This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
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THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT
MIM Notes 165 July 1, 1998
MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the
world's oppressed majority, and against the
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in
the service of the people. support it, struggle
with it and write for it.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. AIM ACTIVIST LEONARD PELTIER DENIED PAROLE, ACCESS TO
MEDICAL CARE
2. BILINGUAL EDUCATION CRUSHED IN CALIFORNIA
3. LETTERS
4. CORRECTION: MIM NOTES 163 ARTICLE ON FILIPINO YOUTH
CONFERENCE
5. PROTESTS IN INDONESIA AND EAST TIMOR CONTINUE
6. CAPITALISM AND IMPERIALISM RESPONSIBLE FOR DISEASE AND
DEATH, NOT "INDIVIDUAL LIFESTYLE CHOICES"
7. BLACK MAN BRUTALLY TORTURED AND MURDERED IN AMERIKKKAN
SOUTH
8. AMERIKKKAN IMPERIALISTS INTENSIFY MILITARY CAMPAIGN
AGAINST COLOMBIAN MASSES
9. U$ CONDEMNATION OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION IN INDIA AND
PAKISTAN A SHAM
10. GOVERNMENT STATS EXPOSE D.C.'S INJUSTICE SYSTEM
11. CALIFORNIA PRISON EXPANSION
12. SUPPORT REVOLUTIONARY STUDY GROUPS UNDER LOCK & KEY
13. PIG LOBBY KILLS CONGRESSIONAL BILL TO STUDY RACIST
TRAFFIC STOPS
14. WHAT DO YOU SPEND $75 ON?
15. UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS
* * *
WHAT IS MIM?
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is a
revolutionary communist party that upholds
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, comprising the collection
of existing or emerging Maoist internationalist
parties in the English-speaking imperialist
countries and their English-speaking internal
semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging
Spanish-speaking Maoist internationalist parties
of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of
the U.S. Empire. MIM Notes is the newspaper of
MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-
speaking parties or emerging parties of MIM.
MIM is an internationalist organization that works
from the vantage point of the Third World
proletariat; thus, its members are not Amerikans,
but world citizens.
MIM struggles to end the oppression of all groups
over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM
knows this is only possible by building public
opinion to seize power through armed struggle.
Revolution is a reality for North America as the
military becomes over-extended in the government's
attempts to maintain world hegemony.
MIM differs from other communist parties on three
main questions: (1) MIM holds that after the
proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution,
the potential exists for capitalist restoration
under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the
USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the death
of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's
death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in
1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural
Revolution as the farthest advance of communism in
human history. (3) MIM believes the North American
white-working-class is primarily a non-
revolutionary worker-elite at this time; thus, it
is not the principal vehicle to advance Maoism in
this country.
MIM accepts people as members who agree on these
basic principles and accept democratic centralism,
the system of majority rule, on other questions of
party line.
"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is
universally applicable. We should regard it not as
dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is
not merely a matter of learning terms and phrases,
but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of
revolution."
-- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208
* * *
AIM ACTIVIST LEONARD PELTIER DENIED PAROLE, ACCESS TO
MEDICAL CARE
by MC17
Leonard Peltier is held captive at Leavenworth prison for a
crime he could not have committed, convicted by the white
nation as a threat because of his political activism with
the American Indian Movement. He has been in prison since
the 1975 frame-up and is currently suffering extreme pain
from lack of medical treatment.
Leonard Peltier is a First Nations activist who was
imprisoned as a part of the united snakes war against the
oppressed nations. He was put away on clearly false murder
charges: evidence was tampered with or fabricated entirely,
police reports were changed, witnesses were paid or
threatened into making false testimony, and still there is
virtually nothing linking Peltier with the murder he was
convicted of.
But even if Peltier had committed the murder of the FBI
agents which has kept him in prison, any reasonable jury
would have recognized it as self-defense. The agents invaded
First Nation territory in a time of extreme hostilities
between the u.s. government and the residents of the Pine
Ridge reservation. They came in an unmarked car and began a
shoot out with a car they followed onto the reservation. No
one ever prosecuted the FBI for invading the First Nation
territory where it has no legal jurisdiction anyway.
Leonard Peltier currently cannot chew or move his jaw. He
cannot eat and the pain makes him dizzy. As a part of the
torture the criminal injustice system inflicts on its
captives, Peltier is being denied medical treatment and
being treated maliciously at the prison medical center in
Springfield. There are many good physicians who have offered
to see Leonard including the Mayo clinic but the Federal
Bureau of Prisons will not allow him to see any of them. The
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee is seeking a qualified
lawyer in Kansas to file a lawsuit against Leavenworth to
ensure that Leonard is allowed to see an outside doctor.
Leonard does not stand much chance of gaining his freedom
through court appeals. The criminal injustice system has
already rejected all of his attempts to gain a fair trial.
The last option open to Leonard and his supporters is
executive clemency. In spite of a widespread campaign to
demand clemency for Leonard, no progress has been made in
the five years since the request was filed with the
president.
In his May 4th parole hearing Leonard Peltier reports that
his attorneys were given no chance to speak and the members
of the parole board made some statements that make it clear
the whole thing is just a legal formality and not an attempt
to give Peltier a fair hearing. Parole board members said:
"We spoke with one of the agent's wives and she wants you to
die in here. You will not receive another parole hearing
until 2008 then we'll take it from there." and "The
government can't prove who is responsible for the agents'
deaths, but someone has to pay."
MIM is under no illusions about the criminal injustice
system. The imperialist system uses its prisons to control
oppressed nations, youth and political activists. Leonard
Peltier is one of the 1.7 million captives of the
imperialist system. While we know that this is not a system
of justice, we also know that it is sometimes possible to
win small victories through the legal system. A part of this
battle is the public opinion we build through education and
protests. By putting pressure on the system we are sometimes
able to win these battles. MIM joins the many activists
around the world in their demand for immediate freedom for
Leonard Peltier.
Note: Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
http://members.xoom.com/freePeltier/index.html
* * *
BILINGUAL EDUCATION CRUSHED IN CALIFORNIA
by MC17
Voters in California overwhelmingly passed Proposition 227
in early June putting an end to bilingual education within
60 days and replacing it with a one-year program of English
immersion. This is another victory for the white nation in
the battle to take away all national identity and self-
determination from the Latino nations both within and
outside u.s. borders.
Built on land stolen from Mexico, it is ironic that the
white immigrants to California would now be flexing their
power that comes with the wealth and military strength of
the white nation to try to eliminate the last remnants of
Aztlan from California. Although the debate was made out to
be a battle over the best way to teach English to Spanish
speaking immigrants, the reality is quite different. The
English only movement is a push for greater national
chauvinism.
It is the unfortunate reality of assimilation that some
Latino parents in Los Angeles were part of the leadership of
Proposition 227. These people have been fooled by the
Amerikan dream and believe that the goal of all immigrants
should be to become as white as possible. Bilingual
education not only helped students to become comfortable
with English as a second language but also allowed them to
preserve a part of their culture and national identity.
But it is not only the Latino parents who are pushing this
change, money buys influence and Ron K. Unz, a millionaire
businessman who ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Gov.
Pete Wilson in the 1994 Republican primary took the
leadership of the movement to get Proposition 227 on the
ballot. Opponents of bilingual education like to blame the
poor educational achievement of all Latinos on the program.
But if this is a fair evaluation then we must also blame the
English only program for the failure of the many inner city
youth (whose first language is English) who graduate high
school without ever learning to read. The fact is that there
are a number of studies that demonstrate that well run
bilingual programs are more successful at educating youth in
both their native language and in English and in fact often
out perform students whose native language is English and
hence are learning in an English only environment. This is
logical because learning more than one language contributes
to a student's overall language proficiency.(1)
As we build the fight for Aztlan free of imperialist control
we must participate in these smaller battles for national
identity and self-determination. Work with MIM to end
imperialist domination of the Latino nations around the
world.
Notes: See for instance NCBE Newsline, May 4, 1998. (A
publication of the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual
Education at The George Washington University.)
* * *
LETTERS
MIM WRONG ON MOTHER TERESA?
Dear MIM:
Your "indictment" of Mother Theresa is vaguely worded. She
was a humanitarian and role model for us. Your
disappointment that people believe in God is short-sighted.
Albert Einstein, the secularist, marveled at the ever-
unfolding wonders of the universe.
Prisons do need reform.
The "people" are oppressed because we watch TV instead of
demanding good government. Israel said "We'll bargain with
Palestinians not PLO."
--An east coast reader February 1998
MIM responds: The article on Mother Teresa (MN147, October
1, 1997) is very clear in its criticisms of Mother Teresa.
This "role model" encouraged the poor to passively accept
their position and in fact encouraged the view that there
will always be poverty in the world so the poor should just
take up religion. This is not an appreciation of the marvels
of the world, it is an acceptance of poverty and suffering
and a refusal to fight against injustice.
As the article explained "Mother Teresa did far more than
hold dying people in her arms. She also campaigned against
birth control and other reproductive freedoms and then ran
part of the insidious practice of baby-shipping that
oppresses poor wimmin in many parts of the world. She
encouraged poor wimmin to use what little calories and
nutrients they could acquire on bearing babies, which they
could then leave at her orphanages. Most of the infants in
those orphanages are sent on for adoption in the United
Snakes-for modest bureaucratic fees."
The article pointed out that not all religious people are
enemies of the people, many can be allies of the
revolutionary struggle. But religion is the ideology that
encourages people to look to a "higher power" rather than
take control of their life and the world around them. We can
marvel at the wonders of the universe without attributing
them to the supernatural. One of the great wonders of the
universe is human's power to study and understand the world
around us. It is a cop out that supports the oppressive
status quo of imperialism to give up on materialism in favor
of the mysticism of religion.
It is ironic that this letter writer thinks that watching TV
rather than demanding good government leads to oppression.
Worshipping the escapism of television is bad but
worshipping the escapism of religion is good? It is true
that people should reject television and instead spend their
time demanding liberation and an end to oppression. The
majority of the people within u.s. borders have the luxury
and wealth to afford escaping into television and ignoring
oppression around the world. It is the people of the Third
World who have no choice but to fight their oppression or
die. We encourage all people, religious and not, to join the
fight against oppression.
MAOISM IN KANADA
MIM Comrades,
Fraternal greetings from the Canadian Arctic. Thank you for
the recent information package that you sent. I've read and
re-read all the information you sent from cover to cover and
honestly have to say that I'm in complete agreement of what
the MIM wants and believes.
Even though [our] fascist countries are indeed partners in
crime against humanity the internal issues facing Communists
are somewhat different. In your literature, you have well
defined the issues in Amerika while I believe there exists a
few added twists here in Canada.
There exists in Canada regionalism and factualisms
[factionalisms], e.g.; French against English, First Nations
against Europeans, Maritimes against Federal Government, 8
Provinces and 2 Territories against Central Canada (Ontario,
Quebec), Everybody (Left, Right & Centre) against Ottawa,
East against West, North against South, etc. I believe that
this program is promoted by the Capitalist and their puppets
in Ottawa, the old divide and conquer policy. The Canadian
government I think likes to promote itself as the friendly
and quiet exploiters not only of the Third World but also of
its own populace.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that both countries have
the same goals they just employ different methods in
implementing their plans. My little theory may be full of
shit and totally off the track and if so let me know where
I've gone astray.
If possible, I'd like to be a part of the MIM, please
consider my request, I'm not sure how much I can be of use
to the movement given my geographic location but any help is
better than no help at all.
In Solidarity,
- a friend in KKKanada
MIM responds: We welcome the help of all comrades both
inside and outside u.s. borders. In fact there is much to be
done in Kanada as we build a Maoist vanguard there.
While it's true that there are differences between the
united snakes and Kanada, the main and most important
characteristics are the same. Within these two imperialist
countries the principal contradiction is the same: the
contradiction between oppressed nations and imperialism. In
Kanada this is often manifested in the struggles between the
First Nations and the imperialists.
As in the united snakes, the majority of the population in
Kanada is bought off by imperialist superprofits. The white
nation in Kanada enjoys the privileges that the white nation
in the u.s. enjoys. Although there are divisions within the
white nation, between provinces and regions, these do not
make up the principal contradiction.
These divisions sometimes will create opportunities for us
to organize against the imperialists but more often they
will just lead to greater white nation chauvinism. The
situation in Quebec is a good example. The First Nations in
territory being occupied by Kanada recognize that the
Quebecois separatists are an even greater threat to their
autonomy and self-determination and strongly opposed Quebec
separating from Kanada.
There are many ways that people around the world can get
involved in the Maoist struggle. Writing articles about
what's going on in your area from the perspective of the
oppressed is a good way to get started. MIM Notes can always
use writers.
* * *
Correction:
RAIL Comrades have at most two hands.
The article on the Newark Filipino student conference in MIM
Notes 163 June 1 1998 contained a confusing error. We meant
to say that Black soldiers in the U.$. army shared a common
enemy with the Filipinos: Amerika; but that there was also
an integrationist current that demanded the Black soldiers
to perform well in battle, thereby proving their "worth" to
Amerika. For revolutionary Black nationalists of the time,
there was no contradiction between Black nationalism and the
internationalist duty to switch sides and fight Amerika.
* * *
PROTESTS IN INDONESIA AND EAST TIMOR CONTINUE
by MC17
Protests continued in Indonesia and East Timor in June as
the people demanded more change in the government than the
cosmetic change of leaders that took place when Suharto
stepped down and Habibie, Suharto's protege, took over on
May 21. Habibie, like Suharto before him, is closely backed
by the United Snakes of Imperialism.
On 4 June, 1500 students took over Jakarta's main
thoroughfare in a protest against Habibie. Indonesia's
military chief issued a warning that the protesters should
stop insulting the former dictator General Suharto. In
response demonstrators shouted "Hang Suharto!" and demanded
prosecution for his crimes of theft from the people during
three decades of military dictatorship.(1)
Habibie has been trying to deflect the people's attention
from the crimes of the past for fear that any investigation
into Suharto's crimes would quickly bring down the entire
government that worked with and for the military dictator.
Habibie offered East Timor, a colony which is under the
military rule of Indonesia since 1975, a special status in
exchange for peace. The Timorese people have been fighting a
war against the Indonesian occupation. Even peaceful
protests have been met with violent repression on the part
of the Indonesian military which has massacred close to a
third of the population in an attempt to keep control of
East Timor. (2) Habibie made it clear that this special
status would not mean political autonomy for East Timor.
Habibie signed a decree to release 15 East Timorese rebels
held as political prisoners in Indonesia in early June but
stressed that he would not release Xanana Gusmao, a leader
of the liberation movement, who is serving 20 years in a
Jakarta prison for his fight against Indonesian rule.
East Timorese activists quickly responded that the token
status change would not be sufficient for them to end their
guerrilla war against Indonesian rule. "They are rehashing
an old position, which requires first that the United
Nations recognize the illegal annexation of East Timor by
Indonesia," said Jose Ramos-Horta, an independence activist
from East Timor who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.
"Only then might they consider some wishy-washy 'special
status' for East Timor." "This is not a serious proposal,
and I am stating unequivocally that we reject it," he said.
(3)
More than 3,000 East Timorese protested for an end to
Indonesian occupation of their country on June 10.
Indonesian students joined in the protest shouting slogans
in support of self-determination for the East Timorese
people. "We want total independence. We want to be free,"
was a common sentiment among protesters.(3)
Even the East Timorese rebel flags have been banned and the
potential threat of arrest or worse hung over the protest as
activists only briefly displayed the flags.(3)
A new military commander for East Timor, Col. Suhartono
Suratman, was sworn in Wednesday in Dili. His predecessor
and 11 other top officers and soldiers were killed in a
helicopter crash last week. The army said it was an accident
in bad weather, but East Timorese nationalists based in
Portugal said rebels had shot it down. (3)
The Indonesian government continues to try to cover up for
the crimes of the past while they perpetuate new crimes
against the people, denying them freedom and self-
determination. Two police lieutenants accused in the
killings of four student protesters were arraigned in a
military court on June 6th. The May 12 shootings at Trisakti
University led to days of rioting protests. The two cops are
among 18 who face court martials as the military attempts to
respond to demands for accountability by pacifying the
people with token sacrifices. The military prosecutor
claimed that the defendants caused the deaths of the
students by failing to control policemen in their charge
during the anti-Suharto rally at the university. (3)
NOTES:
1. Associated Press, 4 June, 1998
2. Associated Press, 10 June, 1998
3. Washington Post, 7 June, 1998, p. A22
* * *
CAPITALISM AND IMPERIALISM RESPONSIBLE FOR DISEASE AND
DEATH, NOT "INDIVIDUAL LIFESTYLE CHOICES"
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association on June 3rd examined the relative importance of
risky health behaviors (smoking, heavy drinking, being
overweight, and sedentary lifestyle), low education, and
poverty in causing increased mortality among the poor. Many
people - including new age quacks who have a financial
interest in promoting self-help as the solution to all the
world's problems and members of the oppressed nations'
bourgeoisie who want to deny the material roots of
oppression - have put forward the hypothesis that these
risky behaviors are the main reason poor people die at
higher rates, because poor people tend to engage in high
risk behaviors more than others. However, the JAMA study
showed that these risk behaviors only "accounted for 12% to
13% of the predictive effect of income on mortality."(1) In
other words, programs preaching abstinence from smoking, or
moderation in drinking, or the best way to jog to the
relatively poor will not eliminate the main causes of
increased mortality among the poor.
What does account for the difference in mortality rates?
Lack of access to health care, for starters. Among the
oppressed nations, which are disproportionately poor, this
is certainly the case. For example, the infant mortality
rate for Blacks is twice that for whites, and the maternal
mortality rate for Blacks is more than three times that for
whites. These rates are considered to be good indicators of
the general health of a population. One reason for the
differences in the these rates is a relative lack of pre-
natal care among Black wimmin; the percentage of Black
wimmin who did not receive pre-natal care was nearly twice
that of white wimmin. Even when Black wimmin have access to
pre-natal care, they receive different treatment and
advice.(2)
Other possible factors associated with the higher mortality
rates: Exposure to environmental toxins, employment in high
risk industries, distrust of the Amerikan medical
establishment (remember Tuskeegee), and so on.(4)
An editorial in the same issue of JAMA suggested that the
higher mortality rates may be due to the "high stress"
associated with lower socio-economic status. The editorial
goes on to argue, in effect, that more stress management
courses for the poor will reduce excess mortality. This is
simply a variant of earlier arguments about lifestyle risks
and ignores the obvious material causes of increased
mortality among the poor. Oppression should not be "managed"
or adjusted to, it should be abolished.
Only socialism will be able to provide adequate health care
for the oppressed masses of the world. Capitalism will never
be able to provide basic health care to the laboring masses
of the world because capitalism ensures that they will never
have enough money to provide health care capitalists with
the profits they crave. We realize this through Marx' theory
of capitalism and proletarian revolution, and we can see it
today, simply by looking at the criminal differences in
health and health care between oppressed and oppressor
nations. The lifetime risk of maternal mortality for African
wimmin is over 200 times that of wimmin living in the united
$tates; the risk for Somali wimmin is over 380 times that of
wimmin living in the u.$.(3) Socialist countries like the
USSR before 1954 and China before 1976 realized huge gains
in basic health care for the masses - life expectancy more
then doubled in China from liberation to the early 70s. In
order to recreate those successes, we must overthrow the
existing Amerikan bourgeois dictatorship and replace it with
a dictatorship of the proletariat.
Notes:
1. Lantz, et al, "Socioeconomic Factors, Health Behaviors,
and Mortality," in: JAMA, June 3, 1998, pp. 1703-1708.
2. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 12 Jan 1995.
3. WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record, 19 April 1996.
4. Experiments were conducted on 400 Black men with syphilis
from 1932 to the 1970s. The men were not told they had
syphilis and treatment was withheld.
* * *
BLACK MAN BRUTALLY TORTURED AND MURDERED IN AMERIKKKAN SOUTH
by MC53
James Byrd, a 49 year old Black man was tortured and
murdered on June 7th by three white settler nation men.
Hitchhiking, Byrd was picked up by the settler supremacists
and driven to a remote area in Jasper county, Texas. The
three men began beating Byrd and then tied him to the back
of the truck before driving again. Byrd was then tortured
and dragged behind the truck and eventually died after being
decapitated and dismembered.
One of the murderers told the pigs that the attack was an
attempt to 'start a race war,' according to Reuters.(1) Make
no mistake about it, ITAL Amerikkka is at war. END The white
settler nation of Amerika is at war against Third World
nations throughout the world and against Amerikkka's
internal colonies held captive within the belly of the
imperialist beast. Amerikan imperialism dominates oppressed
nations within its illegitimate borders through military
repression, political control, economic domination and
social warfare much like its war throughout the world
against the oppressed.
Amerika's war against the Black, Latino and First Nations
rests on the denial of oppressed nations to control their
own political affairs. Through the repression of self-
determination, Amerikkka is not required to recognize and
negotiate with the internal colonies as sovereign nations.
Without political power, oppressed nations are subject to
military occupation in addition to settler-dictated material
reality.
Amerika's military domination of the internal colonies
exists to dictate what land is occupied by the oppressed, it
exists to ensure that the oppressed do not rebel against
oppressive conditions, and it exists to protect the settler
nation from the righteous wrath of the oppressed. Just as
the Amerikkkan military trains to annihilate mass struggles
throughout the world, the Amerikkkan INjustice system
battles against the oppressed to kill potential soldiers of
the struggle and to incarcerate a disproportionate number of
the remaining oppressed nationals.
From the pigs on the streets targeting oppressed nationals -
usually under the guise of the alleged war against drugs,
gangs and crime - to the white nation juries, judges, prison
guards, and parole officers, the white nation has armed
itself and uses these weapons in its systematic campaign of
genocide against the oppressed.
Amerikkka disproportionately incarcerates Black men in its
prisons, jails and work kkkamps. These are some of the
soldiers otherwise ready to stand up and fight against
oppression and national domination. Still more oppressed
nationals are steered away from revolution through
intimidation. The repression against the Black nation's
organization for liberation include incarceration of leaders
and withholding revolutionaries for arbitrary reasons from
being paroled. As the people's leaders are killed and
imprisoned, the masses are constantly rounded up to prevent
organization and mobilization against oppression.
While the white supremacists may have wanted to start a war,
the Amerikkkan government has already done the dirty work
for the white settler nation reactionary extremists. While
the KKK (which the murderers were affiliated with, but
allegedly not members) and other supremacist groups are
dangerous in that they conduct violence against the masses,
the United Snakes government is our primary target.
According to the Reuters report, the three murderers were
recently in Amerikkka's prisons. Publicizing this helps
Amerikkka to bolster support for the proliferation of
prisons and stiffer requirements for release. However, it is
the masses of the oppressed nations which are hit with the
increasingly stiffer criminal INjustice system. MIM has seen
repeatedly that revolutionary comrades (or even less
political oppressed nationals) who have served their
original sentences are denied parole and release
when a white prisoner would have been released. We don't
mean that the white prisoner should be held captive longer,
we merely recognize the unjust treatment of oppressed
nationals as part of Amerikkka's war.
The case of these murderers shows that the Amerikkkan
INjustice system does nothing to reform or reeducate
prisoners. These prisoners were released after spending time
in prison that could have been used to re-educate them. But
the Amerikkkan INjustice system has no intention of working
to help prisoners become productive internationalist members
of society.
This is one of the many reasons that MIM works against the
prison system in its entirety as it exists under
imperialism. In China, prisons were used to confront
individuals with their beliefs and actions that cause harm
to other people or society. The prison terms were used as a
time to improve, study, struggle and become productive
additions to society. In Amerikkka, prisons do not serve to
rehabilitate, but only to control.
MIM mourns the death of another Black man in Amerikkka. And
we take the systematic genocide against the oppressed very
seriously. This is why we are building a revolutionary
internationalist vanguard Party to lead to the development
and success of national liberation and genuine socialist
revolution. This war against oppressed nations will only end
when the oppressed have seized state power through armed
revolutionary struggle. And the success of the revolution
will be determined by its adherence to the universals of
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Fight with MIM to build the
foundations for successful revolutionary struggle to end the
genocide afflicted by imperialism!
Note: Reuters. 9 June, 1998.
* * *
AMERIKKKAN IMPERIALISTS INTENSIFY MILITARY CAMPAIGN AGAINST
COLOMBIAN MASSES
by MC53
The United Snakes of Imperialism is using several successful
rebel battles against the Colombian military as
justification to steadily increase the amount of military
aid, funds to fight the alleged war on drugs, military
equipment sales and troop training which it provides to its
Colombian lackey government and military. Intensified
guerrilla defeats of the imperialist lackeys has
necessitated deeper u.$. militarization and control to
thwart the struggle of the masses. The strength of the
struggle has provided the justification Clinton et al were
seeking to waive the paper penalties of the 1996/97 drug war
ally decertification - which was supposed to be a ban on
military equipment transfers and u.$. military training.
According to the bourgeois press, 'a classified Defense
Intelligence Agency speculated that if current trends
continue unchanged, the armed forces [of Colombia] could be
defeated within five years.' MIM questions this piece of
information just as any which comes from the bourgeoisie and
its media. It is possible that the statement is false and is
only being used to justify u.s. militarization.
Nevertheless, the rebels and masses have clearly intensified
struggle and given the imperialists cause for concern.
The Pentagon reported that in March, the rebels conducted
its most serious defeat since the beginning of armed
struggle in the 1960s. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) crushed an army unit, killing 67 and
capturing 30. According to the imperialists, the rebels have
more than doubled in size over the last six years. While
size is not definitive, this is coupled with reports of the
rebels now controlling 50% of the country.(1) Again,
depending on the agenda of the imperialists, the numbers and
strength of guerrillas is usually understated or
exaggerated. What MIM is certain of is that Amerika's
constantly growing parasitism means that imperialism must be
evermore exploitative to oppressed nations. And intensified
oppression and exploitation pushes the masses further in
struggle to expel imperialism and its lackeys. The
strengthening of the Third World masses' struggles against
u.$. imperialism will continue to become more acute until
Amerika no longer has the power to exist as a parasite.
Military aid despite rhetoric of decertification
Whatever the actual numbers, the imperialists have used the
military defeats to justify increased control to smash the
masses of Colombia. The u.$. has maintained that stability
in Colombia is necessary for stability for the region.
Amerika has flip flopped more than once on how it wants to
portray its justification for sending more military aid. R.
Rand Beers, State Department anti-narcotics chief, worked
with Bush to develop the 1990 "Andean Strategy" to spend
$2.2. billion over a five year period to repress rebels
under the guise of the war on drugs. Because stability and
repression of the rebels in Colombia is essential to the
imperialist agenda, Rand said that he would start with
adding an additional $21 million to the amount of military
aid sent to Colombia for 1998.
In November 1997, MIM reported that the u.$. allotted an
additional $50 million in equipment to Colombia's military
with the purpose of fighting the rebels. This approval was
given with the on-paper-only stipulation that only Colombian
army units which have not been engaged in human rights
violations could receive the aid. The main problem with this
stipulation is that it is the military itself which provides
the confirmation that units meet this criteria.
The reason Clinton had to give special approval for the $50
million was that Colombia was decertified as an ally in the
war on drugs in 1996.(3) The decertification came in part
after the President, Ernesto Samper, was exposed for having
received millions for his campaign from the Cali drug
cartel. Technically, this was supposed to mean that Amerika
was not to send military aid. In reality, it meant that
Amerika could send aid only under the cover of drug
eradication and seizure.
When the United Snakes portrayed itself as cracking down on
corruption and human rights violations through decertifying
Colombia, in fact, the u.$. increased its military aid. And
in the same time period, this military aid allegedly slated
for drug eradication was evidently absolutely ineffective.
The amount of money sent for 'drug eradication' jumped from
$28.8 million in 1995 (before decertification) to $95.9
million in 1997.(2) And between 1995 and 1997, the amount of
cocaine produced increased by 50%.(2)
The u.$. needed to create a public disclaimer for its
assistance to the corrupt Colombian government and military.
But decertification only meant that the aid would all be
focused as part of the war on drugs instead of general
military aid. The line between the war on drugs and the war
on the people is of course intentionally blurred by the
imperialists labeling the rebels as narco-terrorists.
Amerika trains military on the sly
In addition to an alleged ban on military aid, penalties for
decertification include restrictions on direct military
training of Colombian troops by the u.$. military.
Allegedly, Colombian units which were connected to human
rights abuses should not be trained by the u.$. as that is
considered military aid. However, under a 1991 law, U.S.
Special Forces are permitted to train on foreign soil.
Allegedly, the condition of this arrangement is that the
Special Forces training should be for the benefit of the
U.S. troops.(1) In the case of Colombia, the Pentagon
justifies the action by stating that the terrain found in
Colombia is not found in the u.$. and helps u.$. soldiers
learn what they would otherwise not experience.
This means that U.S. Special Forces can train under the
Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) with any other
troops without the stipulations which exist on paper as a
result of decertification. In both the cases of Indonesia
and Colombia, U.S. Special Forces trained under the guise of
learning from their hosts. In fact, the training exercises
are used as a means to better equip the Colombian military
for its battle against the masses.
Hundreds of U.S. troops from the 7th Special Operations
Group and the Navy SEALS train each year in Colombia.(1) The
training and exercises are conducted primarily in the areas
where rebels are active.(1) The agreement for imperialist
cross training with lackeys was reached in August 1997. The
agreement stipulates that the training be used only by the
Colombian military in the southern half of the country, also
called "the box." Just as many stipulations are on paper,
this special training arrangement enables the u.$. Special
Forces to legally train the units which have been recognized
as units engaged in human rights violations. This is
allegedly because the u.$. does not have the power in such a
circumstance to control who the Colombians send to training
with the u.$.
All in all, the u.$. Special Forces have absolute impunity
to train any Colombian military units, even those notorious
for torture and massacres, and to use u.$. military
equipment in "the box" where rebels are most active. While
the Defense Department's accounting is different, the
Special Forces engaged in 29 deployments in 1997 involving
319 u.$. troops - according to the Special Operations
Command.(1) For 1998, the estimate of deployments is about
the same.
From other Defense Department statements, it is more
obviously stated that u.$. troops train Colombian troops
despite the law stating that it should be for the benefit of
u.$. troops' own training. Generally, the training consists
of jungle maneuvering, so-called anti-terrorism training,
marksmenship, psychological warfare, intelligence training,
etc. At the end of the training sessions, "the trainers will
typically plan a "graduation" attack on the guerrillas and
then wait at their base while the students carry it out."(2)
More money & power
Another breach of the penalties of decertification is the
sale and transfer of military equipment to Colombia. Because
of the many ways that the imperialists have skirted their
own promises, the sale of military equipment has jumped
instead of declined since decertification. In 1995, u.$.
military sales to Colombia was $21.9 million and by 1997, it
had jumped to $75 million.(2)
"Colombian military officials have also said they would like
to buy armored attack MH-1 Cobra helicopters, and a Defense
Department official predicted that the Pentagon would
support such a request."(2) Perhaps, the u.$. will write up
a fake stipulation on the sale like the one for the six
Blackhawk helicopters Colombia bought in 1996. The
stipulation is that the helicopters be used only in the
fight against drug traffickers -- which can include rebels
based on imperialist assessment.
As Amerika states that it does not want to be involved in a
civil war in Colombia, it makes such ridiculous public
relations agreements like the above. Stating that the
helicopters should only be used against drugs and stating
that troops should only be fighting in "the box" is in
contradiction to stating that the u.$. is not targeting the
rebels. The reason this is a contradiction is that the u.$.
maintains that the rebels are involved in drug trafficking.
'War on Drugs' is War Against the Masses
Amerikkka's alleged war on drugs has never consisted of a
plan to eradicate the production, distribution and use of
drugs for the purpose of making the lives of the masses more
productive and fulfilling. The alleged war on drugs is a war
on people. Specifically, under the guise of the war on
drugs, the Amerikkkan empire has justified militarized
domination, occupation, and bloody war against the people of
oppressed nations -- both outside and inside the
illegitimate borders of the United Snakes. Amerika has
successfully sugar-coated its intrusion of Third World
countrysides and occupation of internal colonies with the
mythological goal of eradicating drugs.
As MIM has documented many times, the imperialists are only
too happy to directly or indirectly provide oppressed
nationals within Amerika with drugs which dull the desire of
the masses to fight for revolution. Genuine efforts to
eradicate drug use should be modeled after China's
successful history. The Chinese people, under the leadership
of Mao Zedong, addressed drug use and addiction through
changing oppressive and exploitative material conditions and
through helping people to be productive and creative for the
purpose of advancing the revolution. Genuine efforts to end
drug use definitively must start with liberation of the
masses from oppression.
Amerika is not interested in changing the conditions of
oppression. Amerika only seeks to use its military and
domestic pig forces to expand hegemony over oppressed
nations. The alleged war on drugs is a perfect imperialist
cover to expand this control. As a result of this alleged
war, the incarceration for Black youth has skyrocketed. And
as a result of the fierce war, the imperialists can justify
throwing aside previous promises to deny aid to governments
shown to systematically violate basic human rights.
To perpetuate their parasitism, the imperialists will stop
at nothing to repress the masses of oppressed nations. The
scenario of the imperialists creating a justification to
militarize the countryside in Third World nations is nothing
new. And the purpose has remained the same - to squash the
development of genuine liberation of the oppressed masses.
Both the FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN) are
waging armed struggle against the imperialist-backed
Colombian government. MIM supports genuine struggles of the
people waging wars of national liberation. From the
literature that MIM has read by and about them, both
organizations appear to be focoist. Focoists follow the
incorrect line of sensational military actions rather than
waging People's War; the focoists expect to gain adherents
through military inspiration instead of building independent
power and support among the population. But MIM cannot make
a complete analysis of the forces fighting the government in
Colombia without further study of their theoretical writings
and strategies. We can say with conviction that we oppose
imperialism, and particularly United Snakes imperialism, in
Colombia and we support the peoples right to self-
determination. Armed struggles is the only way the people
will bring down the imperialist-supported government and we
stand with the Colombian people on their struggle for a
genuine people's democracy.
Notes:
1. The Washington Post. 25 May 1998, p. A1.
2. The New York Times. 2 June 1998, p. A1 and A12.
3. MIM Notes #150, 15 November 1997.
* * *
U$ CONDEMNATION OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION IN INDIA AND
PAKISTAN A SHAM
by RC93
Nuclear weapons testing in India and Pakistan in May
received great condemnation from all over the globe, and
rightfully so. Nuclear weapons are means of mass destruction
that are against the interest of all people. Even if not
used in war they pose serious environmental and health
threats, while wasting time and energy that could be used in
productive ways. However, the U$ keeps ten different types
of nuclear weapons active; a total of 9600 bombs.(1) The U$
has carried out dozens upon dozens of such tests, as have
the other nuclear powers--France, Britain, Russia and China.
Therefore the condemnation of the imperialist powers is
merely an act to maintain world hegemony, rather than an act
in the interest of the people.
General bourgeois consensus has put the blame for this
sudden eruption of arms development on India, who detonated
five nuclear devices on May 11 and May 13. Given the history
of strife with India, Pakistan felt that it had no choice
but to prove its own nuclear power to the world and to
itself by replying with five detonations on May 28 and one
on May 30. Following India's actions, many countries
attempted to prevent Pakistan from following suit with
bribes and threats. President Clinton said that Pakistan
would have to refrain from any nuclear testing in order to
receive $501 million reimbursement for 28 U.S.-built F-16
Falcon fighters.(2) This is money that Pakistan paid the U$
without receiving the promised jets. So the U$ has stolen
the money from Pakistan.
History of conflict
For decades India and Pakistan have been potential nuclear
powers, following the five powers listed above. The other
two potential nuclear states are Israel and South Africa.
However, the South Afrikan government destroyed all of its
nuclear devices and research allegedly because the cold war
was over. It has also been speculated that this was an
effort to keep a Black government from being a nuclear
power, since this occurred before Blacks were able to gain a
role in the government.(1) Israel is widely believed to have
up to 20 nuclear weapons. Israel doesn't comment on the
question, and the U.$ ignores the evidence because Israel is
a close ally of Amerika. Post-Gulf War UN Resolution 242
calls for eliminating all weapons of mass destruction from
the Middle East, but the UN Security Council is only
actively enforcing this against non-ally Iraq.
India tested its first nuclear device in 1974, and did not
test again until this year when it became a nuclear state in
the eyes of the world. Pakistan replied to India's first
test by beginning its own research in 1976, with help from
China, another enemy bordering India. India and China have
had continued border disputes which were the cause of war
between the two countries in 1962. Since 1947 when India and
Pakistan became separate states after their liberation from
British occupancy, they have had border disputes as well
which have led to three wars since then. Two of the wars
were over Kashmir which is held by India, but which Pakistan
claims is Muslim territory. Low-scale fighting continues
along that border to this day.
Tests not in the interests of the people
The media has reported strong support by the people of both
nations in their recent actions. People in Pakistan
celebrated the tests because of what they felt was a threat
from India. India began its testing after weeks of
corruption charges, dissensions, and intra party feuds among
the new government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian
Peoples' Party).(3) The nuclear diversion helped to bring
favor towards the party.
Indians in the farming town of Chacha are complaining about
the effects that the tests have had on them. Many people
have become weak and ill since the blast. Two weeks after
the test one man has lost five cows and 200 of his 300 sheep
are sick and dying. People also fear that the blast has
caused the temperature to reach 118 F. Although officials
have claimed there were no gas leaks after the tests, one
man from the village of Khetolai reported a dark brown cloud
rising and dust blowing into the village for two hours on
May 11. That village also reported that 196 of its 262 stone
homes were damaged by the blast.(4)
U$ maintains hypocrisy in law and actions
President Clinton condemned the budding of an arms race
between Pakistan and India, calling it "a self-defeating
cycle of escalation" that will only make things more
dangerous.(5) This coming from a country who had 23,000
nuclear weapons, including 26 different types by the end of
the cold war.(1) START II required this number to be reduced
to 3,000-3,500, yet neither the U$ nor Russia have complied
to their pact. Meanwhile the U$ continues to modify its
nuclear arsenal although it has stopped production since
1989. Even the so-called 'retired' weapons require great
care, as there is no effective way of disposing with them,
resulting in a great environmental threat.
The 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act requires the
U$ to restrict any trade, aid, or loans except those
pertaining to food and agriculture to any non-nuclear weapon
state that detonates a nuclear device. First of all, this
act clearly allows established nuclear powers to continue
testing without repercussion, the logic being that they
already have them, so we have to maintain our power over
those who don't. However, even in this case, President
Clinton is searching for loopholes in this act in regards to
Pakistan.(6) The U$ had no problem placing the sanctions on
India after its testing. The U$ looks more favorably on
Pakistan since they have been a longtime U$ ally. Also,
Pakistan is far more dependent on foreign aid, trade credits
and lending from the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and
the World Bank.(6) This indicates the great investment that
the U$ has made in Pakistan compared to India, and to stop
these funds would mean a loss of profit and power for the
U$.
U$ efforts have also included trying to convince both
countries to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of
1968 (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of the UN
from 1996 (CTBT). The UN treaty requires the signatures of
all 44 countries with nuclear power capabilities to sign in
order for it to be effective. Therefore Pakistan and India's
refusals to sign delay the treaty. However, Congress has yet
to ratify the U$ signing of the CTBT while it continues to
push for other countries to sign.(3)
Both Pakistan and India have given mixed messages about
their intentions to use nuclear weapons in the future. India
has reiterated it is willing to discuss a "no-first-use"
agreement with Pakistan and other countries, banning a
nuclear first strike in the case of war. However this means
nothing, but merely shows that this is a power struggle
among governments who are not working in the interests of
their citizens.
Still, the U.N. Security Council, which is made up of the
five nuclear powers previous to last month, has no right to
be the deciding party in the situation. The U$ has enacted
sanctions, tailoring them to its own interests. Many others
such as Australia, Japan, and the Netherlands have cut off
aid to the two countries. While MIM strongly opposes the
proliferation of nuclear weapons, we do not support
imperialist interests controlling the rest of the world.
Notes:
1. The High Energy Weapons Archive, "A Guide to Nuclear
Weapons." http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/index.html
2. Times Union. 28 May 1998, A3.
3. Times Union. 2 June 1998, A7.
4. Times Union. 31 May 1998, A11.
5. Times Union. 31 May 1998, A1.
6. Times Union. 30 May 1998, A1.
* * *
GOVERNMENT STATS EXPOSE D.C.'S INJUSTICE SYSTEM
As of August 1, 1997, 96.1% of Washington, D.C. prisoners
are Black, and only 1.5% are non-Hispanic white.(1) We
calculate imprisonment rates per 100,000 as 2,782 for Blacks
and 94 for whites (combining men and women).(4) The overall
U.S. Black incarceration rate was 1,947 per 100,000 in 1992-
1993, and 306 for whites.(3) This means the Black
imprisonment rates are worse in D.C. than in the rest of the
country, and much lower for whites.
Unlike most of the country, Washington had a declining
prison population from 1992 to 1996. This is probably the
result of a weak government and police force. The number of
sworn police officers fell from 5,679 in 1991 to 3,815 in
1995 (the most recent number we found), so there were less
people to make arrests. From 1992 to 1996 the number of
prisoners per 100,000 population dropped by 12%, from 1,973
to 1,739. However, in 1997 the rate bounced back up 6%, to
1,841.(1) Another sign of a weak local police and injustice
system could be the shift from arresting people for dealing
drugs to arresting people for using drugs. From 1992 to
1996, the percent of adult drug arrests for sales dropped
from 35 to 13, while possession arrests rose from 65% to 86%
of adult drug arrests - all while the total number of drug
arrests didn't change much.(1) For whatever reason, this
just means more persecution of people for drug use or
alleged drug use, more repression of people who should not
be considered criminals at all.
The juvenile imprisonment rates are just as unequal. In a
1995 one-day count, the juvenile (ages 10-17) "custody" rate
was 910 per 100,000 -- 1,992 for Black men, 269 for Black
women, 326 for white men, and 0 for white women.(1)
RAIL argues that the whole injustice system is an oppression
machine, especially targeting the oppressed Black, Latino
and First Nations. We also acknowledge that some people in
prison have done bad things and need to shape up - it's just
that the worst criminals are in government and corporate
boardrooms, not in jail. Still, talking to people on the
street it's clear that most don't realize that a majority of
prisoners are not there for violent crimes. In D.C., 53% of
inmates were sentenced for non-violent crimes.(1) But even
that is misleading, because a lot of "violent" crimes only
included the threat of violence. Only 3% of all arrests are
on charges of a violent crime that resulted in injury.(3) In
D.C., 29% of adults in prison are there in for narcotics
charges alone - that's almost 3,000 people in prison for
drugs in this city.(1)
Washington shows an extreme form of the oppressive nature of
Amerika's criminal injustice system, made worse by the lack
of even basic democracy for the Black D.C. majority and the
economic isolation of the city that results. DC-RAIL urges
people to get involved with the local work to end the
Amerikan lockdown.
Notes:
1. Crime and Justice Trends in the District of Columbia.
National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Washington, D.C.,
Fall 1997.
3. The Real War on Crime: The Report of the National
Criminal Justice Commission, edited by Stephen R. Donziger
(HarperCollins, 1996).
4. The Census Bureau has 1997 population estimates for D.C.,
but the most recent "race"-specific estimates are for 1996.
So we assume the 1996-1997 population change was equal for
Blacks and whites; it wasn't a big change anyway.
* * *
CALIFORNIA PRISON EXPANSION
Over the last ten years, the California prisons system
followed the trends in the u.$. prisons system as a whole
towards increased imprisonment and calculated brutality. In
fact, the California Department of Corrections (CDC) boasts
that it has undertaken the largest prisons expansion program
in the u.$.(1) There are currently 156,789 inmates in all
CDC facilities; this number grew by 13,849 in 1997 (almost
10%). More than 145,000 of these inmates are in prisons.(2)
As is the case throughout the u.$. prisons system, people
from the oppressed nations are imprisoned in California
prisons at a disproportionate rate. The CDC claims that 34%
of the population in all CDC institutions is Latino, and 31%
is Black. However, these figures go up when we consider the
population of the Security Housing Units (SHUs), (the CDC's
control units). Fully 82% of those in SHUs are non-white,
and 52% of those in SHUs are Latino.(3) About 45% of
California's population is non-white; 32% is Latino, and 7%
is Black.(7)
The SHUs: Central to CDC repression
The three California SHU's - Pelican Bay State Prison SHU,
Valley State Prison for Women SHU, and the California State
Prisons at Corcoran - are the lynchpin for the CDC's prison
system. They are the most brutal prisons in the system and
principally target those prisoners who show the most
resistance. They are designed to break inmates' spirit. The
SHU is a threat which hangs over the head of all CA
prisoners.
According to California Prisons Focus, a mass organization
which sprang up in opposition to the first CA SHU more than
10 years ago:
"At Pelican Bay State Prison prisoners are kept in
windowless cells for a minimum of 22 1/2 hours a day. They
never see sun directly. There is no education, no job
training, no work, no religious services, or hobby
materials. No communal activities of any kind are allowed.
All meals are eaten in cell. ... Prisoners are subject to
strip searches upon departure from and return to their cell
for the purpose of 'security' - when they have not come in
contact with any other individual."
Conditions at Pelican Bay were found unconstitutional in
1995 by a federal court, which ruled that prisoners were
subjected to gratuitous and racist beatings and that medical
facilities were inadequate. Prisoners report that little has
changed since this ruling. Corcoran prison is infamous for
its daily "gladiator fights," staged between 1988 and 1996.
Guards would manipulate exercise schedules so that known
enemies would be in the handball-court-sized recreation area
at the same time. Fights were basically certain, and guards
bet on the outcome. After a fight had gone on for a while,
guards would break it up by firing wooden bullets at the
prisoners. Hundreds of prisoners were injured in these
fights - including seven murdered by guards.(3) These are
only a few of the tortures and terrors implemented by the
CDC.
Transfer to and from a SHU depends on the whims of a
classification committee. Prisoners are not allowed legal
counsel before this kangaroo court. The CDC claims that the
SHUs house "the worst of the worst," who are kept in
lockdown because they pose a danger to other prisoners.
However - again as is the case in other control units
throughout the u.$. - many of the prisoners in California's
SHUs are there because they are jailhouse lawyers, or have
filed too many grievances.
The CDC also uses the policy of "snitch, parole, or die" to
justify further repression and turn prisoners against each
other. Prisoners can be transferred to the SHU - regardless
of good behavior or their sentence - if "confidential
informants" label them gang members. Prisoners are not
allowed to confront their accusers or defend against the
allegation of gang membership, so many of those sent to the
SHU under this policy may indeed be innocent of the so-
called crime of gang membership. Once in the SHU, these
prisoners can only leave if they inform on another "gang
member," are paroled, or die. This is clearly a policy aimed
at creating a need for SHU space and fanning the flames of
the anti-gang (read: anti-oppressed nation youth) hysteria.
As California Prison Focus points out, this CDC policy
violates the international bourgeoisie's own standards for
fair treatment of prisoners. "The practice of throwing
somebody in solitary confinement in order to extract
information is considered torture and is prohibited by the
Geneva Convention governing wartime combatants."
"Information gained under such duress is notoriously
inaccurate."(3)
Anti-people violence for sick fun and profit
The CDC and the California Correctional Peace Officers Union
- the guards' union is the largest contributor to political
causes in California - used these fights at Corcoran to
justify the CDC's bloated budget and an increase in
repressive measures in CDC facilities.(6) Prisons have
become big business. Prisoners are exploited at Third World
rates (indeed, slavery is still legal within prison walls),
contracts to build and run prisons are lucrative, if
unproductive, ways for clever capitalists to scam money from
so-called public funds, and the prison guards' wages place
them comfortably in the ranks of the labor aristocracy (a
position they will fight to defend).(7) The fights and
shootings at Corcoran show that the bourgeoisie and its
lackeys will happily provoke and carry out violence all for
a cheap and fast buck.
Just as the "snitch parole or die" policy and the "gladiator
fights" at Corcoran create the bogus illusion of a need for
SHU space, other CDC policies regulating even the most
mundane aspects of prisoners' lives are designed to provoke
prisoners and pave the way for further prisons expansion and
crackdowns. Since the end of 1997, the CDC has (a)
prohibited long hair and beards among male prisoners - some
of whom wear their hair long for religious reasons, (b)
taken away the $1 million budget for the prison law library,
and (c) taken away prisoners' weights, restricting their
already limited recreation and increasing hazards to their
physical health. Further restrictions being discussed
include prohibiting quarterly packages and eliminating
smoking and personal TVs.(4)
Whether or not the CDC prisoncrats were consciously
manipulating the law that "oppression breeds resistance,"
they proved it true again. On New Year's Day 1998 over 1,000
prisoners in Folsom State prison rebelled by throwing
burning toilet paper over the tiers, banging on cell doors,
and refusing to eat. In the words of a San Quentin prisoner,
"We do have a little bit of life in here, debased as it is,
but there's stuff to do. [The grooming restrictions are]
just too much."(5)
What is to be done?
Single-issue work around prison brutality is important work.
However, ultimately, the systems of imperialist national
oppression and capitalist exploitation - that is, the
systems which create the need for oppressive institutions
like the CDC - must be overthrown in order to change the
Amerikan prison system. The movement against prison
expansion and prison brutality must be part and parcel of
the movement against imperialism and for socialism.
Notes:
1. California Department of Corrections homepage.
http://www.cdc.state.ca.us.
2. California Department of Corrections factsheet.
http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/factsht.htm.
3. California Prison Focus website:
http://www.igc.org/jusitce/cpf.
4. Prison Legal News, Mar 1998, p. 18; Prison Legal News,
Apr 1998, p. 5.
5. Prison Legal News, Apr 1998, p. 9.
6. The San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Oct 96.
7. 1996 Statistical Abstract of the United States.
* * *
SUPPORT REVOLUTIONARY STUDY GROUPS UNDER LOCK & KEY
MIM recently solicited and received a large anonymous
donation of progressive books specifically for the Serve the
People Books for Prisoners Program. MIM will work with its
supporters to send these several hundred books out to
prisoners and use this opportunity to sustain and expand
work with prisoners to develop anti-imperialist study groups
under lock and key.
We remind our readers that we have a constant flow of
requests by prisoners for political, historical, anti-
imperialist and revolutionary reading material. Distributing
this one donation only fills a portion of the needs of our
comrades under lock and key. We need our readers to send
cold hard cash to help with costs that range well over one
thousand dollars for this small project of the Serve the
People Books for Prisoners Program. We also need more
readers to get involved in soliciting and obtaining needed
study group material for incarcerated comrades.
Prison comrades: If you want to read literature on a certain
topic, let us know and we'll see what we have. If you will
read, study and review the book [for MIM Theory] we will
send you "The Geopolitics of Hunger" by Jose de Castro [five
copies available] or "The Struggle for Zimbabwe" by David
Martin and Phyllis Johnson [9 copies available.] These are
all bound paperbacks -- check with your facility on policies
regarding receiving books. See future MIM Notes for
announcements of other study materials and requests for
books reviews by prison comrades.
* * *
PIG LOBBY KILLS CONGRESSIONAL BILL TO STUDY RACIST TRAFFIC
STOPS
MIM and Black nationalists have long exposed the practice by
which police stop motorists simply for being Black. MIM and
others have called the "charge" DWB, or Driving While Black.
Congressional Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) had
sponsored a bill to require the Justice Department to
"collect racial and ethnic statistics on traffic stops."
After the bill was watered down, preventing the data from
being used to "establish 'an inference of discrimination" in
future lawsuits arising from contested police stops of Black
motorists" it passed in the House. But strong opposition
from the National Association of Pig Organizations (a group
of 4,000 unions) and the National Troopers Koalition has
consigned the bill to languish in the Senate Judiciary
Committee. The bill might be dead, but the effort will no
doubt help Conyers with Black Detroit voters.
According to the National Association of Pig Organizations,
there is "no pressing need or justification for this study."
Members of the oppressed nations have their own experiences
to prove this false, and some of our younger white readers
may need to hear it from some of imperialism's top leaders
to think otherwise:
Conyers told the House in debate: "There are virtually no
African-American males -- including congressmen, actors,
athletes, and office workers -- who have not been stopped at
one time or another for an alleged traffic violation, namely
driving while Black."
And two years ago Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th US
Circuit Court of Appeals wrote: "It is clear ... that
African-Americans are stopped by the police in
disproportionate numbers."
One of the reasons the pigs give to opposing the bill is a
complete ruse.
The pigs allegedly are concerned that they "would resent
being asked to collect data on the race or ethnic background
of those they stop and often search, and that many motorists
would balk as well."
MIM thinks the pigs would resent this on two fronts: First,
such hard, continent-wide data would be yet another nail in
the coffin of this rotten imperialist system and it's phony
claims of being "race-neutral." In fact, this system depends
on the brutal oppression and exploitation of the Black,
Latino and First Nations by white Amerika. The police are
the front lines in Amerika's war against these internal
colonies. Secondly, compiling such data would remove the
charade of "race-neutrality before the law" that the so-
called "good cops" uphold. Such "good cops" would be forced
to challenge too many of the systems assumptions.
And the pigs are right, most motorists would balk at this
data collection. Most whites and integration-minded
oppressed nationals try very hard to ignore the issue of
national oppression and don't like to be categorized or
think about their position in the Amerikan empire. And for
the majority of oppressed nationals who know that they were
pulled over for racist reasons in the first place, putting
their nationality further to the front of the pigs mind by
answering the question "License, registration and race,
please." is the last thing they'll want to do.
MIM works for national liberation against this rotten
imperialist system. We want to see nations control their own
police forces. While we recognize that some good could come
out of Imperialist Conyers' bill, we have no illusions that
he is on the side of the oppressed. But in this case that
point is moot, since the ITAL system END made sure his bill
didn't pass.
Note: Boston Globe 2 June 1998, p. A7.
* * *
WHAT DO YOU SPEND $75 ON?
As MIM Notes readers know, MIM and RAIL send the newspaper
to prisoners for free as well as MIM Theory journals, Marx,
Lenin, Mao classics, literature by and on the Black Panther
Party and many other types of revolutionary literature. The
Serve the People Books for Prisoners Program has grown
exponentially as MIM and the masses have continued to spread
the word and educate and mobilize prisoners into battles
against oppression. We have a constant stream of requests
from prisoners asking for revolutionary and historical
material. This program is funded in various ways, but
primarily it is funded from help on the outside because
prisoners are not paid the value of their labor, and are
forced to spend little money they earn (if they receive it)
on basic necessities.
In May, an Attica prisoner sent MIM $75 in order to receive
revolutionary materials to study and help other brothers
learn more about the parasitic and oppressive nature of
imperialism. Most prisoners are not able to send money to
MIM for the literature and when they do, for many prisoners
it is a much deeper sacrifice than most people on the
outside in Amerikkka will ever understand.
If prisoners can scrape together money, then what about you?
What about sending along $100 every two months to help us
send materials to prisoners?
* * *
UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS
One Hundred Years of Resistance
...I would like to comment on a couple of articles printed in
MIM Notes (February 1, 1998 issue): "Amerikan COINTELPRO
Continues, Puerto Rican Independence Movement Under Attack"
and "Freedom and Amnesty for Puerto Rican Independence
Leaders". Thank you for shedding light on these topics.
Those were great articles, which will hopefully open some
eyes on this ongoing struggle.
...The administration where I am incarcerated at seems to be
very biased toward not only the Puerto Rican Independence
Movement but to Puerto Rico as a whole. I have been mailed
letters, pictures and literature pertaining to Puerto Rico
and it never reaches my cell. In the past I have had
literature as well as flags confiscated from my cell
numerous times.
I am a proud Puerto Rican brother with strong beliefs. I
have always been for Independence of our Island. ...I carry my
flag up high proudly as do many other Boricuas. We were all
United Snakes born but this did not deter us from searching
for our roots studying up on our history and its struggles
(both Spanish and Amerikan) to overcome oppression and seek
liberation of its inhabitants from Colonial rule. But for
every one Boricua who has studied their history there are
five who haven't. You ask the majority of United Snakes born
Puerto Ricans who Emertrio Betances, Don Pedro Albizu
Campos, Blanca Canoles, or Lolita Lebron are and they will
not have a clue. But ask them if they ever heard of George
Washington, John Wayne or David Duke and they will reply
"correctly" within the blink of an eye.
It is sad how many are lost mentally. Especially when there
are so many Latino Organizations with powerful as well as
positive names such as The Family (La Familia) and the
Latin King Queen Nation. Yet there is still so much violence
against (amongst) our own. This lack of interest is why we
continue to kill one another. Depleting our own numbers.
If individuals were aware of their history and the past
struggles, sacrifices and true revolutionary figures, maybe
there would be a lot more respect and less violence. It's
bad enough we have to watch our backs against the machine.
Why do we have to continue to watch our backs from our own
brothers and sisters in the struggle as well? I sincerely
hope that individuals awaken from this madness before it's
too late.
Right now as it stands, there are fifteen Puerto Rican
Prisoners of War (mothers and fathers) incarcerated under
hellish conditions in Amerikan Gulags because of their
political beliefs; and love of their people and Island.
Fighting this Hundred Year War of Liberation against these
Devil Imperialists.
One hundred years later these people [Amerikkka] are not
satisfied with their exploitation of our Island. They are
still in the mix of things trying to make Puerto Rico a
state. Unfortunately with all the people who have been
brainwashed and/or made dependent on the United Snakes, it
may happen. If it does happen all will be lost.
Rise up brothers and sisters. Unite for the rights of your
people before our Island becomes another permanent fixture
of Amerikan Imperialism.
Personal respects to: Oscar Lopez Rivera, Alejandrina
Torres, Antonio "Camacho" Negron, Edwin Cortez, Elizam
Escobar, Alicia Rodriguez, Juan Segarra Palmer, Carlos
Torres, Carmen Valentin, Ida Luz Rodriguez, Adolfo Matos,
and all other Puerto Rican Prisoners of War. We pray for
your liberation. Also to those who have passed away fighting
for the cause, you may be gone but not forgotten.
-A Puerto Rican Prisoner, 15 March 1998
Imperialist Criminals Warehouse the Masses
MIM,
I am a prisoner of war being housed at Maryland's "Super
Maximum' facility. I have been here since December 1996 -
obviously warehoused with 228 other so-called felons.
...This is the only country in the world where one is
imprisoned not so much for what he does, but rather for what
he represents. It is true that we of the working class are
subject to the political apparatus. Those who privately
profit from this warped economic system, are the same ones
who flood the poverty stricken communities with narcotics
and guns. The same politicians and capitalistic elite talk
of tougher prison sanctions and crime prevention when they
are responsible for the crime itself.
I no longer accept being the victim and would very much like
to opportunity to align myself with others who know the
enemy and commit to the struggle. ...In closing I say if you
possess allies, unite with them. I you find yourself in
enemy territory, do not linger. If you find yourself
imprisoned, you must hold your body still and concentrate
with your mind until a way out presents itself to you.
Power to the People!
-A Maryland Prisoner, 2 May 1998
Transferred to Suppress Political Views
I write to inform you that I was transferred back to this
Maximum Control Facility in March. I am under the belief
that the officials at the last facility conspired to send me
back here to persecute me for my progressive political
activities.
This is another repressive measure being used by my keepers
to suppress my progressive revolutionary voice among my
brothers who are being held by force, not by choice in these
genocidal tombs as I am.
I am currently under punitive measures. Nothing has changed
for the better. It is more or less being used as a warehouse
for the human commodity that dwells here.
I've begun to realize that many of my brothers presently
housed here are very ignorant to what's happening to them
here. Thus the neo-colonialist agents who run this genocidal
tomb have capitalized off the ignorance of these brothers
and continue to get away with crimes of genocide....
Struggling,
-An Indiana Prisoner, 30 March, 1998
Breaking the Silence
The state of TX has more prisoners held captive inside the
womb of her plantations than any other. It is my position as
a Black man in the struggle and should be the position of
every conscious mind that's here in the u.s. to rise up its
nation. The Black, Latino and Mexican communities are the
most shot and killed by the police, the most arrested by the
police, and the most unfairly tried and condemned by this
racist judicial system. Over and again the overt racist acts
that are committed against us are so egregious that even the
major media, and middle-class white Amerikans cry out in
protest.
But way too often my own people are silent. And for those of
us who are less blessed are often forgotten too. I glance at
the TV, newspaper or whatever it may be. Our so-called Black
professionals are quick to point out the problems with the
Black communities, but when it is time to bring the solution
into action all that have been said have been forgotten.
There's no secret why Texas prisons are full of young Black
males, cause if our own people forsake us how can we expect
anyone else to accept us?
Within confinement I have gained much and lost dearly. I
have gained knowledge of self, which brings pride and
discipline. I have lost my mother through death, and many
close and dear friends through gang violence. I have been
confined since I was seventeen and now am twenty-two.... There
are many talented young brothers in here as well as
intelligence, but there is no such thing as hope for these
African man trapped inside.
Please don't misunderstand me there are some men here who
deserve to be here, and there are some who don't deserve to
take another breath. But there are some of us who have done
nothing horribly wrong as what the Menedez brothers did, or
Susan Smith the woman who drowned her two children and then
said a Black man kidnapped them. There are many brothers
here who cannot write nor read and half barely average a
fifth to sixth grade average. Few of you don't know what the
treatment is like, cause what prisons administrators tell
you is not anything near the truth. So when I ask for your
help I don't mean monetary help. I am speaking of genuine
interest in what is happening to our people. We are still
your people, we just happen to be in prison.
Investigate and you will find in here those of us that are
often imprisoned confront sadness, loneliness, feeling of
betrayal and real pain that often turns to rock hard anger
after so long behind bars, then when we are released as
older men with nothing awaiting us except a greyhound bus to
a street with a hotel where the bathroom is down the hall.
-A Texas Prisoner
MIM Adds:
Some prisoners may have done criminal acts, but the United
Snakes Injustice System is not fit to judge criminal
behavior since it advocates the greater criminal act of
imperialist murder and oppression. The biggest criminals are
the ones running the system and creating the jails.
Inmates Battle Injustice and Corruption
It's a lot of corruption and injustice that goes on in this
unit which was supposed to be set-up for the worst of the
worst convicts. I have seen a lot of innocent convicts. Me
and my ex-cellmate were departed from each other due to our
gay beliefs.
We were placed on lockdown (U.C.U.) on 72 hours stripped out
no blankets no hygiene. Pigs spit in our food tamper with
our mail, not just gay convicts but all. I was slammed on
the ground face first for turning my head...
...This pig still doing the same like the others I named.
There's no justice in this place SMU2 [Security Management
Unit 2]. The Disciplinary Hearing Officer (DHO) takes the
pigs' side every time. For the past month I haven't gotten
my periodicals such as the newsletters Coalition for
Prisoners' Rights, and the Prisoners' Rights Union.
I was given MIM's address to expose the truth from a convict
that wished not to expose his name. So this unjust and
corrupt system can be exposed to the people on how the pigs
treat us. Every damn thing is almost denied for us. Some
convicts gave up hope ... the convict that didn't want his
name exposed he gave up.
Convicts that are battling injustice and corruption told me
to expose it all based on how corrupt it is. I had to beg
the convict for this address so these pigs dirty work can be
exposed. We must fight against injustice and corruption of
these pigs. We must get our rights. So don't be scared to
pick up a pen and get some paper to expose the corruption of
these pigs.
-A Prisoner, 9 April 1998
Suspending College Classes
...MIM wanted to know why Michigan decided to suspend college
classes [in prison]. The state decided that is was too
expensive to keep all the programs in existence. As we know
the state has no interest in rehabilitating prisoners. You
know the saddest thing about this is the courts refuse to
let them take exercise weights out of the institutions, but
allowed oppressors to discontinue college classes.
States have a goal to reserve funds, so they can hire more
staff (officers) to run the multiple prisons they are
building, or preparing to build. They still have pretend GED
school, which, in most of the prisons, is a joke. Our
education has been reduced by the so-called mighty swing of
the oppressor's wrath. Which comes with consistent blows.
Yes, the DOC [Department of Incorrections] recognizes that
any education can be dangerous! Five years ago a teacher
told me that the State no longer has the funds to operate
college classes. It is my opinion, that the funds are being
shifted to hire more oppressors. My opinions come from what
I see! ...
-A Michigan Prisoner, 1 March 1998
The following letter was sent to MIM in April 1998. It was
written to the Governor of Kansas.
Deprived of Proper Medical Care
Bill Grave, Kansas Governor
State Capital, 2nd Floor
Topeka, Kansas 66612-1590
Dear Governor Graves:
State Correctional Officials are deliberately allowing a
pattern of indifference regarding inmates medical needs to
occur. This is resulting in the increase of untimely and
unnecessary deaths of inmates from medical conditions that
usually are effectively managed, arrested and even cured by
adequate and proper medical care.
Inmates are being deprived of proper and adequate medical
treatment. These facility medical departments and doctors
are deliberately failing to acknowledge and diagnose medical
conditions in inmates in an effort to save the money that
would be required for the medications, treatments and other
interventions for a given medical condition. Even when an
inmate is diagnosed with a particular medical condition
and/or disease, only the bare minimum and often time
obsolete treatments are being used. There is no attempt to
actually correct or cure the condition or disease; just
protractedly manage it.
In support of my allegation, I submit the following
individual cases and situations from some of the
correctional facilities in the state of Kansas:
In May of 1992, Mr. X, complained to Dr. H at the Lansing
Correctional Facility for months about blood in his stool,
weight loss and extreme frequent pain in his lower stomach.
Nothing was ever done about his condition. Three months
later Mr. X had to be taken to the hospital for emergency
surgery. He lost his entire colon. He now lives with a
colonostomy.
In December of 1994, Nathaniel Smith complained to Dr. H at
the Lansing Correctional Facility that he was having chest
pains. Dr. H examined him, told him it was gas, and sent him
back to the cell house. Early that evening Nathaniel Smith
died of a heart attack.
In February of 1996, Mr. Y complained to El Dorado
Correctional Facility Dr. P about severe pain in the upper
left side of his stomach. Dr. P told Mr. Y that he was
suffering from stomach acid and told him to take some Tums.
The pain Mr. Y was having persisted for months, and he
complained to Dr. P for months. In April 1996 Mr. Y had to
be rushed (because of imminent death) to the Hospital for
emergency surgery. His pancreas had completely stopped
working.
Mr. Y is a diabetic, and his condition was caused by
facility medical staff not giving him insulin injections
according to the recommended guidelines for certain blood
sugar levels. The facility medical department and doctor
allowed Mr. Y to go for two and three years with blood sugar
levels of 200 and 300 without giving him injections of
insulin.
Additionally, there are about thirty-six inmates in
Administrative Segregation with diabetes. At least fifteen
of these guys' blood sugar levels have been over 200 and 300
numerous times through the months for years and none of
these guys have been given insulin. As a matter of fact, out
of the thirty-six diabetics in Administrative Segregation,
only one is getting insulin injections according to the
recommended guidelines.
In May of 1997, Arthur Chandler died because he did not
receive adequate medical treatment from the El Dorado
Correctional Facility medical department for his kidney
problem. He was transferred to the Lansing Correctional
Facility where he died two months later.
In February of 1997, Kenneth McArthur died from and
undiagnosed cerebral hemorrhage.
I have three reasons why I'm writing you this letter:
I have my own medical condition, a liver and colon
infection. I cannot seem to get properly examined and
treated for this. It is my hope that you [will]... encourage
the facility medical department to conduct an examination or
probe of my liver. And ascertain the cause of blood in my
stool, the pain in my liver and lower back, and the extent
of my problem. I would like an intervention to attempt to
arrest my problem before it becomes worse.
I have a legal obligation to make you aware of this
situation.
And finally, I am tired of seeing inmates die unnecessarily
and I am hoping you will do something about this situation.
I have been in Administrative Segregation here at the El
Dorado Correctional Facility for four years. During that
time seven inmates have unnecessarily died in here. That's
roughly two inmates a year.
This should be unacceptable, if not intolerable.
I thank you for your time, and hopefully concern regarding
this situation.
-A Kansas Prisoner 27 August, 1997
Guards Force Naked Transport in Winter Cold
Well I have another tale of blatant abuse by these officers
here. On March 3, 1998, I was transported to the county
hospital Emergency Room for treatment of a suspected drug
overdose. I hadn't eaten or responded to anyone in more than
two days. Early on the third day I was rushed to the
infirmary here on the unit.
They tried everything to get me to respond - to acknowledge
where I was and what was happening, including several
"painful stimuli" techniques. None were successful, so they
called an ambulance. I just lay there staring at the
ceiling. After being examined by the ER [Emergency Room]
docs - which included blood tests, urine tests, EKG/EEG
tests and x-rays, they determined that it was psychological
and referred me to the Acute Care psychiatric Facility 3
hours away.
These officers transported me naked in freezing weather (32
degrees F), forcing me to curl up in the backseat shivering.
By the time I got there, I'm sure the staff thought I was
convulsing. A Lieutenant here ordered the transporting
officers not to clothe me, I found out, just to harass and
humiliate me. That I caught a cold is beside the point. This
was a clear violation of my constitutional rights - my human
rights - and a perfect example of inhumane treatment, cruel
and unusual punishment in one of its worst forms. Of course
I'm taking action against all involved.
They also stole six educational books claiming that they had
"no labels" on them. A label on a book? If he meant covers,
they all had front and back covers, so its obvious what time
it was (and is). The oppression continues...
-Texas prisoner 6 April 1998
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