I N T E R N E T ' S M A O I S T BI-M O N T H L Y = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = XX XX XXX XX XX X X XXX XXX XXX XXX X X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X V X X X V X X X X X X X XX XXX X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X XXX X X X V XXX X XXX XXX = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT MIM Notes 179 February 1, 1999 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. CALIFORNIA'S DUNGEONS DRIVE HIV+ PRISONER TO SUICIDE 2. SOME FACTS ABOUT HIV/AIDS IN AMERIKAN PRISONS: 3. MIM CONGRESS SEEKS INPUT ON UNITED FRONT 4. LETTERS 5. AMERIKA PROVOKES FIGHT OVER NO-FLY ZONES 6. LATINOS MORE LIKELY TO LACK HEALTH INSURANCE 7. THE SALLY SHOW WHOOPS IT UP FOR FASCISM 8. DROP IN ILLEGAL MURDER RATES FUELS POLICE STATE HYPE MORE COPS, MORE PRISONS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DROP 9. PLANTATION NATION CONVICTS ALBERT WOODFOX 10. PHILIPPINES: FORMER DICTATOR'S CRONIES REGAIN STOLEN WEALTH 11. DOWN WITH BUREAUCRAT CAPITALISM! 12. JOINT DECLARATION BY COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST- LENINIST)[PEOPLE'S WAR], AND COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST-LENINIST)[PARTY UNITY] 13. IMPERIALISTS USE LIES ABOUT KHMER ROUGE TO SLANDER REAL COMMUNISTS 14. REVIEW: A CIVIL ACTION 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 * * * CALIFORNIA'S DUNGEONS DRIVE HIV+ PRISONER TO SUICIDE California prisoner Michael Van Straaten hanged himself in front of prison staff in order to protest the treatment he and other California prisoners with HIV/AIDS receive. Guards found him hanging in the corner of his cell and watched him for 18 minutes before they entered to pronounce him dead. His body was still warm and limber when they cut it down.(1) Van Straaten, a 32-year old Canadian citizen, was transferred in the mid-90s to the HIV+ unit at Corcoran State Prison, which holds 230 prisoners. California is one of only three states (the others are Alabama and Mississippi) that segregate their HIV+ inmates by housing them in separate units in each prison.(2) Corcoran has become a dumping ground for HIV+ patients. Corcoran's HIV+ unit is infamous for its poor health care. Prisoners get sub-standard treatment and their viral loads are not adequately monitored. The first AIDS fatality at Corcoran died of an easily treatable opportunistic infection. One former prisoner wrote, "Even with signs of the yeast infection in his mouth, his condition went untreated... He was allowed to remain in his cell for almost three weeks unattended and unmonitored by the medical staff. He condition rapidly worsened, he developed pneumonia and his lungs filled. By the time he was taken to the hospital he had wasted away to near nothing. He lasted three days in the hospital."(3) Another prisoner at the unit wrote, "My greatest concern about Corcoran is that once I got very sick, I would not receive proper care, and I would die miserably."(2) Van Straaten claimed that his medications for his seizures (he also had epilepsy) and HIV were delayed and sometimes denied. With the help of California prisoners' rights activists, friends and family in Canada, and even the Canadian embassy, Van Straaten was fighting to be transferred to the medical facility at Vacaville or a prison in Canada. His requests for transfer were repeatedly denied for several years. Just before he comitted suicide, Van Straaten was again denied a transfer and was placed in solitary confinement following an epileptic seizure. Fellow prisoners said that the first two guards to arrive at the cell "actually yelled at him to come down, to stop his suicide." Van Straaten was pronounced dead 20 minutes later, after guards had taken no action to aid him.(4) Van Straaten's frustration, the terrible medical care prisoners with AIDS receive, and guards callous disregard for Van Straaten's very life are the results of a system which considers prisoners to be slaves or bodies to be warehoused or worse. The dramatic four-fold expansion of the Amerikan prison population has been fueled in large part by harsh sentences for drug users - a population at high risk for HIV infection. The result is that many people already given outrageous sentences for petty, non-violent crimes in effect receive a death sentence, thanks to the poor care HIV+ prisoners receive. Adequate heath care is a non-negotiable right. Certainly it is possible to provide prisoners with adequate HIV/AIDS care (and treatment for other diseases as well) - but the ideology which considers prisoners less than humyn and the increasing role that the profit motive plays in prisons denies them care. Prisoners should receive the same standard of care that non-prisoners do. Prisoners should also have access to basic measures which stop the spread of HIV, such as clean needles and condoms. Ultimately, the best way to ensure adequate health care for prisoners is to overturn the systems of oppression which intersect in Amerikan prisons: National oppression, which denies economic opportunity in Black, Latino, First Nation and other communities and which locks people from these nations up at unjust disproportionate rates, and capitalism, which places profit before humyn needs. We understand the desperation of prisoners like Van Straaten who see no alternative to protest the system that is torturing and killing them and many others, but we value the lives of our fighting comrades and encourage all who want to protest the injustice system to join with MIM for the long fight. Work with us to expose the system and organize others into the struggle. Send us news and information about what's going on in your prison, circulate MIM Notes to other prisoners, form study groups and work with us and other prisoners in the legal fight while we build a revolutionary movement to take down the injustice system. Notes: 1. Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec 98. 2. "POZ: Lethal Lottery," http://www.thebody.com/poz/survival/11_98/lottery.html. 3. "Conditions faced by prisoners with HIV/AIDS in California," http://www.igc.apc.org/justice/articles/conditions-faced- by-prisoners-with.html. 4. Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec 98. * * * SOME FACTS ABOUT HIV/AIDS IN AMERIKAN PRISONS: * AIDS is the main cause of death in Amerikan prisons. * The life expectancy of HIV+ prisoners is half that of HIV+ non-prisoners. * The AIDS rate is seven times higher in state and federal prisons than in the general U.S. population. * In New York, more than 25% of prison AIDS diagnoses were first made after the affected prisoner was dead. * In New York, 47% of prisoners with AIDS were "Hispanic," 40% were black, and 11.5% were white. * California prisons which do not have special units for HIV+ prisoners provide no HIV/AIDS education. * Few California prisons supply condoms and none supply bleach kits to sterilize needles to inmates. Unprotected sex and sharing dirty needles are two important ways that HIV is transmitted. * More than 22 million people are released each year from Amerikan jails and prisons. * In 1988, California voters passed Proposition 96, an initiative authored by the sheriff of Los Angeles County requiring prison and jail physicians to give lists of known or suspected HIV-infected prisoners to correctional staff. Sources: "AIDS and HIV Infection in Prisoners," http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/akb/1997/01pris. "AIDS in Prison Project: Facts Sheet," http://www.aidsinfonyc.org/aip/facts.html. "POZ: Lethal Lottery," http://www.thebody.com/poz/survival/11_98/lottery.html. "Welcome to Hell: HIV+ In Prison," http://sonomacountyfreepress.org/welcome/welhiv.html. * * * MIM CONGRESS SEEKS INPUT ON UNITED FRONT The Maoist Internationalist Movement's 1999 Congress is quickly approaching. MIM encourages its allies and friends, both international and domestic, to submit greetings and solidarity statements to the Congress. MIM particularly requests input on how to develop the proletarian-led united front within imperialist countries, in accordance with the science of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. We would like any and all suggestions on how to solidify proletarian leadership in the anti-imperialist struggle of the internal colonies, the oppressed nations within imperialist countries' borders. We would also like any and all suggestions on how to formulate programs and strategies to split away the petty- bourgeoisie from the imperialists in the imperialist countries while remaining true to the interests of the international proletariat. Please send you statements to MIM Notes, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI, 48106, or e-mail them to mim@mim.org, or give them to your local MIM representative. * * * LETTERS [The print version of this issue accidentally ran an old letter from a prisoner along with a response to a different letter. That is not reprinted here.] Build independent media! *MIM received the following letter in response to the article in MIM Notes 178 denouncing 20/20's slanderous coverage of Mumia Abu Jamal's case and stressing the importance of Party-led media.* I agree that being in control of the media is important. I think protests are somewhat less effective, or sometimes a waste of energy. The point of protesting is to bring an issue to people's attention, and couldn't that be done as effectively with less effort through the media? If RAIL or MIM needs volunteers for work involving the media or literature, please let me and others know. MIM responds: We do need volunteers and there are many ways you (and others) can help out. (1) Help distribute MIM and RAIL publications. Drop newsletters for free at cafes, laundromats, bookstores, libraries, supermarkets - wherever people will pick them up. Or hand them out on the street and talk to people about the importance of an anti-imperialist perspective. Put up posters on current issues with an anti- imperialist perspective around town (the article on Mumia you read has been turned into a flyer and posted throughout several cities). (2) Raise money to help expand MIM and RAIL publications. Years ago MIM Notes used to be several photocopied papers with a very small distribution - now MIM Notes is a bi-weekly 12 page newspaper distributed across the continent and internationally. The expansion was made possible by the financial contributions of the masses. The easiest way to contribute financially is to get a subscription to MIM Notes ($20 for 24 issues). (3) Write for RAIL or MIM publications. There are hundreds of issues which are relevant to anti-imperialist, anti-oppression politics - police brutality, prisons, the environment, anti-Black, anti-Latino, anti-First Nation, and anti-Asian chauvinism, anti-gay and anti-wimmin chauvinism, etc. etc. etc. The small MIM and RAIL writing staffs can't cover all these issues in all their details all the time - we depend on input from our readers. And we need to expand and improve our writing staff. You can help. RAIL Notes and MIM Notes accept submissions of articles on relevant, "newsy" topics. Regarding protests: Protests are partly about bringing an issue to public awareness, it is true. And part of the point of the article on the 20/20 debacle was that if you depend on the bourgeois media to publicize your protest, you are setting yourself up to have your message distorted or just not spread. But protests fulfill other roles as well - e.g. putting direct pressure on our enemies. Two years ago, when RAIL protested FBI recruitment at UCSB, the FBI cancelled their recruiting session. RAIL and MIM also helped kick the CIA off of the UCLA campus. * * * AMERIKA PROVOKES FIGHT OVER NO-FLY ZONES On January 3, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein vowed that Iraq would attempt to shoot down Amerikan and English planes patrolling the "no-fly zones". These zones cover the Northern and Southern thirds of the country. The two imperialist empires set up the no-fly zones in 1991 to further weaken Iraq by removing Iraq's ability to use air power against the Kurds in the North or Shiite Muslims in the South. The U.$. uses alleged support for the people inside Iraqi borders as a smokescreen for extending its own hegemony in the area. For example, Amerika and England are no friends of the Kurds. In fact, the U.$ finances Turkey's bloody military attacks on the Kurds. Until the December 16 attacks by Amerikan and English forces on Iraq, France was participating in the no-fly zones. For its own imperialist reasons France opposes continuing military actions and sanctions against Iraq. Evidently France wants to go back to the usual World War III war of slow death by imperialist exploitation, with imperialist-funded neo-colonial armies doing the imperialists' dirty work. Hussein's January statement to his Cabinet repeated claims by lower officials that planes in Iraqi airspace would be fired upon. Iraq's decisions to stop UN weapons inspections and shoot back at foreign planes violating its airspace are a sign to the u.$.: If you act like a spoiled bully, used to getting your way on every detail, then you will be treated like one and resisted. The shameless aggression of the u.$. and its craven attempts to pawn this aggression off as just peacemaking have stirred up anti- Amerikan sentiment in the Middle East and around the world. Since the 4 nights of bombing in December, U.$. planes have attacked Iraq at least twice, allegedly because Iraqi air defenses fired on U.$. planes. According to Iraq, 4 soldiers and one farmer were killed. The U.$. claims that its policies in Iraq are not Amerikan policy, but are attempts to enforce United Nations resolutions. But the no-fly zones are Amerikan-British inventions and are not authorized by the Security Council. Regardless, MIM opposes imperialist intervention in Iraq, whether it is U.$ or UN led. Within the current imperialist system, international law formally requires nations to respect the sovereignty and borders of other nations. Imagine how outraged the United States would be if Mexico banned U.$. police and military planes and helicopters from California and Texas. After all, Amerika does use those military forces to oppress its internal colonies. And Mexico has a claim to those states, since they were stolen from Mexico by war in 1848. If that were the case, the U.$. would be running around claiming all kinds of violations of international law. MIM supports revolution against imperialist domination. Where the borders of one nation ends and another starts is something that only can be determined as part of the struggle of oppressed nations for true self-determination. The maps drawn up by the imperialists at the United Nations, Wall Street, Washington D.C. and London only serve to weaken the oppressed and extend the life of this dying system. Note: Boston Globe 4 January 1999. p. A12. * * * LATINOS MORE LIKELY TO LACK HEALTH INSURANCE A recent UCLA study of health insurance coverage found that Latinos were disproportionately represented in urban areas with high proportions of uninsured people. Latinos make up one-third of the population in such areas and only 4% of areas with low proportions of uninsured. El Paso, Los Angeles, and Houston have the highest proportions of uninsured residents - El Paso has 39% uninsured, and Los Angeles and Houston each have 31%. The average for the u.$. is 18%.(1) These numbers come as no surprise to MIM. The percent of "Hispanics" without health insurance in 1996 was 33.6%. This compares with 14.4% of whites. (2) The UCLA study also found that cities with the most uninsured tend to have more small employers and low-wage workers. Most Latinos without health insurance likely work in sectors dominated by proletarians or the small scale service sector like food preparation and house cleaning so this correlation with these types of jobs also makes sense. In California, many Mexican immigrants are worried that enrolling in the state subsidized medical program (MediCal) will jeopardize their families' immigration and naturalization status. These fears spring from the fascist tactics of the INS and the general anti-immigrant atmosphere in California.(1) The strategy of national liberation and self- determination for oppressed nations can contribute more to ensuring universal health care that petitioning a bourgeois state dominated by white chauvinism. Similarly, the failure of liberals like Clinton to effect even moderate improvements in health care accessibility show the relevance of socialism, which puts the health of the broad masses before the profits of insurance companies and health care providers. Notes: 1. LA Times, 18 Dec 98. 2. Hispanic Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook, 1998. Louise L. Horner ed, Information Publications 1998 * * * THE SALLY SHOW WHOOPS IT UP FOR FASCISM Talk show host Sally Jesse Rafael filmed the incarceration of six youth in the Essex County Detention Center on a show which aired December 22. The youth admitted to recreational drug use and other petty "crimes" like turnstile jumping. Their parents brought them on the Sally4 show knowing that they would be physically detained on the show and forced to spend 24 hours in the detention center. The youth were filmed as they were shouted at, manhandled and handcuffed, locked down for nine hours, and forced to participate in military-style drills. Sally's audience applauded and cheered as these so-called "out-of- control teens" got their comeuppance in the audience's eyes. The Essex County Detention Center is run by Joe Clark, who became infamous for his military approach to running a predominately Black high school. As legend has it, he patrolled the halls with a baseball bat. Five of the six youth locked up on the Sally show were white. Of all the groups in the white nation, the youth are oppressed and therefore the social force closest to the interests of the international proletariat. The state's cops, courts, and jails stand behind parents' property rights over their children. Youth are more likely to fight in an Amerikan military adventure abroad. White youth are also affected by the fascist growth of Amerikan prisons and police resulting from the undeclared war on oppressed nation youth. The Sally show reflects the unscientific approach to crime and punishment which dominates Amerikan public discourse. No statistics regarding the effectiveness of imprisonment as a means of curbing crime were presented, no statistics illustrating who really gets locked up and why were discussed, nobody presented documentation of the brutal conditions prisoners convicted of the most petty crimes face. The show merely reinforced patriarchal attitudes towards children and used these to bolster the current expansion of the Amerikan injustice system ñ all under the cover of combating petty crime and building youths' self-esteem. One of the youths on the show explained that there was little a harsh prison could do to change his behavior if he was always returned to the same environment once released. He also pointed out that wealthy kids could avoid prison for the same behavior that got him locked up ñ a fact backed up by numerous studies. The prison guards who were on the show agreed with him on both points. Apparently they were unconcerned that by agreeing they negated the previous 50 minutes on the show, which were devoted to selling the idea that harsh incarceration makes a difference. Sally deserves some credit for tackling an issue relevant to oppressed people ñ even if from a reactionary standpoint ñ and allowing the youth to speak for themselves. On another channel at the same time the Sally show aired, the Maury Povich show devoted an entire hour to psychics who attempted to contact dead loved ones for audience members. Note: See MIM Theory 11 for more information on how the Amerikan injustice system really works. * * * DROP IN ILLEGAL MURDER RATES FUELS POLICE STATE HYPE MORE COPS, MORE PRISONS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DROP By MC12 The drop in the U.$. illegal murder rate has some people praising the police state again. From 1991 to 1997, the official murder rate dropped from 9.8 to 6.8 per 100,000 people.(1) In some cities the drop in illegal murders in 1998 was drastic in the last year alone. New York City had a 20% drop in murder in 1998, and Los Angeles had 27% fewer murders last year.(2) In cities with a population of a million or more, the illegal murder rate fell from 35.5 per 100,000 people in 1991 to 20.3 per 100,000 in 1997.(3) In places like New York City, the police are busy taking credit for the decline of illegal murders. And the mayor has proposed completely eliminating parole for all people convicted of felonies (4), as if skyrocketing imprisonment was the cause of the drop in crime. In New York, the police have increased arrests of people for petty crimes, on the theory that they are stopping other crimes by busting people randomly. Their strategy has received a lot of attention, and because of the drop in illegal murders, people say it is working. Washington, D.C. provides counter evidence, however. In D.C. the number of illegal murders fell 14% in 1998, and they have decreased a total of almost 50% since 1991. The greatest decrease was in the rate of people younger than 25 being killed illegally. So the trend in D.C. is like the trend in New York. But no one can say this big drop in D.C. murders is because of "good" police work. The D.C. police department has been in chaos all through the 1990s, starting the decade by hiring hundreds of untrained recruits, and subsequently going through five police chiefs and seven commanders of the homicide division. The homicide "closure" rate -- the percent of homicides that they arrest or summarily execute someone for -- has fallen from 54% in 1991 to 39% in 1998.(5) In the country overall, the FBI says there is a 66% closure rate on homicides.(1) In fact, the number of people in jail and prison in D.C. dropped 6% from 1990 to 1997, making it one of the few places that has not kept up with constant increases, mostly because the state apparatus was too disorganized to do its repressive work effectively.(8) So why is the murder rate going down right now? In our opinion, it involves and upward swing in the economy and perhaps a decline in the crack trade, which is a tribute to the inner city masses who are increasingly rejecting the white man's crack industry.(6) In Washington, crack came on the scene in the late 1980s, right when the murder rate shot up, which was also the case in other cities. Because crack was illegal and the industry was highly competitive at the local level, violence was an important part of gaining and controlling market share. The violence associated with the trade spread into other areas, for example leading other people to carry guns to protect themselves, which increased the chance that fights would be fatal. By the 1990s, members of the oppressed nations, who were being most victimized by crack-related violence, began turning against it, and improvements in the economy made it more possible to get other jobs. In D.C., where they drug test people who are arrested, they report a large drop in the number of young people arrested who test positive for cocaine.(5) Our point is not that imperialist economy will solve the problems of the oppressed nations ñ it is primarily responsible for those problems ñ nor are we suggesting that the imperialists and their profiteer allies are giving up on the illicit drug trade. Rather, we simply want to emphasize that the downturn in illegal murders is not due to more cops and more prisons. Of course, proponents of the police state don't want to give up the credit. "I'd like to believe our policing is part of it, too," said the public safety direction of the D.C. housing authority.(5) But there is no evidence that it did. In fact, a simple look at some evidence makes it look like the economy is a the most important factor in the illegal murder rate. The graph here shows the illegal murder rate and the unemployment rate for people ages 16 to 19, from 1950 to 1997. The unemployment rate is supposed to be the percent of people who are looking for jobs who can't find them. It is not very accurately measured, but the way it changes over time does show some of what's going on in the economy. The teen unemployment rate in particular is very susceptible to swings in the economy, the boom and bust cycles of capitalism. The graph shows the teen unemployment rate on the left scale, and the murder rate on the right scale. The scales are set differently, but they show how the two lines tend to go up and down together. The connection looks strongest in the 1980s and 1990s, when the two lines track each other quite closely. So it does look like the economy, and possibly the economic situation of young people, is pretty tied up with the murder rate. On the other hand, look at the number of people in prison and jail, which is shown on the graph as well (in hundreds of thousands, on the left-hand scale). The point here is simple -- while the number of people locked up shot straight up through the 1980s and 1990s, the murder rate went up and down, apparently unconnected to the boom in imprisonment. In fact, the old murder rates are lowest when, back in the 1950s, the imprisonment rate was much lower than it is today.(7) The people who clamor for the police state don't care about the murder rate. They have their own reasons for wanting to imprison ever greater numbers of members of the oppressed nations in North America. They want social control of rebellious youth, they want slave labor, and they want to keep the white nation politically united in opposition to the nations it oppresses. The crack boom was great for the police state, because it helped all these purposes. Now that the murder rate is going down, they'll say it's because they lock so many people up. And when the murder rate goes up again, they'll say they need to lock even more people up. MIM does its best to expose these real crimes against the people, the imprisonment of almost 2 million being chief among them, to help the oppressed nations unite in their opposition to the system that commits these crimes and then lies about them to cover their tracks. Notes: 1. Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Homicide trends in the United States." www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm. Statistics on other crimes are down, too, but MIM doesn't pay much attention to those because they are so inaccurately reported compared to illegal murders. MIM refers to "illegal murders" in this case because the biggest murderers -- the imperialists, their corporations and their armies -- aren't doing anything illegal by bourgeois standards, and their crimes go unreported in official crime statistics. 2. AP December 31, 1998. 3. Reuters January 2, 1999. 4. NPR 1/6/99 5. Washington Post, January 1, 1999; Page A1 6. See coverage of the CIA's role in cocaine importation and the bourgeois media's complicity in the cover-up in MIM Notes 140, June 15, 1997. 7. For the historical trends, see The Real War on Crime: The Report of the National Criminal Justice Commission, edited by Stephen R. Donziger, HarperCollins, 1996. The unemployment rates here are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov). The murder rates are from "Homicide trends," op cit. The imprisonment numbers are from various sources: New York Times 1/19/98, p. A10; U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, "Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1996". Jan. 1997, (NCJ #162843); The Real War on Crime, op cit. 8. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1998, p. 229., and U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, "Prisoners in 1997," August 1998 (NCJ #170014). * * * PLANTATION NATION CONVICTS ALBERT WOODFOX "I'm gonna weather this, and one day we'll all sit down and laugh about it. We'll laugh about how we beat the oppressor." This was the revolutionary optimism of former Black Panther Albert Woodfox in the face of his second conviction on murder charges by a nearly all white jury on Dec. 16 in a little cracker court in a little cracker town in a big cracker empire. As reported in MN 178, Woodfox's earlier conviction for the 1971 killing of a white prison pig at Angola was overturned in 1992. Angola, often called the bloodiest prison in the u$, has an inmate population that is 77% Black, was built on the site of a former slave plantation, and was given its name for the area in Africa where the colonials got their slaves. This "retrial" and its outcome are just as sorry as Woodfox's original railroading at the hands of the criminal injustice system on the imperialist plantation known as amerikkka. The "crime" which sends most prisoners to this plantation is being part of the international proletariat that is a revolutionary threat to the slave master imperialists and their white middle class shock troops. Demonstrated proletarian leaders are especially singled out for extermination to demoralize any national liberation movements before they challenge this bogus colonial empire. So it is no surprise that this system returns a verdict that sends Woodfox back to solitary confinement at Angola after he has spent the last 24 years there. He will join his Panther comrade and codefendant, Herman "Hooks" Wallace, who has been in solitary for 26 years and is still fighting for a new trial. The jury carried out its reactionary role and ignored: 1. The fact that the state produced no physical evidence linking Woodfox to the "crime," 2. All physical evidence that was produced pointed to Woodfox's innocence, 3. One of the state's "eyewitnesses", a known snitch, was proven to have been paid off for his testimony, which the state had previously denied, 4. The state's only other "eyewitness" took the stand during the retrial and admitted he had seen nothing of the killing. It's no surprise that these and other important facts of the case didn't figure into the verdict. As with the amerikkkan injustice system generally, the point is to protect the white settler nation and its privileges against its internal colonies and their revolutionary national aspirations. So the point in this trial, which the jury got, was the heavy armed pig presence in the courtroom. The point was the pig judge who denied most every defense objection and sustained most every prosekution objection. The point was the prosekutor oinking on and on about Woodfox's leadership role in the prison Panthers, his righteous revolutionary statements, and his consistently correct spelling of amerikkka "with three k's." With this reactionary judge allowing the prosekutor to introduce bundles of hearsay "evidence" as well as "evidence" that was clearly prejudicial to Woodfox, there are ample grounds for appeal. Our duty is to support the legal struggle for this leader and to build public opinion for his release while exposing the reactionaries who keep him under lock and key. The nagging problem for imperialism, of course, is that it digs its own grave. Albert Woodfox was radicalized and became a revolutionary as a member of the oppressed Black nation. These krackers have no choice but to bomb, assassinate, and incarcerate the Third World to continue their plunder of people, land, and resources. But this oppression always breeds revolutionaries. Geronimo Pratt says this about the Angola Two: Albert Woodfox and Herman "Hooks" Wallace are very dear to me because they come from my home state of Louisiana. The Louisiana chapter of the Black Panther Party was one of the best chapters we organized and they were some of our best, most disciplined soldiers. They were the kind of soldiers that never cried out for to anyone for help, even though they were facing life imprisonment. I can personally attest to the highly disciplined and dedicated nature of these two askaris.(1) This is why we are right to follow the revolutionary optimism of Albert Woodfox and to take the strategic view of the struggle against this white colonial empire while we fight to free all oppressed nationals from the grips of this korrupt kapitalist korrectional system. In the long run this big kracker empire with its little kracker towns and little kracker pigs, judges, and prosekutors is just another paper tiger. Mao had it right: Imperialism will not last long because it always does evil things. It persists in grooming and supporting reactionaries in all countries who are against the people, it has forcibly seized many colonies and semi-colonies and many military bases, and it threatens the peace with atomic war. Thus, forced by imperialism to do so, 90 per cent of the people of the world are rising up or will rise up against it.(2) Then we will all sit down and laugh about how we beat the oppressor. Notes: 1. "Southern Justice Prevails -- Albert Woodfox Convicted Again." http://www.prisonactivist.org/angolatwo 2. Mao Zedong, "Interview with a Hsinhua News Agency correspondent," Sept. 29, 1958. * * * PHILIPPINES: FORMER DICTATOR'S CRONIES REGAIN STOLEN WEALTH Imelda Marcos, wife of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, boasted of her family's ill-gotten wealth in a recent interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. "We practically own everything in the Philippines, from electricity, telecommunications, airline, banking, beer and tobacco, newspaper publishing, television stations, shipping, oil and mining, hotels and beach resorts, down to coconut milling, small farms, real estate and insurance."(1) Imelda is currently suing the Marcoses' former cronies, who she says were entrusted by the former dictator with over one hundred companies in key sectors of the Philippine economy. The companies are worth over U$D 12 billion. According to the Inquirer, Imelda is about to cut a deal with current Philippine President Estrada, granting her access to U$D 570 million of alleged assets which are currently frozen in escrow. This is despite the fact that according to the government's own laws, any assets over the U$D 500,000 which the Marcoses claimed on their tax returns are considered ill-gotten.(2) While she scraps with former cronies over stolen booty, Imelda continues to deny indemnities to thousands of victims of human rights abuses under the Marcos dictatorship. Swiss and U$ courts granted victims of human rights violations during the Marcos dictatorship 30% of the U$D 570 million in escrow.(3) Imelda, Estrada, and crooked lawyers are conspiring to withhold victims' compensation.(4) Imelda's open attempts to recover sequestered wealth and her arrogance towards the thousands tortured by the U$- Marcos regime are clear signs that the Marcoses and their cronies have returned to power in the Philippines. The Marcos dictatorship was overturned in 1986 after more than a decade of struggle led by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the New People's Army, and the Communist Party of the Philippines. But with u.$. support, Philippine reactionaries were able to install a series of governments which carried out superficial reforms. They remained puppet regimes of the u.$., dominated by corrupt bureaucrat capitalists (see "Down with Bureaucrat Capitalism!"). That is why human rights abuses actually increased under the regimes of Corey Aquino, Fidel Ramos, and now Joseph Estrada. That is why the Marcoses and their cronies are now able to retake positions of power in the government and economy. While the government in Manila exposes itself as reactionary-infested, the Communist Party of the Philippines leads a revolutionary movement to set up a state which truly serves the people and brings them true justice. Accordingly, the CPP has called on the New People's Army to arrest the relatives and other minions of former dictator Marcos, especially Imelda Marcos.(5) Notes: 1. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5-9 Dec 1998, http://www.inquirer.net. 2. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 30 Dec 1998, http://www.inquirer.net. 3. "NDF Human Rights Committee Chair Reiterates NDF's Position on the Human Rights Cases," http://www.geocities.com/~cpp-ndf/update.htm. 4. "Estrada will not fulfill his promise," Ang Bayan, 10 Dec 1998, http://members.xoom.com/cppndf/abd10e.pdf. 5. MIM Notes 174, 15 Nov 1998. * * * DOWN WITH BUREAUCRAT CAPITALISM! The Marcoses, Corey Aquino, Fidel Ramos, and now Joseph Estrada are all examples of puppets of u.$. imperialism, a.k.a. running dogs, a.k.a. bureaucrat capitalists. Bureaucrat capitalists are the tiny minority within an oppressed nation bribed to defend imperialist economic, political, and military interests by any means necessary. This phenomenon is not limited to the Marcoses and their cronies, nor is it limited to the Philippines. It is a central strategy of the imperialists for maintaining control over their neo-colonies. The following excerpts are from "Philippine Society and Revolution," which lays out the basic line of the anti- imperialist, national democratic struggle led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. This book explains basic Marxist-Leninist-Maoist tenets and integrates them with Philippine reality, and serves as an example to oppressed-nation revolutionaries, even outside of the Philippines. Copies are available from MIM for $20. Write to MIM Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI, 48106. The meaning of bureaucrat capitalism. In dominating the Philippines, US imperialism, like its colonial predecessors, found it expedient at the outset to secure the assistance of local traitorsÖ With US imperialism enlarging its interests at the expense of the broad masses of the people, the colonial bureaucrats have become bureaucrat capitalists. They are capitalists by keeping the entire government as a large private enterprise from which they draw enormous private profits. They act like the local managers of the US monopolies. They serve the comprador-big bourgeoisie and the landlord class which are their internal material basis. Nevertheless, as distinguished from these two exploiting classes, the bureaucrat capitalists build up or expand their wealth through the exercise of political powerÖ Sources of graft and corruption. Graft and corruption is an integral part of a semicolonial and semifeudal society. The bureaucracy is nothing but an instrument for facilitating the exploitation of the broad masses of the people by foreign and feudal interests. The bureaucrat capitalists merely extract their share in the profits of comprador and landlord exploitationÖ At every turn in the history of Philippine bureaucracy, there are special sources of graft and corruption. These could be crop loans, relief goods, war surplus goods, reconstruction funds, Chinese immigration quota, import controls, price controls, dollar allocations, rural banks, fake cooperatives, Japanese war reparations, deportation threats, alien naturalization, logging and mining concessions, pasture leases, stock exchange manipulations, government loans and subscriptions to private corporations, congressional allowances, calamity and contingency funds, barrio improvement funds, subsidies and so on and so forth. The bureaucrat capitalists also venture into the most starkly illegitimate activities. They are involved in smuggling, usury, plain extortion, gambling, cattle- rustling and prostitutionÖ In this connection, the reactionary troops and police and the private goons of local officials also grow fat on the most anti-social activities. Fascism. The bureaucrat capitalists perform the special function of deceiving the people with incantations of national chauvinism and bourgeois populismÖ When they become desperate, they resort inevitably to the use of the state as a coercive instrument of class dictatorship. They call for "national discipline" to suppress the people's democratic rightsÖ Bureaucrat capitalism is the basis for local fascism. The bureaucrat capitalists are too well compensated by US Imperialism and the local exploiting classes to change their oppressive character in favor of the people. They will go to every length in protecting the interests of their own clique and in keeping the sources of their graft and corruption. In the face of an opposition even coming from another clique of their own class, the bureaucrat capitalists never hesitate to make use of armed force one way or another to preserve their power. In the face of a revolutionary mass movement, the bureaucrat capitalists are even more vicious in using their armed power. They are the first line of defense on behalf of their imperialist and feudal mastersÖ The bureaucrat capitalists who turn into barefaced fascists take after their imperialist masters in brutality. For seven decades [as of 1970] , US Imperialism has taught them how to launch counterrevolutionary violence and has improved their weapons and techniquesÖ There has not been a single decade in Philippine history that is not stained by the blood of the people spilled by imperialism and its running dogs since the beginning of the centuryÖ The rise of fascism is not actually a sign of strength. It is in essence a show of despair and weakness by the diehard reactionaries. It shows they have ceased to fool the people with wordsÖ The exposure of the violent character of the reactionaries will only teach the masses to defend themselves and assert their own power. * * * JOINT DECLARATION BY COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST- LENINIST)[PEOPLE'S WAR], AND COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST-LENINIST)[PARTY UNITY] The Central Committees of CPI(M-L)[People's War] and CPI(M-L)[Party Unity] after a week-long bilateral meeting in August,1998 resolved to merge their respective organisations into a single, unified Party with immediate effect. The new Party shall henceforth be known as CPI(M- L)[People's War] and shall be guided by newly constituted Central Committee. The merger of the two parties is the culmination of the unity process which began in March '93 and continued for over five years during which differences on several political, ideological and organisational questions were resolved through thread-bare discussion. The new party adopted the Party Programme and Constitution, Strategy and Tactics and Political Resolutions as its basic documents. Both CPI(M-L)[PW] and CPI(M-L)[PU] have their origins in the CPI(M-L) formed in 1969 under the leadership of our beloved leader Comrade Charu Majumdar. The CPI(M-L) itself is the continuation of the all that is revolutionary in the Indian Communist movement and the inheritor of the glorious Telengana, Tebhaga, Punapra-Vayalar and other revolutionary struggles. It is the direct product of the glorious Naxalbari struggle. Both CPI(M-L)[PW] and CPI(M-L)[PU] have continued the revolutionary legacy of glorious Naxalbari, Srikakulam, Birbhum, Debra-Gopiballavpur, Mushahari and Bhojpur struggles, consistently adhered to the correct revolutionary line of the 8th Congress of the Party held in 1970 and fought against both right and left opportunist trends that appeared in the Marxist-Leninist movement following the setback in 1972. The two Parties have been leading class struggles in various parts of the country, particularly armed struggles in Andhra Pradesh, North Telengana, Bihar and Dandakaranya for almost two decades. Both the Parties have consistently rejected the farce of the Parliamentary democracy and unequivocally stood for boycott of Parliamentary elections. Both believe that it is only through the path of Protracted People's War and area- wise seizure of political power that we can achieve victory in the ongoing New Democratic Revolution in India, liberate our motherland from the stranglehold of feudalism and imperialism, ensure the various nationalities in the country, right to self determination including the right to secession and establish voluntary Union of Peoples democratic republics of India as a first step which will be transformed into a Union of Socialist Republics of India in course of time. Both Parties firmly believe that communism is the only alternative before Mankind and that the only gifts the decrepit, moribund, parasitic capitalism can give to Mankind are death and destruction, unemployment and disease, physical and intellectual slavery and degradation of all human values cherished by Mankind over centuries of its existence. The past 150 years since the clarion call given by the path breaking Communist Manifesto have given us immense experiences in making revolution and building socialism. Taking lessons from these rich experiences and guided by Marxism-Leninism-Mao thought, we do believe, we can build socialism on even stronger foundations, check the restoration of capitalism and advance towards communism. We once again affirm that it is communism and communism alone which can liberate Mankind from these miserable conditions of existence, save the Planet from extinction and herald the real dawn of history. The merger of the two Parties has demonstrated that the objectivity of the present political situation will invariably lead to the regrouping of the revolutionary forces and further consolidation of the revolutionary camp in India. The merger of the two Parties and emergence of a unified centre mark a turning point in the Indian revolution. This unity meets the aspirations of the broad masses of the people and the vast ranks of the revolutionary forces in the country and is in accordance with the objective needs of class struggle. It signifies a qualitative leap in the ongoing process of unification of genuine revolutionary forces in the country and will contribute significantly to advance the Indian revolution. In turn the unification of the two parties will also contribute to the advancement of the World socialist revolution of which the ongoing revolution in India forms an important component. Coming at a time when the Indian ruling classes have launched a massive armed offensive against the revolutionary forces in India, which has been stepped up under the BJP led alliances at the Centre [BJP: Indian bourgeois party in power-ed.], the unification of the two Parties will aid the revolutionary forces to counter the enemy offensive more effectively. The merger of the two Parties and the formation of a unified centre is a fitting reply to the current moves of the enemy forces to launch a centralised, co-ordinated offensive against the revolutionary forces through the joint coordination constituted for the purpose. Today the objective situation in the world is becoming more and more favourable for revolution. Imperialism is caught in its severest crisis since the Great Depression. In India too, never before had economic, social and political instability reached such a grave dimension since the transfer of the Power (1947). The credibility of the various Parliamentary parties including the revisionist parties as well as the system of so called Parliamentary democracy is at its lowest ebb. The vast masses are seeking a revolutionary alternative to resolve their problems. The working class, the broad masses of the peasantry, the oppressed nationalities, students, youths, women, adivasis, dalits, persecuted religious minorities and other sections of Indian people oppressed by feudalism, imperialism, and comprador bureaucratic capitalism are waging heroic struggles which have further intensified in the wake of the policies of liberalisation, privatisation, globalisation and other such policies initiated by the Indian ruling classes under the dictates of World Bank-I.M.F-W.T.O. combine particularly since 1991. We call upon the people of India to rally under the red revolutionary banner of the newly united Party to deal effective blows on feudalism, imperialism and comprador bureaucratic capital that are oppressing and exploiting them. The emergence of the united Party -- the Communist Party of India(Marxist-Leninist)[People's War] -- does not mark the completion of the process of unification of the genuine communist revolutionary forces in India. The newly Unified Party will continue its efforts in right earnest to achieve this unification. We also call upon the other genuine revolutionary elements in the various M-L parties in India who are being led astray by both right and left opportunist leadership, to fight against these deviations and rally under the banner of the United Party. The United Party pledges itself to avenge the death of thousands of martyrs who fell in the course of the ongoing democratic revolution in India paved with blood by these martyrs until their cherished goals are accomplished. This is the era of Revolutions. Dare to fight! Dare to win! Ganapathy General Secretary CPI(ML) [Peoples War] N. Prasad General Secretary CPI(ML) [Party Unity] Source: www.ptb.be/guests/guests.htm * * * IMPERIALISTS USE LIES ABOUT KHMER ROUGE TO SLANDER REAL COMMUNISTS The defection of two former Khmer Rouge officials to the Cambodian government has the imperialists and their toadies in the press trying to pin Amerikan imperialism's own crimes on the Khmer Rouge. The current Cambodian government is vacillating between reconciliation with the Khmer Rouge and bowing to imperialist pressure and prosecuting former Khmer Rouge leaders for alleged genocide. The imperialists want a show trial of the Khmer Rouge because it would allow them to spread their simplistic lies about communism. The official imperialist mouthpiece style guide requires writers to refer to the Khmer Rouge as "Maoist" - or even "Ultra-Maoist" - and imply that the Khmer Rouge executed between one and three million people. MIM has been repeatedly refuted these lies for more than a decade and will continue to do so. The facts are: * The Khmer Rouge did not execute one, two or three million people. They did execute between 75,000 and 150,000 people. Most of those executions took place in the context of war between Vietnam and Cambodia. * The u.$., on the other hand, did directly kill 600,000 Cambodians when it bombed and invaded Cambodia from 1969 to 1975. * The Khmer Rouge was not Maoist.(1) The inflated number of alleged Khmer Rouge executions comes from attributing all deaths in that time period to the Khmer Rouge. Many people did die of starvation in Cambodia at that time, largely as a result of u.$. bombing and invasion. The u.$. spent $7 billion on the bombing of Cambodia, while doling out a pitiful $2.5 million in economic aid to keep some of the two million Cambodian refugees created by the bombings alive.(2) The Khmer Rouge tried to do something about Cambodia's terrible economic situation and the starving refugees. The u.$. puppet regime which the Khmer Rouge replaced, on the other hand, was content to let the people starve and beg the u.$. government for food. An aide for the two former Khmer Rouge officials threatened that a show trial might turn into an embarrassment for the u.$. "Implementing a trial would involve the 200 days and nights of bombing in Cambodia. If they push for this [trial] we will dig up the past and present our own case."(3) Indeed, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Not only is the u.$. implicated in the famine and bombing deaths of so many Cambodians, the u.$. also supported the Khmer Rouge after they lost state power. The u.$. explicit policy at the time was to provoke military conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam. And the list of u.$.-sponsored mass murderers in southeast Asia is long. For example, General Suharto came to power in Indonesia by killing between 500,000 and one million people ñ many of whom were on hit lists drawn up by the u.$. state department.(4) The Khmer Rouge never called itself Maoist while Mao was alive, and Mao never considered the Khmer Rouge Maoist. The Khmer Rouge criticized capitalist-roader Deng Xiaoping until he took power in China, when they began to wholeheartedly support him. So the Khmer Rouge's public pronouncements of Maoism seem tailored to fit whatever they thought China wanted to hear. The Khmer Rouge never criticized the restoration of capitalism in China after Mao's death, for example.(5) While the Khmer Rouge is not a model for anti- imperialists and communists, it is important to dispel imperialist anti-communist slanders about the Khmer Rouge. The imperialists lies about the Khmer Rouge are part of their attempt to paint communists as thoroughly evil hobgoblins. Notes: 1. MIM Notes 162, 15 May 1998. 2. Marilyn Young, "The Vietnam Wars," New York: Harper Collins, 1991, p.383. 3. Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan 1999. 4. Mark Zepezauer, "The CIA's Greatests Hits," Berkely: Odonian Press, 1994, p. 30. 5. MIM Notes 41, 18 May 1990. * * * * REVIEW: A CIVIL ACTION by Jonathan Harr New York: Random House, 1995 The film "A Civil Action," which is a dramatization of the events documented by this book, opened on 8 January 1999. This review originally appeared in MIM Theory 12, "Environment, Society, & Revolution." A Civil Action is an entertaining read for anyone with an interest in corporate destruction of the environment and the law. Jonathan Harr followed the case starting in 1986, through an extravagant discovery process, 5 months of trial, lavish settlement meetings and the beginning of an appeal process to write this non-fiction account. The book is fascinating largely because what would seem to be cinematic exaggeration -- lawyers spending $20,000 to set up two-day meetings for 3 people, paying $150,000 for one day's worth of investigatory lab tests, and then expecting several millions of dollars in payment at the end of the casework -- is all documented and true. A Civil Action explores in detail some of the contradictions of capitalism exposed by Amerikan law. The objective of the law is ostensibly to right social wrongs, to provide balance among individuals' and organizations' conflicting interests. But lawyers who spend their time petitioning for legal judgments require money in exchange for their time -- so the proceedings then have to serve two purposes: right whatever is wrong and remunerate the lawyers for their time. This means that lawyers frequently decide which social wrongs to attempt to set right according to which ones they think will yield the biggest reward. The legal process also acts out some contradictions inherent to capitalism. In this case, the pressure to dispose of waste cheaply, to quicken the production process and decrease overhead was the direct cause of environmental destruction. Under socialist planned production, we will not see many cases like this one in which producers have taken short cuts to increase profits and are attempting to avoid correcting their errors. Under socialism, production planning will take environmental factors into account and profit will not be the sole judge of successful production. Instead, production for a healthy society will be valued. The facts here are astonishing for being a product of First World circumstance. The plaintiffs Woburn were poisoned and then developed cancer and died mostly within 10 years of when they had first gotten sick. In Amerika we are used to seeing people poison themselves intentionally with cigarettes and with fat- and preservative-filled foods among other causes. But we do not frequently notice people poisoned by their drinking water because pollutants are so regularly exported to the Third World to get around environmental restrictions designed to protect the imperialist country citizens. In reading accounts like this one, MIM focuses not on the horrors of the individual medical accounts, but on the industrial context in which they occur. Under imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, the unequal distribution of wealth occurs evermore along national lines, as does the unequal distribution of labor and of damage to the environment. So while socialist planning would demand an accounting of total resources and direct stresses to the places that could most easily bear them, capitalism simply uses and destroys the areas which are farthest from its center of operations. The capitalists use up the resources which are not in their own backyards and save their own immediate surroundings -- partly in response to labor aristocracy demands. This is conscious planning on the part of imperialist administrators and not mere accident. The fact that people in the First World clearly have the capacity to buy and therefore use more polluting resources than people in the Third World should make this clear: someone is making sure that pollution is separated from consumption. Socialism -- not personal injury law Personal injury law, while it can shed light on some nasty goings on in the corporate world, is an oddly decadent outgrowth of the Amerikan legal system. It has some romantic notions attached -- personal injury lawyers usually work on a contingency basis, collecting fees based on their expenses and a percentage of the award in the case only when they win. This arrangement gives personal injury lawyers the appearance of doing legal work for "free" for people who can't afford lawyers, and going up against big nasty corporations in favor of less privileged people. But in the end, the law is set up to focus on big rewards, not on long-term assistance to poor people. MIM does not look to the Amerikan legal system to correct capitalism's mistakes or to mitigate the harm it does to the masses. We devote our time and resources to building independent institutions of the oppressed and to supporting the just anti-imperialist struggles of oppressed people the world over. We know that only a dictatorship of the proletariat -- of the majority over the minority -- will alleviate the pain caused by capitalism and guard against it for the future. MIM calls on all people concerned with environmental destruction and irresponsibility to work with us to build organizations that can seize proletarian power and restore and protect the environment for the world's people. * * * UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONS AND PRISONERS Notice Prisoners: You must send us your DOC number on every letter. Mail in many states is being returned to us and the bogus reason is that the envelop does not have the prisoner DOC number. This means you are not getting the letters and literature we are sending you! To ensure that we get your DOC number on everything we send you, make sure you put it on every letter you send us. Exposing Neglect and Torture Six officers have assaulted me, and now for that incident, I've been on max for two years. Here in the max lock-up the officers don't even make their routine rounds to see if the inmates are well and living. When someone is sick or in need of something, the CO doesn't even pay it any attention. In other words, they don't want to hear it. When someone finally gets tired of the foul treatment and decides to complain, in one way or another, they either come and beat us down or write us up - on bogus write ups. When does the madness ever end? Why are we treated like animals? So a lot of the inmates are too scared to complain and they just put up with the indolence. -- a North Carolina prisoner, 8 December 1998 New Ohio Harassment Policy Here at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, our tormentors have started a new policy where prisoners in control units have to be handcuffed and shackled just to walk back and forth to the shower. When we complained the administration responds by claiming that this is for our own safety and the safety of the officers. But the officers are the number one threat to prisoners' safety. Handcuffing and shackling us puts us in a more precarious position. Plus, it seems, that if they were truly worried about the officers' safety, the would have left the old policy in place where the officers could simply open our cell doors from the safety control booth then lock us in the shower from the same position. But instead they now have to escort... And in an attempt to cut back on spending (at least on the prisoners), those of us who are in control units are not longer being issued clothing. So no matter what you have, irregardless of how raggedy, you best be luck that you got it. And this same thing goes for all supplies. Sometimes it is the little things that mean so much. And in the control units here you better value something as little as toilet paper like its gold, because you'll only get one a week if that. It's not like the prison officials don't realize that we have to use this toilet paper as paper towels, napkins kleenex and toilet paper. They would just rather see us go without then give us an 'extra' roll. -- an Ohio prisoner, 4 October 1998 Pigs Parole Racists and Lock Down Revolutionaries I finally went to the parole board for the first time after 12 years of incarceration. Originally they had informed my family that they would be coming on Thursday or Friday, but for some reason they ended up showing up on Wednesday and Thursday. And for a minute, I wondered why the change. Maybe it is just that they like lying so much that they practice how to lie.... By me being in administrative control, I really could not expect to get no straight parole but I did expect to get a reasonable out date.... I also find it funny how whenever it is time for somebody to go to the parole board, the administration finds a way to place them in the hole. On my way to the parole board, they took one other prisoner ... with me. [He] is an Aryan with a freshly shaved head and a tattoo of a swastika on one side of his neck and a tattoo of two lightning bolts on the other. And while we were sitting out there waiting I was hoping that the parole board called him first just so I could see what their reaction would be to this. Well they did call the Aryan in first and he came out with eight months and an outdate. He could not believe it himself, this is unheard of in Administrative Control. But I'm not surprised at all, this has always been the type of mentality that the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections in Ohio has rewarded. And their greatest reward is to send the fascist back out into society to insure that Ohio remains a thoroughly racist state. When I do make it in to see the parole board, the first thing they tell me is that according to the "new" guide line, I'm category 9 with a maximum requirement of 120 months incarceration. But even though this is my first parole hearing, I already have 145 months in. This means, I was over-sentenced for shooting a white man in self-defense. This is something that I already knew. But instead of taking any of this into consideration, the parole board decided that they were going to give me another 39 months because I had some bad conduct reports just like the Aryan who went before this same parole board right before me. So I asked them about these conduct reports and they go off into something about me having a conduct report back in 1992. And no doubt more importantly my most recent conduct report for supposedly being "actively involved in organizing a revolutionary group." ...The genocidal war that's being waged against Black people here in Ohio and throughout Amerikkka is blatantly obvious and until we are prepared to counter it, the best we can hope for is death. -- An Ohio prisoner, 1 November 1998 MIM responds: We call on our comrades behind bars to take back what the imperialists are trying to steal from you: your lives. Even in prison you can do important revolutionary work and make your lives very worthwhile. Work with MIM to put an end to the criminal injustice system once and for all. New Censorship Policy I had just recently received two editions of your paper, dated October 1st and 15th. But in the process of it getting here to the institution, it was reviewed by the "Inmate Publication Review Committee." And they had disapproved of it coming into the institution anymore. Because they're trying to say that the writings which advocate violence, insurrection, or guerrilla warfare against the government or any of its institutions or which create a danger within the context of the correctional institution is forbidden. Because it may pose a threat to the orderly running of the institution. This is a relatively new policy that the institution has just recently went into effect on 10-1-98. Simply because they don't want any of the inmate population to be absorbing any source of information on the oppressive regime that initiating global injustices However, they gave me the option to appeal that decision to the "Consolidate (sic) Inmate Grievance Review System" within 15 days. So I appealed the decision and I am waiting for my answer. -- a Pennsylvania prisoner, 15 December 1998. UNDER LOCK AND KEY MIM Censorship Overturned [Below is a prisoner's appeal to the censorship of MIM Notes and the Prisoncrat's approval of MIM Notes] SIR: This appeal comes to you in response of the disapproval slip which I received November 1998 from the inmate publication review committee regarding the rejection of the MIM Notes newsletters of October 1st and October 15th. This document stated that due to the cover drawing or article depicting a violation of Administrative Directive 803 sec IV no. #3. I had a chance to view these newsletters in question, as some of them were allowed inside the institution. The cover of the newsletter is no more advocating of insurrections or guerrilla warfare, or even creates the presence of danger within this institution, then any of the history books or newspapers in the library of this institution. None of those type of acts need newspapers or books to create situations of that nature within the governments of this county or any of its penal institution. Racism, biases and ethnic prejudices are the acts which promote responses to the acts mentioned in sec. IV of adm 803. People not newspapers or books. When people have had enough of Governments pressing the heels of their boots on their necks. And inmates have had enough of Ethnic Domination and Racist Discrimination they will respond according to the act with a response of violence, guerrilla warfare, etc. My next question would be, is how some of the same MIM Notes were allowed into the institution for some inmates which receive them, but not others? It is my wish to receive both of those newsletters and ask that this matter be reviewed again. If either of the newsletters are still denied, then those newspapers should be returned to sender along with a copy of the rejection slip. Respectfully submitted -- A Pennsylvania Prisoner 27 November 1998. In accordance with Administrative Directive 814, Incoming Publications, I have reviewed the publication MIM Notes and have decided to overturn the decision of the Incoming Publication Review Committee. Therefore, the publication will be returned to you. The mailroom is to arrange for the delivery of this publication to you. -- Grievance Officer, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Camp Hill, PA. Protesting Literature Restrictions ...As a Jailhouse Lawyer I was quite impressed with the information in your guide to fighting the oppressor's censorship. Whomever wrote it was obviously quite knowledgeable, but was able to still direct the information to the uninitiated. ...I will be filing a suit shortly because your September 1998 issues were withheld from me when I was in the RHU (Lockup or Restrictive Housing Unit). This is not a censorship issue per se since they regularly deny all newspapers, magazines and books being sent to the RHU. They hold them until one gets released. I don't believe this was the kind of censorship your wrote about in your letter. This practice is also unconstitutional and actionable under 42 USC 1983 for state prisoners. They can limit the number of newspapers, etc in the cell, but not legally have a blanket ban as here. I am again in RHU pending transfer to another unit in the gulag... Thank you, -- An Oklahoma Prisoner, 6 October 1998 Censorship Prevents Education Thank you very much for the two issues of MIM Notes. ...2 issues previously sent to me were returned because, "it is dangerously inflammatory in that it advocated or encourages riot, insurrection, disruption of the institution, violation of departmental rules... which would present a serious threat to the security, order or safety of any person." This censorship is unnecessary and only serves the purpose of keeping our brothers and sisters in the cause blind and ignorant of the Injustice System in the united snakes as well as many other countries. I have always been "smart" but I have never been smarter than when I took reading and writing as hobbies. I am a firm believer that reading is the key to knowledge. With the prison illiteracy rate at its highest, prisoners are being deterred from learning certain subjects that would place them at an advantage over their peers and those persons who chained the block of ignorance to our brothers and sisters to keep them from advancing. The refusal to allow MIM Notes within the gates of this prison (and many others) is a prime example. It was fate that these [recent MIM Notes] came in. I rushed through the articles so that I could retain the info in case they were confiscated. I would greatly appreciate more literature.... -- A Florida Prisoner, 30 November 1998 Study and Organize for Revolution Let me first say that I got MIM Theory no. 11. And I have had it for about three weeks and each time I pick it up, I find something else new, strong and meaningful As far as the classes are concerned, I have six young brothers that sit with me three times a week for two hours to talk about the conditions in which we are subjected to live in and the way we are treated. We come up with some solutions and we bring them to the program director. Nothing has been done as of yet, but I believe with more and more people coming to our aid, we will win. My family on the outside is looking into why so many brothers are being beat and in another prison that I moved from why are many dying so fast and young. MIM, I should be released and I want to get more involved with the struggle because we have children that are soon to follow. -- a Texas prisoner, 16 December 1998 MIM responds: This comrade is among many other prisoner leaders who have intensified the struggle against oppression within prisons. First by starting a study group and discussing with other prisoners the ways to successfully organize, these comrades are laying the seeds for increased successes against Amerikkka's prison plantations. Second, by putting MIM in touch with supporters on the outside and by keeping in touch after release, these comrades are able to work with MIM and help push the struggle forward exponentially. Any prisoners within two years of release should write to MIM to discuss further organization at the same time that you increase study and organization while still on the inside. Possible Murder of Escaped Prisoner ... A couple of weeks ago, a Mexican convict escaped off a death row unit here in Texas. He was found later that day dead in a river a few miles from the unit by two off-duty CO's that supposedly were "fishing" and stumbled upon him. The coroner announced that drowning caused his death. A couple of facts that everyone knows in Texas: 1. No one fishes in that river. There's nothing to fish for but alligators and water snakes. 2. During an escape no one is going to be fishing in the vicinity. I sure hope some presses the issue. Keep up the good work. Gracias for your time. A Brown pride clenched fist to the heart salute, to all in the struggle, the only was is up. Respectfully, -- A Chicano Prisoner in Texas, 10 December 1998 Continuous Lockdown in South Carolina Right now at Evans on SMU, we haven't been out for rec in 2 months. A cat got stabbed so the slavemasters said that all prisoners will be having our hour of rec in dog cages. So they built cages thru the whole rec field. The reasons for no rec were not justified until about a month ago. They finished the rec field but for the last 3 or 4 weeks they are saying its no rec because they say they need locks for the cages. I've witnessed pigs lose or cut locks off outside cages or inside cages and replace them on the spot. They need like 9 or 10 but will not put them on. I assume because they want to sit on their asses and look at people's fuck books and talk shit. So shit is getting tense (That's what they want. Ya heard me? Ain't no secret.) They will try to ride this out until '99, no question. -- a South Carolina prisoner, 3 December 1998. ... Here at Evan's Control Unit we comrades have been struggling for the last couple of months about the recreation we haven't been getting due to the repairing of the rec field for "security" reasons. ...By the way, just two and a half weeks ago Evans shipped out 45 inmates infected with HIV/AIDS virus. But the sad part about the shipping of the infected inmates was that 44 were black and one was white. Damn it's a shame how we as Black people just pass our lives over nothing.... -- a South Carolina prisoner, 8 December 1998. Indiana Lockup ...They don't feed you enough and this level 4 camp they put two men in a cell that's only big enough for one man. As of right now, I'm in a lock-up unit called the SHU. We're locked down for 23 hours a day. We only get to shower three times a week. They put like a rope hooked to our handcuffs and run it between our legs so if we move too fast, they pull. They treat us like dogs blowing smoke in our faces and spraying mace on us and in our face for no reason They are some coldhearted dudes that work here. One dude spent two weeks in a strip cell for not taking his meds... -- an Indiana prisoner, October 1998