980 Justice Department report, however, Hoover blocked >prosecution of the Klansmen in 1965, rejecting recommendations from the >Birmingham FBI office that testimony identifying the suspects be forwarded >to federal prosecutors. In 1968 Hoover shut down the investigation without >filing charges. > >The FBI director was a fervent opponent of the civil rights movement. From >at least 1962 on, FBI agents began closely monitoring Martin Luther King's >activities, placing wiretaps on his home and office phones and on the >phones of close associates. Hoover called King "the most dangerous black >man in America" and sought to destroy his public reputation and political >influence. Shortly before King's assassination in 1968, Hoover distributed >an internal memo to the FBI calling for the civil rights leader's "removal >from the national scene." > >The FBI's attitude towards the Ku Klux Klan can be described, at best, as >benign neglect. Given the facts of the FBI's relations with the Birmingham >KKK in the early 1960s, it remains an open question whether the federal >agency was directly complicit in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist >Church. > >Among the FBI informants active in the Birmingham KKK was the late Gary T. >Rowe, who said he was urged by an FBI agent to join the Klan in 1960. Rowe >would later tell the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that the FBI >had known of and condoned his participation in violent attacks against >blacks. > >Rowe admitted to taking part in, and giving the FBI advanced notice about, >the violent assault on Freedom Riders at the Birmingham bus station in >1961. In that atrocity, Birmingham police agreed in advance to give local >Klansmen 15 minutes to assault the civil rights activists with impunity. > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
