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
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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.
