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WRI homepage > Publications > The Broken Rifle > No.30, December 1994
Every December, War Resisters' International invites sympathisers to send greeting cards to prisoners for peace. This Honour Roll includes imprisoned conscientious objectors and nonviolent activists who have tried to obstruct war preparations. Each year, we also focus on one of the nonviolent struggles around the world: this year it is in Tibet.
There are over 100 COs sentenced to prison in southern Cyprus every year, all of them Jehovah's Witnesses. At least nine COs are facing trial at the end of November and might be imprisoned. One of them, with very poor eye-sight and a heart condition, is 53 years old. Many COs face repeated sentences, as they continue to refuse conscription once they are released. (Under a law introduced in January 1992, COs have the alternatives of 34 months unarmed service in a military camp, or 42 months civilian service. Military service is 26 months.)
Among the COs currently imprisoned in Nicosia's central prison are:
Pambos Dinou Charalambous (in 17/10/94 out 03/95)
Andreas Ionathan Charalambous (in 17/10/94 out 03/95)
Nikos Andrea Kalogirou (in 17/10/94 out 04/95)
Charalambos Iosia Charalambous (in 17/10/94 out 06/95)
Avelinos Iosa Charalambous (in 17/10/94 out 03/94)
Panayiotis Dimitris Talia (in 26/09/94 out 03/95)
Christos Panikou Christophi (in 26/09/94 out 03/95)
Andreas Ioanni Demetriou (in 26/09/94 out 12/94)
Louka Andrea Hatzipanagi (in 28/06/94 out 01/95)
Christakis Andrea Trisokka (in 20/05/94 out 05/95)
Central Prison
Nicosia
Cyprus
The right to conscientious objection is not recognised in northern Cyprus, where 40,000 soldiers from Turkey have been stationed since that country's 1974 invasion. Conscripts serve in the North Cyprus security forces for a 22-month period. Additionally, Turkish-Cypriot males must attend a reserve camp for 3 days a year.
Salih Askerogul
Lefkosa Central Prison
Lefkosa-Kibris
via Mersin 10
Turkey
Serving 3 years and 3 months from November 1993 for "making propaganda against the armed forces" and refusing his call-up. In 1993 Salih returned to the north, and declared himself a CO, after he and his Greek-Cypriot wife were hounded out of the south.
Otto Staufenbiel
Suomenlinnan tyoesiirtola
00190 Helsinki
Finland
(in 05/94 out 19/11/94)
Harri Puurunen
Helsingin tyoesiirtola
PL 36
01531 Vantaa
Finland
(in 11/94 out 05/95)
There are between 300 and 400 Jehovah's Witnesses currently in prison.
Alexandre Froidevaux
z.Z.4. / FschPzAbwBtl 283
Arrestzelle
Herzog-Albrecht-Kaserne
72 525 Muensingen
Germany
(in 13/10/94 out 15/12/94)
Olaf Weinel
z.Z.11. / LwAusbReg
Arrestzelle
Wulf-Isebrand-Kaserne
25 746 Heide
Germany
(in 9/10/94 out 11/12/94)
Andreas Reineck
z.Z. U-Haft
JVA Schwerin
19 053 Schwerin
Germany
(in 21/10/94)
Christian Stracke
z.Z. U-Haft
JVA Flensburg
24 937 Flensburg
Germany
(in 26/10/94)
Greece is the only member of the European Union that has not yet recognised the right to CO. It has no alternative civilian service. Currently some 320 Jehovah's Witnesses are in prison for refusing military service, generally serving 4-year sentences. There are also about 100 other anti-militarist COs who are not in prison, but are refused a passport or jobs in the public sector.
for Jehovah's Witnesses:
"Imprisoned objectors"
c/o Thanassis Reppas (lawyer)
10 Lykourgu St
GR-10551 Athens
Greece
Mordechai Vanunu
Ashkelon Prison
POB 17
Ashkelon
Israel
Kidnapped in Italy in 1986, sentenced in 1988 to 18 years for exposing Israel's nuclear programme. Still in solitary confinement.
Since the peace accords, no Yesh Gvul activists have been imprisoned, but there are a number of immigrants form the former Soviet Union now refusing military service.
Artyom Kalimulin
(Parents' address)
9 Haharuv Str.
Nethanya
Israel
Conscientious objector of Ukrainian origin, who has already been sentenced to 45 days in prison last July. He was beaten up when prison guards discovered that he was not circumcised. After his release he was ordered to report to the army again and is currently in hiding, while waiting to hear about his demand for exemption.
Stanislav Michenko
(parents' address)
c/o Yuri and Raisa Michenko
1/10 Anna Frank
Kokhav Hatzafon
Ashkelon
Israel
(in 05/94 out 2/12/94)
Sergey Sandler
(home address)
155-4 Megiddo Street
84773 Beer Sheva
Israel
(in 23/10/94 out 17/11/94)
Was arrested after failing to report for military service. After two weeks on hunger strike, he is now eating once every three days. He has been ordered to report for military service upon his release.
Yevgeniy Davidov
(address unknown)
Returned his military equipment by mail. When called up for basic training in 09/94, he failed to report and was to face trial for desertion on 23/10/94. He notified the authority that he would not present himself in court. He could be taken into custody any day.
According to unofficial estimates, up to 1,000 Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned per annum for refusing alternative civilian service. Two total resisters, Pietro Bonadonna and Daniele Porto, were imprisoned in 1994.
Roman Grechko
(address unknown)
Jehovah's Witness sentenced to one year in a labour camp.
Kees Koning
P I Nieuwvosseveld
Lunettenlaan 501
5260 DH Vught
Netherlands
(out 15/01/95)
Ploughshares activist sentenced to 15 months in prison for helping to topple a radio tower at the nuclear USAF Volkel bases where F-16 fighter bombers are stationed. He has already served one year and was arrested recently to serve the rest.
Sietje Kruyt-Amesz
Ter Peel Gevangenis
Paterstraat 4
5977 NM Evertsoord
Netherlands
(in 14/11/94 out 28/11/94)
Sentenced for entering the Orion naval airbase Valkenburg, where Orion P-3 planes capable of carrying nuclear anti-submarine depth bombs are stationed.
- Juan Gonzalez Reyes (2nd)
Javier Roncero Heras (3rd)
Javier Garcia Olivares (3rd)
Jose M Roncero Heras (3rd)
Antonio Gomez (3rd)
Eduardo Martinez Flores (3rd)
Centro Penitenciario La Torrecica
Carretera de Ayora km 72
02071 Albacete
State of Spain
(tel +34 67 212444; fax 214750)
Carlos Fueyo Tirado (2nd)
Fermin Bravo Lastra (2nd)
Pablo Sastre Alvaro (3rd)
C P de Villabona
Modulo 2
Finca Tabladiello
33207 Asturies
State of Spain
Asier Martinez Gonzalez (2nd)
Javier Bilbao Gonzalez (2nd)
Jose Bujan Corras (2nd)
Aitor Aurrekoetxea (3rd)
David Monge Garrido (3rd)
Luis Nunez Vicente (3rd)
Alberto Alvarez (3rd)
Julen Santos (3rd)
Ivan Martinez (3rd)
Alberto Rodriguez (3rd)
Inaki Garcia Bermejo (3rd)
Ander Goni Beltza (3rd)
C P de Basauri
C/Lehendakari Aguirre 92
Basauri
Bizkaia
State of Spain
Rafa Contreras (3rd)
Jose Luis Sanchez (3rd)
C P Puerto II
Apdo 600
11500 Puerto de Sta. Maria
State of Spain
Raul Molleda Garcia (2nd)
C P El Dueso
Apdo 50
39740 Santona
Cantabria
State of Spain
Antonio Linan (3rd)
Prision Provincial
Apdo 479
14071 Cordoba
State of Spain
Joseba Mintigi (2nd)
Aitor Lopez (3rd)
Juan Albitro (3rd)
Inaki Kamala (3rd)
Julio Abrego (3rd)
Daniel Bustamante (3rd)
Txema Mendibil (3rd)
Prision Provincial de Martutene
20014 Donostia
Gipuzkoa
State of Spain
Inigo Ramirez Barberena (2nd)
Jose A. Iribarren Gurbindo (2nd)
Antonio Hernandez Sanchez (2nd)
Centro Penitenciario de Nanclares de la Oca
Nanclares de la Oca
Alava
State of Spain
Aitor Balbas Ruiz (2nd)
Alejandro Belasco Armendariz (2nd) *
Alfredo Alles Landa (2nd)
Alfredo Alvaro Igoa (2nd)
Alfredo Liras Cesar (2nd)
Ander Murga Alkorta (2nd)
Angel Ormazabal Arratibel (2nd)
Angel Maria Senar (2nd)
Antonio de Cuesta (2nd) *
Cesar San Martin Velaz (2nd)
David Ardanaz de Karlos (2nd)
David Villanueva Esparza (2nd)
David Zelaia Castiella (2nd)
Fernando Mendiola (2nd)
Inaki Ekisoain Berriozar (2nd)
Inaki Lopez (2nd)
Inigo Ramirez Barderena (2nd)
Inigo Rodriguez Txabarri (2nd)
Ismael Martiarena (2nd)
Javier del Campo Lacarra (2nd)
Javier Gonzalez Elizalde (2nd)
Jesus Lacea (2nd)
Jon Andoni Alvarez Ajuria (2nd)
Jose Antonio Marquez (2nd)
Jose Benito Larraza (2nd)
Juan A. Vicente Galbete (2nd)
Juan Luis Zabalza (2nd)
Juan M. Goni Beltza (2nd)
Katxo Agirre (2nd) *
Martin Zelaia Garcia (2nd)
Mikel Basarte Pozo (2nd)
Mikel Kormenzana (2nd)
Mikel Rekalde Goldaraz (2nd) *
Mikel Usetxi Sarasa (2nd)
Mikel X. Ortigosa Lekunberri (2nd)
Oskar Razkin (2nd)
Patxi Billares Loigorri (2nd)
Pedro Oliver (2nd) *
Ruben Marcilla Lopez de Dicastillo (2nd)
Valentin Ibanez (2nd)
Agustin Villalba (3rd)
Alfonso Beorlegi (3rd)
Andoni Lopez (3rd)
Antonio Barrena (3rd)
Antonio Galindo (3rd)
Antonio Sanz (3rd)
Bittor Elbusto (3rd)
Eduardo Jaurieta (3rd)
Eneko Itoiz (3rd)
Enrique Urra (3rd)
Fermin Larunbe (3rd)
Fermin Palomo (3rd)
Fernando Txurruka (3rd)
Francisco J Gonzalez (3rd)
Inaki Apeztegia (3rd)
Inaki Comes (3rd)
Inigo Garmendia (3rd)
Iosu Senas (3rd)
Ivan Goikoetxea (3rd)
Ivan Gutierrez Gordino (3rd)
Javier Larunbe (3rd)
Jesus M. Beltza (3rd)
Jorge Goni (3rd)
Jose M. Morcillo (3rd)
Joseba Fraile (3rd)
Kirru Sarobe (3rd)
Koldo Pastor (3rd)
Luis Lumbreras (3rd)
Manuel Lopez Montes (3rd)
Miguel Beriain (3rd)
Norberto Villanueva (3rd)
Oskar Gonzalez (3rd)
Patxi Ruiz (3rd)
Rafael Rodriguez (3rd)
Ricar Robles (3rd)
Valentin Oses (3rd)
Jose A Artola (3rd)
Jesus M Urrutia (3rd)
Ramon Lopez Cid (3rd)
Luis J Artola (3rd)
Carlos Ibanez (3rd)
Centro Penitenciario, C/ San Roque, Apartado 250
31080 Iruna
State of Spain
(tel +34 48 251995; fax 275915)
Antonio de Cuesta Manrique (2nd)
Prision de Madrid
Avenida de los Poblados s/n
28071 Madrid
State of Spain
(tel +34 1 4651043)
Jose A Paya Orzaes (3rd)
Enrique Martinez Dominguez (3rd)
Julian Martinez Romo (3rd)
Jose M. Borrel Brito (3rd) **
Jose M Lopez Blanco (3rd) **
Carabanchel Prison
Madrid
State of Spain
Mario de Castro (3rd)
Raul Sanchez (3rd)
Centro Penitenciario de Yeserias
Madrid
State of Spain
Fernando Hilario (3rd)
Jesus Martinez (3rd)
Pedro J Lopez Lorca (3rd)
Prision Provincial de Murcia
apdo 796
30833 Sangonera la Verde
State of Spain
Angel Gonzalez (2nd)
Fernando Romero (2nd)
Mario Viera (3rd)
C P Salto del Negro
Apdo 100 Tarifa Alta
35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
State of Spain
Cesar Garcia Aguina (3rd)
Cesar Martinez (3rd)
Ernesto Lopez Rei (3rd)
C P de Vigo
Avda Madrid 106
Vigo (Pontevedra)
State of Spain
Luis Martin (3rd)
Juan M. Hernandez Simon (3rd)
C P de Teruel
Av de Zaragoza 26
44001 Teruel
State of Spain
Guillermo Alejo (3rd)
Manuel Garcia (3rd)
C P de Villanubla
Modulo Adultos 2
47071 Valladolid
State of Spain
Chabier Nogueras (2nd)
Jose Antonio Aliaga (2nd)
Txabi Urra (2nd)
Alberto Perez (2nd)
David Goni (3rd)
Jose Antonio Andilla (3rd)
Jose Manuel Santo Tomas (3rd)
Eduardo Campos (3rd)
Fermin Puertolas (3rd)
Jose Luis Ruiz Baines (3rd)
Luis Merin (3rd)
Fito Sesma (3rd)
Manues Nogueras (3rd)
Chabier Gimeno (3rd)
Nael Falo Alquezar (3rd)
Nacho Contel (3rd)
Miguel Mut Signes (3rd)
Inaki Mur (3rd)
C P de Zaragoza
Avda de America 80
50007 Zaragoza
State of Spain
Due to be transferred
** In preventive detention
Karna Rusek
Lindome anstalt
Box 68
437 21 Lindome
Sweden
(out 7/12/94)
Sentenced to 3 months in prison, plus 207 000 Swedish Crowns in damages for a Ploughshare action in January 1994, when Karna and four other people tried to disarm the Swedish Viggen warplane.
The following conscientious objectors have been sentenced to community work:
Martin Erismann
(home) Nehmattstr 15
6048 Horw
Switzerland
Beat Frei
(home) Chirbelmatt 14
6130 Willisan
Switzerland
(from 09/94 to 06/95)
Peter Heiniger
(home) Grenzstr 200
3250 Lyss
Switzerland
(from 5/09/94 to 24/01/95)
Martin Schrader
(home)Burgenstal 15
4312 Megden
Switzerland
Several anti-militarists have been imprisoned in 1994. Thanks to international pressure all have been freed, but they may have to stand further trials (see separate article).
Fr Frank Cordaro
c/o St Patrick Church
223 Harmony Street
Council Bluffs IA 51503
USA
(in 10/94 out 20/04/95)
Mark Davis
No 23106-008
FPC, MB064
Box 1000
Boron CA 93516
USA
(in 05/89 out 06/95)
Serving 6 years for "malicious destruction of property". Has been denied parole on the basis of an alleged conspiracy to sabotage nuclear power plants—a charge on which he was never convicted.
Lynn Frederiksson
No 14852-056
C-11, FPC Box A
Glen Ray Road
Alderson WN 24910
USA
(out 1/12/95)
Sentenced to 14 months in prison for a Pax Christi-Spirit of Life Ploughshares direct disarmament action on F-15E fighter-bombers at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, in North Carolina, on 12 July 1993.
Bruce Friedrich
No 17065-016
Unit Alex
FCI Morgantown
Box 1000
Morgantown WV 26507
USA
(in 09/94 out 2/12/95)
Carl Kabat
North Dakota State Penitentiary
PO Box 5521
Bismarck ND 58502
USA
(in 1/04/94)
Serving 5 years for a Good Friday/April Fool's Ploughshare direct disarmament action with hand tools in a North Dakota nuclear missible silo.
Brian Terrell
c/o Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker
PO Box 264
Maloy IA 50852
USA
(in 11/94 out 1/03/95)
Repeated line-crossing at the strategic Nuclear Command, Offutt Air Force Base, in Nebraska.
Felton Davis
Jim Keane
Max Obuszewski
c/o Dorothy Day House
503 Rock Creek Church Rd NW
Washington DC 20010
USA
Arrested for obstruction at 31 October blockade of CIA HQ, where they were protesting against covert operations in Haiti; trial date 14 December.
Amnesty International, The Nuclear Resister (USA), IMCWR-I (Israel), Ohne Uns (Germany), BFMV (Switzerland), Frits ter Kuile (Netherlands), Carl-Magnus Hoeglund (Sweden), MOC Cantabria (State of Spain), Centre Martin Luther King (Switzerland), Union of COs (Finland), Tibet Support Group (UK), and Tibet Information Network (UK). Finally, thanks to our team of volunteer translators: Agatha Haun, Inge Dreger, Andreas Speck, Felix Marcuello, and Odette Grille.
I am Javier Roncero, member of the youth organisation Juventud Obrera Cristiana de Espana (JOC-E; Christian Worker Youth). Through a learning process, both in the family and with this group, we have taken on responsibilities for social change, thinking and taking action according to an alternative vision of society, with more solidarity, more fairness, and in peace.
My refusal to perform military service comes out of this belief. The state's response to this political problem is one of repression-imprisonment for between one year and two years, four months, and a day (as is my sentence).
I have been here since 23 October, when I was detained by the police during a solidarity demonstration, asking for freedom for all imprisoned insumisos.
I ask that you all circulate information about insumision, make public statements, and write to the Spanish embassy in your country, protesting against this situation. Finally, write to me in prison!
Javier Roncero Heras, Centro Penitenciario La Torrecica, Ctra Ayora, km 72, E-02071 Albacete, state of Spain
In 1971, Pepe Beunza made history as the first modern Spanish conscientious objector; today he visits prisons to support young objectors who refuse the alternative service which Pepe demanded. With more objectors than conscripts in parts of the state, and with alternative service in administrative chaos, is the Spanish model of massive disobedience to conscription now on the verge of success? TOMAS SANCHO of the Movimiento de Objecion de Conciencia (MOC) Zaragoza explains how the strategy of total resistance has continued to adapt.
The term "insumision"-"non-submission"; rebelliousness; refusal to do military service-is the negation "sumision" or submission. The prefix in in front of sumision (from the Latin: submissus) in the Spanish language has come to mean disobedience, refusal to submit, an act of freedom.
Nowadays the Spanish people associate the word insumision with anti-militarism; to be insumiso is to be anti-militarist. This restricted meaning of the term did not exist six years ago, when the Movimiento de Objecion de Conciencia (MOC) set in motion the campaign of civil disobedience which, under the name of insumision, is currently a nightmare for the Spanish government.
The anti-militarist movement began in 1971 when Pepe Beunza, an anti-militarist objector and Christian, was imprisoned for his refusal to perform military service. War Resisters' International and other international groups had prepared for his detention and a solidarity campaign developed rapidly. This supported the objectors' demands for a civilian service alternative to the military service.
In 1977, with the advent of the current formal democracy, an amnesty was decreed for all political prisoners, including objectors.
A debate began within MOC, based on observing other Western European objectors' movements-especially those in Germany, where alternative service had been in place since the end of the Second World War. Despite there being a significant percentage of objectors in relation to military conscripts, the German army (and, by extension, militarism) suffered very little in terms of social legitimacy.
The main conclusion reached was that civilian service legitimised military service. MOC therefore advocated disobeying the legal framework created by the Spanish state to try to incorporate the objectors' dissent..
The civil disobedience promoted by MOC took different forms during the `80s-producing a confrontation with the military institutions in more and more direct ways. On 20 February 1989 after a long period of preparation, a small group of objectors refused both military service and the civilian alternative service, arguing that it indirectly propped up the military. Insumision was born. From that time to the present (late 1994) more than 10,000 young men have declared themselves insumiso.
The state, unable to apply its own laws-which envisage penalties of two to six years in prison-has put its faith in selective repression (fewer than 400 insumisos have been imprisoned up to now).
There have also been changes in the legal mechanisms against insumision. In 1991 the government stopped trying insumisos in military tribunals, since the army suffered a clear loss of prestige because of that. The civilian judges had little enthusiasm for the role of being the insumisos' tormentors, prompting the more progressive magistrates to abandon sentencing guidelines (some have acquitted the insumisos, while others have imposed symbolic punishments).
However, even the selective approach to enforcing military service law has been damaging to the government and the ruling Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE). For this reason, it decided in 1993 to "soften" the conditions of imprisonment for objectors.
There are three classes of prisoners in the Spanish penal system:
those in Category 1 spend 23 hours a day locked up in isolation cells; those in Category 2 live communally with other inmates; while those in Category 3 go out during the day to work or study, returning to prison on weekday nights. Initially the objectors were in Category 2, but in 1993 it was decided that they would go automatically into Category 3.
This "gift" from the government is perceived by the MOC as a poisoned apple which was attempting to neutralise its anti-militarist criticism, since civil society was less likely to see that Category 3 imprisonment still constituted repression; despite being gentler in character, it was still designed to intimidate.
MOC's response has been to sharpen civil disobedience, extending it to Category 3 prisoners. On 12-13 December 1993 a group of insumisos imprisoned under Category 3 did not return to sleep in the prisons where they were supposed to go. The objectors went instead to public places (universities, parish churches, labour unions, neighbourhood groups ...) for their nightly imprisonment. Their challenge to the state was basically that there could either be repression (Category 2 imprisonment, assuming the political cost) or a political solution (an end to conscription, reduction of the military budget).
The police detained the insumisos for two weeks, but in the meantime the press contacted us, wrote editorials on insumision, and interviewed us on radio and television. This was itself a breakthrough, given state control over what the broadcast media say and don't say.
Parallel to that, the number of young men seeking the legal status of objector spiralled upward. A direct relationship exists between the start of the insumision campaign in 1989 and the growth in the number of objectors. In 1993 it involved 30 per cent of the call-up. In 1994 it will certainly surpass the number of soldiers. The insumision campaign has made it possible to publicise the possibility of objecting.
The days of the current Spanish military system, based on massive conscription, are numbered-the government is aware of that. The more we set the pace for structural change in the military, through insumision, the more difficulties the state will face in constructing a new military model.
The anti-militarist movement will be able to take advantage of these difficulties in order to continue advancing. After more than 20 years of hard work, anti-militarism in Spain has succeeded in placing itself on the first level of the social debate. In 1994 more insumisos have disobeyed Category 3; almost 200 are in the prisons of a state which-in theory-treats ideological freedom as sacrosanct. A large section of Spanish society is scandalised that insumisos are imprisoned for reasons of conscience.
Civil disobedience to Category 3 imprisonment is the latest chapter of a history which began in a very distinctive way when Pepe Beunza demanded a civilian service in 1971.
In 1971, the call for alternative service was useful-it permitted people to make an anti-militarist criticism. Today, however, it has been necessary to reinvent conscientious objection, through insumision and more recently by refusing the prison regime prescribed for objection. In the future we will have to continue renovating civil disobedience-we are already debating this aspect-on the basis of direct democracy.
In a world dominated by economic injustice, environmental degradation and structural violence, we are compelled to swim against the current.
MOC-Zaragoza, apartado de correos 1286, E-50080 Zaragoza, state of Spain (tel +34 76 435443; email asesma@mvet.unizar.es)
Organisations with anti-militarist aims cannot be set up in Turkey-it's official. Last year the Turkish Ministry of the Interior refused the registration of the Izmir group of Savas Karsitlari Dernegi (SKD-the War Resisters Association), and now it has refused registration to Istanbul SKD.
Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara groups of SKD continue to operate unofficially working to open a path between "forced fighting and silence" after 14 years of apathy in Turkey towards the war in "South-East"-the area it is forbidden to call "Kurdistan".
Although-partly thanks to international support for SKD-no anti-militarist activists are in prison at the Turkey at the moment, further trials are expected. As well as the activists who have publicly declared their objection, there are many others thinking about hiding in order to avoid prosecution or the call-up to an army committing atrocities and destroying villages in Turkish Kurdistan.
Attacks primarily against Kurds but also against others who oppose government policy towards Kurdistan have been increasing. In a pattern well-known in repressive countries, these tend to be carried out by extreme right citizens' groups in co-operation with the Security Forces. In response to these events, a campaign has been launched along the lines of the French "ne touche pas mon pote" ("hands off my friend"). On 9 November, the anniversary of the Nazis' Kristallnacht, SKD Izmir launched its own variation of this: "Arkadasina Dokundurtma!"-"don't let your friend be touched!" SKD have produced badges, stickers, and leather pouches with whistles-the whistles are both a deterrent against a attack and a symbol. SKD Izmir has also set up a anti-fascist phone number to support people who are attacked.
The Izmir group is publishing a monthly newsletter monitoring the human rights situation: it is available in German for 25 DM from Connection e.V, Brueder-Grimm-Str 63, D-63069 Offenbach, Germany (tel/fax +49 69 845016). If you wish to get the English version, contact WRI, 5 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DX.
The WRI Prisoners for Peace Honour Roll cannot include all the nonviolent social activists imprisoned in the pursuit of peace, freedom and justice. Therefore each year WRI intends to highlight one struggle.
In the face of severe and protracted repression, many Tibetans have tried to find nonviolent means to oppose the Chinese occupation. Many Tibetans have also been driven into exile, and increasingly there is talk of the need for armed struggle. (No chance of UN military intervention here!) DOMINIQUE SAILLARD appeals for support for the existing nonviolent struggle in Tibet before it is too late.
"Four criminals in Tibet have been released on parole or as a result of commuted sentence by the Chinese judicial department." With these words that the official Xinhua news agency announced the release of four Tibetan political prisoners, together with another four Chinese dissidents, on 6 November. The news came only days before President Jiang Zemin was scheduled to meet with US president Bill Clinton at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Indonesia, Beijing's last chance to push its case for re-admission to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade at the highest level.
The move, aimed at appeasing criticisms of China's human rights record, contrasts with the cruel treatment inflicted upon the Tibetan resistance movement since the Chinese invasion of 1959. The Tibetan government in exile has estimated that over a million people have died as a direct result of the occupation. According to independent sources, more than 500 political prisoners are currently languishing in several prisons and so-called "re-education through labour" camps in Tibet. Many of them receive extremely long sentences (up to 28 years in one case) for shouting or writing pro-independence slogans in entirely nonviolent demonstrations that often last only a few minutes before participants are arrested by the Chinese police.
Although the Chinese government keeps the names and numbers of Tibetan political prisoners a tight secret, underground activists are ready to risk long prison sentences and even their lives to smuggle information out of the country. In 1993, the Tibet Information Network compiled a list of 467 political prisoners, most of whom were monks or nuns, reflecting the prominence of religious leaders in the Tibetan independence movement. They often feel better able to protest against the Chinese, because they have no one dependent on them who will suffer if they are jailed or killed. In recent years, nuns have played an increasingly visible role and repeatedly taken to the streets despite facing automatic arrest. Such protests lead to long prison sentences, sometimes death, and almost always cruel and degrading treatment at the hands of the police and prison guards. Amnesty International and other human rights groups have reported rapes by soldiers or with electrical batons, attacks by specially trained dogs, prolonged hangings from trees, severe beatings, nipple laceration, and other forms of tortures and sexual humiliation which are not typical of the experience of male prisoners.
The upcoming year brings a lot of risks and uncertainties for the Tibetan resistance movement. On the one hand, the Chinese government is likely to launch a charm offensive directed at the international community on the eve of several important events at the UN level. This might result in much-publicised releases of a few, carefully selected political prisoners, much in the style of what happened last week.
Behind this facade, however, many observers fear that China will do its best to keep all public signs of discontent under a heavy lid, and step up its efforts at silencing the Tibetan resistance movement. Increased repression took place during the Chinese candidacy to host the Year 2000 Olympic games, and this could happen again in the run-up to the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing next September. Another danger lies in the failing health of 90-year-old Deng Xiaoping, whose death is expected to herald a difficult period of transition. In an attempt to limit potential political unrest, the Chinese authorities will probably issue very strict orders to the army and police all over Tibet.
Given the ambivalence of many foreign governments, more interested in pursuing business deals with China, than in seriously challenging its position over Tibet, the Tibetan resistance movement might largely be left to its own devices. In March next year, the Tibetan government in exile will organise a consultation on the course the resistance should take in the future. Given the failure of the negotiations with the Chinese, some people are already openly voicing their criticisms of the Dalai Lama's nonviolent strategy. That is why on Prisoners for Peace Day this year WRI has chosen to highlight the tragic situation of political prisoners in Tibet. Grassroots international support to the nonviolent resistance movement is more needed than ever. Any pressure activists put on the Chinese and their own governments could indeed help alleviate the suffering of the Tibetan people.
Tibet Support Group UK, 9 Islington Green, London N1 2XH, England (tel +44 171 359 7573; fax 354 1026)
Tibet Information Network, 7 Beck Rd, London E8 4RE, England (tel +44 181 533 5458; fax 985 4751; email tin@gn.apc.org)
Last year, 14 nuns, arrested between 1989 and 1992 for taking part in Tibetan independence demonstrations, have had their sentences increased by up to 9 years for composing and recording pro-independence songs on a tape-recorder smuggled into the Drapchi prison, in Lhasa. Their names are followed by the original sentence and the additional sentence received:
Send letters of protest asking for the immediate and unconditional release of the 14 nuns and all other political prisoners in Tibet to:
Li Peng Zongli
Guowuyuan
9 Xihuang-chenggen Beijie
Beijing-shi 100032
People's Republic of China
Chairman Gyaltsen Norbu
Xizang Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu
Tibet Autonomous Region People's Government
1 Kang'an Donglu
Lasa-shi Zizhiqu
People's Republic of China
Tibet Autonomous Region Chief Procurator Yang Youcai Jianchazhang
Xizang Zizhiqu Renmin Jianchayuan
Lasashi
Xizang Zizhiqu
People's Republic of China
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