ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN, Number 206 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - ats@etext.org ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||| ||| ||| A N T I F A ||| ||| ||| ||| I N F O - B U L L E T I N ||| ||| _____ ||| ||| ||| ||| * News * Analysis * Research * Action * ||| ||| ||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ***** ||/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\||/\||| || * -- AFIB #206 -- * June 06, 1999 * -- AFIB #206 -- * || ||\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/||\/||| * US/NATO OUT OF THE BALKANS! * ``For us it is a question of crushing fascism, wiping it out and sweeping it away so that it can never rear its head again in Spain. We are determined to finish with fascism once and for all. Yes, and in spite of the government.'' -- Buenaventura Durruti, 1936. CONTENTS: Number 206 _____ 1. (PANW) PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE: Mumia Medical Alert! 2. (FAIR) FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING [US]: What Reporters Knew About Kosovo Talks - But Didn't Tell. Was Rambouillet Another Tonkin Gulf? 3. (ISWoR) INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH WORKERS IN RUSSIA [UK]: Russian Antifascist Free Thanks to You, But Not Yet Out of Danger. 4. (IHRA) INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION [Germany]: Hunger Strike for Justice. 5. (SISIS) SETTLERS IN SUPPORT OF INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY [Canada]: Statement of Support for Native Peoples of the Pacific Northwest. 6. (NWROC) NATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS ORGANIZING COALITION [US]: E-Mail Petition in Defense of Antiracists. 7. (AFN) ANTIFA NET [Belgium]: Anitfa Net - Web Resources for Antifascists. 8. (NYT) THE NEW YORK TIMES: Top Activist for Rights in Turkey is Imprisoned. 9. (V-P) THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT [US]: Robertson, Liberian Leader Hope to Strike Gold in Coastal Africa. 10. (DT) DAILY TELEGRAPH [London]: Ku Klux Klan Fights for `White Australia.' 11. (ATS) ARM THE SPIRIT [Canada]: The Commune of Kwangju. * * * * PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE * The Pan-African Research and Documentation Center 211 SCB Box 47, Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48202 E-mail: ac6123@wayne.edu - Saturday, 5 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ MUMIA MEDICAL ALERT! _________________________________________________________________ Source: http://www.mumia.org * * * After visiting Mumia this week, Pam Africa reported that Mumia's health has deteriorated since her last visit. Mumia showed Pam his grotesquely deformed ankles and shins, which may be a sign of either diabetes, a heart problem or even gangrene. Mumia is in need of IMMEDIATE outside medical attention. Please call or write the following, letting them know you are aware of the health-robbing conditions at ALL prisons. Demand that Mumia and ALL prisoners be given access to competent medical service providers who are NOT affiliated with the Prison Industry. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge 225 Main Capitol Bldg. Harrisburg, PA 17120 Tel: 717-787-2500 Fax: 717-783-4429 Martin F. Horn, Secretary Commissioner, PA. Dept. of Corrections Department of Corrections 2520 Lisburn Road P.O. Box 598 Camp Hill, PA 17001-0598 Tel: 717-975-4859 Fax: 717-787-1758 World Wide Web Page: http://www.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Corrections/overview.html E-Mail to State of Pennsylvania: webmaster@state.pa.us SCI Greene Superintendent Price 1030 East Roy Furman Highway Waynesburg, PA 15370-8020 412-852-2902 Tel 412-852-2909 Fax 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. ***** * FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING * Media Analysis, Critiques and News Reports 130 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001 E-Mail: fair@fair.org Web: http://www.fair.org - Wednesday, 2 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ WHAT REPORTERS KNEW ABOUT KOSOVO TALKS -- BUT DIDN'T TELL. Was Rambouillet Another Tonkin Gulf? _________________________________________________________________ * * * New evidence has emerged confirming that the U.S. deliberately set out to thwart the Rambouillet peace talks in France in order to provide a "trigger" for NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. Furthermore, correspondents from major American news organizations reportedly knew about this plan to stymie the Kosovo peace talks, but did not inform their readers or viewers. FAIR's May 14 media advisory, "Forgotten Coverage of Rambouillet Negotiations," http://www.fair.org/press-releases/kosovo-solution.html asked whether the media had given the full story on Rambouillet. News reports almost universally blamed the failure of negotiations on Serbian intransigence. The headline over a New York Times dispatch from Belgrade on March 24 - the first day of the bombing - read "U.S. Negotiators Depart, Frustrated By Milosevic's Hard Line." But the evidence presented in "Forgotten Coverage" suggested that it was U.S. negotiators, not the Serbs, who blocked an agreement. Now, in the June 14 issue of the Nation, George Kenney, a former State Department Yugoslavia desk officer, reports: "An unimpeachable press source who regularly travels with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told this [writer] that, swearing reporters to deep-background confidentiality at the Rambouillet talks, a senior State Department official had bragged that the United States 'deliberately set the bar higher than the Serbs could accept.' The Serbs needed, according to the official, a little bombing to see reason." In other words, the plan for Kosovo autonomy drafted by State Department officials was intentionally crafted to provoke a rejection from Serb negotiators. In his Nation article, Kenney compares this plan to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Providing further confirmation of Kenney's account, Jim Jatras, a foreign policy aide to Senate Republicans, reported in a May 18 speech at the Cato Institute in Washington that he had it "on good authority" that a "senior Administration official told media at Rambouillet, under embargo" the following: "We intentionally set the bar too high for the Serbs to comply. They need some bombing, and that's what they are going to get." In interviews with FAIR, both Kenney and Jatras asserted that these are actual quotes transcribed by reporters who spoke with a U.S. official. They declined to give the names or affiliations of the reporters. The revelation that American reporters knew about a U.S. strategy to create a pretext for NATO's war on Yugoslavia - but did not report on it - raises serious questions about the independence of mainstream news organizations. More reporting is needed on the origins of this war, as well as the opportunities for peace that may have been overlooked. This release will be updated as new information becomes available. This media advisory was written by FAIR media analyst Seth Ackerman (mail to: SAckerman@fair.org). ***** * INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH WORKERS IN RUSSIA (ISWoR) * Box R, 46 Denmark Hill London, SE5 8RZ United Kingdom E-mail: antek5@aol.com - Tuesday, 1 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ RUSSIAN ANTIFASCIST PRISONER FREE THANKS TO YOU, BUT NOT YET OUT OF DANGER _________________________________________________________________ * * * Dear ISWoR supporters, antiracist and labour movement activists, International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR) would like to thank all of you who responded to our appeals to protest the detention of the Krasnodar antifascists. Larisa Schiptsova, the pregnant woman who was being denied medical treatment even though she was very ill, has now been released from prison. The Moscow-based solidarity campaigners believe that her release and that of Maria Randina (who has had her charges lifted) was due to the efforts of all those who phoned, faxed etc to protest. However, Larisa remains accused by the racist regional Governor of involvement in an alleged 'anarchist-Jewish' conspiracy to assasinate him. On 31 May Larisa was forcibly interrogated in the Procurator's office and ended up having spasms. This continuing treatment is endangering her health and the life of her baby. The Moscow campaigners write: "It is still important to draw attention to the investigation and upcoming court procedures against the Krasnodar Three in order to guarantee that the court decision is `objective' and that no new fabricated charges are presented to the accused. "Please, continue to send protests to the Krasnodar procurator A.N. Shkrebets in order to stop legal violations that still continue in this case (like Larisa's interrogation late at night). "On June 3 the Moscow group for counter-action against political repression will carry a street theatre performance in front of the FSB headquarters in Moscow in order to draw public attention to the case of the Krasnodar Three. We will keep you informed about any new developments in the case." IMPORTANT NOTE: a number of people had difficulties in getting a protest fax through to the Krasnodar Procurator's office. We have now confirmed beyond any doubt that they have been deliberately refusing to accept faxes that they knew or suspected concerned Larisa Schiptsova. It is very likely that in trying to fax any of these numbers, you will be faced with a person answering at the other end of the phone who refuses to activate the fax machine for you. What we recommend for you to do is the following: a) If you hear a voice after dialling, and you do not speak Russian, say the word Fax. (It is the same word in Russian). b) If the person does not activate the fax machine for you, then say Larisa Schiptsova's name very clearly. They are very likely to tell you (in Russian) that they will not accept faxes about her. However, if the office receives many calls in the next few days where her name is mentioned clearly, they will be aware that there is enormous sympathy for her plight internationally. This may be enough to protect her from further brutal treatment while waiting for her court hearing, just as the pressure so far has apparently forced her release. If you can speak Russian, please tell them the name of your organisation, question them as much as possible about her treatment and if possible, record on tape your conversation. Krasnodar Procurator A.N. Shkrebets +7 8612 68 62 65 (phone and fax, sometimes answering machine with automatic switch to fax) or +7 8612 68 35 30 (phone and fax) Further information and the full text of the 31 May communique from the Moscow campaigners is available on request. ***** * INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION - BREMEN * Kornstr. 51 28201 Bremen, Germany Tel: 00-49-421-5577093 E-mail: mail@humanrights.de Web: http://www.humanrights.de - Friday, 4 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ HUNGER STRIKE FOR JUSTICE _________________________________________________________________ * * * Refugees from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East together with supporters from Europe and the USA are now on Hunger Strike. On Friday 4th June in Cologne Germany against the racist terror and for human rights, justice and peace. We have occuppied the Green Party Office in Cologne, Ebertsplatz 23. We have started our protest on the 4 June as the European Union (EU) summit meeting is taking place and we will still be on Hunger Strike when the Group of Seven (or 8) meets from 18th - 20th June. WE HUNGER FOR JUSTICE On the 28th May, just a few hundred Kilometres away from Cologne, Aamir Mohamed Ageeb a Sudanese refugee was killed inside the plane in the process of his forced deportation from Germany. The statements of Otto Schily the interior minister of Germany that he will not carry out deportation of refugees who physically struggle is completely ridiculous as the EU meeting that is taking place now will be making plans how to strengthen Fortress Europe and how to forcibly deport far more people than they do now. DEPORTATION CAN NEVER BE VOLUNTARY! Death during deportation is the sharp expression of the systematic violation of the basic human rights of refugees in Germany and in Europe. As soon as a refugee reaches Europe, he/she faces humiliation, abuse and has to live in sub-human conditions. In Germany the authorities have determined that a refugees can live in a space of 4 Square Metres - according to the German law a dog needs 9 Square Metres. Refugees are forced to live in camps in the middle of the forest where they are effectively prisoners. WE ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU DESTROY OUR COUNTRIES Cologne the host city for the EU/G8 summits will also be the host city for the refugees and the oppressed, the consequence of their policies. We the refugees gather here to meet our oppressors. We are not only exposing the racist reality we face in Germany but also the reasons for our flight, the reality of the dictatorships and the fascist regimes that exist in the countries where we came from and how Germany and other G7 countries prop up these regimes to maximise their Profits. These meetings of the most powerful countries of the world are presiding over a time of unprecedented violence and injustice. With spectacular arrogance the Turkish regime is on its way to execute the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in an attempt to destroy the Kurdish people's struggle for freedom. The Hunger strikers demand that the EU and G8 meetings put pressure on Turkey to stop this barbaric display and find a political solution to the Kurdish question. After more than 70 days of continuous bombardment, massive destruction, and immense suffering the Kosovo Albanians, it is clear that the NATO strike on Yugoslavia has nothing to do with defending human rights. What is also clear is that the Yugoslavian Kosovo Albanian refugees had been used as a tool to create the justification for the US lead NATO strike. The Hunger Strikers demand that the EU and G8 members call for an immediate stop to the NATO strike. * We, the refugees on Hunger strike demand, specifically from the German SPD/Green coalition government to stop creating the reasons for our flight. * To stop pretending that German militarism and expansionism is for the sake of human rights, * To stop collaborating or propping up with fascistic regimes and dictatorships like Turkey, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Togo and instead start with supporting Human Rights right here in Germany by implementing a complete stop to deportations. We demand that Green Party Foreign Minister Joshka Fischer to arrange a meeting between himself, Otto Schily the Minister For the Interior and the Hunger Strikers to discuss our demands. The Hunger Strikers are: Cornelius Yufanyi - Camaroon, Donny Ohia, Roberts Tunde Emmanuel and Adebayo Babatunde - Nigeria, Yigit Senayi und zwei weitere Kurden - Kurdistan, Alex Rodriguez - Peru, Narusaleem Jeyathas and one more Tamil - Tamil Eelam, Viraj Mendis - Sri Lanka, Komlan Glokpon und James Atayi - Togo, Warren Stowe - USA, Tom - Deutschland Please send faxs/letters of support to the Hunger Strikers: Fax: 00-49-421-5577094 Source: National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns; c/o 101 Villa Road; Birmingham B19 1NH, England; Tel: 0121-554-6947; Fax: 0870-055-4570; E-mail: ncadc@ncadc.demon.co.uk; Web: http://www.ncadc.demon.co.uk ***** * S.I.S.I.S. * Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 E-mail: SISIS@envirolink.org Web: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html - Saturday, 5 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST _________________________________________________________________ Source: arthur, bayou@blarg.net * Please post widely * * * * We, the undersigned, wish to express our solidarity with native peoples of the Pacific Northwest, who are currently suffering from a racist backlash to the recent hunting of a whale by Makah people. The backlash has included bomb threats against native schools, and threats to shoot native people as "revenge" for the whale. Native people have been refused service by white owners of stores and other businesses in the Pacific Northwest. One native man was beaten so badly he is now in a wheelchair. This declaration is not about whether or not the Makah whale hunt is "right" or "wrong". It is an assertion that racism is always wrong. While we, the undersigned, have varying opinions about the hunting of whales, we agree on the following: 1) Racism in all forms must be opposed. We reject any attempts by environmentalists, animal rights activists, or any other groups to use racism to gain support for a cause. 2) We call on all groups and individuals concerned about the whaling to take a strong stand against the racist backlash that is currently happening as a result of racist and inflammatory rhetoric used by environmental and animal rights groups such as the Sea Shepherd Society. 3) We recognize and support the sovereignty of all native nations, including the Makah. We reject attempts to use this whale hunt to undermine native nations struggling to assert their sovereignty. 4) We reject the polarization of this issue into "Makah vs. the whales". We believe that this oversimplification of the Makah whale hunt plays up racist stereotypes instead of addressing questions of animal exploitation. As the Makah have pointed out, non-native people kill animals deliberately every day for food, clothing, entertainment, and experimentation, with no regard for the suffering of the animals or the devastating effects on the overall environment; non-native industry is responsible for the deaths of countless whales every year. While we, the undersigned, may differ in our opinions of the Makah whale hunt itself, we are united in our condemnation of the racist tactics which are being used to oppose the hunt. We fully support native peoples of the Pacific Northwest and offer our assistance to work towards stopping the racist backlash. To express your support by signing this declaration, contact sisis@envirolink.org. Signed: Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty - Victoria, BC, Canada Northwest Leonard Peltier Support Network Anti-Racist Emergency Action Network Industrial Transportation Project--Industrial Workers of the World Bayou La Rose :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: ***** * NATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS ORGANIZING COALITION * E-mail: nwroc@umich.edu Web: http://www.umich.edu/~nwroc - Tuesday, 1 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ E-MAIL PETITION IN DEFENSE OF ANTIRACISTS _________________________________________________________________ * PLEASE FORWARD THIS PETITION FAR & WIDE * * * * In Ann Arbor, Michigan, 20 antiracists are being dragged into court in the largest-scale political witchhunt in the history of the city. The charges stem from a protest of the Ku Klux Klan rally that took place on May 9, 1998. The charges that have been advanced as legal cover for the witchhunt are based on legal sophistry and the destruction of evidence. A set of 10-year felony charges rest on a ludicrous definition of the legal concepts of "riot" and "incitement to riot" applied to an event at which local news media and the local politicians themselves declared THERE WAS NO RIOT - supposedly because of the brilliance of their policing policies and the deployment of some 100 "peace keepers". A set of misdemeanor charges rest on the alleged assault by protesters of an actually undamaged chain link rental fence conveniently destroyed with the authorization of the police after the May 9th KKK rally and before any charges were filed. Many prominent people, including politicians, authors, artists and professors from around the country have called for an end to this witchhunt. Please join them in signing on to the email petition below. PETITION: * STOP THE WITCHHUNT! * DROP THE CHARGES! FIGHTING RACISM IS NOT A CRIME! WE DEMAND AN END TO THE WITCHHUNT BEING CONDUCTED BY THE ANN ARBOR CITY GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE ANTI-RACIST MOVEMENT. WE DEMAND THE DROPPING OF ALL THE CHARGES AGAINST THE ANTI-RACISTS WHO PROTESTED THE MAY 9, 1998 KU KLUX KLAN RALLY IN ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN. Please reply to this message with your name & email address. For more information visit http://www.umich.edu/~nwroc. Source: e_robertson@yahoo.com ***** * ANTIFA NET * E-mail: webmaster@antifa.net Web: http://www.antifa.net - Tuesday, 1 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ ANTIFA NET: WEB RESOURCES FOR ANTI-FASCISTS _________________________________________________________________ * * * Since March 1997 Antifanet, http://www.antifa.net is active as a small "hosting provider" for antifa/ra organizations worldwide. We give some free space to antifa groups and organizations who have difficulties in having their place on the web. Some groups had problems with local ISP's after pressure and threats from nazi groups. Other groups had censorship problems. The only thing we ask is that participating groups are primary antifa/ra organizations. At the moment we have 15 hosted sites: Afa-Stockholm, Antifa Action Finland, Autonome Antifa Berlin, Antifa Pforzheim, Antifa Jugend Brandenburg, Antifa Dresden/Venceremos, AntiFascistisch Front Belgium, Antifa Info Belgium, Antwerpen Helemaal Anders, BLOKBUSTER, Extreme-right in Belgium, Kafka, Lynrecht tegen racisme, ResistanceS, Vaka/Hand in Hand. All those groups have free hosting. The only thing we ask them is a little ad in there publications if they have one. Antifanet has just passed the 16,000th hit on the index page. We receive some 25 to 50 hits a day. Check us out and give us a try. And if you ever have trouble to find a secure place on the net, you're welcome. The Antifanet team... Groeten/bye, Webmaster@antifa.net Look also at: http://www.antifa.org http://www.antifa.com http://www.serve.com/456852 Antifa Net is sponsored by / wordt gesponsord door: STICHTING ANTI FASCISME AGALEV, De Vlaamse groenen http://www.agalev.be ***** _________________________________________________________________ TOP ACTIVIST FOR RIGHTS IN TURKEY IS IMPRISONED _________________________________________________________________ THE NEW YORK TIMES June 4, 1999 http://www10.nytimes.com/world/turkey-dissident-jailed.html By STEPHEN KINZER ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkey's best-known human rights advocate entered prison Thursday to serve a nine-and-a-half-month sentence for giving speeches judged subversive. The advocate, Akin Birdal, who is chairman of a group called the Human Rights Association, has repeatedly urged the state to reach a peaceful settlement with Kurdish rebels. Such statements are illegal in Turkey because they are said to constitute support for terrorism. The law under which Birdal was convicted bans statements "inciting the people to enmity by dividing them along religious, linguistic or racial lines." In recent weeks, the same law has been used to convict two journalists, a university professor and an aide to Birdal. A growing number of Turks, including the country's senior judge, have called for the repeal of this and similar laws. The military and its supporters say the laws are necessary if the state is to defend itself against religious fundamentalism and the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party. Birdal's case may prove embarrassing for Turkey because he is well-known in human rights circles around the world. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights accused the government of harassing him and other critics. Amnesty International is starting a campaign on his behalf. Last year a jailed former commander of Kurdish rebels reportedly told interrogators that Birdal was a rebel agent, though doubts later emerged that the prisoner had ever made such a statement. Soon afterward, gunmen entered Birdal's office in Ankara and shot him several times. Six men were arrested. Birdal spent several weeks in a hospital, where he received thousands of letters and visits from people including Foreign Secretary Robin Cook of Britain. He carries a dozen metal pins in his body. Doctors say Birdal needs up to two years of physical therapy, but his plea to defer his prison sentence on medical grounds was denied. Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company ***** _________________________________________________________________ ROBERTSON, LIBERIAN LEADER HOPE TO STRIKE GOLD IN COASTAL AFRICA _________________________________________________________________ THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Wednesday, June 2, 1999 http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw0602gol.html BY BILL SIZEMORE, The Virginian-Pilot Pat Robertson, whose failed African diamond-mining operation five years ago stirred criticism and prompted a still-ongoing state investigation, is embarking on a new African mining venture. This time he's searching for gold. As an ally, Robertson has an African strongman with a colorful and bloody past. Liberian President Charles Taylor has signed a mineral development agreement with Freedom Gold Ltd., a Robertson-owned company based at the Virginia Beach headquarters of Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network. It allows for exploration and subsequent mining rights in the Bukon Jedeh region of southeastern Liberia, which is believed to have substantial gold reserves. The for-profit company was incorporated in the Cayman Islands last December. Robertson is listed as the company's president and sole director. Joseph Mathews, vice president of finance and administration for Freedom Gold, last week confirmed Liberian media reports that Robertson's company is committed to spending $10 million to $15 million in the exploratory phase of the venture. The mining company has no connection to Robertson's television ministry, Mathews said. ``At this point we're not sure where all that money is coming from,'' Mathews said. ``. . . One of the options we have is, in the process of exploration, the government has allowed us to use some of the gold that we uncover then to defray some of the costs of exploration. We've got some geologists trying to find out how much that is.'' If the agreement is ratified by the Liberian legislature, the Liberian government will get a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians will be offered the opportunity to purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period, Mathews said. A Liberian government press release issued last month quoted Robertson as telling Taylor, ``I pray that this investment may become a wonderful blessing to the people of Liberia and will be one of many significant investments that will be made under your administration in the nation of Liberia.'' Mathews said Robertson's intent is to help ``kick-start'' the Liberian economy, which has been shattered by years of civil war. There was no indication from the press release or Freedom Gold's incorporation papers of how the company is capitalized or its projected employment, income and start-up date. Taylor has declared his intention to head a government that respects human rights and the rule of law. But the U.S. State Department has maintained an arm's-length relationship with him, citing his record of alleged human rights abuses and the atmosphere of intimidation that attended his ascension to power. Among other claims to fame, Taylor, 51, is the only man to escape from the Plymouth County, Mass., jail and never be caught. He fled to the United States in 1983 after being accused of embezzling $1 million from the Liberian government. He was arrested by U.S. marshals and was locked in the Plymouth jail as a federal detainee awaiting extradition. On Sept. 15, 1985, with a hacksaw and a rope of knotted bedsheets, he and four other inmates climbed out a second-story window and ran into the woods. His fellow escapees were captured within days, but Taylor was never seen in this country again. A warrant for his arrest on escape charges, which was ultimately withdrawn, remained on the books in Massachusetts for years. Taylor vanished until 1989, when he turned up in Liberia with an armed band of rebels and began a long, bloody march to power. He became president in a 1997 election that ended seven years of factional fighting in which half of Liberia's 3 million people were killed or displaced. A report this year by Human Rights Watch blamed all factions in the civil war for atrocities -- including executions, torture, forced labor and extortion -- against civilians. After taking power, Taylor placed many of his faction's fighters in the Liberian security and police forces. He created a special security unit, known informally as the ``tie-dye boys'' because of their blue camouflage uniforms. The unit quickly became noted for harassing civilians and looting, Human Rights Watch said. In one incident, Taylor critic Samuel Dokie, his wife, and two other people were killed in custody after their arrest by Taylor's special security bodyguards in November 1997. The officers brought to trial for the killings were acquitted. Last fall, Taylor's troops tried to arrest rival warlord Roosevelt Johnson, accusing him of attempting to overthrow Taylor. Johnson sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, the capital, and was flown to safety in Sierra Leone. In an incident reported by Liberian media two weeks ago, Taylor sacked virtually his entire Cabinet and several heads of public corporations -- 25 people in all -- for failing to attend a national prayer service as ordered by the president. ``Any government official who does not know God will not serve in my government,'' Taylor was quoted as saying. A week later he reversed himself and reinstated the ousted officials, acting, he said, on the wishes of the Liberian people. Taylor's critics portray him as a corrupt leader who has looted the country while most Liberians barely eke out a living. In an article published last fall, the expatriate group Liberian Democratic Future estimated Taylor's personal wealth at $450 million and compared him to the late Mobutu Sese Seko, who amassed a fortune while ruling Zaire (now Congo) with an iron hand for three decades before he was driven out by rebel forces in 1997. It was Mobutu who granted Robertson diamond-mining rights in Zaire in the early 1990s. Two pilots told The Virginian-Pilot in 1997 that airplanes sent to Zaire by Operation Blessing, Robertson's tax-exempt humanitarian organization, were used almost exclusively to ferry equipment for the diamond venture. Those accusations sounded alarms with a Northern Virginia state senator, who suggested that the arrangement had potential tax and consumer fraud implications. A nearly two-year-long state investigation ensued. The matter now rests in the office of Attorney General Mark Earley, who pledged an impartial inquiry untainted by the $35,000 campaign contribution he received from Robertson in 1997. A spokesman for Earley said last week the investigation should be completed in the next few weeks. Robertson's diamond venture ultimately failed and was shut down. Copyright 1999, Landmark Communications Inc. Courtesy of an AFIB subscriber. ***** _________________________________________________________________ KU KLUX KLAN FIGHTS FOR `WHITE AUSTRALIA' _________________________________________________________________ DAILY TELEGRAPH Thursday, 3 June 1999 http://www.telegraph.co.uk By Barbie Dutter in Sydney THE Ku Klux Klan declared its presence in Australia for the first time yesterday, led by a former member of the One Nation party. Less than a year after One Nation - notorious for its opposition to Asian immigration and aboriginal welfare schemes - was humiliated in the general election, the KKK has announced its intention to fight for a "white Australia". Its Sydney-based leader, Peter Coleman - who appeared in a photograph with other members wearing white hoods and robes - said the American white supremacist group had set up "Klaverns" in three states and had a growing membership of around 70. Mr Coleman was expelled from Pauline Hanson's One Nation party last week, after his KKK links emerged. He told the Sydney Morning Herald: "Our aim is for a white Australia, a fair Australia. I am happy to shout it from the rooftops." Understandably, the development has alarmed ethnic minority groups. Aborigines in north Queensland have already claimed that they are being targeted in a systematic racist hate campaign. Gatjil Djerrkura, head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, said: "Aboriginal leaders have been warning ever since the inception of One Nation that its policies would be a rallying call for racists." Jeremy Jones of the Jewish Affairs Council said: "We have always known that there are hate-mongers and people who will spread contempt towards others, and this is their latest manifestation." Mr Coleman said the group held regular meetings in Sydney where members wore hoods and robes and conducted "cross lightings". He claimed that he had established the KKK in Australia because white Australians were ridiculed for standing up for their rights, citing the treatment of Pauline Hanson as an example. Echoing the Klan's extreme ideology, Mr Coleman said some races were "genetically programmed" to commit crime and claimed that "there is a Jew under every rock". He said homosexuals were abnormal and that Aborigines were "beyond help. . . the worst of the whites mixed in with the blacks". Mr Coleman has been given the title of Australia's "Exalted Cyclops" by the Imperial Klans of America group. Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1999 ***** * ARM THE SPIRIT * P.O. Box 6326, Station A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7, Canada E-mail: ats@locust.etext.org Web: http://www.burn.ucsd.edu/~ats - Saturday, 5 June 1999 - ----- _________________________________________________________________ THE COMMUNE OF KWANGJU: May 18 - May 27, 1980 _________________________________________________________________ * * * All around the world people often speak about the Paris Commune of 1871 and its glorious tragedy. Yet not so many people know another severe struggle of the Kwangju citizens and their Commune. When dictator Park Jung-hee was suddenly shot to death by his right-hand man, the Korean people expected to replace the long history of suppression and exploitation with their own history of liberation. Nevertheless, the so-called the 'Neo- Military' thoroughly betrayed the people's expectations, assuming the reins of government through another coup d'etat. The anachronistic violence of the military, however, couldn't interrupt the Korean people's great history of struggle, which found its seismic center in Kwangju, the largest city in Honam. The people of the Honam plain, the breadbasket of Korea, were mostly peasants and have been subject to severe exploitation; thus the rich soil of the Honam plain has always been wet with struggling people's blood all throughout history. Especially in the 19th century, namely in the era of imperialistic invasions, the Honam plain was also the stage of the Donghak Peasants' Revolution against feudal landholders and imperialist Powers. Even independence from Japan didn't change the status of the Honam people; dictator Park in particular carried out one-sided policies that developed the industrial sectors at the sacrifice of agriculture, enforcing low cereal prices to preserve low wages. Under such harsh discriminations, the Honam people were thoroughly denied any benefits of the authoritarian economic development. On May 18, when the neo-military dispatched airlift troops to suppress the students' struggle, Kwangju citizens' smoldering resentment burst into flame at last. Though placed under martial law, Kwangju citizens started to gather in front of the Provincial Office and bravely confronted armed troops with their bare hands. Several ranger-commando forces were additionally dispatched and cruelly quelled the demonstration. Especially airlift troops, who were accustomed to brutality through their participation in the Vietnam War, were so cruel as to fire on citizens with flame throwers, to mangle a student's head, and to gouge out a 19-year girl's breasts with a long sword. At 16:50 on May 17, the first firing took place, in this course troops used lead bullets, which are prohibited even in wartime. Furious citizens were determined not to retreat but to fight to the last drop of their blood. Even inactive citizens cooperated with demonstrators: Shopkeepers provided water, pushcart holders carried stones, taxi drivers blocked the roads, and women provided handkerchiefs or toothpaste. At last, the citizens seized broadcasting centers to prevent distorted reports. Finally, at 13:00 on May 22, citizens had no choice but to arm themselves. As they seized police offices and armories to capture guns and bullets, so the violence of troops got more and more brutal. In spite of continual massacres and indiscriminate firings, the militia fought so severely that they succeeded in partly driving troops away on May 22. We now call the five days of May 22-26 "Kwangju Liberated". Citizens organized their own committee and autonomously administered Kwangju. Surprising is the fact that there were no crimes at all in Kwangju during the five days. Just as the Commune de Paris didn't seize banks and rather protected them, so Kwangju citizens were so naive as not to capture banks. The vanguard militia positioned themselves at the Provincial Office of Kwangju, determined themselves to fight to the last and sent guides to citizens with composure. At the briefing room of the Office they finally got connected with the briefing room of the government at 23:50 on May 26: "Here we are in the District Office. Shall the troops get in downtown this night?" "For all I know they may not." "If the troops enter downtown, we will blow ourselves up with dynamite." From 04:30 to 04:55 on May 27, the 3rd brigade of airlift troops captured the Office at last. At 04:00 on May 28, the final militia in Mokpo Station were arrested by the army. At 11:15 on May 29, scavengers' carts sent corpses of citizens to a cemetery. The militia were tortured, slaughtered, or sentenced to long prison terms. After the neo-military lost power to the people's struggle, these militiamen were set free and reinstated, whereas the neo- military criminals, comprising ex-presidents Chun Du-whan and Roh Tae-woo, were sentenced for rebellion and homicide in 1995. Yet President Kim Dae-jung granted a amnesty to every 'Neo-Military' criminal and is even casting an amorous glance at the unforgivable criminals to gain the support of silly right-wing voters. While the 19th Anniversary of the Kwangju Struggle took place in front of the historic Provincial Office under the motto of "forgiveness" and "harmony", the murder criminals are still behaving unforgettably and disharmoniously without any repentance. They are even trying organizing their own party to restore their political status with the economic power generated by the ex-presidents' misappropriated funds, which have not yet been confiscated in spite of legal sentences. It is too early to forget; reminded that Kwangju Struggle is an unfinished revolution, we should never allow us to suspend the sublime stream of the Kwangju citizens' will. Written by Park Sang-Chul, Volunteer of PICIS, http://picis.jinbo.net/ Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information collective based in Toronto, Canada. 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