a ace Stet es eR = Ee De | theme Bodel PD ety Bi only og: Wat Soe, a IDA OBE eto SD, WA SO. Bh) AD. DO kD Ft SY LD som, Mark Curtis, white, is behind bars in an Towa prison, serving a 25-year term for rap- ing a 15-year-old youth, black. It seems like a case of justice done. But there’s a lot more than meets the eye in the jailing of the 31-year-old packing- house worker who has a history not of sex- ual assault, but of union activism and international solidarity work. It’s in fact a straight case of politically motivated frame-up, says the Mark Curtis Defence Committee, a group that has ral- lied the support of thousands of individuals and organizations in the United States and Canada, Latin American and the Carib- bean, Australia and New Zealand, Iceland, and several European countries. Curtis’ wife Kathleen Kaku, a member of the committee, will bring the story of the fight to free the former worker at Swifts’ packing house to Vancouver in June. When Curtis, a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 431 and of the U.S. Socialist Workers Party, was convicted in a Des Moines courtroom on Nov. 18, 1988, he said people “rightly see this railroad job — that’s what it is — as an attack on their rights too, as an attempt to put a little bit of themselves in jail along with me.” Others apparently see it that way, too. Taking up the cause of the inmate serving a 25-year term in the Men’s Reformatory in Anamosa, Iowa are prominent figures such as former Screen Actors Guild president Ed Asner, Nicaraguan poet and cabinet minis- ter Ernesto Cardenal, writer Margaret Randall, British Labour MP Tony Benn, former progressive mayor of Berkeley, Ca., Eugene “Gus” Newport, Dr. David Linder — father of martyred U.S. aid worker to Nicaragua, Ben Linder — and Toshi and Pete Seeger. Several notable Canadians and residents in Canada are supporters, including New Democratic MP Dan Heap, Liberal MP Warren Allmand, Peter Mahlanagu of the African National Congress’ office in Can- SOLIDARITY ON MAY DAY to working people of all countries Southern Africa Action Coalition #206, 111 West Broadway Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1P4 (604) 875-6060 Meetings open to the public neste UULEROULOROEUUROAUDOENONODE ROO 2USSUDEUEGNOAUUOUUGUUOUSSULOOOAUUUUCCUCUCECECECCCECCCAURaCeCeCCee Et TUGEEOUAGEGSECUECHOOGEGACSESOGUEAOAECLECHOCACCEORCOCCOROCAOSOSEOCET: ada, president John Martin of the United Steelworkers Local 1005 in Hamilton, secretary-general Michel Gauthier of Quebec’s CSN, and president Jean-Claude Parrot of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The defence campaign lays out a history of state and employer harassment of Curtis, including illegal FBI surveillance, an unjust firing subsequently overturned, and a local police department publicly condemned for racist, sexist and human rights abuses. Curtis was arrested in March 1988 by two Des Moines police officers and subse- quently charged with rape and burglary. Witnesses included the alleged victim, 15- year-old Demetria Morris, and her younger brother. But while he was convicted by a jury — one member of which has since called for a retrial in a sworn affidavit — there was no physical evidence linking Cur- tis to the crime. Furthermore, he had been with co-workers and friends at a restaurant when the crime was alleged to have hap- pened. Morris home by a woman who claimed she was being threatened by an assailant. Curtis had been active in the defence of 17 Latin American workers who had been the target of an immigration department raid, and generally active in his plant. Swifts’ has been cited as one of the worst employers in an industry rife with accidents and notorious for speed-ups and low wages. Curtis came under illegal FBI surveil- lance for his activities in an El Salvador Support committee in Birmingham, Ala., and had a public profile protesting racism and human rights abuses in the local police force. During his arrest he was beaten by the officers, one of whom had been previously disciplined for brutality and lying in a report. Since his incarceration he has been active in a prisoners’ rights organization and has been penalized by prison authorities for minor infractions — which the committee Says are trumped up — and has been denied reading materials, although commit- tee efforts have forced the warden to back off on some restrictive measures. The case has attracted international attention, with the United Nations conduct- ing an inquiry. The committee has applied to Amnesty International to declare Curtis a prisoner of conscience. __A time and date for Kaku’s Vancouver address have yet to be set. In the meantime, the committee can be contacted at 410 Ade- laide St., Toronto, Ont. M5V 1S8 (416-861- 1399), or Box 1048, Des Moines, lowa 50311 (515-246-1695), MAY DAY GREETINGS AND SOLIDARITY \\ Chilean-Canadian Friendship Society MAY DAY GREETINGS to all workers in B.C. from SalvAide Helping build the new El Salvador On May 1, 1990... in solidarity with the workers of British Columbia, Central America and the South Pacific Islands. For information on CUSO's programs, contact CUSO at 2524 Cypress St., Vancouver, B.C., V6J 3N2 tel.(604)732-1814 or 504-620 View St., Victoria, B.C. V8W 1J6 tel.(604)384-3732. SS SS SS BC. Our strength is people working together | ~ Comision ( i de Derechos ems HHUymanos ~ de Guatemala / Subcomision Canada On this International Workers Day 1990, the Guatemala Human Rights Commission sends greetings of solidarity to Canadian workers. We would also like to take this opportunity to remember those Guatemalan workers who have fallen at the hands of the government in the struggle for justice and workers’ rights in Guatemala. Due to a recent escalation in human rights violations, the Guatemala Human Rights Commission is mounting an international campaign of support for trade unions and other grassroots organizations who are frequently targets of violence. At this time, we call upon Canadian workers to express solidarity with their Guatemalan brothers and sisters. For more information on the Campaign of Support for Trade Unions in Guatemala, contact the Guatemala Human Rights Commission at P.O. Box 4274, MPO, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3Z7 or by fax at 872-0709. a a a aca cae i he a i le ret Cc For the right of a people to live. Guatemala Human Rights Commission Pacific Tribune, April 30, 1990 « 23 ae mewn ie 0 rp ce LN 1h soreahtelieny 9