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ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN, Number 206

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Tom Burghardt

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Jun 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM6/8/99
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|| * -- AFIB #206 -- * June 06, 1999 * -- AFIB #206 -- * ||
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* US/NATO OUT OF THE BALKANS! *

``For us it is a question of crushing fascism, wiping it out
and sweeping it away so that it can never rear its head
again in Spain. We are determined to finish with fascism
once and for all. Yes, and in spite of the government.''
-- Buenaventura Durruti, 1936.

CONTENTS: Number 206
_____

1. (PANW) PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE: Mumia Medical Alert!

2. (FAIR) FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING [US]: What
Reporters Knew About Kosovo Talks - But Didn't
Tell. Was Rambouillet Another Tonkin Gulf?

3. (ISWoR) INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH WORKERS IN RUSSIA
[UK]: Russian Antifascist Free Thanks to You,
But Not Yet Out of Danger.

4. (IHRA) INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION
[Germany]: Hunger Strike for Justice.

5. (SISIS) SETTLERS IN SUPPORT OF INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY
[Canada]: Statement of Support for Native
Peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

6. (NWROC) NATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS ORGANIZING COALITION
[US]: E-Mail Petition in Defense of Antiracists.

7. (AFN) ANTIFA NET [Belgium]: Anitfa Net - Web Resources
for Antifascists.

8. (NYT) THE NEW YORK TIMES: Top Activist for Rights in
Turkey is Imprisoned.

9. (V-P) THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT [US]: Robertson, Liberian
Leader Hope to Strike Gold in Coastal Africa.

10. (DT) DAILY TELEGRAPH [London]: Ku Klux Klan Fights
for `White Australia.'

11. (ATS) ARM THE SPIRIT [Canada]: The Commune of Kwangju.

* * *

* PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE *
The Pan-African Research and Documentation Center
211 SCB Box 47, Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202
E-mail: ac6...@wayne.edu
- Saturday, 5 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

MUMIA MEDICAL ALERT!
_________________________________________________________________

Source: http://www.mumia.org

* * *

After visiting Mumia this week, Pam Africa reported that
Mumia's health has deteriorated since her last visit.

Mumia showed Pam his grotesquely deformed ankles and shins,
which may be a sign of either diabetes, a heart problem or even
gangrene. Mumia is in need of IMMEDIATE outside medical
attention. Please call or write the following, letting them know
you are aware of the health-robbing conditions at ALL prisons.
Demand that Mumia and ALL prisoners be given access to competent
medical service providers who are NOT affiliated with the Prison
Industry.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge
225 Main Capitol Bldg.
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Tel: 717-787-2500
Fax: 717-783-4429

Martin F. Horn, Secretary
Commissioner, PA. Dept. of Corrections
Department of Corrections
2520 Lisburn Road
P.O. Box 598
Camp Hill, PA 17001-0598
Tel: 717-975-4859
Fax: 717-787-1758

World Wide Web Page:
http://www.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Corrections/overview.html
E-Mail to State of Pennsylvania: webm...@state.pa.us

SCI Greene
Superintendent Price
1030 East Roy Furman Highway
Waynesburg, PA 15370-8020
412-852-2902 Tel
412-852-2909 Fax

Pan-African News Wire articles may be freely distributed for
non-profit educational and research purposes. We request
that the original source be cited when the dispatches are
circulated. Distribution for profit is strictly prohibited
without the expressed consent of the Pan-African News Wire.

*****

* FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING *
Media Analysis, Critiques and News Reports
130 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
E-Mail: fa...@fair.org
Web: http://www.fair.org
- Wednesday, 2 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

WHAT REPORTERS KNEW ABOUT KOSOVO TALKS -- BUT DIDN'T TELL.
Was Rambouillet Another Tonkin Gulf?
_________________________________________________________________

* * *

New evidence has emerged confirming that the U.S.
deliberately set out to thwart the Rambouillet peace talks in
France in order to provide a "trigger" for NATO's bombing of
Yugoslavia.

Furthermore, correspondents from major American news
organizations reportedly knew about this plan to stymie the
Kosovo peace talks, but did not inform their readers or viewers.

FAIR's May 14 media advisory, "Forgotten Coverage of
Rambouillet Negotiations,"
http://www.fair.org/press-releases/kosovo-solution.html asked
whether the media had given the full story on Rambouillet. News
reports almost universally blamed the failure of negotiations on
Serbian intransigence. The headline over a New York Times
dispatch from Belgrade on March 24 - the first day of the bombing
- read "U.S. Negotiators Depart, Frustrated By Milosevic's Hard
Line."

But the evidence presented in "Forgotten Coverage" suggested
that it was U.S. negotiators, not the Serbs, who blocked an
agreement.

Now, in the June 14 issue of the Nation, George Kenney, a
former State Department Yugoslavia desk officer, reports:

"An unimpeachable press source who regularly travels with
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told this [writer] that,
swearing reporters to deep-background confidentiality at the
Rambouillet talks, a senior State Department official had bragged
that the United States 'deliberately set the bar higher than the
Serbs could accept.' The Serbs needed, according to the official,
a little bombing to see reason."

In other words, the plan for Kosovo autonomy drafted by
State Department officials was intentionally crafted to provoke a
rejection from Serb negotiators. In his Nation article, Kenney
compares this plan to the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

Providing further confirmation of Kenney's account, Jim
Jatras, a foreign policy aide to Senate Republicans, reported in
a May 18 speech at the Cato Institute in Washington that he had
it "on good authority" that a "senior Administration official
told media at Rambouillet, under embargo" the following:

"We intentionally set the bar too high for the Serbs to comply.
They need some bombing, and that's what they are going to get."

In interviews with FAIR, both Kenney and Jatras asserted
that these are actual quotes transcribed by reporters who spoke
with a U.S. official. They declined to give the names or
affiliations of the reporters.

The revelation that American reporters knew about a U.S.
strategy to create a pretext for NATO's war on Yugoslavia - but
did not report on it - raises serious questions about the
independence of mainstream news organizations.

More reporting is needed on the origins of this war, as well
as the opportunities for peace that may have been overlooked.

This release will be updated as new information becomes
available.

This media advisory was written by FAIR media analyst Seth
Ackerman (mail to: SAck...@fair.org).

*****

* INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH WORKERS IN RUSSIA (ISWoR) *
Box R, 46 Denmark Hill
London, SE5 8RZ
United Kingdom
E-mail: ant...@aol.com
- Tuesday, 1 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

RUSSIAN ANTIFASCIST PRISONER FREE THANKS TO YOU,
BUT NOT YET OUT OF DANGER
_________________________________________________________________

* * *

Dear ISWoR supporters, antiracist and labour movement activists,

International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR)
would like to thank all of you who responded to our appeals to
protest the detention of the Krasnodar antifascists.

Larisa Schiptsova, the pregnant woman who was being denied
medical treatment even though she was very ill, has now been
released from prison. The Moscow-based solidarity campaigners
believe that her release and that of Maria Randina (who has had
her charges lifted) was due to the efforts of all those who
phoned, faxed etc to protest.

However, Larisa remains accused by the racist regional
Governor of involvement in an alleged 'anarchist-Jewish'
conspiracy to assasinate him. On 31 May Larisa was forcibly
interrogated in the Procurator's office and ended up having
spasms. This continuing treatment is endangering her health and
the life of her baby. The Moscow campaigners write:

"It is still important to draw attention to the investigation and
upcoming court procedures against the Krasnodar Three in order to
guarantee that the court decision is `objective' and that no new
fabricated charges are presented to the accused.

"Please, continue to send protests to the Krasnodar procurator
A.N. Shkrebets in order to stop legal violations that still
continue in this case (like Larisa's interrogation late at
night).

"On June 3 the Moscow group for counter-action against political
repression will carry a street theatre performance in front of
the FSB headquarters in Moscow in order to draw public attention
to the case of the Krasnodar Three. We will keep you informed
about any new developments in the case."

IMPORTANT NOTE: a number of people had difficulties in
getting a protest fax through to the Krasnodar Procurator's
office. We have now confirmed beyond any doubt that they have
been deliberately refusing to accept faxes that they knew or
suspected concerned Larisa Schiptsova. It is very likely that in
trying to fax any of these numbers, you will be faced with a
person answering at the other end of the phone who refuses to
activate the fax machine for you. What we recommend for you to do
is the following:

a) If you hear a voice after dialling, and you do not speak
Russian, say the word Fax. (It is the same word in Russian).

b) If the person does not activate the fax machine for you, then
say Larisa Schiptsova's name very clearly. They are very likely
to tell you (in Russian) that they will not accept faxes about
her. However, if the office receives many calls in the next few
days where her name is mentioned clearly, they will be aware that
there is enormous sympathy for her plight internationally. This
may be enough to protect her from further brutal treatment while
waiting for her court hearing, just as the pressure so far has
apparently forced her release.

If you can speak Russian, please tell them the name of your
organisation, question them as much as possible about her
treatment and if possible, record on tape your conversation.

Krasnodar Procurator A.N. Shkrebets
+7 8612 68 62 65 (phone and fax, sometimes answering machine with
automatic switch to fax) or +7 8612 68 35 30 (phone and fax)

Further information and the full text of the 31 May
communique from the Moscow campaigners is available on request.

*****

* INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION - BREMEN *
Kornstr. 51
28201 Bremen, Germany
Tel: 00-49-421-5577093
E-mail: ma...@humanrights.de
Web: http://www.humanrights.de
- Friday, 4 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

HUNGER STRIKE FOR JUSTICE
_________________________________________________________________

* * *

Refugees from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle
East together with supporters from Europe and the USA are now on
Hunger Strike.

On Friday 4th June in Cologne Germany against the racist
terror and for human rights, justice and peace. We have occuppied
the Green Party Office in Cologne, Ebertsplatz 23.

We have started our protest on the 4 June as the European
Union (EU) summit meeting is taking place and we will still be on
Hunger Strike when the Group of Seven (or 8) meets from 18th -
20th June.

WE HUNGER FOR JUSTICE

On the 28th May, just a few hundred Kilometres away from
Cologne, Aamir Mohamed Ageeb a Sudanese refugee was killed inside
the plane in the process of his forced deportation from Germany.

The statements of Otto Schily the interior minister of
Germany that he will not carry out deportation of refugees who
physically struggle is completely ridiculous as the EU meeting
that is taking place now will be making plans how to strengthen
Fortress Europe and how to forcibly deport far more people than
they do now.

DEPORTATION CAN NEVER BE VOLUNTARY!

Death during deportation is the sharp expression of the
systematic violation of the basic human rights of refugees in
Germany and in Europe. As soon as a refugee reaches Europe,
he/she faces humiliation, abuse and has to live in sub-human
conditions.

In Germany the authorities have determined that a refugees
can live in a space of 4 Square Metres - according to the German
law a dog needs 9 Square Metres. Refugees are forced to live in
camps in the middle of the forest where they are effectively
prisoners.

WE ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU DESTROY OUR COUNTRIES

Cologne the host city for the EU/G8 summits will also be the
host city for the refugees and the oppressed, the consequence of
their policies. We the refugees gather here to meet our
oppressors. We are not only exposing the racist reality we face
in Germany but also the reasons for our flight, the reality of
the dictatorships and the fascist regimes that exist in the
countries where we came from and how Germany and other G7
countries prop up these regimes to maximise their Profits.

These meetings of the most powerful countries of the world
are presiding over a time of unprecedented violence and
injustice.

With spectacular arrogance the Turkish regime is on its way
to execute the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in an attempt to
destroy the Kurdish people's struggle for freedom.

The Hunger strikers demand that the EU and G8 meetings put
pressure on Turkey to stop this barbaric display and find a
political solution to the Kurdish question.

After more than 70 days of continuous bombardment, massive
destruction, and immense suffering the Kosovo Albanians, it is
clear that the NATO strike on Yugoslavia has nothing to do with
defending human rights. What is also clear is that the
Yugoslavian Kosovo Albanian refugees had been used as a tool to
create the justification for the US lead NATO strike.

The Hunger Strikers demand that the EU and G8 members call
for an immediate stop to the NATO strike.

* We, the refugees on Hunger strike demand, specifically from
the German SPD/Green coalition government to stop creating
the reasons for our flight.
* To stop pretending that German militarism and expansionism
is for the sake of human rights,
* To stop collaborating or propping up with fascistic regimes
and dictatorships like Turkey, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Togo and
instead start with supporting Human Rights right here in
Germany by implementing a complete stop to deportations.

We demand that Green Party Foreign Minister Joshka Fischer
to arrange a meeting between himself, Otto Schily the Minister
For the Interior and the Hunger Strikers to discuss our demands.

The Hunger Strikers are:

Cornelius Yufanyi - Camaroon,
Donny Ohia, Roberts Tunde Emmanuel and Adebayo Babatunde -
Nigeria,
Yigit Senayi und zwei weitere Kurden - Kurdistan,
Alex Rodriguez - Peru,
Narusaleem Jeyathas and one more Tamil - Tamil Eelam,
Viraj Mendis - Sri Lanka,
Komlan Glokpon und James Atayi - Togo,
Warren Stowe - USA,
Tom - Deutschland

Please send faxs/letters of support to the Hunger Strikers:
Fax: 00-49-421-5577094

Source: National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns; c/o 101
Villa Road; Birmingham B19 1NH, England; Tel: 0121-554-6947; Fax:
0870-055-4570; E-mail: nc...@ncadc.demon.co.uk; Web:
http://www.ncadc.demon.co.uk

*****

* S.I.S.I.S. *
Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C."
"Canada" V8X 3S2
E-mail: SI...@envirolink.org
Web: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
- Saturday, 5 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR NATIVE PEOPLES
OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
_________________________________________________________________

Source: arthur, ba...@blarg.net
* Please post widely *

* * *

We, the undersigned, wish to express our solidarity with
native peoples of the Pacific Northwest, who are currently
suffering from a racist backlash to the recent hunting of a whale
by Makah people.

The backlash has included bomb threats against native
schools, and threats to shoot native people as "revenge" for the
whale. Native people have been refused service by white owners of
stores and other businesses in the Pacific Northwest. One native
man was beaten so badly he is now in a wheelchair.

This declaration is not about whether or not the Makah whale
hunt is "right" or "wrong". It is an assertion that racism is
always wrong.

While we, the undersigned, have varying opinions about the
hunting of whales, we agree on the following:

1) Racism in all forms must be opposed. We reject any attempts
by environmentalists, animal rights activists, or any other
groups to use racism to gain support for a cause.
2) We call on all groups and individuals concerned about the
whaling to take a strong stand against the racist backlash
that is currently happening as a result of racist and
inflammatory rhetoric used by environmental and animal
rights groups such as the Sea Shepherd Society.
3) We recognize and support the sovereignty of all native
nations, including the Makah. We reject attempts to use this
whale hunt to undermine native nations struggling to assert
their sovereignty.
4) We reject the polarization of this issue into "Makah vs. the
whales". We believe that this oversimplification of the
Makah whale hunt plays up racist stereotypes instead of
addressing questions of animal exploitation. As the Makah
have pointed out, non-native people kill animals
deliberately every day for food, clothing, entertainment,
and experimentation, with no regard for the suffering of the
animals or the devastating effects on the overall
environment; non-native industry is responsible for the
deaths of countless whales every year.

While we, the undersigned, may differ in our opinions of the
Makah whale hunt itself, we are united in our condemnation of the
racist tactics which are being used to oppose the hunt.

We fully support native peoples of the Pacific Northwest and
offer our assistance to work towards stopping the racist
backlash.

To express your support by signing this declaration, contact
si...@envirolink.org.

Signed:

Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty - Victoria,
BC, Canada
Northwest Leonard Peltier Support Network
Anti-Racist Emergency Action Network
Industrial Transportation Project--Industrial Workers of the
World
Bayou La Rose
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous
sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send
"subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to
<majo...@lists.speakeasy.org>
For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

*****

* NATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS ORGANIZING COALITION *
E-mail: nw...@umich.edu
Web: http://www.umich.edu/~nwroc
- Tuesday, 1 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

E-MAIL PETITION IN DEFENSE OF ANTIRACISTS
_________________________________________________________________

* PLEASE FORWARD THIS PETITION FAR & WIDE *

* * *

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, 20 antiracists are being dragged
into court in the largest-scale political witchhunt in the
history of the city. The charges stem from a protest of the Ku
Klux Klan rally that took place on May 9, 1998.

The charges that have been advanced as legal cover for the
witchhunt are based on legal sophistry and the destruction of
evidence. A set of 10-year felony charges rest on a ludicrous
definition of the legal concepts of "riot" and "incitement to
riot" applied to an event at which local news media and the local
politicians themselves declared THERE WAS NO RIOT - supposedly
because of the brilliance of their policing policies and the
deployment of some 100 "peace keepers". A set of misdemeanor
charges rest on the alleged assault by protesters of an actually
undamaged chain link rental fence conveniently destroyed with the
authorization of the police after the May 9th KKK rally and
before any charges were filed.

Many prominent people, including politicians, authors,
artists and professors from around the country have called for an
end to this witchhunt. Please join them in signing on to the
email petition below.

PETITION:

* STOP THE WITCHHUNT!
* DROP THE CHARGES! FIGHTING RACISM IS NOT A CRIME!

WE DEMAND AN END TO THE WITCHHUNT BEING CONDUCTED BY THE
ANN ARBOR CITY GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE ANTI-RACIST MOVEMENT.

WE DEMAND THE DROPPING OF ALL THE CHARGES AGAINST THE
ANTI-RACISTS WHO PROTESTED THE MAY 9, 1998 KU KLUX KLAN
RALLY IN ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN.

Please reply to this message with your name & email address.
For more information visit http://www.umich.edu/~nwroc.
Source: e_rob...@yahoo.com

*****

* ANTIFA NET *
E-mail: webm...@antifa.net
Web: http://www.antifa.net
- Tuesday, 1 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

ANTIFA NET: WEB RESOURCES FOR ANTI-FASCISTS
_________________________________________________________________

* * *

Since March 1997 Antifanet, http://www.antifa.net is active
as a small "hosting provider" for antifa/ra organizations
worldwide. We give some free space to antifa groups and
organizations who have difficulties in having their place on the
web. Some groups had problems with local ISP's after pressure and
threats from nazi groups. Other groups had censorship problems.
The only thing we ask is that participating groups are primary
antifa/ra organizations.

At the moment we have 15 hosted sites: Afa-Stockholm, Antifa
Action Finland, Autonome Antifa Berlin, Antifa Pforzheim, Antifa
Jugend Brandenburg, Antifa Dresden/Venceremos, AntiFascistisch
Front Belgium, Antifa Info Belgium, Antwerpen Helemaal Anders,
BLOKBUSTER, Extreme-right in Belgium, Kafka, Lynrecht tegen
racisme, ResistanceS, Vaka/Hand in Hand. All those groups have
free hosting. The only thing we ask them is a little ad in there
publications if they have one.

Antifanet has just passed the 16,000th hit on the index
page. We receive some 25 to 50 hits a day. Check us out and give
us a try. And if you ever have trouble to find a secure place on
the net, you're welcome.

The Antifanet team...
Groeten/bye,
Webm...@antifa.net

Look also at:
http://www.antifa.org
http://www.antifa.com
http://www.serve.com/456852
Antifa Net is sponsored by / wordt gesponsord door:
STICHTING ANTI FASCISME AGALEV, De Vlaamse groenen
http://www.agalev.be

*****
_________________________________________________________________

TOP ACTIVIST FOR RIGHTS IN TURKEY IS IMPRISONED
_________________________________________________________________

THE NEW YORK TIMES
June 4, 1999
http://www10.nytimes.com/world/turkey-dissident-jailed.html
By STEPHEN KINZER

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkey's best-known human rights
advocate entered prison Thursday to serve a nine-and-a-half-month
sentence for giving speeches judged subversive.

The advocate, Akin Birdal, who is chairman of a group called
the Human Rights Association, has repeatedly urged the state to
reach a peaceful settlement with Kurdish rebels. Such statements
are illegal in Turkey because they are said to constitute support
for terrorism.

The law under which Birdal was convicted bans statements
"inciting the people to enmity by dividing them along religious,
linguistic or racial lines." In recent weeks, the same law has
been used to convict two journalists, a university professor and
an aide to Birdal.

A growing number of Turks, including the country's senior
judge, have called for the repeal of this and similar laws. The
military and its supporters say the laws are necessary if the
state is to defend itself against religious fundamentalism and
the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party.

Birdal's case may prove embarrassing for Turkey because he
is well-known in human rights circles around the world. The
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights accused the
government of harassing him and other critics. Amnesty
International is starting a campaign on his behalf.

Last year a jailed former commander of Kurdish rebels
reportedly told interrogators that Birdal was a rebel agent,
though doubts later emerged that the prisoner had ever made such
a statement.

Soon afterward, gunmen entered Birdal's office in Ankara and
shot him several times. Six men were arrested. Birdal spent
several weeks in a hospital, where he received thousands of
letters and visits from people including Foreign Secretary Robin
Cook of Britain. He carries a dozen metal pins in his body.

Doctors say Birdal needs up to two years of physical
therapy, but his plea to defer his prison sentence on medical
grounds was denied.

Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company

*****
_________________________________________________________________

ROBERTSON, LIBERIAN LEADER HOPE TO STRIKE GOLD
IN COASTAL AFRICA
_________________________________________________________________

THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Wednesday, June 2, 1999
http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw0602gol.html
BY BILL SIZEMORE, The Virginian-Pilot

Pat Robertson, whose failed African diamond-mining operation
five years ago stirred criticism and prompted a still-ongoing
state investigation, is embarking on a new African mining
venture.

This time he's searching for gold.

As an ally, Robertson has an African strongman with a
colorful and bloody past.

Liberian President Charles Taylor has signed a mineral
development agreement with Freedom Gold Ltd., a Robertson-owned
company based at the Virginia Beach headquarters of Robertson's
Christian Broadcasting Network. It allows for exploration and
subsequent mining rights in the Bukon Jedeh region of
southeastern Liberia, which is believed to have substantial gold
reserves.

The for-profit company was incorporated in the Cayman
Islands last December. Robertson is listed as the company's
president and sole director.

Joseph Mathews, vice president of finance and administration
for Freedom Gold, last week confirmed Liberian media reports that
Robertson's company is committed to spending $10 million to $15
million in the exploratory phase of the venture. The mining
company has no connection to Robertson's television ministry,
Mathews said.

``At this point we're not sure where all that money is
coming from,'' Mathews said. ``. . . One of the options we have
is, in the process of exploration, the government has allowed us
to use some of the gold that we uncover then to defray some of
the costs of exploration. We've got some geologists trying to
find out how much that is.''

If the agreement is ratified by the Liberian legislature,
the Liberian government will get a 10 percent equity interest in
the company and Liberians will be offered the opportunity to
purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration
period, Mathews said.

A Liberian government press release issued last month quoted
Robertson as telling Taylor, ``I pray that this investment may
become a wonderful blessing to the people of Liberia and will be
one of many significant investments that will be made under your
administration in the nation of Liberia.''

Mathews said Robertson's intent is to help ``kick-start''
the Liberian economy, which has been shattered by years of civil
war.

There was no indication from the press release or Freedom
Gold's incorporation papers of how the company is capitalized or
its projected employment, income and start-up date.

Taylor has declared his intention to head a government that
respects human rights and the rule of law. But the U.S. State
Department has maintained an arm's-length relationship with him,
citing his record of alleged human rights abuses and the
atmosphere of intimidation that attended his ascension to power.

Among other claims to fame, Taylor, 51, is the only man to
escape from the Plymouth County, Mass., jail and never be caught.

He fled to the United States in 1983 after being accused of
embezzling $1 million from the Liberian government. He was
arrested by U.S. marshals and was locked in the Plymouth jail as
a federal detainee awaiting extradition.

On Sept. 15, 1985, with a hacksaw and a rope of knotted
bedsheets, he and four other inmates climbed out a second-story
window and ran into the woods. His fellow escapees were captured
within days, but Taylor was never seen in this country again.

A warrant for his arrest on escape charges, which was
ultimately withdrawn, remained on the books in Massachusetts for
years.

Taylor vanished until 1989, when he turned up in Liberia
with an armed band of rebels and began a long, bloody march to
power.

He became president in a 1997 election that ended seven
years of factional fighting in which half of Liberia's 3 million
people were killed or displaced.

A report this year by Human Rights Watch blamed all factions
in the civil war for atrocities -- including executions, torture,
forced labor and extortion -- against civilians.

After taking power, Taylor placed many of his faction's
fighters in the Liberian security and police forces. He created a
special security unit, known informally as the ``tie-dye boys''
because of their blue camouflage uniforms. The unit quickly
became noted for harassing civilians and looting, Human Rights
Watch said.

In one incident, Taylor critic Samuel Dokie, his wife, and
two other people were killed in custody after their arrest by
Taylor's special security bodyguards in November 1997. The
officers brought to trial for the killings were acquitted.

Last fall, Taylor's troops tried to arrest rival warlord
Roosevelt Johnson, accusing him of attempting to overthrow
Taylor. Johnson sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia,
the capital, and was flown to safety in Sierra Leone.

In an incident reported by Liberian media two weeks ago,
Taylor sacked virtually his entire Cabinet and several heads of
public corporations -- 25 people in all -- for failing to attend
a national prayer service as ordered by the president.

``Any government official who does not know God will not
serve in my government,'' Taylor was quoted as saying.

A week later he reversed himself and reinstated the ousted
officials, acting, he said, on the wishes of the Liberian people.

Taylor's critics portray him as a corrupt leader who has
looted the country while most Liberians barely eke out a living.

In an article published last fall, the expatriate group
Liberian Democratic Future estimated Taylor's personal wealth at
$450 million and compared him to the late Mobutu Sese Seko, who
amassed a fortune while ruling Zaire (now Congo) with an iron
hand for three decades before he was driven out by rebel forces
in 1997.

It was Mobutu who granted Robertson diamond-mining rights in
Zaire in the early 1990s.

Two pilots told The Virginian-Pilot in 1997 that airplanes
sent to Zaire by Operation Blessing, Robertson's tax-exempt
humanitarian organization, were used almost exclusively to ferry
equipment for the diamond venture.

Those accusations sounded alarms with a Northern Virginia
state senator, who suggested that the arrangement had potential
tax and consumer fraud implications. A nearly two-year-long state
investigation ensued.

The matter now rests in the office of Attorney General Mark
Earley, who pledged an impartial inquiry untainted by the $35,000
campaign contribution he received from Robertson in 1997.

A spokesman for Earley said last week the investigation
should be completed in the next few weeks.

Robertson's diamond venture ultimately failed and was shut
down.

Copyright 1999, Landmark Communications Inc.
Courtesy of an AFIB subscriber.

*****
_________________________________________________________________

KU KLUX KLAN FIGHTS FOR `WHITE AUSTRALIA'
_________________________________________________________________

DAILY TELEGRAPH
Thursday, 3 June 1999
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
By Barbie Dutter in Sydney

THE Ku Klux Klan declared its presence in Australia for the
first time yesterday, led by a former member of the One Nation
party.

Less than a year after One Nation - notorious for its
opposition to Asian immigration and aboriginal welfare schemes -
was humiliated in the general election, the KKK has announced its
intention to fight for a "white Australia". Its Sydney-based
leader, Peter Coleman - who appeared in a photograph with other
members wearing white hoods and robes - said the American white
supremacist group had set up "Klaverns" in three states and had a
growing membership of around 70.

Mr Coleman was expelled from Pauline Hanson's One Nation
party last week, after his KKK links emerged. He told the Sydney
Morning Herald: "Our aim is for a white Australia, a fair
Australia. I am happy to shout it from the rooftops."

Understandably, the development has alarmed ethnic minority
groups. Aborigines in north Queensland have already claimed that
they are being targeted in a systematic racist hate campaign.

Gatjil Djerrkura, head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Commission, said: "Aboriginal leaders have been warning
ever since the inception of One Nation that its policies would be
a rallying call for racists." Jeremy Jones of the Jewish Affairs
Council said: "We have always known that there are hate-mongers
and people who will spread contempt towards others, and this is
their latest manifestation."

Mr Coleman said the group held regular meetings in Sydney
where members wore hoods and robes and conducted "cross
lightings". He claimed that he had established the KKK in
Australia because white Australians were ridiculed for standing
up for their rights, citing the treatment of Pauline Hanson as an
example.

Echoing the Klan's extreme ideology, Mr Coleman said some
races were "genetically programmed" to commit crime and claimed
that "there is a Jew under every rock". He said homosexuals were
abnormal and that Aborigines were "beyond help. . . the worst of
the whites mixed in with the blacks". Mr Coleman has been given
the title of Australia's "Exalted Cyclops" by the Imperial Klans
of America group.

Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1999

*****

* ARM THE SPIRIT *
P.O. Box 6326, Station A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7, Canada
E-mail: a...@locust.etext.org
Web: http://www.burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
- Saturday, 5 June 1999 -

-----
_________________________________________________________________

THE COMMUNE OF KWANGJU:
May 18 - May 27, 1980
_________________________________________________________________

* * *

All around the world people often speak about the Paris
Commune of 1871 and its glorious tragedy. Yet not so many people
know another severe struggle of the Kwangju citizens and their
Commune. When dictator Park Jung-hee was suddenly shot to death
by his right-hand man, the Korean people expected to replace the
long history of suppression and exploitation with their own
history of liberation. Nevertheless, the so-called the 'Neo-
Military' thoroughly betrayed the people's expectations, assuming
the reins of government through another coup d'etat.

The anachronistic violence of the military, however,
couldn't interrupt the Korean people's great history of struggle,
which found its seismic center in Kwangju, the largest city in
Honam. The people of the Honam plain, the breadbasket of Korea,
were mostly peasants and have been subject to severe
exploitation; thus the rich soil of the Honam plain has always
been wet with struggling people's blood all throughout history.
Especially in the 19th century, namely in the era of
imperialistic invasions, the Honam plain was also the stage of
the Donghak Peasants' Revolution against feudal landholders and
imperialist Powers. Even independence from Japan didn't change
the status of the Honam people; dictator Park in particular
carried out one-sided policies that developed the industrial
sectors at the sacrifice of agriculture, enforcing low cereal
prices to preserve low wages. Under such harsh discriminations,
the Honam people were thoroughly denied any benefits of the
authoritarian economic development.

On May 18, when the neo-military dispatched airlift troops
to suppress the students' struggle, Kwangju citizens' smoldering
resentment burst into flame at last. Though placed under martial
law, Kwangju citizens started to gather in front of the
Provincial Office and bravely confronted armed troops with their
bare hands. Several ranger-commando forces were additionally
dispatched and cruelly quelled the demonstration. Especially
airlift troops, who were accustomed to brutality through their
participation in the Vietnam War, were so cruel as to fire on
citizens with flame throwers, to mangle a student's head, and to
gouge out a 19-year girl's breasts with a long sword.

At 16:50 on May 17, the first firing took place, in this
course troops used lead bullets, which are prohibited even in
wartime. Furious citizens were determined not to retreat but to
fight to the last drop of their blood. Even inactive citizens
cooperated with demonstrators: Shopkeepers provided water,
pushcart holders carried stones, taxi drivers blocked the roads,
and women provided handkerchiefs or toothpaste. At last, the
citizens seized broadcasting centers to prevent distorted
reports. Finally, at 13:00 on May 22, citizens had no choice but
to arm themselves. As they seized police offices and armories to
capture guns and bullets, so the violence of troops got more and
more brutal. In spite of continual massacres and indiscriminate
firings, the militia fought so severely that they succeeded in
partly driving troops away on May 22. We now call the five days
of May 22-26 "Kwangju Liberated". Citizens organized their own
committee and autonomously administered Kwangju. Surprising is
the fact that there were no crimes at all in Kwangju during the
five days. Just as the Commune de Paris didn't seize banks and
rather protected them, so Kwangju citizens were so naive as not
to capture banks. The vanguard militia positioned themselves at
the Provincial Office of Kwangju, determined themselves to fight
to the last and sent guides to citizens with composure. At the
briefing room of the Office they finally got connected with the
briefing room of the government at 23:50 on May 26: "Here we are
in the District Office. Shall the troops get in downtown this
night?" "For all I know they may not." "If the troops enter
downtown, we will blow ourselves up with dynamite."

From 04:30 to 04:55 on May 27, the 3rd brigade of airlift
troops captured the Office at last. At 04:00 on May 28, the final
militia in Mokpo Station were arrested by the army. At 11:15 on
May 29, scavengers' carts sent corpses of citizens to a cemetery.
The militia were tortured, slaughtered, or sentenced to long
prison terms.

After the neo-military lost power to the people's struggle,
these militiamen were set free and reinstated, whereas the neo-
military criminals, comprising ex-presidents Chun Du-whan and Roh
Tae-woo, were sentenced for rebellion and homicide in 1995. Yet
President Kim Dae-jung granted a amnesty to every 'Neo-Military'
criminal and is even casting an amorous glance at the
unforgivable criminals to gain the support of silly right-wing
voters.

While the 19th Anniversary of the Kwangju Struggle took
place in front of the historic Provincial Office under the motto
of "forgiveness" and "harmony", the murder criminals are still
behaving unforgettably and disharmoniously without any
repentance. They are even trying organizing their own party to
restore their political status with the economic power generated
by the ex-presidents' misappropriated funds, which have not yet
been confiscated in spite of legal sentences. It is too early to
forget; reminded that Kwangju Struggle is an unfinished
revolution, we should never allow us to suspend the sublime
stream of the Kwangju citizens' will.

Written by Park Sang-Chul, Volunteer of PICIS,
http://picis.jinbo.net/

Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information
collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a
wide variety of material, including political prisoners,
national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance,
anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We
regularly publish our writings, research, and translation
materials on our listserv called ATS-L. For more
information, contact us at the address above.

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