Arm The Spirit Info Bulletin #3 - September/October 1993 Index: 1) The Fire Inside 2) Shut Down The Control Units! - Update On The Committee To End The Marion Lockdown (CEML) 3) The B.O.P.'s Merry-Go-Round 4) Unity: A Necessity Not A Luxury 5) Liberation Is Not Far Away - An Interview With European PKK Representative Kani Yilmaz 6) Advertisement: Night-Vision (Book) 7) Repression And Resistance In North-West Kurdistan 8) The Treason Of Klaus Steinmetz - Letter From RAF Prisoner Birgit Hogefeld 9) Berlin's Anti-Olympic Resistance 10) Editorial Notes 11) Address And Subscription Info 1) The Fire Inside by Raymond Luc Levasseur October, 1993, marks the tenth year of collective punishment at the United States penitentiary, Marion. It marks a decade of lockdown, control unit regimes and government lies. No doubt the Federal Bureau of Prisons will commemorate the event by rolling out its propaganda wagon and indulging the public with some contrived fantasy about the lockdown's purpose and effectiveness. Silently, they'll rejoice at the well-orchestrated scam they've pulled off. In a society that criminalizes poverty and makes racism a redeeming social value, the Bureau of Prisons simply plugs its propaganda arm into a mass media whose corporate ownership serves it own interests. There is significant political capital to be had by scapegoating the disenfranchised and deflecting the public's attention away from the real issues which affect their quality of life. Marion is the most written-about prison in the world. One of the battle lines drawn in October, 1983, was for public opinion. The government is winning this battle hands down. The Bureau of Prisons utilizes a highly effective public relations strategy which revolves around the agitprop slogan "the worst of the worse" to describe Marion prisoners. It is a soundbite which condenses "nigger, spic, white trash, jobless, homeless, useless, underclass" into one dehumanizing phrase. Dehumanizing a population with language is a prelude to dehumanizing them with force. The Bureau of Prison's statement is false, unless the "the worst" refers to rebels, dissenters, revolutionaries, jailhouse lawyers, group members and others whose belief and integrity the Bureau of Prisons wants to crush. It is false when one examines who is sent to Marion and why they're here. Certainly there are exceptions, but those exceptions don't warrant the use of collective punishment. Additionally, I've not met a convected felon whose misdeeds were in any way comparable to the massive killing of civilians perpetrated by the likes of Nixon, Reagan, Bush, et al. No one here has been convicted of crimes against humanity in the court of world opinion. The "worst of the worse" has no meaning outside the realm of propaganda because any prisoner can be sent to Marion at any time, for any reason, without due process of law. In Bureau of Prisons parlance, dissent and rebellion are "management problems" to be suppressed. What it feeds the public is designed to secure support for such schemes. Effective propaganda diverts people from thinking and acting not only on prison issues, but also on the problems that led to the construction of the American gulag: poverty, racism and injustice stemming from an unbridled capitalism that diminishes the humanity of its victims. Marion is but one more satellite in the ever-expanding concentric circles of oppression and violence that are consuming society. This is good news for prison and related bureaucracies. Instead of being hung out to dry, these parasitic purveyors of misery are relishing their careers, fattening their wallets and passing themselves off as guardians of the sliced white bread culture. In a recent London Sunday Times article on Marion, a denizen of the local community was quoted as saying that Marion prisoners should be taken out and shot as part of the deficit reduction plan. This citizen comes from the same pool from which the Bureau of Prisons recruits its guards. Bleak economic realities feed such fascist sentiments. Marion's guards are the descendants of once-proud coal miners and factory workers - many unionized. But when the mines and plants closed they were left floundering on their own. Their response is to board the nation and state's biggest growth industry - human chattel. Illinois recently approved construction of another state control unit prison. Before the ink was dry on the legislation, the economically depressed counties of southern Illinois were unabashedly begging for the prison to be located on their turf. One state legislature stated there was so much unemployment in his county, "it would be a crime" not to locate the prison there. A crime not to build a control unit prison in an area already saturated with them. "Worst of the worse" means nothing to these people. All they want is warm bodies to feed on. They don't much care where they come from. One of the most significant reverberations of the Marion lockdown is the subsequent proliferation of control unit prisons throughout the country. Thirty-eight, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report, which also documents the inherent abuses. This proliferation is part and parcel of the rapid expansion of the entire prison system. Marion was the flagship, but no longer the exception. Even a relatively small state like Maine has opened a control unit for 100 prisoners at an initial cost of $16 million. Already the state is seeking to double the size of the prison. Maine's situation somewhat reflects what's happening nationwide. The state spent money it could not afford to build a control unit prison it does not need. Concurrently, the state cut rehab programs at the Youth Reformatory, and slashed programs to Aid to Families with Dependent Children ($418 a month for a parent with 2 children). By gouging the needs of children, the state insured a steady supply of youthful offenders to fill its control unit and other cells well into the next generation. New York and Florida have come up with their own creative fraud by diverting funds initially allocated for the homeless and social welfare programs, to fund prison construction and operations. Propaganda that promotes control units as effective against crime - in and out of prison - perpetrates a cruel hoax un an unsuspecting and too often gullible public. Like most government bureaucracies, the Bureau of Prisons hides the cost overruns from a public who will foot the bill. In real terms " more bang for the buck" is quickly eroding their false sense of security. When men and women are locked in small cells 22-23 hours a day, with little human contact, in a violent environment devoid of respect for the human spirit, there is a steep cost not limited to prisoners or dollars. Certainly the prisoners suffer. And much of it not played out in violent prison incidents is internalized in an organic time capsule. Eventually they carry the years of abuse and neglect right on through their release dates, which is when it is all brought home. A prisoner doesn't separate him/herself from the prison experience anymore than soldiers separate themselves from the wars they live through. Neither does the media, which puts its own spin on the term "ex- convict" to mean depraved and violent. If prisoners never returned to their neighbourhoods and communities - or anyone else's - the public might take some perverted comfort in never seeing them again. But this doesn't happen. Even the most extensive prison system in the world can't keep millions of people locked up forever. While some former prisoners salvage their lives and spare others - entirely through their own efforts - the majority proceed to engage in both self- destructive behaviour and crime aimed at the lives and property of others. Life's agenda is reduced primarily to one more paycheck or payback. Those who become victimized by the alumni of America's prisons need to ask themselves the following: will the billions spent on prison hardware and subsidizing the welfare payments of prisoncrats buy back the lost lives of those they thought they were protecting with their tax Dollars? It won't. The funds that could have been invested in human services and community development were pissed away down bottomless sinkholes of violence, heartache and the illusion that repression will provide security. The misnamed criminal justice system churns out an appalling casualty rate. There are now almost one million children under the age of 18 who have one or both parents in prison. One in four young black men is in prison or under police "supervision". More Latinos than ever before are locked up. More women and children. More of everyone whose lives are plagued by poverty and racism. The proliferation of control units represents one response of wealth and power to the agony of the oppressed. Early in the lockdown, Marion prisoners put up a stiff resistance. Whether in this prison or elsewhere, the majority have been subjected to police assaults, beatings, clubs, prolonged restraints, drugs, anal probes, stun guns, humiliations, degradations, harassment, psychological rape and mistreatment of all sorts. The U.S. calls this torture when referring to other governments. It's not like we haven't been there. Little positive has come of it other than maintaining our personal integrity. Earlier in the lockdown we had important outside support. Now that most of this support has worn out, a cloud of pessimism, if not cynicism, descends over the entombed. During the 10 year reign of the Marion lockdown, prisoners have attempted to redress their grievances through the federal courts. They got nothing but a judge's spiteful decision that sordid and horrid conditions do not violate constitutional rights. The many prisoners who testified about beatings and other rights violations were dismissed as liars (courts tend to credit prisoner's testimony only when they testify for the government). Congressional subcommittee hearings did little besides enter Marion's devastation into the public record. This isn't to say that judicial and legislative efforts should be abandoned. There is pending litigation by control unit prisoners in other districts that may produce different results. And various state legislatures may respond differently to their constituents' concerns. Yet given the prevailing political climate and the entrenchment of the Marion model, little is likely to come from this approach other than a belated civics lesson. The Bureau of Prisons cannot continuously apply heat to Marion without allowing some steam to escape, unless they want the place to blow up. The Bureau of Prisons' efforts to contain organized resistance and picking off individual efforts primarily in the control unit regimen: isolation, separation, controlled movement in restraints, limited communication and the selective use of violence. But there is more. The answer also lies in the Bureau of Prisons' arbitrary use of control mechanisms that begin with who is sent to Marion, and why they're singled out. The process continues - more arbitrarily - in determining who leaves Marion, and when. Clear conduct (no disciplinary infractions) alone will not get a prisoner out of Marion. Some will leave in the minimum 2 1/2 years; some in 5 or 10; some appear branded not to leave at all. Some turnover is necessary because the 375 capacity must have room to warehouse new arrivals, including recidivists. No one can fault a prisoner for wanting to be on that bus out of Marion. However, the emphasis on catching that bus in the 2 1/2 year minimum has evolved into the most viable method for the majority of prisoners to escape Marion's clutches. In turn, this has led to individual "programming" rather than a more collective effort to end the lockdown. The lack of outside support reinforces the view that each of us is on his own. As the political resources for prisoners have waned, the federal government has continued to beef up its repressive capacity. A new control unit prison is being built in Florence, Colorado, which will replace Marion in 1994. The addition of 200 cells over Marion's capacity underscores the failure of Marion's lockdown to reduce violence and rebellion in the federal system and states which tap into it. Florence's 550 permanently locked down cells await those who will continue to refuse and resist, as well as those caught up in the spiral of crime that prisons produce. Conditions at Florence promise to be considerably worse with more emphasis placed on deeper isolation. It's not easy to chart a future course from inside. Doing time in these joints is like walking a mine field. The Florence prison will present new challenges and other control units are cutting their teeth. We know from Attica, Lucasville, and a hundred other rebellions, both organized and spontaneous, that stiff resistance will continue. Some of it will be violent. We also know that as captive slaves we are extremely vulnerable to offensive violence and retribution by the guards. For this reason, some matters are best left to clandestine manouvers. What's clear to me now and has been since I first did time in 69-71 is that no matter how much litigation and legislation is filed and defiled, the road to building a prisoners' movement is paved with solidarity. Irrespective of individual differences and group affiliations, we all have a common bond on which to stand together. Solidarity is our greatest weapon, bar none. Additionally, outside help is critical. A necessary lifeline involves family, friends, professionals, and political activists. We urgently need a stronger voice. And everyone - inside of prison and outside of prison walls - can help build it. Ultimately, control units like Marion must be shut down. But in the meantime, attitudes with a political consciousness; adoption and application of the United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; outside observers - taken together can open a new front in the struggle for justice. Write: Raymond Luc Levasseur #10376-016, U.S.P. Marion, P.O. Box 1000, Marion, IL, 62959 USA 2) Shut Down The Control Units! - Update On The Committee To End The Marion Lockdown (CEML) This has been the busiest of times for CEML. First, work continues to prevent the opening of the new control unit at Florence, Colorado, or at least to alter its destructive impact. The bulk of the work is being done by the Coalition to Shut Down Control Units, a statewide organization in Colorado (they also publish an excellent newsletter, "Shut Them Down", available for $10.00 from the Rocky Mountain Peace Centre, P.O. Box 1156, Boulder, CO 80380, U.S.A.) CEML is continuing to press this work as well as trying to find sympathetic audiences within the new administration. Additionally we along with the folks in Colorado are continuing our petition campaign. We now have over 4,000 signatures but would like to double that number. Please write for copies of the petition. Second, our work continues to combat the control unit prison in nearby Westville, IN. As if the brutality of that prison were not enough, the comparatively tiny state is apparently now planning to build a second control unit since the first has not succeeded in stifling dissent there. Third, since the coming October will mark the tenth anniversary of the lockdown at Marion, we are trying to construct a fall conference that is suitable for the event. In this context, we are in touch with several prominent speakers. We will tell you more of the details as they become available. Fourth, we continue our battle against the state of Illinois in its plans to build a control unit prison. Thus far, the proposal has been made by Gov. Jim Edgar's Task Force but Edgar has not yet been able to find the money for such a project. There is evidence that our work has played a part in keeping Edgar from building this prison. As a result of all this activity, we must once again appeal to you for financial assistance. We know that many of you give generously. We apologize for asking again, but we simply cannot proceed otherwise. Already we have cut back. For example, we have not published "Walkin' Steel" recently due to a lack of funds. Meanwhile expenses continue to mount. We spent over $300 producing literature that we provided to the governor's task force. The upcoming program and demonstration will also generate expenses. So please help if you can. CEML, P.O. Box 578172, Chicago, Illinois 60657-8172, USA. Phone: (312) 235-0070 3) The B.O.P.'s Merry-Go-Round by Edwin Cortes It's been many years since Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war have been subjected to arbitrary and capricious transfers at the hands of U.S. state and federal prison officials. The state and federal prison systems spend literally millions of dollars transferring prisoners back and forth, usually to punish political prisoners, writ writers and progressive convicts. In spite of state and federal policies mandating the encouragement of family and community ties, prisoners are assigned to prisons far from their homes, putting undue physical, mental, and economic hardships on their families. The following is a synopsis of one of these journeys. On Thursday, August 12, 1993, I was informed by the Unit Officer to pack my property and report to Receiving and Discharge (R & D). I assumed that my requested transfer to USP Terre Haute had been approved. My assumptions were negated when I was informed by the R & D officer that I was being transferred to USP Leavenworth. I immediately informed members of the National Committee [To Free Puerto Rican P.O.W.'s - ed.], in order to wage a campaign to stop this transfer. My transfer was contrary to the BOP dictum that "No criminal is sent directly to Leavenworth. He must earn his way there." The next five days were another tale of prison bureaucracy at its best. The Associate Warden (Programs), Mr. Myles, stated that my transfer was the result of "population pressures", a euphemism for overcrowding at USP Lewisburg and USP Leavenworth. My transfer request to USP Terre Haute was denied in November 1992 due to "population pressures". The Associate Warden (Custody), Mr. Cowan, who was then Acting Warden, informed me that all transfers originate with the Philadelphia Regional Office. The acting Unit Manager, Mr. Wagner, also parroted this response. These tales were contradicted by calls made by my legal counsellors, family, and supporters. The Philadelphia Regional Office stated that my transfer originated at USP Lewisburg and USP Lewisburg stated it originated from the Regional Office. Despite a five day letter and telephone campaign, I was transferred on August 16. I reported to R&D and the customary procedure is a humiliating strip search, undersized or oversized new clothing is issued, bellychained, blackboxed (high security limits inmate's movements), and leg irons for a journey through the BOP's merry- go-round. Myself and 24 other convicts boarded a bus with a nauseating odour of disinfectant which also contributed to the uncomfortableness of the ambulatory restraints as we drove to Harrisburg International Airport. The routine at the airport is a further war of nerves when forced to wait long hours near cargo buildings until the BOP 727 jetliner taxis the runway. Additional white vans and passenger buses assemble with additional prisoners on the concrete strip with gun-toting BOP personnel. As we step out of the buses our leg irons and handcuffs are meticulously checked by U.S. Marshals, in addition to a pat search. As we board the airplane, the U.S. Marshals carefully seat those with blackboxes next to windows in order to further limit their movement. Once seated, you must ask the U.S. Marshal for permission to use the restroom. The ambulatory restrains are not removed while in-flight, which is contrary to aviation rules and regulations. Arriving in Will Rogers International Airport, the U.S. Marshal calls out the names of prisoners who must disembark. Once again, the handcuffs and leg irons are checked before boarding buses to Federal Correction Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma. In R&D, the same humiliating procedure performed in USP Lewisburg is repeated with the exception that during the staff interviews I was asked "if I placed bombs in federal buildings." The intent of the questions was to create a confrontation. I was then handcuffed behind my back and taken to the segregation unit for one day and two nights. On Wednesday, August 18, I was awakened at 2:00 a.m., handcufffed behind my back and taken to R&D. I was strip- searched, put in the same ambulatory restraints and forced into crowded cages where we waited for four hours until sunrise to board buses back to Will Rogers International Airport. At the airport the nerve-wracking waiting game continues until we were allowed to board the airplane for the final destination to Kansas City International Airport. Due to physical and mental exhaustion, I fell asleep dreaming of the countless years Rafael C. Miranda, Irving Flores, Oscar Collazo and Andres Figueroa Cordero served behind the fourty foot walled city of Fort Leavenworth. I also had nightmarish visions of the entrapment of my comrade Oscar L. Rivera which has cost him seven years in Marion Penitentiary and possible transfer to the new control unit in Florence, Colorado. Suddenly awakened, I saw the grand silvery dome arching some 150 feet above ground. If not for the razor sharp coils of barbed wire, fences, and guntowers one could easily have mistaken this building for the U.S. Capitol Building - the perpetuators of U.S. colonial rule in Puerto Rico. Leavenworth is known as a prison town since the Wild West days. Prisons being its predominant economic mode. The prison officials command more respect than lawyers and doctors. Once again, we are escorted to R&D, where the same etiquette is repeated. After five and a half hours, I was handcuffed behind my back and taken to the new control unit built in 1988. I was locked down twenty-three hours a day. On the fifth day, I was finally interviewed by the Captain and his henchmen. I was told that while I was incarcerated it would be behind concrete walls. I was released into general population and placed in the A&O (Admissions and Orientation) from August 23 to September 8. I was informed that I could only receive visits from my immediate family which forced the cancelation of a visit by my sister-in- law and niece. It took approximately five days for approval of the new telephone procedures in which a prison computer automatically logs twenty telephone numbers, records the entire conversation which is limited to 15 minutes and the cost of the calls are withdrawn from the inmates commissary account. During this three week period, I had five different cellmates and four room changes. I was finally given access to my property, but most of it was sent home because the institution only allows red and grey sweatsuits, T-shirts and other clothing, whereas mine where of the opposite colour. In addition, I was only allowed five paperback books. It took me twelve days to receive permission to keep my ceramics paints and tools in storage, but I must wait approximately a year or more before entering the ceramics workshop. It was rumoured that USP Lewisburg was the end of the line (before Marion) within the BOP but since arriving at USP Leavenworth reality has proven otherwise. There are virtually no educational and vocational training programs. The recreation yard's weightlifting area is filled with old and decrepit equipment. There are no Spanish speaking movies, videos, or reading materials. USP Lewisburg provided some of these programs. Since my arrival, the tales of transfer continue. I have been given three contradictory responses: one - I requested the transfer to be closer to home; two - it was an adjustment transfer; and finally, that it was to relieve overcrowding at USP Lewisburg. I was informally told that my transfer was an executive decision by the USP Lewisburg administration, and finally the truth, which was that my transfer was the result of a confrontation between two Mexican groups in July 1993 which led to 1 dead and 6 injured. The USP Leavenworth administration transferred twenty inmates to USP Lewisburg, and USP Lewisburg sent the same amount to USP Leavenworth. A mere exchange of prisoners does not alleviate the problem of overcrowding. Besides the falsehoods of the Leavenworth staff, I have been denied the right to live in a single cell which I had at USP Lewisburg. I am also forced to carry an orange identification card and turn it in to staff everywhere I go such as hospital, education, recreation, etc. This card is to monitor my activities during the course of the day. On September 29, I was told by the Unit Team that my transfer request could not be submitted until March 1994 because staff must review if my adjustment is positive in spite of ten and a half years of exemplary conduct. I was also separated from my comrades Alberto Rodriguez, Ricardo Jimenez, Tim Blunk, Jihad Mumit, as well as family and supporters on the East Coast. The patriotic songs sung by the Philadelphia National Committee Chapter as well as their hugs and kisses on the day before by departure will be etched in my mind forever. The only positive aspect of my transfer has been the welcome and experiences I have shared with the political prisoners and prisoners of war Leonard Peltier, Sundiata Acoli, Jaan Laaman, Fawaz Younis, and Abdul Aziz. These brothers deserve our unconditional support. Instead of Leavenworth's crickets, I would prefer the war cry of my native coqui. Please send letters of support demanding my immediate transfer to USP Terre Haute to: Warden Willy Scott USP Leavenworth P.O. Box 1000 Leavenworth, Kansas, 66048 FAX: 913-682-3617 Mr. Calvin Edward Director North Central region Gateway Complex, Inc Tower II, 8th Fl. Kansas City, KS. 66101-2492 FAX: 913-551-1052 Ms. Kathleen Hawke Director Central Office 320 First Street, N.W. Washington, D.C., 20534 FAX: 202-514-6878 Towards Independence and Socialism! 4) Unity: A Necessity Not A Luxury by Edwin Cortes The campaign for the excarceration of Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war has gained renewed enthusiasm and spirit. There are many reasons for this, among them being the persistence of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War; the creation of Ofensiva '92 in Puerto Rico; the initiative of Comite de Afirmacion Puertorriquena and New York City councilman Jose Rivera; the active participation of the political prisoners and prisoners of war; the Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional (MLN); the visit of U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez to Puerto Rico; and U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez' support for our release before a rally of her supporters in New York City around the time of her swearing in. The campaign's ability to reach out to the broader and divergent sectors of Puerto Rico, the United States, and international public opinion will make our release a reality. The New York City Council resolution and efforts by U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Congress are just a few examples demonstrating that favourable conditions are developing for our release with the support of a broader and divergent alignment of forces. These initiatives illustrate the need for all the patriotic forces engaged in the campaign for our excarceration to coordinate their efforts on a unified and non- sectarian basis. Unity is not a luxury, but a necessity. In Puerto Rico, in spite of much adversity, Ofensiva '92 has successfully carried out this task while serving as a coordinating centre for all the work revolving around the campaign to free Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. In the United States, a similar, unitary campaign needs to be built. This would limit duplication of work and the expenditures of human and material resources. Most of all, our efforts would have much more impact on the national and international scene. The forces involved in the campaign in the United States would also work in conjunction with Ofensiva '92. The campaign in the United States must be rooted in the Puerto Rican community in order to win the hearts and minds of our people. In addition, we can take this opportunity to reach out to the Puerto Rican communities where we have not been active, such as in New Jersey, Indiana, Boston, Ohio, etc. Vigils, demonstrations, murals, radio, T.V., press, fund-raisers, conferences, resolutions by churches and politicians, etc are media to bring exposure of our case to our communities. Let us take advantage of President William Clinton's public forums to raise the issue of political prisoners and prisoners of war as well as the colonial case of Puerto Rico. Properly organized, the campaign would strive for a much more ample, open, and democratic process which also includes the Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. Initiatives are to be applauded and not condemned. Differences of opinion should be voiced, respected and encouraged. Criticism and self-criticism should be used to correct our errors, tactics, and strengthen our shortcomings, in order to advance our strategic objectives. The primary objective of the campaign and the basis for unity is the immediate freedom of all Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war. No one organization has a monopoly over the political prisoners and prisoners of war or the campaign. Likewise, no organization can rightfully impose its political criteria on other organizations and/or use such positions as a hindrance for working towards the excarceration of imprisoned advocates of Puerto Rican independence. Organizational autonomy must be respected. In order to broaden the campaign and embrace persons from all political and religious persuasions, much more tolerance is needed. I urge the Friends of Dylcia, Friends of Elizam, Comite Nacional, Comite de Afirmacion, Comite Independentista Puertorriqueno: Washington, DC, and any other forces to initiate a dialogue and create the conditions for unity in order to achieve the freedom of the prisoners. Full consultation and discussion with the political Prisoners and Prisoners of War can and must be part of this unitary convergence. Only with our full integration into the political process can principled unity be achieved, while ensuring that we properly become subjects and not objects of this necessary work. This is of primary importance as we observe the 13th anniversary of the arrest of the ten Puerto Rican prisoners of war. The campaign demanding their release and that of all Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war has been structured into different phases, the first of which ended with a letter from Ofensiva '92 along with thousands of letters sent to the new president and his attorney general. The purpose of this letter was to serve as an educational tool to inform these new government officials not only that the U.S. holds our prisoners in custody, but that thousands of people in the U.S. and Puerto Rico demand their release. The second phase takes place from March 1st through May 31st. Additional signatures, letters and resolutions from intellectuals, elected officials, religious and civic organizations and parliamentarians abroad will be collected. These will then accompany the campaigns' formal request for the release of the prisoners. The next phase, "Christmas without Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war", will then commence. Building on the previous phases, the campaign will seek broader domestic support from community and national leaders and international support from high profile figures. In this campaign we can all participate actively. After 13 years of incarceration it is time for our reintegration into our communities and the continued struggle for Puerto Rican independence. Become a part of the struggle to end unjust incarceration of all Puerto Rican political prisoners and prisoners of war. Write: Ofensiva '92, Apartado 20190, Rio Piedras, 00928, Puerto Rico or National Committee To Free Purto Rican P.O.W.'s, 1112 N. California, Chicago, IL, 60622 USA. (Libertad - April 1993) 5) Liberation Is Not Far Away - An Interview With European PKK Representative Kani Yilmaz Since the termination of the cease-fire the Turkish state has been pouring entire armies and masses of equipment into Kurdistan with the publicly stated intention of 'wiping out' the PKK. It seems that the war has now entered a new and far bloodier stage than anything witnessed in the past nine years. Arguably, the Turkish state and government is prepared to sacrifice what little credibility it enjoys in Europe in order to destroy Kurdish lives and property and violate human rights on a huge scale. In your opinion what effect will this have on the fighting capacity of the ERNK-ARGK and the morale of the Kurdish people? Can the Turkish armed forces sustain such an offensive at present? It is true that the Turkish state has built up large concentrations of troops, saying it will wipe us out. Large scale military operations are underway and, as you say, this will be the bloodiest stage of the war. The Turkish state will be responsible for this. We wished to prevent further bloodshed and destruction by initiating a ceasefire to open the way for a political solution. In the 84 days of the cease-fire, our guerrillas did not fire a single shot. Turkish forces claimed that we had announced a cease-fire because of weakness and responded by demanding our surrender. Anyone who knows the PKK would know that it was very disrespectful to the party to expect their guerrillas to surrender. As Turkey continued its military operations against the Kurdish civilian population, bombing in the mountains and using death squads to murder civilians, it was to expected that the PKK's response would be harsh. Since the end of the cease-fire, the war has escalated. There are bombings the length and breadth of Kurdistan and villagers are being shot out of hand to intimidate the people. The guerrillas have responded by attacking countless military posts and garrisons. The Turkish army is in a panic, its losses the past three weeks are perhaps higher than for the whole of last year. We can now see whether the PKK announced the cease- fire from a position of strength or of weakness. It is clear that an organization with the leadership, organisation, military power and international prestige of the PKK, a party with popular support involved in a legitimate struggle, can not be defeated or crushed. Ever since the cease-fire ended Turkey has been trying to conceal the massacres it is carrying out in Kurdistan. The state tradition in Turkey is one of intrigue and conspiracy. Although we have no proof, we think that recent arson attacks in Germany should be viewed with some suspicion. The death of President Ozal is also suspicious and there are questions being asked about the circumstances in which he died. Because of these massacres in Kurdistan, Turkey will lose whatever credibility it has in Europe, but like a dying man lashing out. In the end it will lose the war as well as its credibility. The PKK has started to mobilise all of the forces at the disposal of the ARGK and the ERNK and the guerrillas are waging an even stronger war against the Turkish army. Now I come to the last part of the question. Can the Turkish forces sustain such an offensive? We believe they cannot. They cannot take on the guerrillas, they can only bomb villages or shoot people on the street corners or in the village squares. We do not believe Turkey will be able to continue the war for a long period. Neither its economy nor its international reputation will allow it. At the present time it is using chauvinism in an attempt to form a national consensus in parliament to enable it to continue military operations. It is my opinion that these maniacal attacks are an expression of the end of the Turkish Republic. The Human Rights Conference in Vienna - predictably - never discussed the Kurdish question or any other national question such as Kashmir and Tamil Eelam, the Basques and Northern Ireland. Despite the differences between the pro-US and the anti- US power blocs they both shared a moral hostility to the exercise of the right to self-determination. This is the essence of the New World Order envisaged by Clinton and Major. How does the PKK view this? Can any reliance be placed in the UN's ability to resist the old morality of imperialism and its client states in its new camouflage? The new world order was, in my view, to be seen at the recent human rights conference in Vienna. In fact it is a new world disorder. Following the collapse of 'state socialism' due to a false interpretation of socialism, imperialist states have been attempting to set up a new world order to consolidate their hegemony. The collapse of the socialist system has meant imperialism having to face up to its own problems and contradictions. It can no longer blame them on the socialist bloc. The new world order is partly about resolving these problems. After the cold war ended the imperialists used various methods to perpetuate their domination. For instance, in the Middle East they have experimented with all kinds of weaponry on the people. At the same time, behind a humanitarian mask, they have intervened in Somalia, succeeding only in worsening the situation there. It is a case of the imperialists looking to gain new territories. It stems in part from the internal contradictions of imperialism. In fact the new world order is an attempt on the part of the imperialists to enslave the peoples of the world again with more sophisticated methods and to suppress their struggles for freedom. At the conference in Vienna the right of self-determination was supposedly discussed but not one representative of peoples fighting for that right was admitted to the conference to present their case. In fact the conference took care to shield colonialist states like Turkey, India and others from any adverse publicity. The conference ended by taking decisions that had already been agreed to behind the scenes. But one should ask: is it possible for the UN to resolve problems without the participation of the people concerned? It is nothing but hypocrisy to claim to solve problems on behalf of people while ignoring and repressing the will of those people. The people in question will resolve their own problems by assessing their conditions and the global situation. Eritrea is a good example of this today. As long as the United Nations refuses to consider the will of the people, as long as it remains undemocratic, it will be unable to resolve problems but will instead make matters worse and lose credibility. This has already happened, oppresses people have last confidence in the UN. As Lord Avebury says, it would be possible to establish a forum for representation of oppressed nations to be heard. You cite the example of Eritrea which fought for 31 years and it has been said that if there had been different mechanisms for representation there might not have been so much bloodshed. Of course people do not want to fight, they want their freedom. If better mechanisms were in place then it might reduce bloodshed, but we must be realistic. The countries which would set up such mechanisms would be the very countries that enslave people in the first place. Would these countries allow these mechanisms to be effective? This is the root of the problem. In reality what happens is that people organise themselves, set up fighting forces and bring their struggle to the attention of the world and get results. However, the setting up of these mechanisms could be a positive thing, opening up debate and bringing questions into the public arena. But I said before, I do not believe that this would be allowed. If ineffective mechanisms were set up this would only serve to complicate matters. The occupation of Turkish embassies and other European-wide actions by Kurds in Europe on 24 June will go down in the annals of Kurdish history as an unforgettable and remarkable event, ingenious in its conception and brilliantly executed. It has demonstrated the power and influence of the PKK within the Kurdish immigrant and exile communities and, more importantly, the potency of a developing nationalist consciousness. Kurds are no longer prepared to tolerate cultural servitude and Turkish patronage and terror. How do you see the reaction to this event Turkey? The protests of 24 June were an historic occasion which showed the strength of the PKK in Europe, the extent of support for the national liberation movement, what the Kurds are capable of and how close they are to freedom. It also showed how angry our people are at the destruction of Kurdistan by the Turkish state. It is true that the protests were well organised and it is clear that the Kurds will not remain silent about what is going on in their country. I must stress that during these protests the Kurdish people did not resort to any terrorist methods. On the contrary it has become clear that Turkish embassies and consulate in Europe have been turned into arsenals and MIT (National Intelligence Organization) headquarters. As you know, in Berne shots were fired from the embassy, killing a Kurdish demonstrator and wounding several others. I want to say to European countries that there is no need for them to be worried about the Kurdish people in their countries. If they are concerned about the plight of the Kurds, if they have any sense of historical responsibility towards them they should do something to resolve the problems of a nation numbering 30 million people who have had all their rights taken away from them. I would like to congratulate the Kurdish people in Europe for their protest actions and say that we support them fully. One of the historic achievements of the PKK was the election of members to the National Parliament in North-West Kurdistan. The election of Kurdish MPs was, I believe, part of a wider struggle to form a provisional government in Turkish occupied Kurdistan. The national elections not only helped to increase the credibility of the PKK and gave an added legitimacy to the armed struggle, but it also provided the opportunity for the PKK to declare a cease-fire without prejudice to its legitimate rights of self-determination. The cease-fire created the conditions for the drawing up of a united front agreement between the PKK, PSK and Hevgertin-PDK and others based on the call for a peaceful and democratic solution of the Kurdish question but not excluding the continuation of the armed struggle. This opened the road for the development of a national front of all political organisations in North-West Kurdistan. What is your conception of the further development of the process not only in North-West Kurdistan but in the other parts of Kurdistan as well? The history of the PKK is one of continuous renewal and development. The role of the PKK leadership in our struggle is that of an engine. It has always played a productive role and has opposed the status quo and reaction. It is the PKK's great dynamism and spirit that is responsible for its development. The elections to the National Parliament are an example of this spirit. The PKK took this step in response to the needs of the Kurdish National Liberation Struggle for its own institutions. These institutions are needed so that the national will can be expressed and also so that an army can be set up. This parliament is of very great importance to us. The PKK has never acted in the narrow interests of the organisation, it has always acted in the broad interests of the nation and has endeavoured to express the people's will. Of course the cease-fire and the agreements signed with the other organisations have added momentum to our struggle. They were an expression of the self-confidence of a growing movement. The ground has now been prepared for unity with other national forces in Kurdistan. Practical steps have been taken. This has enabled the movement to call on the ruling class in Turkey for a political solution. The process towards unity was taken a step further with a meeting of 11 organisations from North Kurdistan on 18-20 June. At this meeting, decisions were taken to begin preparations for the establishment of a national front. This national front may call a national congress in North Kurdistan and the congress may then merge with the national parliament. In this way the national will can find expression. Of course these developments frighten the enemy. They open the way for better relations with the other parts of Kurdistan and with the revolutionary democratic movement in Turkey. They provide new possibilities and are a great morale booster. The unity being established in Kurdistan will provide great support to the revolutionary movement in Turkey. From now on, the national liberation movement in Kurdistan will go from strength to strength. It will not regress. The PKK will be the main force in this struggle but other forces will also play their part. Whatever the Turkish state does, it will not be able to prevent our victory. I see the emerging national unity as the crowning achievement of the Kurdish people's historical meeting with freedom. I believe that liberation is not very far away. There is evidently a politicisation taking place in Turkey, although at a rather moderate pace. The worker's organisations are fighting back against wage cuts, unemployment, sackings and closures. The development of the European and world economic recession is bound to intensify the economic, political, social and ethnic contradictions. Do you see any basis for the development of unity between Kurdish and Turkish workers and farmers and also for the development of an international united front of solidarity? As you say there are signs of opposition in Turkey, but it is necessary to realize how anti-Kurd chauvinism influences all sections of Turkish society including opposition forces. This is why the opposition has not been able to exert very much influence. However, as the world economic crisis now begins to make itself felt in Turkey, this chauvinism will be neglected as social problems come to the fore. The deepening social problems caused by this economic crisis will further develop the existing solidarity between the Turkish and Kurdish peoples. In fact, only recently a united front was declared by the PKK and the Turkish revolutionary democratic organisations. This front will develop a programme with aims and objectives to be achieved in Turkey and Kurdistan. Up until now the Turkish people have not shown much solidarity with the national liberation struggle in north Kurdistan, due to the chauvinism that I mentioned before. I believe that this will change. This will find expression in people refusing to send their sons to do military service and in other ways. The Kurdish people in their struggle have demonstrated the best possible form of international solidarity by inflicting serious blows on the Turkish state. We accept the problems of the Turkish people as our own problems. We are prepared to share our potential with them and to develop unity. I believe the Turkish people will move rapidly towards democracy as the people of Kurdistan achieve their freedom. The German ruling class in extremely nervous about the development of the Kurdish struggle and the ominous implications it has for German investments, military aid and tourists. The German State as well as Turkey have already suffered a setback at the hands of the Serbs and its foreign policy adventure in Bosnia has become counter-productive. The indications are that Kohl's government will outlaw the PKK, impose heavy sentences on those arrested in the embassy occupations and create frictions between the Kurds and Turks in Germany with the intention of deporting Kurds to Turkey and forcing others to leave Germany. What can we do to stop it? It is well known that Germany is Turkey's closest ally and the state that offers it most support. In fact it is not rational or logical for the German government to see the national liberation struggle of the Kurdish people or the PKK as a threat. Germany should realise that the struggle cannot be defeated and that to persevere with the current policy will jeopardise their interests. In fact the PKK does not want any form of conflict with Germany. It is Germany which is preparing the ground for this conflict without reason. Actually, we should be asking the German government what right it has to oppose the legitimate struggle of the Kurdish people and side with the bloody Turkish regime. Ever since Kohl came to power relations with Turkey have been even closer than before. Turkey has great trust in Germany. After the recent demonstrations in Europe they have been talking about banning the PKK but the PKK does not exist in Germany. I do not think that it is in Germany's interests to act in a hostile manner towards the PKK. It is possible that they will try to create friction between the Kurds and Turks in Europe but they will not be able to succeed in this. The Kurdish and Turkish peoples have achieved a certain maturity. I repeat that we do not want conflict with Germany. We want to resolve our problems in a democratic way. We are opposed to anything that might have a negative effect on the people. We try to prevent such things but while Kurdistan is being bombed and villages destroyed, it is not possible for Kurdish people to remain silent. It would be the ultimate disrespect to expect the Kurdish people not to protest. In fact, instead of confusing people and encouraging them to oppose our legitimate demands, they should be on our side as they claim to be democratic. If they insist on cracking down on the Kurdish people and its organisations they will lose a lot and our people will resist all the more and become more determined. I want to call on the people of Germany and the rest of Europe to support the oppressed Kurdish people who want nothing more than their rights and to help expose the bloody face of the Turkish state. I have a message for the British public in general. The Kurdish people are one of the most ancient peoples in the world. All of their rights have been denied. They cannot use their language or express their national identity. This is an appalling state of affairs in this day and age. Just think, if you were unable to use your own language or express your identity, if you were unable to listen to your own music, develop your own culture or express your wishes politically, what would your reaction be? This is the situation the Kurdish people find themselves in. The Turkish state's response to the legitimate demands of the Kurdish people is to use bloody oppression. For this reason I call on you to show your solidarity with the Kurdish people by forming links with the Kurdish people's representatives, the PKK and the ERNK, and offer your support. I make this appeal to you on behalf of the Kurdish people. (Kurdistan Report #15 - July/August 1993) 6) Advertisement: Night-Vision: Illuminating War & Class On The Neo-Colonial Terrain The transformation to a neo-colonial world has only begun, but it promises to be as dramatic, as disorienting a change as was the original european conquest of the human race. Capitalism is again ripping apart & reconstructing the world, and nothing will be the same. Not race, not nation, not gender, and certainly not whatever culture you used to have. Now you have outcast groups as diverse as the Aryan Nation and the Queer Nation and the Hip Hop Nation publicly rejecting the right of the u.s. government to rule them... All the building blocks of human culture - race, gender, nation, and especially class - are being transformed under great pressure to embody the spirit of this neo-colonial age. from Preface to Night-Vision This important new book is available from Vagabond Press or from Co-operative Distribution Service, Room 1409-93, 5 North Wabash, Chicago, IL, 60602 USA for $14.95 (postage included). Please inquire about bulk discounts. Single copies are also available from the Canadian Arm The Spirit address. 7) Repression And Resistance In North-West Kurdistan Turkish State Terror: Kurdish M.P. Murdered (Kurdish News Agency, 93/09/05 - Batman) A member of the Democracy Party in Turkey, Mehmet Sincar was killed September 4, 1993, at about 6 p.m. in Batman. Mr. Sincar was in the city offering his condolences for another member of the party killed earlier the week. Also injured was Nizamettin Toguc, another deputy of the same party. Mr. Toguc was hit in the shoulder and taken to the hospital. Metin Ozdemir, a local member of the party, lost his life at the scene of the deadly attack as well. Prominent Kurdish woman deputy, Leyla Zana, was targeted but escaped uninjured. The Democracy Party is a legal party in the Turkish National Assembly dedicated to advocating the rights of the Kurds though parliamentary elections and the democratic process. We received a press release from the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) which blames the Turkish state forces. It notes: "This clearly is the work of the Turkish police. The order, we believe, came from the highest authority in the land, the President of Turkey, Mr. Demirel. At the opening session of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, he accused the members of the Democracy Party of being supporters of the Kurdish cause and 'killers' of the Turkish Security Forces in the south-east. We hold President Demirel, Prime Minister Ciller and the governor of the Kurdish provinces Unal Erkan responsible for the killing of Mr. Sincar who, like other Kurdish deputies, always dared the Turkish politicians to practise real democracy. Instead, the Kurdish deputies more often received threats which this time culminated in the deaths of several Kurds. "In the near future, the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mrs. Ciller is scheduled to visit several Western capitals. We call on the democratically elected governments to cancel their invitations to mrs. Ciller as long as her government uses violence to suppress Kurdish democratic aspirations in Turkey. Let it be clear: violence only engenders more violence. Turkey will have to either accommodate the Kurds or it will not enjoy the fruits of democracy: stability and security at home and in the region." Civil Unrest In Ankara (Kurdish News Agency, 93/09/08 - Ankara) Thousands of Turkish Kurds battled police in Ankara on September 8, 1993, to protest the death of Mehmet Sincar, a Kurdish member of parliament who was gunned down on September 4, 1993 in Batman while addressing his constituency. The Kurdish groups are said to have headed towards the headquarters of the Democracy Party, the only parliamentary group representing the rights of Kurds. The police asked the people to disperse and in the ensuing confrontation, many people were injured. The governor of Ankara urged the people and union members not to participate in the procession. But the Kurds from all over the country - from the Kurdish east as well as the Turkish west - have taken to the roads to pay their respects to their fallen representative, Mr. Sincar, and show their solidarity with the leadership of the Democracy Party. Police have prevented buses carrying thousands of protesters from places as far as Agri, Cizre, Hakkari and Adiyaman in the east, Izmir, Bursa and Istanbul and many other cities in the west - from entering the city. There were also reports that police had put Kurds gathering in the offices of the Democracy Party around the country under surveillance. In Istanbul, there were reports of thousands of Kurds being apprehended because of their dark complexion. To a lesser degree, the Kurds of Ankara have had a similar problem with the police as well. The protesters shouted slogans accusing the Turkish state forces of murdering Mehmet Sincar and warning that the Kurdish martyrs never die in vain. Murdered M.P. Buried In Secret By The Turkish State (Kurdish News Agency, 93/09/09 - Ankara) This Turkish capital city in the heart of Anatolia has been the scene of much unrest since the Democracy Party deputy, Mehmet Sincar, was gunned down in Batman on September 4, 1993. Yesterday and the day before, the Turkish state forces clashed with mourners in the city when the governor of Ankara cancelled the planned funeral ceremony for the murdered M.P. Turkish government officials secretly whisked away the body from the morgue and buried it in the deputy's birth place, Kiziltepe, Mardin. The Deputy General Secretary of the Democracy Party, Kemal Okutan, made the following statement: "Since the coalition government of the True Path party and the Social Democratic Populist Party came to power in November of 1991, over 700 Kurdish citizens, among them 54 members of our own party have been assassinated by allegedly "unidentified murderers". To this list, we now add, in sorrow, the name of our friend, Mehmet Sincar, the elected deputy of Mardin province. "I say, in sorrow, for his death bodes ill for the future of democracy in Turkey. So long as the existence of the Kurds is denied, to speak of democracy in this country is a blasphemy. In the troubled south-east, this government is in retreat and has abdicated its role to the military. "A caller to the major Turkish dailies has claimed responsibility in the "Turkish Revenge Squads". He added that their target was Mrs. Leyla Zana, another Kurdish M.P., of the Diyarbakir province. "The Turkish government officials in the city have, as usual, attributed the crime to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) operatives. Then they changed their mind and named a new culprit, the Party of God - Hizbullah. Another Democracy Party deputy, Hatip Dicle, who was with the slain leader in the city, accuses the police of complicity and claims that, the Turkish police officers who were supposed to be guarding them were off on the day of the murder. "The funeral ceremony for the fallen leader was scheduled to take place in Ankara on September 8, 1993. Because of the Turkish government's possible complicity, we refused to have the customary ceremony at the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Instead, we opted for a civil ceremony at out party headquarters. We made our arrangements to this effect and received the necessary legal approval from the office of the President, Suleyman Demirel, and the office of the Prime Minister, Tansu Ciller. On September 7, 1993, when we went to the morgue to get the body of Mr. Sincar for the religious and civil ceremony, we discovered, to our dismay, that the Governor of Ankara had decided not to allow a civil ceremony and not to release Mr. Sincar's body to us. "When the news came out, both the Kurds and the Turks flocked to the party headquarters. The police, in the meantime, had surrounded the party building and urged the mourners to disperse. When the people refused, the police attacked the crowd with knives and sticks. Eleven people were injured. Five are in critical conditions. After the brutal attack, the Ankara police took to the streets and shouted anti-Kurdish slogans. "Later in the day, we received a letter from the office of the Governor informing us that a civil ceremony involving the people would not be allowed at this time and that if we wanted to, we could only have a religious ceremony for the deputy. We refused to accept the conditions set forth by the Governor. Today, we found out that the body of Mr. Sincar was taken to Kiziltepe, Mardin, and buried, without his loved ones present, by a couple of Turkish soldiers. "We call on all democratic institutions to protest this treatment of our dead by the Turkish government officials. We especially call on the foreign Embassy officials to register their indignation with the proper authorities." National Liberation Front Releases... (Kurdish News Agency, 93/09/13 - Rome) On September 9, 1993, a representative of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), Kani Yilmaz, made a statement to the press in Vienna that he was ready to facilitate the release of the tourists who have been in the custody of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) since August 19, 1993. He noted that the tourists were held because they had entered a war zone in Kurdistan without a valid Kurdish permit. He urged tourists not to visit Turkey because their dollars are subsidizing a dirty war and their presence is tacit approval of the Turkish army's treatment of the Kurds. The problem is a moral one, he said. Conscientious people would take a position against this war. Lacking that, they would not support it with their dollars, he added. He urged non- partisan third parties to contact the Kurdish representatives abroad for the release of tourists. Since then a delegation of European parliamentarians and some members of the European press have left for north-west Kurdistan to get the tourists released. Ali Sapan, a spokesperson for the ERNK updated us on the situation from Rome: "Two Italians, two Swiss and one person from New Zealand have been in our custody since August 19, 1993,. Our intention is not and never will be to hold them against their will, but to release them through third parties after reminding them that they had violated our authority in north-west Kurdistan. "We understand that on September 11, 1993, a group of seven M.P.s and ten journalists left for the city of Van to get the tourists back. "While we welcome this initiative on their part to meet with us to get their loved ones back, we condemn the intensified Turkish aerial attacks in Serhat Province meant to derail our efforts to release the tourists to the European delegation. "We have received reports that large numbers of armoured vehicles, about 80 tanks, a number of F-16 fighter planes and about 5000 soldiers have moved to the area and that many of the area villages have been bombarded and the forests are set on fire to hamper the release of the tourists. "We condemn this premeditated Turkish attack on the civilian Kurdish population. To facilitate the release of the tourists, we urge the Western governments to demand that Turkey cease its scorched earth policy in north-west Kurdistan." (All of the above articles have been taken from Kurdish News Vol. 1, No. 3 - October 6, 1993. This newsletter is published by the Kurdistan Committee of Canada.) ARGK Guerrillas Kill Turkish General Guerrilla units of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) killed a high-ranking Turkish brigadier general in the province of Diyarbakir on October 23, 1993. Bahtiyar Aydin was the highest-ranking military official to be killed by guerrillas so far in the 9-year Kurdish national liberation struggle which is being waged by the PKK. Another 24 Turkish soldiers and officers were killed in a separate PKK raid on an outpost in Derince village in the Siirt province on October 22/1993. 8) The Treason Of Klaus Steinmetz - Letter From RAF Prisoner Birgit Hogefeld The reality is by now widely known: Klaus Steinmetz is a police informant, and he brought the secret service on our track, thus making the action of killer-troops in Bad Kleinen possible. Without his services as an informant, Wolfgang would still be alive today, and we would still be free. Along with the decision of the RAF, the prisoners, and sectors of the revolutionary resistance movement at the end of the 1980s to make political openings to all progressive elements in the society came a danger which we were all well aware of. I can remember several discussions in all sorts of groups, during which we talked about the fact that building up a newer and broader movement to fight for changes in the inhumane living conditions, both here and across the globe, would, at the same time, offer new possibilities for the insertion of informants and other spies, and, of course, you can't, on the one hand, say that you want to be open to various people and groups in order to look and see how we together can build a "counter-power from below", and then, on the other hand, treat people whom you are meeting for the first time with mistrust. Nevertheless, the end result of these discussions was always the same, namely that it should be possible, through the closeness, intensity, and exactness of a relationship among those who find themselves in this struggle, to get to know other people, despite all of their complexities and contradictions, and to thereby get some understanding of whether they can be afforded absolute trust. But over these last few weeks, despite the bitter experience of Klaus Steinmetz, who caused Wolfgang's murder and my arrest, I still believe that trust between people is possible: It exists everywhere where people desire a common life. What went wrong with our ties to Klaus Steinmetz while we were in illegality? Where do the uncertainties and mistakes lie which led to such a poor estimation of him? The feeling was, after the contact with Klaus Steinmetz had taken place, that comrades (to whom I still feel close ties to today) would "put their hands in the fire" for him, and they felt sure that he could be trusted. I, of course, have several questions which I would like to ask these comrades, but most of them are rather self-evident. I met with Klaus Steinmetz on Thursday (June 24) in Bad Kleinen, afterwards we travelled together to Wismar to find some place to spend the night. The media reported that I had often spoken to Klaus Steinmetz on the telephone on the days prior to this, and even called him at home, in order to talk about Weiterstadt - that is complete nonsense. We had met with Klaus Steinmetz in April and had arranged the meeting in Bad Kleinen at that time. On Thursday, the mood between us was rather tense from the start. Klaus Steinmetz was apparently in the ex-DDR for the first time, and he kept objecting to everything. He measured everything according to West German standards, and even the luggage carriers at the train station were too careless for his liking. He was rather arrogant to most of the people we dealt with. I asked him why he was being like that, glaring at everything in the way that he was, and why he wasn't at all interested in what was going on here or what the people were like. He then, of course, said that everything did interest him. I then began telling him how, for example, in 1990/91, I had wandered around pretty much aimlessly with another person through the ex-DDR, because at that time it was still quite possible to have a conversation with various types of people. I found it very exciting and interesting at the time, because most people were still relatively isolated, so they talked a lot about their situation and wanted to hear about life in the West. Today, you don't come across such openness very often, usually only with rather elderly people. But my conversation with Klaus Steinmetz didn't go much further, because I stopped it when I noticed that he was generally indifferent to what I was saying and thinking. During previous meetings with him, we always were left with the feeling that he sought to avoid content discussions, and that he was happy when external situations made political conversations impossible. On Friday, I told him about our impression of him, and made mention of a common discussion we had had about the mistakes of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany - trans.) during the 1920s, during which we had taken rather opposing positions - he seemed not to remember anything. I was totally confused. That Friday, every discussion was initiated by me, and he often told me that other comrades were hindering the discussions which he felt were most important. But he had never started such a discussion with me, nor had he taken up any of my thoughts. After a day and a half, I had a very distant feeling about Klaus Steinmetz, and there was another reason for this. That Thursday, Kurdish comrades had carried out occupations in several European countries in order to call for a halt to the escalating war against their people. Klaus Steinmetz's reaction to these events was exactly those of the right-wing newspapers and the commentators on Bayern radio: pointless kamikaze actions, they are alienating all their sympathetic followers, now they will be banned and deported - I was totally furious, because his whole attitude was distant and lacked any trace of solidarity. Also, he had once again proven to me that he had absolutely no understanding of the political situation in which we all today are moving and must launch initiatives in. He had no understanding of the fact that the Kurdish comrades had few alternatives other than such occupations in order to gain broad publicity to exert political pressure against the genocide they are facing. I thought it was good and correct that they had decided upon these occupations instead of a military escalation, and they all gave a lot for this: their freedom. On Friday evening, I decided that I couldn't go on with Klaus Steinmetz in this manner, I kept starting discussions with him and continually got the feeling that they did not interest or concern him. The result of this was that we hardly spoke to each other for all of Saturday. Now, of course, I have a question for those comrades, especially those in Wiesbaden who knew him for a long time, namely whether they had had completely different experiences with Klaus Steinmetz than those I have sketched out here. I'm sure that the meeting with us in Bad Kleinen was also not a normal experience for him, for surely he knew throughout that whole time that he was serving up Wolfgang and me to a bunch of murderers, so, what was that like for him? On what did you all (the Wiesbaden Commitee - trans.) base your trust, when you wrote of him in your information sheet of July 7 that people need to be careful about making a so-called denunciation? Is his whole personal history even true? His parents' farm in Pfalz? His father's suicide? When did his service as an informant begin - did it start during his time in Kaiserslautern? Did the threat of prison time for burglary pressure him into becoming an informant - and did this lead to the change in his sentence? Or did he just want the money? I think that you all definitely need to openly assess and publicize the mistakes which led to Klaus Steinmetz, so that other police informants who are able to get themselves into the movement - and I assume there are more - can never again cause such painful experiences. After that Sunday in Bad Kleinen, when the thought first came to me that Klaus Steinmetz had betrayed us, I could think of nothing about him which might rule out treason - that, of course, is different for other people that I know, and especially for those that I know better. Against the notion that Klaus Steinmetz had betrayed us, the first thing I reflected on was that there seemed to me to be no reason why the police, from a tactical point of view, would have chosen that time and place to make their move - but I must have overestimated them. It must have been that the BKA, the BAW, etc. (state security agencies - trans.) had noticed with great disappointment that I came to Thursday's meeting alone, something not at all the norm. So I guess that Klaus Steinmetz informed them on Thursday or Friday that Wolfgang would be coming on Sunday; if my arrest had been planned for an earlier time (Friday or Saturday), then they must have pushed back the date because of this. The series of events on Sunday before Wolfgang's murder and my arrest was as follows: The three of us were in the bar at the train station (Wolfgang and myself and Klaus Steinmetz), and the three of us all left this bar at 3:15pm and walked beside one another and went down the steps into the underpass tunnel. I was on the left; I can't remember who was in the middle and who was on the right. When we came into the underpass tunnel and turned to the right, the cops jumped on me right away - I have said this before. Klaus Steinmetz was also "arrested" at about the same time (just seconds later) a few meters further on. He was lying in the same position I was, flat on the ground, behind him was guy holding a pistol, aimed at Klaus Steinmetz. I saw him, about 15 meters ahead of me, for the whole time up until a black hood was placed over my head. I think it was bold of the state security agencies to construct this lie in order to get him back into his old position as an informant. I was horrified by the reaction of the people in the Wiesbaden Committee with regards to his letter. You all must not have noticed that you were in the process of repeating the same mistakes which had allowed a police informant to betray us in the first place. How, after all that had happened, could you all have questioned whether Klaus Steinmetz was a friend and comrade or a spy and a tool of murderers, by asking him to "concretely explain how he had managed to escape from the scene"? (That's what I read in the newspaper.) And if he had been able to "explain" it all, and I hadn't told you anything to the contrary - what then? It was a big event, and the media repeated it often: "The first police informant to infiltrate the commando structure of the RAF", "Informant was involved in the Weiterstadt attack", and so on - the security apparatus knows that these are lies. By stating that Klaus Steinmetz was involved in the attack on the prison, the state, once again, was doing nothing other than preparing to criminalize comrades who live above ground. For years, communiques have been issued which have stated how the RAF is organized and which have refuted these criminalizing lies. But the BAW keeps trying. I lived in the underground for quite some time, and I can say that someone like Klaus Steinmetz, with whom I had met, could never be inserted into those living structures. There's no point in idealizing those relationships which I grew to know and lived with during that time - some relationships were very close and intense, with other comrades I did not experience such closeness and warmth - it's incredibly diverse, how I met many people in their their living conditions. But still, there are always moments when you know everything about everyone, and by that I mean the foundations of their lives, dreams, fears, and hopes. From this comes a particular unity between all those in this special living condition, namely that everyone has made the decision to protect everyone else no matter what the circumstances may be, even if you have to pay with your own life. In relation to this, there exists an unbounded, two-sided trust; you place your life into the hands of other comrades without worrying for a second, and you are sure that everything is built up securely there. It always meant a lot to me to know and feel this. Now, briefly, my own biography: Those things which really shook me years ago and affected me and influenced the path of my life were the report by a Vietnamese prisoner about torture in the Poulo Condor prison, and also the final notes of the dying Siegfried Hausner. (Siegfried was seriously wounded and taken to Stammheim, he wanted to speak to a lawyer, and they must have kept pressing him to write down the names and addresses of lawyers. He wrote these several times, each time his handwriting became more shaky - blurred - Siegfried must have died shortly thereafter.) I was glad that Wolfgang never regained consciousness after being shot in the head, that way they were not able to torment him anymore. Irmgard Moeller has been in jail for 22 years; Ali Jansen isn't being released, despite having a serious case of asthma; the new wave of trials against comrades will cement people into prisons for the rest of their lives; I myself am in total isolation. I have always seen in this state's inhumane and brutal treatment of political prisoners the particular sharpness of its general degradation and contempt directed against people here, thus I was able early on to grasp and comprehend the character of this system and its unending desire to destroy all that stands in opposition to it. The death of Holger Meins (I was 17 years old at the time) had a profound effect on my life and helped decide its direction, just like Wolfgang's death today and the circumstances of his death will play a role later in life for some young people. "With many voices, we wage the same hard and merciless struggle, one with victims, and this struggle has not ended. The destruction of Nazism and its roots is our solution. The building of a new world of peace and freedom is our goal." That's the beginning of an oath written by people in the concentration camp at Buchenwald - I have always seen my life and our struggle in light of this tradition. Birgit Hogefeld (Printed in taz, 22.7.93) 9) Berlin's Anti-Olympic Resistance With the selection of Sydney, Australia as the site for Olympic Games in the year 2000, a years-long campaign of resistance to the Olympics has come to an end in Berlin, Germany. Berlin's anti-Olympia resistance reached its peak with four bombings on September 15, just days before the IOC (International Olympic Committee) was set to make its decision. One bomb exploded outside a office of the corporation Daimler-Benz, another outside a Hertie warehouse, and two more outside branches of the Berliner Bank. The four bombings resulted in minor damage. The bank and the two corporations were big financial sponsors of Berlin's push to host Olympia 2000. A spokesperson for the left-wing Anti-Olympia Committee said that more attacks could follow. He termed material damage a "legitimate means" of preventing Berlin's selection as the site for the Olympic Games. Anti-Olympia resistance in Berlin - which mobilized two recent demonstrations of more than 10000 people and scores of guerrilla diffusa sabotage actions - focused its ideological opposition to the Olympic Games on concerns ranging from urban fears of the yuppification and gentrification of the city to the fascist-continuity of German history. Germany hosted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin under Adolf Hitler, something which was no doubt pleasing to IOC chairman Juan Anton Samarnach, himself a fascist minister in Franco's cabinet in Spain. Germany's right-wing leader, chancellor Helmut Kohl, had also been an outspoken supporter of bringing Olympia 2000 to Berlin. But it seems that the left-radical resistance paid off: Berlin won only 8 out of 90 votes during the first round of IOC voting. (NN #145) 10) Editorial Notes In our next issue we will have information on the "split" in the Red Army Fraction, coverage of the recent Kurdish actions in Europe, news from Turkey, an anti-fascist update and much more. Unfortunately, due to our financial problems, we have had to go bi-monthly for 2 issues. We hope to be back on a monthly schedule for the next issue. 11) Address And Subscription Info Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6236, Stn. A Toronto, Ont. M5W 1P7 Canada Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 1242 Burlington, VT 05402-1242 USA E-mail: ats@etext.org Subcription Rates: Subscriptions for this monthly (the hard-copy version) bulletin are $12.00 for 12 issues. Our magazine (36 pages) comes out 2-3 times a year and costs $10 for 4 issues. Please send well-concealed cash or a blank postal money order (don't put our name or address on it!). No cheques! Editor: Gabriel Dumont