Inquiry into crimes in Chile By GENRIKH BOROVIK, _ _ Novosti Press Agency ~ HELSINKI— The 4th Session of the International Commission ty into the Crimes of the a itary Junta in Chile met for WO days as well-known lawyers, s “Clentists, prominent public and Political leaders and clergymen jm many countries listened to the evidence of the people who Tecently returned from Chile. % or the first time among them €re former officers of the Chi- atmy whom the junta ar- s ed. Sentenced to different he ms of imprisonment and then Xiled for life because they re- cd to become accomplices in €junta’s crimes. These officers ue €vidence of the cruel repres- | 10ns and tortures they were sub- gcted to “and of the crimes in re the junta tried to make “M take part. 5 Ome officers were sentenced Capital punishment, and only | ny the pressure of interna- i} public opinion was it com- ‘Muted to life imprisonment and . to exile. Each witness spoke ot need to fight for the life and Chil ©m of political prisoners in ©, Including those soldiers ] Wi Officers whose names are not dely known. a vidence was also given at the Ssion by professor Hans-Joran ae a well-known Swedish yer, secretary general of the qui ™ational Commission of in- Fy into the Crimes of the Milit- Unta in Chile, who recently Pres from that country. He Be, the Commission about the t *NOmic chaos there, that an av- heygMonstrators at the third ing ~ eb. 1975 in Mexico City. now? erage of 20-25% of the able- bodied population were un- employed (the junta’s official figure is 7%) and that in some in- dustries, the textile industry, for . example, unemployment stood at 715%. Professor Frank also described his meeting with now imprisoned general secretary of the Com- munist Party of Chile Luis Corva- lan. He said Corvalan and other Popular Unity leaders were de- termined to turn their trial into an indictment of the junta itself. Corvalan has been imprisoned for 30 months and so far no ac- cusation has been brought against him. He was interrogated only once and then only for several minutes. The investigating officer asked: ‘‘Were you really the gen- eral secretary of the Communist uiry into the crimes of the junta in Chile, I} Since | i | of : {| Soviet women protest i| Israeli land expropriations In a statement issued April 2, the Soviet Women’s Commit- *€ declared its deep concern over the recent violence in th "West Bank ‘and Galilee areas of Israel and expressed their Most emphatic protest against the barbarous repressions and (tor ‘See by Israel on the Vs | ] | | > | emo! women demand an end be put to the Israeli gov- 1 ,.Zent’s policy of expropriating va | © Arab population from those lands and setting up ee i ‘ Y Israeli settlements there’’, the sia continued. } © sanguine events on the West Bank and! . we a fresh confirmation of the need for an immediate peaceful | ~“‘lement of the Mideast conflict. 1... Nese days Soviet women once n t _ jblidarity with the struggle of the Arab peoples against Israel €ssion, Zionism and reaction, for establishing a lasting ey ‘st peace in the Middle East and ensuring the national rights } — ...© Arab people of Palestine. Re i th We assure our Arab sisters that the Soviet women will in © future as well render them all-round assistance. 2 a the Arab territories occupied Arab lands, driving away d in Jerusalem gain confirm their ardent These people were taken prisoner in December 1974. Where are they Former army officers testify | Party?”’ “‘I not only was the gen- eral secretary of the Communist Party of Chile,’’ Corvalan answered, ‘‘I am now, too.”’ ‘‘Who were members of the Political Commission of the Cent- ral Committee?’’ was the next question. ‘‘It is known to every- body,’ Corvalan replied. **The composition of the Political Commission was published in Chi- lean newspapers.”’ The last ques- tion was whether Corvalan “‘im- ported arms.”’ A flat denial fol- lowed. The International Commission adopted a concluding document based on a thorough study of the witnesses’ evidence. It says that despite the junta’s official assur- ances that the regime in Chile has been ‘‘liberalized’’ of late, terror continues unabated. The docu- ment gives a detailed juridicial es- timation of the junta’s crimes — arbitrary arrests and illegal cus- tody, cruel treatment of prison- ers, torture, and so on. In the section about the coming trial of Corvalan and other Popu- lar Unity leaders, the Commis- sion states that though the junta is undoubtedly aware that the trial will cause a great explosion of in- ternational public opinion, there is still a serious danger that such a process may take place. For this reason, the International Com- mission demands the immediate release of all political prisoners in Chile without any conditions and exceptions. The conclusions of the Interna- tional Commission were always indisputable and authoritative, because they were drawn on the basis of a great number of facts. Today they sound especially im- pressive because they were WORLD NEWS CALLAGHAN TAKES OVER AS BRITISH PM LONDON — Britain’s new prime minister, James Callaghan, was sworn in April 6, taking over from Harold Wilson, who resigned last month. Callaghan, a right-wing member of the Labor Party, and former foreign secretary, won the leadership race last week after three ballots, beating the only remaining contender, Employment Secretary Michael Foot. Foot is a left-winger. After swearing in ceremonies, Callaghan went on national television to urge. the nation to unite to ‘‘fight inflation’’, and says Britons are living on borrowed money. He is the country’s 50th prime minister. SPANISH POLICE BATTLE DEMOCRATS, IGNORE FASCIST DEMOS MADRID — Police of the fascist government in Spain once again attacked a peaceful demonstration of democrats in Barcelona April 5. Charging the crowd of thousands who were protesting continued fas- cist policies, police used rifle butts, tear gas and rubber bullets in their bloody attack. Two hundred demonstrators were arrested. The gov- ernment bans all forms of demonstration and assembly. At the same time, police ignored a demonstration of fascists taking place in the same city, allowing them to march in support of continued Francoism, and denounce any shift to less repressive government policies. , In Madrid, a demonstration by Spaniards in favor of democratic reform was thwarted by mass arrests of reform leaders the eve of the planned rally. But police made no moves against an attempted fascist demonstration, which fizzled due to lack of support. CHINESE PROTEST BAN ON CHOU TRIBUTE PEKING — Tens of thousands of Chinese stormed the Great Hall of the People in this city after the government banned further tributes to late Premier Chou En-lai. In a growing crackdown on an anti-ultra-left movement emerging in China, the government removed all wreaths and other forms of tribute April 4 although the traditional mourning period-was not over-until the next day. Chou En-lai, who survived the purges of the more moderate Com- munist Party leaders throughout his years in the leadership, revealed his disagreements with the present Chinese line in a testament released after his death. The demonstration against the government edict continued all day, although army troops were called in to disperse it. SADAT FURTHER SEVERS TIES WITH SOVIETS CAIRO — Egyptian President Anwar Sadat moved further to a severance of once friendly ties between his government and that of the Soviet Union April 4. Sadat, who is teaming up with the United States and other capitalist countries increasingly closed his country’s ports to the Soviet navy. The break in years of friendly and cooperative relations which had benefited Egypt’s underdeveloped economy was clearly shown last September when Sadat signed the Sinai agreement with Israel over protests of the other Arab states and the Soviet Union. CAMBODIA’S SIHANOUK RESIGNS PHNOM PHEN — Cambodian Prince Nordom Sihanouk has re- signed as head of state April 5 after serving almost a year as a figurehead and ‘“‘legitamizer’’ of the Khmer Rouge government. Sihanouk, who was ousted from his position as the country’s leader in a 1970 right- wing coup, returned after the Khmer Rouge victory in the Cambodian war last April. National elections for the People’s Representative Assembly were held in Cambodia last month. confirmed by the investigation of the. Chilean military junta’s crimes independently conducted by the UN Human Rights Com- mission recently. The witnesses refuted all attempts of the junta to question the ‘conclusions drawn by the UN Commission. The last section of the conclud- ing document speaks of the legal responsibility of the junta, that all crimes committed are liable to punishment and that the materials about these crimes, collected by various international organiza- tions and by the International Commission itself, will be placed at the disposal of the Chilean people to be used in a proper way. The concluding words of the document are that fascism con- cerns not only the people against whom it is directed; but that all countries should rebuff it. For protection of their newly liberated nation, all Angolans between the ages of 18 and 35 serve in the armed forces for two years. Above is a young trainee studying an anti-tank rocket. , PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 16, 1976—Page 9