WW News Service Digest #209 2) Hunger Strike By Turkish Prisoners Grows by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3) Delegation to Defy U.S. Policy on Iraq, Palestine by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5) Seattle Times Strikers Fight Union-Busting by [EMAIL PROTECTED] Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- HUNGER STRIKE BY TURKISH PRISONERS GROWS: MASSACRE CAN'T STOP RESISTANCE By Cemile Cakir and Frank Neisser They went on hunger strike because they didn't want to live in tiny isolation cells. They went on hunger strike to the death because they didn't have any weapon except their bodies and lives. But the Turkish government thought that if the prisoners died from the hunger strike, they would have won. Soldiers and police attacked the political prisoners, killing 31 of them in order to win this battle. The brutal attack by Turkish prison guards, soldiers and police officers on political prisoners in Turkish prisons, which began on Dec. 19, caused the deaths of 31 prisoners and two soldiers. Six additional prisoners have disappeared. After the bloody massacre, torture has become the political prisoners' daily treatment. But the prisoners haven't given up. The hunger strike to the death is continuing and almost 100 prisoners are on the verge of dying. Since the assault on the prisons, the number of political prisoners on hunger strike has grown from 1,000 to 2,018. And most of the prisoners have now decided to carry on their hunger strike to death. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS The soldiers attacked 20 prisons Dec. 19 using bombs, chemical weapons and tear gas. They broke the prisons' roofs with bulldozers and drills. When the prisoners woke up, they saw that the walls and the ceilings were breaking down. The soldiers threw tear gas, gas bombs and an unknown kind of chemical agent into the dormitories causing severe bodily burns to prisoners. Here are some statements by prisoners who were eyewitnesses to the attacks. Suna Okmen, 33, gave the following account of the operation to her relatives: "While we were sleeping, one of the members of PKK, the Kurdish Workers Party, screamed that the operation had started. Then the soldiers fired on her. They got into our dormitory from the ceiling. "They told us that they wanted us to capitulate. But we said no. Our friends brought those of us who were on hunger strike to death to the back of the dormitory in an effort to save them. The soldiers sprayed a chemical agent that we couldn't recognize on them and burned them. Six of our friends were burned in front of us. "I was also on hunger strike to death. Ozlem, one of my friends who was not on hunger strike to death lay on my body in order to save me. But they sprayed that chemical agent on her and burned her. She died as a result. "They broke down the walls. They stripped us and burned our clothes. They have kept us under the cold water for eight hours at a time." Fatma Acunbay: "They threw gas bombs, tear gas, and smoke bombs. They burned us and wouldn't let us put out the fire. None of us burned ourselves. They burned us. TORTURE AND LIES Because of the prisoners' resistance it took almost four days to finish this bloody operation. Afterwards the soldiers put the prisoners in the F-system prisons. The soldiers stripped the prisoners, handcuffed them and held them outdoors for hours. The soldiers beat them, and forced them to sing the Turkish Anthem, and forced them to kiss the boots of the soldiers. Some soldiers urinated on the political prisoners and sexually harassed them with truncheons. The soldiers put them in cold cells, whose heating system had been turned off. They didn't let the prisoners keep any private articles whatsoever--including watches, which meant the prisoners lost all sense of time. Wounded prisoners were put into cells instead of being taken to the hospital. Some lost their eyesight. Some of them are living with bullets in their bodies. Some of the prisoners' ribs were broken. The Turkish government lied to the people, they lied to prisoners, and they lied to the intellectuals about the hunger strike and this operation. The first lie was that on the first day of the operation. Sadettin Tantan, the Minister for Internal Affairs whose responsibility is to provide security in Turkey, and Osman Durmus, the Minister of Health, both said that the political prisoners had never been on hunger strike to death. TV channels and newspapers were against the hunger strike. But after almost one week, Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Turk admitted that 2,018 political prisoners were on hunger strike and almost 200 of them were on hunger strike to death. The Usak Prison's prosecutors said that after the operation most of prisoners went on hunger strike to death. The second lie was that after the attack on Bayrampasa prison, police officers gave the media a cassette that they claimed was the recording of a cell phone conversation between hunger strike leaders. According to that cassette, one of the leaders ordered the other to burn a hunger striker in every prison, according to the correspondent of Turkish CNN. After this cassette was broadcast on the air and reported in newspapers, it was learned that it was a hoax and a fake. The third lie was that the government pretended to negotiate. But afterwards the government said it had planned this operation for a year. Before the operation, some intellectuals and writers tried to bring about negotiations between government and prisoners. When the hunger strike was 50 days old, Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Turk, who is responsible for the prisons, said that they would postpone the F-system prisons with isolated cells. But at the same time, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that they would never give up on the F-system prisons. The fourth lie was that they said that their aim was to save the prisoners. The operation's name was "To Return to Life." But they killed, and tortured and wounded them. The fifth lie--a big lie--was that they said that the prisoners killed the soldiers. After the operation, the police and the soldiers said that they found some Kalashnikov rifles in the prisons, which were supposedly used by leftists. But after the operation it was learned that G-3 rifles, which are used by Turkish soldiers, killed the soldiers. A prisoner said he saw a soldier trying to save a woman prisoner shot by other soldiers. The sixth lie was that they said that the F-system prisons were like four-star hotels. The government denied the torture. They said there was hot water in those prisons 24 hours a day. Assault planned for a year Not only the government lied, but also the Turkish and U.S television channels and newspapers lied. They simply repeated uncritically whatever the Turkish government said. Minister for Internal Affairs Sadettin Tantan said that the government had been preparing this operation for one year. They decided on the plan after a meeting which included Prime Minister Bulen Ecevit, Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Turk, Minister for Internal Affairs Saadettin Tantan and some prison prosecutors, including those from Bayrampasa, Canakkale, Umraniye and Ulucanlar prisons. But at that meeting, the Bayrampasa, Umraniye and Canakkale prosecutors were against this decision. Only the Ulucanlar prosecutor was for it. After that meeting, during 1999, police, soldiers and prison guards attacked the Ulucanlar prison and killed 10 political prisoners. When the hunger strike started, Minister for Internal Affairs Saadettin Tantan suggested this kind of operation again. But at first Hikmet Sami Turk was against it. When negotiations were started there was hope that the hunger strike would end. But Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, leader of the majority "Democratic Left Party", ordered the operation. HEROIC RESISTANCE As of the first day of the new year 2001, 90 of the political prisoners have lost their mental ability and are on the edge of death as a result of the hunger strike and this bloody operation. The Turkish government is forcing the doctors to treat prisoners against their will, even though the Union Of the Turkish Doctors, whose decisions have to be obeyed by all doctors, says that to force political prisoners to take treatment is unethical. Also, the Turkish government wants to put political prisoners into the F-system prisons modeled on U.S. "supermax" maximum-security behavior modification-isolation prison systems. It is aimed at breaking down the high level of solidarity and organization among Turkish prisoners, who have always been housed in large prison wards. Outside of prison, there have been a lot of demonstrations protesting this bloody attack. The first day, in Ankara, 200 people were arrested after their demonstration. Demonstrations are occurring daily in every city in Turkey. Protests were not limited to Turkish cities. In Paris, over 100 demonstrators entered a Turkish bank and refused to leave, protesting the Turkish repression. In London, some people burned themselves to protest this massacre. Demonstrations have been held in many cities in Europe. A hunger strike in 1984 in Metris prison in Istanbul lasted 74 days, and four hunger strikers died. In 1996, political prisoners went on hunger strike in all of the prisons, and 12 of them died. That hunger strike lasted 79 days. This latest massacre has been the bloodiest time for Turkish political prisoners. Over 30 people have died, a lot more have been wounded, and the hunger strike hasn't ended yet. The struggle against the F-system, the struggle against the torture in the Turkish prisons has grown very, very strong. But the price of this struggle has been extremely high, not only for the political prisoners themselves, but also the relatives of the prisoners and Turkish society. This won't be the last bloody operation. And this won't be the last big resistance. [Cemile Cakir is a former political prisoner from Turkey who participated in earlier hunger strikes.] ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- SANCTIONS CHALLENGE IV: DELEGATION SET TO DEFY U.S. POLICY ON IRAQ, PALESTINE By Greg Butterfield Led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the fourth Iraq Sanctions Challenge will depart from the United States for the Middle East on Jan. 12. Over 50 delegates, including anti-war and anti-sanctions activists, labor unionists, students and members of Muslim groups, will take millions of dollars worth of humanitarian aid to Iraq on the tenth anniversary of the U.S.-led Gulf War. More than 1 million Iraqi people, mostly children and seniors, have died as a result of 10 years of U.S.-UN sanctions. The delegates plan to fly directly to Baghdad in defiance of the Pentagon-enforced "no-flight zone," the first U.S.-based group to do so. In recent months people from many countries, including UN Security Council members Russia and France, Spain and many Middle East nations, have similarly defied the ban. After visiting Iraq, delegates plan to visit a Palestinian refugee camp in Am man, Jordan, and then deliver medicines to the West Bank in solidarity with the uprising against Israeli occupation. The trip is sponsored by the International Action Center. "We know that no amount of humanitarian aid can truly meet the needs of the Iraqi people," said delegate Sara Flounders, a co-director of the IAC. "Only ending the sanctions and allowing Iraq to resume normal trade relations can bring an end to the country's catastrophic economic situation. "In the spirit of the civil-rights movement, we refuse to abide by unjust U.S. laws or UN resolutions that result in death and destruction for Iraqi children, women and men," Flounders said. On Dec. 20, in one of his first statements as George W. Bush's secretary of state nominee, Gen. Colin Powell threatened tighter sanctions and increased aggression against Iraq. Powell headed the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Bush's father and commanded U.S. forces during the 1991 Gulf War. "This demonstrates the great urgency for anti-war and anti- sanctions forces to stand up and mobilize right now," Flounders commented. "We must send a strong message to the incoming Bush administration that we won't tolerate further aggression against the Iraqi people. "Jan. 16 is the tenth anniversary of one of the worst massacres in history," Flounders continued. "More than 100,000 Iraqis were killed while the United States lost about 141 personnel in the Gulf War. The U.S. used an integrated strategy of bombing and economic sanctions to permanently weaken Iraq. Washington's goal has always been to return Iraq to semi-colonial bondage so that U.S. oil companies and banks can dominate its vast oil resources." Flounders said that demonstrations were planned in 100 cities around the world for Jan. 16. In the U.S., the IAC is urging anti-sanctions activists to turn out en masse for the Jan. 20 counter-inaugural protest in Washington with signs and banners demanding an end to sanctions and to all U.S. aggression. Groups participating in the Iraq Sanctions Challenge include American Muslims for Global Peace and the American Muslim Council. More than half of the delegates are students representing colleges and universities across the U.S. For updates on the Iraq Sanctions Challenge or for information on planned protests, visit the Web site www.iacenter.org or call (212) 633-6646. ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- SEATTLE TIMES STRIKERS FIGHT UNION-BUSTING By Charles (Kaz) Susat Asst. Chapel Chair Graphic Communications Int'l Union Local 767-M Seattle Striking workers at the Seattle Times overwhelmingly rejected a union-busting contract by a vote of 348-87. Meanwhile Northwest Newspaper Guild workers at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ratified a contract and are going back to work. The economic packages in both offers were similar. The Post- Intelligencer agreed that all strikers would return immediately without reprisals. The Times management is demanding job cuts. The Times' return-to-work offer would have left permanent replacements and those who crossed the picket line in place, while requiring strikers to wait on a rehire list, some possibly for up to a year. Other strikers would be offered severance packages and early retirement. The Times has temporarily suspended hiring permanent replacements but has announced that 68 are already hired. The offer also contained measures that the Newspaper Guild leadership called "illegal." These measures include requiring the Guild to drop all unfair labor practice complaints and to put as much time, money and effort into rebuilding circulation as it used in prompting a boycott of the paper and its advertisers. The papers have separate newsrooms but all production, distribution and sales are carried out by the Times under a joint-operating agreement. The papers split the profits 60- 40 with the Times receiving the bigger amount. Workers at the two papers are in many different unions. The Guild represents 120 workers at the PI and almost 800 at the Times. A separate bargaining unit at the Times is part of the Communications Workers, the Guild's parent union, and represents almost 80 composing room workers. These workers also resoundingly voted down management's offer by 51-9. Workers in this unit saw the return to work offer as a ploy to wipe out many jobs threatened by new technology. Five members of the Office Professionals and Employees union, who operate and maintain the boilers in the downtown facility are on strike and haven't had an offer at all. Graphic Communications printers are without a contract and are honoring the lines. The Times has closed the print shop and offered these half-dozen workers jobs as permanent replacements in the composing room. Teamsters Local 174 truck drivers are honoring the lines and the 80 drivers are picketing with the Guild. The second largest union in the paper, Teamsters Local 763, is considering joining the strike. This unit represents around 600 workers who assemble the papers and distribute them to news boxes and stands. At the beginning of the strike these workers had voted down the company's final offer and voted to strike. The local president, John Rabine, then used an illegal petition drive to claim the contract was ratified. The Teamsters constitution calls for all contract votes to be held by secret ballot. Rabine lost his election Dec. 24 to Dave Reynolds, a member of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union. Reynolds takes office Jan. 1 and has announced that he considers the contract void and will meet with the membership as soon as he takes office. GOV'T, MANAGEMENT MANIPULATION On Dec. 23, when talks broke off, Washington Sen. Patty Murray intervened. She was able to call both sides back to the table and get the Guild to agree to put the offer up to a vote. The Times stalled for days before making the return- to-work offer. This offer wasn't presented until moments before the Guild's scheduled meeting Dec 27. On the second and last day of the voting, mediator C. Richard Barnes, at the Times' request, forced the Guild to suspend the vote. Management claimed that the Guild leadership had misunderstood and misrepresented the offer. The union called another membership meeting and held a revote. Many workers refused to vote a second time, which made the margin of votes rejecting the contract smaller than what otherwise would have occurred. Faced with a possibility of the strike expanding, the growing anger of the strikers and the increasing community support for the workers, Murray has pulled negotiation away from Seattle to Washington, DC. Talks will resume there Jan. 3 with Murray, Newspaper Guild International President Linda Foley, Communications Workers President Morton Bahr and head federal mediator Barnes. On Dec. 30, when the contract vote result was announced at a news conference, workers cheered jubilantly. Then they marched the two blocks from strike headquarters to the front doors of the Times. Around a hundred strikers rallied and chanted while the Times management held their own news conference. Strikers held a strong and upbeat New Year's Eve party on the line, complete with party favors, sparklers and Space Needle fireworks. A hundred strikers and supporters attended. Leaders and activists from Jubilee2000, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, the Community Coalition for Justice and the International Action Center have called for a mass show of support and a human chain to surround the Times' main offices at Fairview and John Sts. on Jan. 3 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.