Arm The Spirit Info-Bulletin #1 - June 1993 Index: 1) Kurdish Militants Attack Turkish Targets Across Europe 2) European ERNK Representatives' Statement 3) ERNK Statement 4) RAF Militant Killed By German Police 5) Smash The Heritage Front! 6) Anti-Racist Action (ARA) Press Release 7) "The Real Arsonists Are In Bonn" - Fascist Violence Continues To Increase In Germany 8) Dutch Police Attack Student Demonstration 9) News In Brief... 10) Violent Split Within Devrimci Sol 11) Statement From 'Volkshaus' Regarding The Death Of Ercan Sakar 12) A Statement From Some Berlin Autonomists 13) "A Traitor Who Has Sworn To Massacre Revolutionaries: Dursun Karatas" 14) Danish Police Open Fire On Anti-Maastricht Demonstration 15) Communique From Dutch Action Group 16) German Prison Bombed - Destroyed Before It Can Destroy 17) Red Army Fraction (RAF) Communique (Excerpt) 18) Spanish Political Prisoners Tortured 19) Something New? 20) Info About Arm The Spirit 1) Kurdish Militants Attack Turkish Targets Across Europe On June 24/93, Kurdish militants in several European countries carried out co-ordinated actions against Turkish interests including attacks on banks, travel agencies and other businesses as well as occupations and hostage-takings at consulates and embassies. In Germany alone there were actions in 16 different cities including Bremen, Berlin, Hanover, Frankfurt and Cologne. In Munich, militants seized the Turkish consulate and held hostages until they surrendered later that evening. Hostages were also taken at the consulate in Marseilles, France but they too were released when the Kurdish militants were allowed to make a statement to the media. The most tragic action took place outside the Turkish embassy in Bern, Switzerland when Turkish security police opened fire on Kurdish demonstrators, killing one and wounding 7 others. Attacks also took place in Zurich, Lyon, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London and other European cities. As a result of the numerous actions and confrontations, dozens of Kurds were arrested including 24 people in London, England who had attacked a Turkish bank. The 15 militants arrested for the Munich consulate action are facing kidnaping charges as well as the charge of "attempted coercion of the German government". They also face possible deportation to Turkey. As a result of the Kurdish actions the German government is now considering banning the PKK in Germany. This unprecedented series of actions in Europe by Kurds was a response to the intensified military operations carried out by Turkish armed forces against the Kurdish people and the refusal of the Turkish government to enter into political negotiations with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). The PKK had recently announced on June 8/93 that it was ending its ceasefire that had been in effect since March 20/93 and would once again resume armed struggle within Turkish- occupied Kurdistan. There were also hints that attacks would occur elsewhere when PKK General Secretary Abdullah Ocalan told a German magazine that "The political phase is now over. A comprehensive development is to be expected, maybe an unprecedented wave of violence. Attacks in every area, in every region." The announcement of a temporary cease-fire on March 20/93 by the PKK was done so as a sign of good faith and to show its willingness to negotiate a political solution to the war in Kurdistan between the Turkish military and guerrillas from the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK). The Turkish military ignored this cease-fire and continued to carry out armed operations, killing dozens of Kurds during and after the Newroz celebrations. Despite this the PKK announced on April 16 that the temporary cease-fire would become indefinite and once again showed its willingness to enter into political negotiations with the Turkish government. Once again the Turkish state ignored the PKK and continued to pursue its genocidal policies in Kurdistan. Faced with this unwillingness on the part of the Turkish state to negotiate, the PKK and ARGK were forced to resume military actions as well as undertake new forms of resistance such as the June 24 European actions. Since then Kurdish people have continued to demonstrate outside Turkish consulates and embassies in countries around the world. Protests have continued in Germany including a blockade of the Turkish consulate in Karlsruhe on June 25 which saw the arrest of over 100 people after the demo was attacked by a group of Turks. Two dozen Kurdish demonstrators occupied a UN building in Sydney, Australia until they were removed by police on June 28. As well there was a demonstration in Ottawa, Canada outside the Turkish embassy where Kurdish protesters clashed with riot police. At the same time the ARGK has continued to carry out attacks against the Turkish military. On July 2, Turkey's new Prime Minister, Tansu Ciller, announced that the armed forces would begin massive sweeps this summer to destroy the Kurdish insurgency. Nonentheless, the Kurdish resistance continues and they will continue to, in the words of a PKK representative, to wage "total revolutionary war". Write to us for more information about the Kurdish struggle or, for those in Canada, contact the Kurdistan Committee of Canada - Tel: 613 733 9634, Fax: 613 733 0090 or the Toronto Kurdistan Information Centre, 1635 Dupont St., Toronto, Ont., M6P 3S9 Canada. Tel: 416 762 0455. 2) European ERNK Representatives' Statement Kurdish People In Europe Appeal To Humanity The reaction of the Kurdish people in Europe to the Turkish state's bombardment and slaughter in Kurdistan is right and just and an appeal to humanity. The Kurdish people will continue to oppose the Turkish authorities' savage response to their desire for freedom and will do their utmost to draw the attention of the world to what is happening in Kurdistan. We, the ERNK section in Europe, fully support the demonstrations in Europe which are a legitimate reaction to the Turkish state terror in Kurdistan. These demonstrations have proved that Turkish embassies and consulates in Europe are nests of secret police. In Berne, Kurdish demonstrators are fired on. One, Semsettin Kurt, was killed and 5 were wounded. The people who fired from the embassy were photographed and these photos are now in the hands of the Swiss police. Photos of the killer should be given to the press and he should stand trial. Switzerland must not make the mistake of protecting murderers. Those who ignore a people's right to freedom at a time when such importance is attached to individual freedom and who remain silent towards their oppression must share responsibility for that oppression. We call on the United Nations, the Council of Europe and all other bodies to give urgent attention to the Kurdish question and listen to the Kurdish representatives. We also call on Kurdish people in Europe to continue their democratic protests without harming anyone and to draw attention to what is giong on in Kurdistan. We cannot remain silent while our country is being bombed and our people slaughtered. It is our most natural right to protest. Undoubtedly we are in favour of a political solution, not war, blood and pain. However, the Turkish state has rejected the ceasefire and proposals for a political solution put forward by the General Secretary of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan. The Turkish state wants to terrorise our people into submission but we will not give up our struggle to defend the existence of our people and to obtain our freedom. The march towards liberation in Kurdistan has begun, There is no turning back, it will continue until victory! ERNK (National Liberation Front of Kurdistan) European Section 26 June 1993 3) ERNK Statement Stop The Turkish State Terror In Kurdistan! Show Solidarity With the Resistance in Kurdistan! The Kurdish people, with the third largest population in the Middle East, has had all its national rights and freedoms taken away from it. In Turkey, particularly, the identity and cultural existance of over 20 million Kurdish people is denied. This policy has continued for decades. A dirty war is being perpetrated in our country, burning of villages, forced migration of the inhabitants, the destruction of the environment, mass arrests and death-squad killings have become a part of daily life. The Turkish state, which is responsible for this dirty war, pays absolutely no regard to the Geneva Conventions and slaughters civillians and captured guerrillas. In the last few weeks these violations have escalated. Turkey continued its attacks despite the unilateral ceasefire declared by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) in March. During the 83 days of the ceasefire nearly 250 people were killed and 44 villages burnt. This shows that Turkey intends to solve the Kurdish question through massacre, and does not want a political solution. Unfortunatly, the support of the Western powers for this policy of silence has served to further encourage Turkey. During the recent visit of German President Kohl to Turkey he labelled the Kurdish resistance movement as "terrorist". Military hardware supplied by Western countries is also being used against the Kurdish people. Therefore we appeal to public opinion in Europe, to governments and parties, to human rights organisations and the press: lobby your governments to put pressure on Turkey to stop the dirty war. - Boycott Tourism in Turkey - Send Letters of Protest to the Turkish Embassy - Stop Military Aid to Turkey We call on the Western press to write objectively on the subject of Kurdistan. ERNK (National Liberation Front of Kurdistan) 4) RAF Militant Killed By German Police On Sunday, June 27, two members of the RAF were surrounded in a railway station in the town of Bad Kleinen. Apparently, the GSG-9 ("anti-terrorist" unit) moved in on Birgit Hogefeld and Wolfgang Grams after they had left a railway restaurant and were entering the tunnel platform. Birgit was captured, but Wolfgang managed to escape up a set of stairs where there was a shoot-out in which a GSG-9 member was killed and a railway police person was injured, as was Wolfgang. According to bystanders, a police officer then went up to Wolfgang as he lay injured and shot him in the head from a distance of about 5 cm. The police are claiming Wolfgang committed suicide. Subsequently, about 50 leftists were arrested by police in Dortmund, Frankfurt, and Gelsenkirchen. Shortly after, all were released. Officially, police are saying they have arrested 9 person with suspected "terrorist" connections. Both Wolfgang and Birgit were active in RAF political prisoner solidarity campaigns in the late 70's and went underground in 1984. 5) Smash The Heritage Front! Almost daily there are reports in the media of fascist violence in Europe. We hear about attacks on refugee hostels, immigrants' homes and on anti-fascists. In Germany alone dozens of people have been killed by fascists including the most recent firebombing of a residence where 5 Turkish people were killed in the city of Solingen (see article on the next page). As Europe closes its borders to Third World refugees and immigrants a climate of xenophobia and racism continues to increase as fascism once again begins to take root. But it's not limited to Europe; we too, here in North America, are seeing a resurgence of fascism and an intensification of racism and xenophobia. Here in Toronto, fascists are once again beginning to openly organize and carry out violent attacks on people of colour, lesbians and gays, anti-racists and others. The Heritage Front (HF) is the most recent manifestation of fascist organizing in Toronto. It was formed in the late 80's by Wolfgang Droege, an ex-KKK member who has been involved in fascist activities for over 20 years in Canada. He had also spent 3 years in a U.S. prison for his role in the aborted white-supremacist invasion of the Caribbean island of Dominica. Droege built the HF out of the remnants of the Canadian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan - which had fallen apart in the early 80's due to state repression and anti- racist activity - as well as other smaller fascist/white- supremacist groupings in Toronto and southern Ontario. The other major fascist organization in Toronto is the Church of the Creator (COTC). This paramilitary racist group based in Wisconsin, USA, has it second largest chapter in Toronto. The COTC, lead by George Burdi, aka the Rev. Eric Hawthorne, advocates guerrilla warfare and provides military training to its members and other fascist groups as preparation for what it sees as a coming "racial holy war". They also provide security for the Heritage Front. In recent months fascists have escalated their violent attacks. This included the harassment in March of this year of workers and residents of Youthlink, a hostel for abused teenage women, after an HF member was kicked out for her openly racist views and intimidation of other residents. This culiminated in a firebombing attack that caused minimal damage. In May, a Black community activist was attacked by 5 fascists after a meeting. Other fascist activities have included the May 8 cross- burning and rally by white supremacists in London, Ontario on the property of long-time Nazi, Martin Weiche. As well the Heritage Front has attempted to organize chapters in other cities such as Kitchener and Ottawa. In early May it was revealed by the media that a number of white supremacists, including COTC members Eric and Elkar Fischer, had served in the Canadian military, some of whom had served with Canadian U.N. forces in Somalia. On May 17, Richard Gordon Manley, a fascist who denied links to the HF and COTC, pleaded guilty to two charges of importing prohibited weapons and 5 weapon possession charges. Manley had been arrested last December for importing parts to convert semi-automatic weapons to full automatic. Police raided his home and seized 13 guns, including several full-automatic weapons, and 2200 rounds of regular ammunition as well as hollow-point and teflon-coated bullets. Anti-Racist Action (ARA), a group of primarily young and militant anti-fascists, was formed last year in October as response to the resurgence in fascist and white supremacist activity in Toronto. Their first action took place when they confronted a Heritage Front demo outside of a courthouse. The HF were protesting against a hearing regarding the possible shutting down of their telephone hateline. ARA outnumbered the fascists who required a police escort to enter the courthouse. From there ARA quickly grew and organized a number of demonstrations and actions including a demo that shut down an HF meeting on November 13/92, a march and rally in December '92 in Toronto's lesbian and gay community to protest homophobic attacks by fascists, and a high school campaign to counter HF recruitment amongst students. It was on January 25/93 that an ARA demo to counter an HF presence at another court-date for their hateline was attacked by police. A number of anti-racists were injured and two arrested when police on horseback and wielding riot batons attacked without warning the demonstration of 500-strong. It was at this point that the criminalization of ARA began, as well as a smear campaign by the media. Previous ARA actions were always in response to fascist provocation and were therefore reactive. Nonetheless, they were successful in hindering the ability of the Heritage Front to organize publicly. As a result, fascists began to concentrate on more covert forms of terror and intimidation as has been mentioned above. In response to this, ARA decided to pursue a proactive strategy by targetting a fascist centre of operation. In their words, "we will take the fight to them". A demonstration was announced for June 11, but the location was known only to a small group of ARA organizers and kept secret for security and safety reasons. Anti-racists instead were to meet at a community centre and from their proceed to the site of the demo. In the period leading up to the demo there was a flurry of fascist activity. On May 29, the HF announced they were to hold a concert and rally in Ottawa to open a local chapter. A broad- based coalition of anti-racist groups called a demonstration to protest against the HF event. Many factions of the demonstration were reformist and when militant anti-racists clashed with police, who were protecting fascists, they decided to leave the demo. A number of anti-racists were injured when police used pepper-spray in an attempt to disperse the demo. Later that night, running street battles took place between fascists and anti-racists with 6 anti-fascists receiving injuries. On June 6 in Toronto, a Tamil was badly beaten and paralyzed by Nazi skinheads. Police arrested an HF member, Jason Robert Hoolans, and charged him with aggravated assault. Hoolans had just returned from an HF rally and concert with 2 fascist bands, RaHoWa and Aryan, when he other fascists carried out their attack. The next day, another Tamil was brutally beaten in racially motivated attack by unknown assailants. He died from his injuries on June 10. On June 9, three COTC members - Drew Maynard, Eric and Elkar Fischer - were arrested and charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement, assault and uttering death threats when police raided a COTC house early that morning. The 3 COTC members had kidnapped an HF member the previous day and accused him of stealing computer files, mailing lists and correspondence from their group. They drove him around in a van for 3 hours where he was beaten and threatened with being killed. When the HF member was released, he went a nearby hospital and then to police. On June 10, 2 Sikh students were attacked and beaten by a mob of white youths at a high school dance at Orchard Park Secondary School in Stony Creek. A demonstration was organized by ARA-Hamilton on June 16 and 3 youths - Kenneth Jukes, Donovan Paige and an unidentified young offender - have been arrested and charged with assault and weapons offences in connection with the attack. It was in this atmosphere that over 300 anti-racists gathered at a downtown community centre on June 11. Literature that had been distributed prior to the demonstration hinted that the house of Ernst Zundel, Holocaust revisionist, neo-Nazi and publisher and international distributor of fascist literature, was to be the target of the protest. This was a diversion. While dozens of fascist skinheads and HF/COTC leaders and members were waiting outside Zundel's house, anti-racists were heading to the home of Gary Schipper, a top organizer within the HF and the "voice" of their telephone hateline. Schipper's home, at 97 Bertmount Ave., is an HF operational base where he records messages for their hateline which is used as an organizing and recruiting tool. As anti-racists marched up the street to Schipper's house, they passed out leaflets to neighbourhood residents which exposed him as a fascist organizer living in their community. When demonstrators reached his house, people began to pelt it with eggs and paint bombs and then several militant activists proceeded to smash the windows and doors with rocks and clubs as well as throwing smoke bombs inside. Militants were very clear about the target and no neighbourhood residents were injured nor their houses damaged. The police, like the fascists, had expected the target of the demo to be Zundel's house and they were consequently caught short-handed with only 6 cops on hand when the attack began on Schipper's house. They decided not to intervene and no arrests were made and the demonstration ended as people left the area and safely dispersed. Later that night, 40-50 revenge-seeking fascists attacked a group of anti-racists outside a downtown club. Despite having a 2-to-1 advantage, a number of fascists were severely beaten by anti-racists in a wild street brawl while other Nazis ran away in fear. Police arriving on the scene cordoned off the area and riot cops were brought in as reinforcements. As a result a number of fascists were arrested, including HF leader Wolfgang Droege and HF member, Christopher Newhook and Peter Mitrevski who were all charged with weapons-related offences. Two anti-racists were injured and one was arrested and charged with assaulting police. While Mitrevski and Newhook were released a couple of days later on bail, Droege remained in jail for a week and on June 18 was charged with aggravated assault. He was released that day on $15,000 bail. On the same day, COTC leader George Burdi was charged with assault as a result of the attack by fascists on anti-racist demonstrators in Ottawa on May 29/93. COTC members Eric and Elkar Fischer had been released earlier that week on June 15 on $10,000 bail and the day before Drew Maynard was released on $4,800 bail. Media reaction in the aftermath of the demonstration and street-fight was predictable with the standard depiction of militant anti-racists as "vandals", "hooligans" and "thugs". The cops as well as the media portrayed ARA as being on the same level as the HF and one newspaper columnist called them "the flipside of the Heritage Front coin". It was no surprise that the media cooperated with police when they were subpoenaed for video and photographic footage of the demonstration. This was used as an important tool by police who are attempting to identify anti- racists. Consequently 4 anti-racists have been arrested since June 11 based on this evidence as well as identification by police who were at Schipper's house. One comrade was arrested on June 23 by police at a radio station following an interview with ARA members. She was charged with mischief over $1,000, disguise with intent, and counsel to commit mischief; she was released the same day. Two comrades were arrested on June 28 by undercover cops during a large anti-racist demo that had been called by a broad-based coalition of community groups in response to the recent racist attacks. They were both charged with mischief over $1,000, disguise with intent, and possession of a prohibited weapon. We at Arm The Spirit give our unconditional support and solidarity to the arrested comrades and to those who carried out the attack on Schipper's house and to all other ARA efforts to fight fascism. Never again fascism! Attack the Nazis everywhere! Open borders for all! Arm The Spirit (Toronto) 6) Anti-Racist Action Press Release To: Members of the Press, community groups and the residents of South Riverdale, Toronto: ARA action a response to violence Anti-Racist Action Responds To Rise In Violent Attacks - A Tamil man grabbed and beaten by a drunken, pumped up Nazi after a Heritage Front event - An anti-semitic attack on a man in Kitchener by Nazis - A number of people hospitalized when neo-nazis went on rampage through the streets of Ottawa after a Heritage Front recruiting event - Also recently: arson attack on residence for young women, five- on-one assault of a Black community activist Anti-Racist Action marched through the South Riverdale community on Friday, June 11 to expose, oppose and confront a violent white supremacist centre of organizing in that area. The demonstration targeted a residence where Gary Schipper writes and records the vile message of the Heritage Front Hateline. From 97 Bertmount St., Schipper preached fascist intolerance and constantly recorded openly violent, racist, anti-semitic and homophobic messages. The Hateline is also used as a promotion and recruitment tool for the Heritage Front and paramilitary organization Church of the Creator, groups that have a long record of hatemongering, violence and intimidation. Not surprisingly, most of Gary Schipper's neighbours were shocked and outraged to discover that neo-nazi organizing was going on in their backyards. Anti-Racist Action supporters who went door to door explaining our presence met with overwhelming support from area residents. Toronto's East End has long been the home of various white supremacist groups trying to gain a foothold in a working-class area and threatening the safety of many new Canadians who come to this neighbourhood, as well as Canadians of colour, Jewish, disabled, lesbian, gay and anti-racist members of this community. Anti-Racist Action joins with the South Riverdale residents in hoping that their community will soon be free of white supremacist activity, because organizing for "race war" and promoting Hitler's "final solution" is the ultimate breach of peace. We apologize to the community for any concern that may have been caused by the controlled anger that Heritage Front attacks provoked from protestors. We offer reassurances that absolutely no one was injured and no damage was caused anywhere else during the demonstration. We would rather see people and their communities defend themselves rather than cowering in fear and silence as a result of fascist intimidation. Anti-Racist Action uses the power of numbers to stand up for a vision of a diverse and healthy society where hate cannot flourish. We are a youth-oriented movement united by the need for street-level protest against Nazi attacks as well as the need for action and education to prevent recruiting of young whites into racist groups. History has shown that an effective method of protest is direct action using the power of numbers. Fascism will not disappear by wishing it away. The Riverdale community, through such protests in the 1980's, was able to stop the growth of local fascism at that time. But in the late 80's and early 90's, the fascists have regrouped and are now escalating their use of terror tactics. The current rise of fascism in other countries such as Germany has not been prevented even by strong laws against it. The police and the courts in Canada sometimes slow down white supremacist activity, but they are not the only avenue for defeating fascism - particularly when members of neo-nazi groups are employed by the military and police forces. Anti-Racist Action remains committed to taking an active stand against racist, fascist and white supremacist organizing in Toronto and in other Ontario towns and cities. We are a single group in a broad anti-racist movmement and we support all efforts and strategies to say NO TO NAZIS, whenever and wherever they appear. To contact ARA, please leave a message on our info line at (416) 263-7541 or write to: ARA, P.O. Box 664, Stn. C, Toronto, Ont., M6J 3S1 Canada. 7) "The Real Arsonists Are In Bonn!" - Fascist Violence Continues To Increase In Germany On May 29, 5 Turkish people were murdered by neo-Nazis in a firebomb attack on their home in Solingen, Germany. This attack occured only days after the German parliament voted to abolish Article 16 of the German constitution which granted asylum to those who faced political persecution in their homeland. The following is an edited compilation of articles and updates that were posted by ATS in various newsgroups on Internet - a global computer network - during the days that followed the initial fascist attack. We apologise for any inconsistencies in continuity or clarity. Solingen is a town of about 166,000 inhabitants, including some 20,000 non-German nationals, about 8,000 of whom are Turkish. The town, which is about 20km from both Cologne and Dusseldorf, and near to Wuppertal, has not been immune from right-wing violence over the last few years. In fact, the firebomb attack on May 29 which murdered five Turks was, in some ways, not unexpected. Like Wuppertal, Solingen is a stronghold for the neo-nazi NPD (National Party Germany) party. In the last elections, the NPD won 4% of the vote in Solingen. The Republikaner Partei and other far-right groups like the Bergische Front have often campaigned in the area. The autonomist/anti-fascist scene in Solingen, on the other hand, is fairly new and young, but an infoshop was established earlier this year by local autonomists. In January, a mosque was firebombed in Solingen, and the windows of foreigners' houses have been smashed over the past few months. Nazi graffiti is common in the area, and the girlfriend of the singer of the German fascist band Stoerkraft lives in Solingen, thus the city is often visited by members of the Dusseldorf nazi-scene. There have been confrontations in the past between nazis and anti-fascist punks, and one punk is still in hospital after one such attack. All of this makes the CDU (christian democrats) mayor seem insincere at best, for after the murders last weekend, he commented: "I can't understand how something like this could happen in Solingen." The neighbors of the murdered Turkish family have stated that on the night before the attack, young neo-nazis were shouting nazi slogans in a near-by playground. The neighbours called the police, but the police never came. Apparently, nazis often gathered in this playground or in the fields near the Turks' house. Once, the police did arrive when the youths were painting swastikas on the wall, but after a friendly conversation, the youths were allowed to leave. The local firemen have also come into controversy; although the fire station is only 2 minutes away from the burned-out house, fire-fighters did not arrive on the scene until nearly 30 minutes after the fire started. The attack in Solingen, which came two days after the German government caved into far-right pressure and changed the country's asylum laws to severely restrict the influx of refugees and immigrants into Germany, was not the only such attack that weekend. A refugee home in Hattingen was firebombed and 3 Ethiopian girls were injured, a refugee house in Munich was attacked, and a mainly Turkish house in Wuppertal was attacked. Other attacks were reported elsewhere in Germany. One CDU official, giving further justification to the nazi attacks, stated that they were a "response to the left-terrorist riots which took place as we changed the law." "The Real Arsonists Are In Bonn!" On the Saturday morning after the murders, a spontaneous Turkish demo was held. Later in the day, two larger demos were held, one of nationalist and Islamic Turks, and another of German citizens, autonomists, and left-radical Turkish organizations like TKP/ML (Turkish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist) and supporters of Devrimci Sol (Revolutionary Left). Roads were blocked, German government officials were shouted down, and a branch of the Deutsche Bank was attacked. In the evening, there were still 4,000 people in the streets. Fires were lit in the streets and police retreated after stones were thrown at them. In general, the police were forced to tolerate people's anger and not attack the demonstrators on account of all the international media presence in Solingen. On Sunday, another large demo was held in Solingen. There were some confrontations at this demo between left-wing Turks and fascist Turks from the Grey Wolves, but most of the right-wing and nationalist Turks broke off and formed their own peaceful march with the Islamic Turks. Throughout Sunday morning, roads, including the Autobahn, were blocked. Germans in one apartment complex threw beer bottles at the demo, and young Turks responded by attacking the building and smashing the windows. Police had to fire warning shots to chase the youths away. More violence broke out when the car of the labour department minister Bluem was attacked. In general, the Turks did not want to listen to anything any German government officials had to say, and rightly so. The demo continued all day and militant fighting broke out once more as night fell. Nearly all the stores in Solingen were attacked and many were looted; a BP petrol station was destroyed, as was another office of the Deutsche Bank. A tire shop and a mattress store were looted in order to make large fires in the streets. A bus was damaged, and a police depot was attacked. The rioting continued until about 3am. The media tried to blame "violent autonomists" for the riots, although the 5,000 people in the streets were almost all Turkish. One cop was injured and 17 people were arrested on Sunday night. On Monday morning, demos were once again held. Police presence in Solingen was now very heavy, and units of the anti-terrorist GSG-9 force were mobilized. Marches and vigils continued all day, and when night came, street fighting broke out once more. There were again some problems with the fascist Grey Wolves, but most of anger was directed against police and whatever stores and offices had been missed during the previous riots. There were also riots in Bremen and Bonn as well as demos in Berlin and Hamburg. More riots are expected in Germany this week as immigrant organizations, left-wing Turkish groups, and autonomists are all planning demos in many cities. It is also feared that the police will be heavy-handed at the demos, for although the police were forced to back-off during the initial riots in Solingen because of all the international media attention, the German media and Chancellor Kohl have now begun a smear-campaign against leftist youths (both German and Turkish), saying for example: "Hundreds of Turks, led by Autonomen, rampaged through the city-centre, setting fires and looting stores." Open borders for all! Attack the fascists wherever they are! (information for this article was supplied by autonomist comrades from Wuppertal) Violent Demonstrations Spread To More German Cities On Wednesday night, more violent demonstrations were held by Turkish protestors and German autonomists. In Hamburg, 29 police were injured after hours of street-fighting. Attacks on property caused damage of over one milion DM, and there were only 32 arrests. Grief also turned to anger once again after a memorial service for the five murdered Turks in Cologne, when about 150 Turkish youths rioted in the downtown area, smashing windows and chanting anti-fascist slogans. The youths caused 500,000 DM damage; there were 22 arrests. Disturbances were also reported in Solingen. In fact, there have been riots every night in Germany since Saturday to protest the killing of five Turks who died in a neo-nazi firebomb attack. But the German authorities still refuse to criminalize the German far-right, insisting that the attack was the work of a crazed individual and was not an act of right-wing terror. On the other hand, the German autonomous anti-fascist movement is considered "criminal" by the German authorities. In other news, the neo-nazi NPD party planned to hold its party conference in Bavaria this weekend, but police cancelled the event, stating that they were far too busy trying to contain Turkish and left-wing rioters to take time to try and protect the NPD conference. (information supplied by autonomist comrades in Wuppertal) More Neo-Nazi Attacks In Germany On Saturday June 5, a family of Turks in the town of Hattingen narrowly escaped death when they jumped out of the windows of their house which had been set on fire by neo-nazis. And in the town of Konstanz, a Turkish restaurant was destroyed by fire in what also appears to have been a right-wing terrorist attack. Despite these latest attacks, Chancellor Kohl's German government has still failed to fully lay the blame on and criminalize far-right extremist groups. In the Solingen attack, the government was initially claiming that the deed was the work of a crazed individual youth, but the arrest last week of four more neo-nazis in connection with the Solingen murders has made this claim by the German authorities look truly foolish. Of those arrested last week, one man is a 23 year-old soldier and a member of the far-right DVU (German People's Union) party. The second is a 20 year-old man who was dismissed from the army for being a member of the far-right Bergische Front organization; this man also helped found a neo-nazi martial arts club in Solingen, a club which often provides thugs to act as security guards for far-right political events. The other two men arrested were both 16 years-old, one a football hooligan and a member of the neo-nazi karate club, and the other the son of a doctor with no known connections to the local skinhead scene. In Solingen, more than 15,000 people held an anti-racist demonstration on Saturday to once again denounce the racist murder of the five Turks, and once again, clashes erupted with police which resulted in arrests and injuries to both police and demonstrators. Also at this demo, however, 16 people were injured in clashes between leftists (Turks, Kurds, and German autonomists) and members of the fascist Turkish organization the Gray Wolves. Demonstrations were held in other German cities as well, and in Frankfurt/Darmstadt, several highways were blockaded by left-wing demonstrators. (information supplied by Wuppertal autonomists) Anti-Fascists Denounce Kohl - Resistance Continues In a report issued last week by the German govenment, there have been a total of 561 attacks on foreigners, 50 on leftists, and 24 anti-semitic attacks carried out by right-wing extremists in Germany so far in 1993. Just in the past few days, at least four more Turkish houses were firebombed by right-wingers, but the German government has still taken no steps to stop this right-wing terror, and Chancellor Kohl has not even had the decency to publicly denounce the right-wing and to express his solidarity with foreigners (presumably because he feels none). On Monday, Kohl stated that he stayed away from memorial services for the five Turkish women killed in Solingen because he "didn't want to be jeered at in front of TV cameras." When Kohl visited the newly-renovated Berlin Cathedral on Sunday June 6, more than 1000 anti-fascists held an angry demo outside and tried to pelt the German leader with eggs. Even inside the church, several parishoners were arrested by police; one walked up to Kohl's face and shouted "Hypocrite!", and two others were dragged off after unfurling a banner that read "The Real Arsonists Are in Bonn", a slogan referring to the German government's decision to scrap that country's liberal asylum laws, a racist move that was a direct caving-in to pressure from neo-nazi terror groups. On Monday, four Turkish youths set fire to the offices of the CSU party (a conservative christian democratic party; part of Kohl's ruling conservative coalition) in the town of Aschaffenburg. Unfortunately, the youths were arrested. Last weekend, violent demonstrations were held in Berlin, Stuttgart, and Solingen. In the working-class neighborhood of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Turks and autonomists erected barricades and attacked police with stones and molotovs. At least 3 police were injured and 5 people were arrested. In Stuttgart, more than 85 Turks were arrested after a rampage which included an attack on a bar frequented by American soldiers. In Solingen last Saturday, street-fighting broke out after a mass-demonstration of more than 15000 people. The number of injured cops and demonstrators was an even 36. At least 31 people were arrested on charges of weapons possession (including knives and guns), and more than 350 others were detained on riot-related charges as the unrest continued until early morning. During the Solingen demo, fights broke out between leftists and members of the Turkish fascist organization the Gray Wolves. (It is interesting to note that the American media simply refers to the Gray Wolves as "extremists" and fails to mention that they are right-wingers; the Gray Wolves are fascists. This 'oversight' on the part of the media is obviously designed to equate right- and left-wing violence, which is absurd. There is no similarity whatsoever between right-wing murders of foreigners or leftists and left-wing/anti-fascist attacks against police and capitalist property.) During the Solingen demo, police formed a 'Kessel' around a group of 200 Gray Wolves and detained them on the street for several hours. Then, about 30 (see above) were arrested and will most likely be deported to Turkey. On the one hand, this doesn't seem like a bad thing, since they are fascists, but on the other hand, the motive behind this deportation is racist (they are Turks) and not political (for the police are also right-wing). Federal prosecutor Alexander von Stahl finally released more information on the Solingen murders. It seems that the two 16 year-olds spread gasoline on carpet and newspapers in the entrance of the Turks home while the two older fascists (also now in custody) stood guard. (This exact same method of breaking into the entrace hall and spreading gasoline and newspapers was used in the recent attack in Hattingen which nearly killed a Turkish family, but police still insist the attacks were not coordinated.) But despite the fact that three of the four murderers were active in far-right political organizations, van Stahl still refuses to admit that there was any organized right-wing intent behind the murders. He insists the youths were just angry and drunk. Again, despite the fact that the German autonomist anti-fascist movement is considered "criminal" by the government and hundreds of anti-fascists and Turks have been arrested during the unrest of the past week, neo-nazis are still walking the streets, still doing political organizing, still attacking foreigners... In general, the far-right seems to have made a conscious re- adjustment in its policy. Most of the recent right-wing attacks have been aimed at foreigners who are long-time residents in Germany, especially Turks, rather than refugees. This is understandable; for the past 18 months or so, the far-right carried out coordinated attacks on refugees, and the German government responded by changing Germany's asylum laws and closing off Germany's borders. In other words, the nazi terror-campaign was a complete success and the right-wing got what it wanted. Now they have turned their focus to other foreigners living in Germany with the aim of having Germany change its laws regarding foreigners living in Germany. Given Kohl's recent conduct, he may be sympathetic to this aim himself. (information taken from autonomist and capitalist media sources) 8) Dutch Police Attack Student Demonstration On May 8, more than 20,000 Dutch students held a demonstration in The Hague to protest measures by the conservative Dutch government to drastically cut-back financial aid awards to students. Holland has traditionally had one of Europe's most 'generous' welfare-state systems, and the extreme cuts being pushed through by Holland's Christian Democrats would have a tremendous affect on the material status of Dutch students and youths. When the protest march neared the Dutch parliament building, Dutch riot police attacked, blasting the marchers with water cannons and attacking protestors with clubs and police dogs. Groups of autonomists responded with paint-filled balloons and rocks. Although the police claimed they were only out to get the 'violent elements' in the crowd, the reality was that even non-violent youths were attacked by the cops. Police in jeeps and on horseback chased youths across the nearby Malieveld park. In all, 251 youths were injured, and 35 had to be hospitalized. A total of 53 people were arrested and charged with various riot-related offences. Many student organization leaders, who themselves were beaten by police, have filed brutality complaints against the police, and Paul Rosenmoeller, a student leader and Green-Left member of parliament, brought up the matter in the Lower House of the Dutch parliament. Holland, which once had a very active and militant student-left in the late-70s and early-80s, has not seen such violence at a mass-demonstration for quite some time. But with the approach of European unity and the scaling-back of Europe's social systems by conservative governments, maybe things will start heating up once more. (compiled from reports in the Dutch capitalist media) 9) News In Brief... For the third time in a year, the Swiss company Bio-engineering AG has been attacked. In the latest bombing attack this February, an explosion at a plant in the village of Wald caused over $300,000 damage. Bio-engineering AG provides products and services to the pharmaseutical industry. Two anonymous calls after the attack indicated a political motive. The attacks were claimed by the "Group of Iranian Martyrs Mustapha Sadeki and Ali Sadeh". (Sadeki and Sadeh were political prisoners in Iran who died after being injected with bacteriological materials provided by Switzerland.) In a telephone call, the group charged that Bio-engineering AG provided assistance to Iran for developing biological weapons. The group also charged that the German firm Bayer directed the sales to Iran. According to police, the group affixed explosive devices to several bio-reactors in the AG facility. (NN #134)... On March 27, a group of neo-nazis attacked Freedom Press, London's oldest anarchist bookstore. Shortly after the store had opened, five men in helmets ran in armed with clubs, one of which had nails attached. Two of the men waited downstairs as the others attacked the upstairs office of Freedom Press. They smashed everything they could, including a computer, a Xerox machine, and the telephones. A customer and the store's staff were assaulted, but no one was injured. In total, nearly $10,000 in damage was caused. When finished with their attack, the neo-nazis spray painted "C 18" on the wall, representing the name Combat 18. (The 1 and 8 stand for the first and eighth letters of the alphabet, A and H, the initials of Adolf Hitler.) Combat 18 is a British para-military fascist organization based in London with approximately 100 members. Combat 18 has been responsible for fire-bombings and other attacks in the past, and the group has strong ties to the far-right in the USA as well as with Ulster Loyalists in Northern Ireland. (Compiled with information from NN #135)... On Wednesday, April 7, three members (two men and one woman) of the Spanish organization GRAPO (First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Group) were killed by the premature detonation of an explosive device. The three comrades killed were: Santa Maria del Pino; 35 year-old student from Madrid; Pedro Luis Cuadrado de la Brat; 40 year-old teacher from Cadiz, a GRAPO militant for 20 years; Valentin Benito Inigo; 31 year-old student from Barracaldo. The exact circumstances of their deaths is unclear; other GRAPO militants survived and escaped. (Infoladen OMEGA)... During an attack by the Turkish military in early February near the town of Tunceli in the mountains of Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, Barbara Kistler, a 37-year-old Swiss woman, was shot and killed. Back in 1991, Barbara had been captured by Turkish security forces, jailed for supporting "terrorists", and tortured. Barbara was active in the TKP/ML (Turkish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist), which also has armed fighting units. In Switzerland, Barbara had been active in the Committee Against Isolation Detention, and she frequently visited Rolf-Clemens Wagner in prison. The news of her death in Kurdistan was reported by the TKP/ML. (Rote Hilfe 2/93)... Stephan Waldberg, a journalist for the autonomist radio station Radio Dreyeckland in Freiburg, Germany, was recently sentenced by a Turkish military court to 3 years and 9 months in prison. Stephen was charged with "acting as a courier for the PKK and distributing PKK propaganda". The PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, is currently waging a national-liberation struggle in the region of Kurdistan presently occupied by Turkey. Stephan was arrested on October 23, 1992 while crossing the Iraqi/Turkish border. His sentencing is further proof that Turkey's far-right, military-backed regime has no plans of halting its genocidal war against the Kurdish peoples who are struggling for their liberation... On Monday, March 8, the trial against two Hamburg autonomists, Ralf and Knud, finally ended. The two had been charged with attempted murder more than 18 months prior for allegedly placing large roof tiles on a train rail in an attempt to derail a passenger trail. These charges, of course, were ridiculous, as the two had no political or personal motive whatsoever for such a stupid action. The real motive for their arrest was the fact that the two were very active in Hamburg's left-radical autonomist scene, particularly around the squatted Rote Flora complex, and their several months of preventive detention and the ensuing trial was just an attempt by the state to repress the Hamburg scene. In court, the two were finally acquitted. The prosecution's entire case was based on contradictory testimony from plain-clothes officers who allegedly witnessed Ralf and Knud placing the tiles on the rails. The judge ordered the state to pay much of Ralf and Knud's court and legal fees. The acquittal of Ralf and Knud was helped a great deal by the intensive solidarity work which was carried out on their behalf. During their months of preventive detention, a strong soldarity campaign was organized which first secured their release from preventive detention, then a reduction in the charges, and finally a total dismissal. The solidarity group raised money for Ralf and Knud's legal fees and also effectively countered the state's construct of lies and propaganda. (Rote Hilfe 2/93)... Brazilian police plan to reopen the kidnapping case that resulted in ten persons including two Canadians, Christine Lamont and David Spencer, receiving long jail terms in 1990. The two, who rented the home in Sao Paulo where kidnapped Brazilian businessman Abilio Diniz was held, have maintained that they knew nothing about the actions of the other people living in the house. However, the discovery of an arms and explosives cache in Nicaragua, in which three passports belonging to Lamont and Spencer were found, has led the police to try and link the two to what the Brazilian government has described as an "international kidnapping ring led by Basque separatists in alliance with leftists from Chile, Argentina and El Salvador."... On July 1, RARA (Revolutionary Anti-Racist Action), a Dutch urban guerrilla organization, carried out a bomb attack against the Ministry of Social Affairs. There were no injuries. The cops and the fire department both received telephoned warnings, but failed to locate the bomb. Dutch radio reported that RARA had claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it wanted to underline its fight against racism. Hopefully we will have the communique in our next issue... On June 21/93, ETA, the Basque nationalist guerrilla organization, detonated two massive car bombs in Madrid during the height of morning rush-hour traffic. The first attack, which was carried out against a miltary van, resulted in the deaths of 5 senior military officers as well as a soldier and the civilian driver of the vehicle. The second bomb exploded an hour later in a busy shopping district near the U.S. embassy. Both explosions injured numerous civilians as well as causing heavy damage to nearby buildings. ETA had suffered a severe setback last year when its top leadership was captured, but with this most recent attack it has shown that it is still capable of carrying out deadly attacks against Spanish security forces. At the same time, they also continue to conduct their military activities with very little regard to the safety of civilians and non-combatants, as was shown by the high number of bystanders, including children, who were injured by the explosions... 10) Violent Split Within Devrimci Sol A debate on the internal structure of the armed group Devrimci Sol (Revolutionary Left), the largest and most active left-wing revolutionary organization in Turkey, has led to left-on-left violence within the last few weeks. One internal discussion paper criticized the conduct of Dev Sol's general-secretary, Dursun Karatas. Based on the fact that more than 50 Dev Sol fighters have been killed over the past two years in police raids on houses, the authors of the critique have called for base-democratic structures to be established within Devrimci Sol. The group also criticized Karatas' bad security procedures, for example using a FAX and a car-phone to send messages from Germany to fighting units in Turkey. In one case, an intercepted message was used by the Turkish security forces to eliminate an entire Dev Sol unit in the town of Dersim. The death of the these 11 fighters was a great set-back for Devrimci Sol, for this group was engaged in building up a rural guerrilla unit (Devrimci Sol presently has it major bases of support in urban areas). The debate which has been launched by the "base-democratic" fraction (who are referred to as "putschists" by the Karatas-fraction) has led to armed confrontations between the two sides of the split within Devrimci Sol. Three militants of the base-democratic fraction have died in these confrontations. One spokesman for the base-democratic fraction, who had negotiated with Karatas in Germany, was killed by a Turkish anti-terrorist unit on his return to Turkey. And on May 1st in Berlin, the Turkish community center 'Volkshaus' was taken-over by members of the Karatas-fraction. When members of the base-democratic fraction returned to Berlin from a May Day rally in Koeln, a confrontation broke out and 25 year-old Ercan Sakar was shot and killed. Armed confrontations between the two sides of the Devrimci Sol split have also been reported in The Netherlands and Switzerland. (TATblatt - May 20/93) 11) Statement From 'Volkhaus' Regarding The Death Of Ercan Sakar Our friend Ercan Sakar, 25 years-old, who spent his childhood in Berlin, was shot and killed on May 1, 1993 at around 8:30pm by followers of the bandit D. Karatas. Ercan was a member of our association 'Volkshaus Berlin'. Like other members of our association, Ercan participated in the 1.May demonstration in Kln. When the group returned to Berlin, they found the office occupied by approximately 25 followers of D. Karatas from various West German cities and Berlin. They had forcibly occupied the office at around 3:00pm and broke a massive steel door in the process. The returning group noticed that followers of D. Karatas had occupied the office and blocked the exits. Without warning, they opened fire on our friends who were unarmed. At least five of the attackers had pistols, and they had clearly planned a blood-bath. When the bandits recognized our friend Ercan, they called out his name and opened fire on him. A bullet struck him fatally in the chest; an emergency operation in the hospital was useless. Our friends, who brought him mortally wounded to the hospital, were shocked by the senseless murder of Ercan. If the plain-clothes police had had their way, Ercan would have bled to death on the spot. The question has to be asked as to why the police let the killers get away, although they were not prevented from storming the office. It seems that the police consciously waited for the attack to take place, so as to allow a confrontation to occur and for our friends to be criminalized. It is unreasonable that the police closed our cultural center based on the fact that the killers had hid themselves there. The violent take-over of our space has led to the criminalization of our work. The balance of this action is as follows: the attackers got away, and our office is closed. In public, this is made to sound like a gang-war: slander and assassination. The murder of our association's member Ercan was a planned provocation which achieved its immediate goal, but democratic public opinion must now condemn the methods of D. Karatas and call for our office to be re-opened. We strongly condemn the political murder of a member of our association, and we condemn such escalation by so-called "leftists". Thus far, three comrades have been killed by this form of politics (two friends in Istanbul were murdered on April 23, 1993) within one week, but these attacks won't keep us from our struggle for human rights and democracy, and they won't frighten us! We call on the democratic public opinion and others to actively oppose this form of political confrontation and to join our powerful demonstration in a few days, to show our last respects to our association's member, Ercan Sakar. Berlin, Volkshaus e.V. 12) A Statement From Some Berlin Autonomists A demonstration to mourn the murder of Ercan Sakar was held in Berlin later that week. Approximately 40 German autonomists took part with a banner reading: "No More Critiques With Weapons!" Below is a statement issued by some German autonomists regarding Ercan's murder: We mourn for our friend and comrade Ercan Sakar, member of the Turkish revolutionary organization Dev Sol, who was murdered on 1.May 1993 in Berlin. Some members of Dev Sol think that difficult internal problems within their organization can be solved by aiming weapons at one another, instead of using them against the Turkish military, which is carrying out massacres in Istanbul, Ankara, and Kurdistan against the Turkish and Kurdish peoples. We are convinced that political contradictions within the revolutionary left, regardless of in what country or what organization, cannot be solved with weapons, and that such an approach will have catastrophic consequences for the political organization itself, and for all those struggling for liberation from exploitation and oppression. We call on the German and foreign left to make it clear that the armed confrontations within Dev Sol must be ended immediately. No statements to police or the justice department! some autonomists 13) "A Traitor Who Has Sworn To Massacre Revolutionaries: Dursun Karatas" To the revolutionary and democratic public: New information has come to light regarding Dursun Karatas and his associates and their break with our organization, Devrimci Sol: Dursun Karatas has become a murderer of revolutionaries! A group of traitors - following an execution order issued by Dursun Karatas - stormed a house in Istanbul-Gaziosmanpasa on April 23 at 1:00am and murdered our comrades Ercan Temelli and Muammer Aydin. This incredible deed was a planned massacre and was carried out on the orders of traitor Dursun Karatas. After our comrades Ercan Temelli and Muammer Aydin were killed, the newspaper Hurriyet was contacted and responsibility for the murders was claimed by the "leadership". The massacre was apparently carried out by militants from Gazi, and it was also stated that other actions of this sort would be carried out. It is no surprise that the traitor Dursun Karatas, the man responsible for our almost daily setbacks, has turned to such tactics. The timing of these murders coincides with the increasingly more widespread and destructive setbacks of recent times. On April 22, 1993, twelve fighters under Dursun Karatas' control in Germiskezek-Akcapinar were murdered after a police station had been attacked on April 18. This new position of Dursun Karatas is treason; he has become a counter-revolutionary! This will, of course, have a price. Since the determined behaviour of our movement is the decisive reason that the traitor Dursun Karatas is being forced to give an explanation of his break, it is the duty of other democratic and revolutionary organizations to expose and isolate this fraction. In the interest of the People and the Revolution, we call on all democratic/revolutionary persons and organizations to publicly denounce this massacre and to isolate this fraction and to exclude them from the ranks of leftists and to force them to give an explanation. Devrimci Sol European representatives April 24, 1993 14) Danish Police Open Fire On Anti-Maastricht Demonstration On May 18, after a nation-wide referendum in Denmark narrowly approved that country's ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, despite the defeat of a similar referendum last year, various left-wing and autonomist organizations held a protest demonstration to voice opposition to European unity. Serious riots broke out in the capital city of Copenhagen. During these riots, the Danish police showed its fascistic face when officers fired more than one hundred rounds of live ammunition into crowds of protestors. The scene resembled something from the Occupied Territories, where Israeli soldiers routinely fire live rounds into crowds of Palestinians; it was not a scene typically witnessed in Western Europe. When the shooting stopped, 11 people had been seriously wounded. One man's lower jaw was shot off, two people were shot in the stomach, and one person was hit in the arms and legs. Police claimed they fired in panic and were under orders to do so, although some of the demonstrators that were shot were more than 40 meters away from police lines. The police that had allegedly been attacked and seriously wounded during the riots were released from hospital the next day with bloody noses and injured fingers. The demonstrators they shot, however, were arrested and denied contact with family and friends while in hospital. The injured leftists were arrested as they lay bleeding on the street, before they had even been given proper medical attention. The arrested demonstrators were all charged with participating in organized violence. In various European cities, solidarity actions were carried out to protest the shootings. In Amsterdam, the windows of the Danish consulate were smashed, as were the windows of a European Community public relations office and a Danish-owned bank. In the city of Groningen, the Danish consulate was also attacked, as was a Danish travel agency's office. Here again, all the windows were smashed and anti-EEC slogans were left behind in press statements. To protest the Copenhagen shootings, as well as to continue the resistance to the consolidation of European capitalist interests in the form of a United Europe, a demonstration is being planned in Copenhagen during the EEC Conference in that city from June 21-22. (from NN #137) 15) Communique From Dutch Action Group This is a communique from an action group which smashed the windows of the Danish Consulate in Amsterdam. They also spoiled the inside of the building with paintbombs. On the same night, another group attacked the EC-infoshop in Amsterdam. Here also the windows were smashed and the place was set on fire. Communique Last night, May 19, we attacked the Danish consulate. Yesterday, the Danish people went to the ballot-box for the second time to vote on the Maastricht treaty. In the Netherlands we already see the consequences of the Maastricht treaty, the Schengen treaty and other European agreements (the TREVI treaty - ed.) every day: refugees are locked up, ill-treated and neglected (until death). A drugs policy is conducted which produces more junkies and drug crime then ever before. There are more un- controlled computer systems with information about people from the EC than ever. Every law concerning social security is seen as a fraud (by those who profit from it - ed.), culminating in the parliamentary debate concerning the WAO (law concerning people unable to work because of physical or psychological illness -ed.) This is a preparation for the "logical" abolition of the social safety net (the results which can already be seen in countries such as the USA and England). The police - and civilian control by police, - CRI (Central Criminal Intelligence), PID (Police Inteligence Service), Civil guards, Shopping and swim centre guards, parking police, police assistants, military-police assistants, etc. etc. is almost complete. Political answers to social protests are unprecedentedly hard (the Hague on May 8, Copenhagen yesterday). There are more facts like this. A "close" 50.7% of the Danish people measured these consequences very well, the first time they had the chance to blow the Maastricht treaty. After a massive propaganda campaign and lots of threats towards their people, the Danish government got its necessary 5% switch from the Danish people and Europe can now march into Denmark. This is not because of the needs of its own population or out of (inter)national solidarity with socially weaker people (refugees, people without income, the sick, people without jobs). This step is only of interest for the consolidation of the positions of the social elite and the european industrial circles. As a final blow 11 opponents of the stepping into the European Community were shot by the police, last night. To demonstrate against this direct repression, but also against the general repression which hits the biggest part of the people in Europe, we came into action. At this moment we are not able to get our demands pushed through, so we will not state them. But we know that with these social developments this will not take very long anymore. When the european political and economical elite kicks the butts of the European people, the social reaction will hit them, and only them. 16) German Prison Bombed - Destroyed Before It Can Destroy Many people had good reason to celebate on the last weekend in March. Early on Saturday March 27, a series of explosions destroyed most of a newly completed high-tech prison that was to be put to ab/use in May 1993. The prison in Weiderstadt, close to Frankfurt, took eight years to build and cost 250 million Marks (155 million American dollars). It was to hold 500 prisoners and was to be a multi-use prison, including units for deportees, a high-security prison for women, and for prisoners awaiting trial. The German state has made much ado about Weiterstadt's "humane conditions" - a model for a new corrections policy. The latter is true, Weiterstadt would have embodied the latest in high-tech incarceration. In Weiterstadt the prisoners were to be placed in so-called "living groups" of 10 to 20 prisoners, in single cells with a common room and a small kitchen. The cells were to be monitored with video cameras and microphone/speakers. The "living groups" were to be put together by social workers, psychotherapists, etc, and were to operate by a system of "punishment-reward". The prisoner, on his or her arrival, would be assessesd according to his or her will to resist or adapt. Depending on the evaluation by the psychologist, the prisoner would be sent to a "living-group"; which vary from totally conforming to "non-adaption". Far from being "collective", these "living-groups" would instill competiton between the prisoners which would undermine solidarity among the prisoners. By a "work-therapy" (i.e. forced labour) and other psychological measures, the prisoners would come to see themselves as criminals or as insane. But by adopting the "social values" of the therapists and other prison workers - the values of the prison system, the state and their corporate bosses - they would rise in the hierarchy among the prisoners, i.e. gain privileges and benefits that they could be lost if they did not behave as desired. There can be no system of rewards without a corresponding set of punishments. Total isolation in the high security wing would be the ultimate penalty. However, there is not much left of the detention center now. The explosions destroyed the administration building, much of the high-tech security system, as well as four "residential" buildings. Damage has been estimated at 100 million Marks (62 million American dollars) - sixty million Marks for reconstruction, and 40 million for the alarm system that was not on during the night of the attack. Furthermore, it is predicted that corrections planning would be set back four years as a result of the bombing. The commando Katharina Hammerschmidt of the Red Army Fraction (RAF) released a communique a few days after the action that demanded the release of the remaining RAF prisoners along with other prison-related demands. But the mass media only printed part of the communique and, interestingly enough, the media did not print one of the demands calling for the release of all HIV+ prisoners. (The communique accompanying this article is the short version that was published by the German media, we will publish the full text of the communique in issue #16 of Arm The Spirit magazine.) The commando Katharina Hammerschmidt took extreme care to avoid injuries to 11 guards who were captured at about 1:30, bound and gagged and driven to a nearby field where they were left in a van. The buildings were searched before detonation and the commando even put up warning posters on the outside walls of the prison. The commando was named for a close firend of Ulrike Meinhof who was a supporter of the RAF and who spent three years in prison before dying of a breast tumor due to medical neglect in November 1973. The RAF recently announced a decision to stop targetting representatives of the state and capital in an attempt to negotiate the release of RAF prisoners. (Though, as the communique makes clear, this is a change in tactics and not a retreat from armed struggle.) Ex-Justice Minister Kinkel had signaled a willingness to release some of the most seriously ill prisoners. Only a few, however, have come out, and others have been hit with new charges and increased sentences. The RAF's response - "They all must be released." (From Prison News Service #40, March/April 1993) 17) Red Army Fraction Communique (Excerpt) Nothing has changed about the step we took in our history, a step which we need and want, but we are involved in a process of developing a social counter-power from below, from which a new proposal for a process of revolutionary change can be developed. This, now as ever, is the highest priority for us, but still, the conditions for this must be struggled for. Last August, we wrote that we could not be held responsible for this. The Weiterstaedter Prison is exemplary of how the State is dealing with open and intensified contradictions: more and more people are faced with prison, prison, prison - and it's a deportation prison, part of the State's racist asylum policies. With its technological perfection of isolating and differentiating imprisoned persons, it is a model for the rest of Europe. Freedom For All Political Prisoners! For A Society Without Prisons! The Path To Liberation Is Travelled As A Part Of A Process Of Social Learning, Which Is Part Of A New International Struggle For Change! Fight The Racism Of The State And The Nazis! Remove The Racist Consciousness In Society In The Social Struggle Among People - Even For This We Need A Mass-Movement From Below, Which Is Oriented Towards Solidarity, Justice, And The Struggle Against Poverty, Social Isolation, And A Lack Of Perspective! We Greet All Those Struggling For Their Human Dignity In The Prisons In Preungsheim, Santa Fu, Ploetzensee, Rheinbach, Stammheim, Straubing... Solidarity With The International Prisoners' Struggle! March 27, 1993 Katharina Hammerschmidt Commando Red Army Fraction 18) Spanish Political Prisoners Tortured All too often we hear about the physical mistreatment and abuse of prisoners, political and social. The impression we are given by the mainstream media and the governments of the western industrialized countries is that such abuses only occur in places like the middle east, south america, etc., and that such things are unheard of in the western countries that call themselves "democracies". As readers of PLN know, physical abuse and mistreatment at one level or another is the norm in the U.S. The level of mistreatment and abuse of prisoners and social activists proportionally increases depending on the strength of the movements that are confronting or challenging the established political and economic order. The bigger the challenge, the harsher the methods that will be used to crush it. Spain has been a nominal "democracy" since 1975 when fascist dictator, and loyal U.S. ally, Francisco Franco, died. Spain has a large and active communist and anarchist left and labour movement. It also has several nationalities struggling for independence from the central government. The result of these struggles is that Spain has over 700 political prisoners (pp's). The majority, over 600, are affiliated with the Basque independence struggle. The next largest group, about 55 pp's, are members of the PCE(r) (Communist Party of Spain, reconstituted) and GRAPO (Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups, First of October). The remainder are anarchists, labour activists and nationalists from the other liberation struggles being wage against the Spanish central government. Like all capitalist countries, the treatment of pp's in Spain ranges from bad to barbaric. Over the years PLN has briefly reported on the struggle for better conditions in the Spanish gulag. The last several months have seen a general crackdown on leftist and nationalist activists and groups. This includes the arrest of three members of AFAPP, an organization that supports the human rights of political prisoners in Spain. The family members arrested were accused of being members of the PCE(r). The "evidence" against them consists of address books and copies of the PCE(r)'s clandestine magazine. After a shootout between Spanish police and a GRAPO commando in which some members of the commando escaped, Spanish police arrested Elvira Dieguez and Laureano Ortega. They were accused of "membership in an armed band". Dieguez had been released from prison in 1989 after serving 12 years for GRAPO activities. At her court appearance Dieguez showed obvious signs of torture and described the torture she had undergone at the hands of the Spanish police. Dieguez's statement begins: "I am a GRAPO militant and take responsibility for my militancy. I take that responsibility because I believe in the need for violent revolution as a form of struggle against the current capitalist state. But for me there exists a class struggle in our country. That is to say, a struggle between those who hold power and oppress and dictate the laws and those of us who are oppressed struggle against that oppression and those laws which only benefit and protect the oppressor. Because of that I do not ask for nor seek the enemy pity in its struggle against the men and women who make up part of the GRAPO military organization. But what I have lived through during the five days I was in custody has nothing to do with a struggle between two armies. What I have lived through is the clearest proof that we live in decomposing society." She states she was hooded with a plastic bag and blindfolded for much of her ordeal. Her clothes were forcibly ripped off her body and she was beaten. Her ordeal lasted for roughly five days and she was tortured in the city of Santander and Madrid. In Madrid, naked and in cold cells, she was beaten some more, her body wet down and she was shocked with cattleprods, the soles of her feet were beaten and she was raped with a broomstick. Throughout the experience she was being insulted and screamed at by Spanish police officials. At his court appearance Ortega described a similar experience except he was not raped. Their lawyer, Francisca Villalba, vigorously denounced the torture and called a police doctor as a witness. The doctor testified that the prisoners injuries were consistent with their testimony of being tortured. Despite the torture neither Dieguez nor Ortega made any incrimination statements and both were freed by the Spanish court that handles political cases for a lack of evidence. The judge said he would give further consideration as to what he would do about the prisoners being tortured. If past experience is any guide, nothing will be done. Torture of political dissidents in Spain, England, France, Turkey and other NATO countries is well documented. Some countries, including Spain and England, operate military and paramilitary death squads that routinely kill political dissidents. Yet again, nothing is done. The most startling thing about these events is the deafening silence from the so-called human rights community. Where are the denunciation of the Spanish government for their arrest and torture of political dissidents? Some groups like Amnesty International claim to oppose the torture of all prisoners, regardless of political views, yet when communists are being raped and tortured in "democracies" nothing is said and less is done. Whenever capitalist governments are challenged by groups and parties that question the status quo and seek meaningful political, economic and social change, they are ruthlessly crushed. The stronger the challenge the more brutal the means. That is a constant. The hypocrisy of the western governments who claim to support human rights needs to be continuously exposed for what it is. People should also be aware of the pro- imperialist nature of groups like Amnesty International who, like all liberals, will ultimately support capitalism and imperialism when push comes to shove and the people are rising up against the systems that oppress them. Paul Wright (From Prison Legal News - May 1993) 19) Something New? After 3 years of sporadic publishing, we have decided to start a new publication due to our inability to publish a magazine on a regular basis. This new info-bulletin will concentrate on news and events, something we are unable to do with the magazine because by the time it is published the information has become dated. We hope to publish this info bulletin on a monthly basis in order to be a regular and timely source of information and news. We still plan to publish our magazine, which will continue to have longer analytical pieces as well as communiques, interviews, and other articles on armed resistance, anti-fascism, national liberation struggles, political prisoners/pow's and more. We also hope to focus more the resistance to bio- gene- and reproductive technologies. Our next issue, hopefully coming out by mid-summer, will contain more on ARA, the full text of the RAF communique on Weiterstadt, an interview with a Tupamaro and one with a woman guerrilla in the NPA, info on bio-technology, more info on the Devrimci Sol split, and part two of the RAF communique from August '92. We would like to apologise to everyone who has written and not received an answer from us. We are a small, overworked group, and we are not organized as well as we would like to be. To add to these problems we have moved to another city and we are also active in other areas of political work. But don't worry, we will get to your letter sooner or later and if you ordered some literature from us, please have patience, we will get it to you eventually. Finally, we make our standard plea for money because, as always, we don't have any. Any amount will help. Arm The Spirit - June 1993 20) Info About Arm The Spirit Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ont. M5W 1P7 Canada Arm The Spirit c/o Autonome Forum P.O. Box 1242 Burlington, VT 05402-1242 USA FAX for Canadian address: 416 516 3599 E-mail for U.S. address: aforum@moose.uvm.edu Subscription Rates: Subscriptions for this monthly 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 Prisoner Subscriptions: Unfortunately we are not able to offer free subs to prisoners because of our perpetually poor financial situation. Sorry. We have a new Canadian address (we moved from Hamilton to Toronto). Please send all subscriptions, address changes and orders for literature to this address. Groups who are exchanging magazines, news bulletins, etc. with us should continue to send their publications to both Arm The Spirit addresses. New Address: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ont. M5W 1P7 Canada New FAX Number: 416 516 3599