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A dossier of weekly information published by the ----- Introduction Caçak (Serbia): On October 27 and 28, 2007 the conference (see issue 247) took a position in favor of the Balkans-Danube Federation and the free union of peoples of Yugoslavia, the Balkans, Central Europe and the ex-USSR! It decided to constitute a Liaison Committee Against Privatizations, for the Free Union of Peoples of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, against the European Union and NATO. The committee decided to publish the entirety of the proceedings of the conference, to send delegates to the Paris February 2-3, 2008 conference, and asked the ILC to propose to the workers of the world a world conference. We are publishing a report by one correspondent. Belgium: We are publishing an interview with two initiators of the appeal "The Situation is Serious), Geert Haverbeke, a Flemish labor activist, and Antoine Riggieri, a French-speaking workers' activist. Asia: You will find below a contribution to the Asian Conference in Mumbai (January 19-20, 2008) by Roger Sandri. European Treaty: We are continuing our analysis of the "new" European treaty. Pakistan: The situation since the decree of a state of emergency by General Musharraf. Each week, the ILC International Newsletter informs you. Subscribe! ----- Table of Contents p.1: Introduction ----- Contact Informations internationales **********************
Contribution by Roger Sandri concerning the Asian Conference in Mumbai (January 19-20, 2008) In issue number 256 of the ILC International Newsletter (October 9, 2007), we presented several points that will act as a basis for the conference. Of course, as the discussion is completely free, the points mentioned here are not complete. -- The appeal to the unionists of the world, adopted in Geneva on June 9, 2007, raises the dangers of the new orientation taken by the ILO to integrate more and more into the multinational corporations and the U.N. to develop so-called "corporate social responsibility" in the place of nation-states, which are supposedly no longer needed in the context of the globalization of the economy. -- The globalization the economy since the fall of the Soviet Union and all the planned social structures opens a new field to capitalism and imperialism. -- In 1995, Jacques Delors, former president of the Commission of European Communities, but also former Minister of Economy in the French Socialist government of François Mitterrand, wrote: "The internationalization of the economy makes more difficult a compromise between a world society and a state that remains national." -- The destruction of nation-states, the uncontrolled opening of borders and markets, the free circulation of capital, goods, and services (except men and women) has the effect of unleashing phenomenon of crisis, nourished by speculation, with financial capitalism replacing productive capital and the real economy. -- This activity without controls or borders allows for the big corporations to set up in the regions of the world that are most favorable to extracting profits from a super-exploited labor force. This is most notably the case with China where imperialism and "communism" work together on the backs of the workers. "The power of these firms, more powerful now than states, gives them a dominating role in the global economy, dictating their policies to vassal states, in a new process of 're-feudalization,'" writes Jean Ziegler, special reporter of the United Nations on the right to food, in his work "The Empire of Shame," in which he condemns the practices of what we calls "the cannibalistic world order." (1) In his opinion, the last remnants of civilization are threatened with destruction. International rights are crumbling. Barbarism leaps forward. This is Jean Ziegler, of the U.N., who says this. In his work he notes that the most 500 most powerful corporations (mostly American) control the world through industry, commerce, services, and banking. In 2004, they controlled 52% of the GDP, that is, more than half of the total riches produced in one year on our planet. Face à la pratique des sociétés transcontinentales, Jean Ziegler indique qu'en matière de rendement, les fonds propres des 500 plus puissantes sociétés transcontinentales du monde, ont été de 15% par an depuis 2001 aux Etats-Unis et de 12 % en France. Thus, the financial margins far exceed the investment needs of the big businesses; the rate of self-financing rose to 130% in Japan, 115% in the United States, and 110% in Germany. -- Based on these observations, a question is posed. What are the capitalists doing with the liquid assets, asks J. Ziegler. "They massively buy in the stock market their own shares. They pay the shareholders amazing dividends and the CEOs astronomic salaries." -- On July 20, 2004, Microsoft, the company of Bill Gates, a cosmocrat philanthroper, environmental protector, announced that his shareholders would received 75 billion in dividends during the period of 2004-2008. -- The 374 biggest transnational corporations indexed by Standard and Poor, control today over 555 billion in reserve dollars. This sum has doubled since 1999. It has risen by 11% since 2003. The biggest company in the world, Microsoft, has over 60 billion dollars in its treasury. Since the beginning of 2004, it has risen by one billion dollars a month. -- In an article in Monde (September 6, 2004), the journalist Eir Le Boucher soberly notes: "The multinational corporations are sitting on a considerable pile of gold, which they do not know what do with." This does not prevent the big capitalist groups, new masters of the world, to do everything to enlarge these considerable accumulation of financial profits, which are called fictitious capital, which paradoxically are synonymous with a regression in the productive forces, a fatal process of decomposition of the capitalist mode of production and the system of the private ownership of the means of production. ----- -- For centuries, in a situation perfectly described by Karl Marx, and seconded by Jean Ziegler, scarcity ruled the planet; the goods available where definitively not enough to satisfy the vital needs of humanity. All Marxist theory of the division of labor, social classes, the origins of the state, and the class struggle was founded on this understanding of scarcity. -- Jean Ziegler continues: "But since the death of Marx, and more particularly in the second half of the 20th century, a formidable succession of industrial, technological, and scientific revolutions dynamized the productive forces. Today, the planet is drowning in its riches." Brutal imperialism today aims to maximize profits to deal with the tendency for the profit rate to fall in the capitalism mode of production. -- The current theses defended in the name of modern ecology and sustainable development, supposedly in defense of the planet, are part of capitalist strategy to make maximum profits. -- The American Al Gore, new winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, former Vice-President of the United States under Bill Clinton, is at the head of this offensive undertaken with the support of imperialism. -- Because of this, Jean Ziegler very correctly notes: "The price of a good depends on its rarity. The more rare it is, the higher the cost. Abundance is a nightmare of the cosmocrats. Only scarcity guarantees profits."
-- Under humanitarian and altruistic pretexts, the theses on sustainable development are an integral part of the strategy of organizing scarcity. -- We are currently living with a shortage of food products, heading down the erroneous path of past policies, particularly Europe's "struggle against surplus production." Thus, we have land kept fallow and set production quotas. Today, organized scarcity leads big agro-industry companies to raise their prices by 20%. This is particularly the case for Danone and Nestle. -- This new orientation, concerning the production of grain, is organized with the goal of provoking a significant rise in the prices of basic goods, with consequences you can imagine for the poorest countries. -- The question is posed: "It is better to feed cars or people?"
Here again, the organization of scarcity aims to raise the profits of
the big owners. Already they have accused the emerging countries of
having a purchasing power to generate a boom in consumption, with the
effect of increasing prices on account of an increase in demand. -- Jean Ziegler, in his capacity as U.N. reporter on food, describes the situation facing the world. He writes, "Today, one can say that misery has reached a higher level than ever before in history. More than ten million children of less than five years of age die each year from lack of food, epidemics, water pollution, and health conditions; 50% of the deaths take place in the six poorest countries on the planet; 42% of the South make up 90% of the victims. -- Words are never neutral. They are often, as the saying goes, the tree that hides the forest. -- Thus, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, fair trade, etc. are parts of the same strategy: maintain scarcity in the capitalist mode of production and for imperialism, which is more than ever headed by the United States. -- We will return to these themes in future articles November 1, 2007 ----- Endnotes 1) "Empire of Shame" by Jean Ziegler. (Fayard) *******************************
Creation of a Liaison Committee Against Privatizations, for the Free Union of Peoples of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, against the European Union and NATO More than 40 activists from nine countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldavia, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine), with representatives of the ILC, met on October 27 and 28, in the industrial city of Caçak, in central Serbia, on the invitation of the Association of Workers Politics of Serbia. There were two days of discussions, at the conclusion of which virtually all the participants decided to constitute a Liaison Committee of Activists from the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the ex-USSR. This committee decided to publish all the speeches of the conference, to send them to the delegates of the European Workers Conference in Paris, on February 2 and 3, 2008, while asking that the ILC propose to the working-class activists of the world to hold a world conference. The activists produced a true document of condemnation for 16 years of privatizations and pillage following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. This document integrated the sinister balance sheet of the "expansion to the East" of the European Union in 2004 and 2007. Thus, a metalworker trade unionist from Hungary explained that, in his country, "more than half a graduating high school class finds themselves unemployed. This is one of the main reasons why crime rates have exploded in recent years." Evoking the dramatic situation in the hospitals, which are the victims of the policies of privatization and budget cuts imposed by the "stability pact," he explained: "Each public hospital from now on has a quota of surgical operations. If the quota is gone over because the doctors feel it is necessary to treat their patients, then it is the hospital that has to pay for the extra expenses."
Undoubtedly, if tomorrow the workers of Macedonia, through their class struggle, win collective rights, the European Union and NATO will find another "paradise" elsewhere by any means necessary. In response, a worker activist from Eastern Germany noted: "Fifteen years ago, it was Eastern Germany that was presented as a 'paradise' for investors. The privatizations under the aegis of Treuhand, led by the bankers of the West and by the former bureaucrats of the East, led to the closure of thousands of enterprises. Today, barely anything is left. And, in the framework, of a new European Treaty that was just signed in Lisbon, the European Union just prohibited the subsidies of the German federal state to the Landers of the East, subsidies that are incompatible with the free competition upon which the European Union is based." It is in the name of "free competition" that the European just condemned the Romanian government, which during the privatization of the giant Tractorul factory in Brasov imposed under pressure of workers a clause requiring the re-hiring of all the laid-off workers, explained an activist of the Association for Workers Emancipation of Romania. Another workers' activist from Germany explained that, in the name of this same principle, the European Union has "just demanded that the German government suspend the law prohibiting the privatization of Volkswagen. And the green book of the European Union, which calls for 'modern labor rights,' threatens in Germany and all countries all the system of collective conventions and statutes. But in the Land of Berlin, the Ver.di union has organized against the drive of the European Commission to eliminate any national legislation won by the working class through its trade unions and parties." From Kosovo to Bulgaria to Germany: The Resistance The policies of systematic destruction taken up under the aegis of the European Union has provoked everywhere a search for resistance on the part of the working class. A delegate from Bulgaria noted, "In addition to the strike of four weeks by the teachers for the doubling of their wages, there has been a strike of the forest rangers." In the ex-Yugoslavia, explained a trade union leader, "since the beginning of privatization, the immense majority of workers have sought to express their rejection of privatizations. The governments pushed the enterprises to bankruptcy to justify the privatizations. Recently, in a huge factory threatened with privatization not far from here, the authorities sabotaged the electrical sources to create a situation of bankruptcy in which privatization appeared to be the only means to save the enterprise. But the workers resisted. Of course, in the trade union summits, there were people who came out in favor of privatization (though, others changed their positions after going through the experience of privatizations). But in the union bases, including in the leaderships of the local union, the opposition to privatization was expressed. The delegate explained how 200 workers in a factory threatened with privatization descended, with their union, on Belgrade, and demanded a meeting with the Minister, who proposed that a meeting take place with a few representatives. The workers demanded the meeting take place with all 200 of them. "During the war and the bombings of 1999, we were all united, Serbian, Albanian, and Macedonian workersŠ" Even during the worst conditions of wars of decomposition fomented by the big powers to dislocate Yugoslavia (1991-92, 1995, and 1999), the Yugoslav working class has sought to maintain its unity, explained another Serbian working class activist: "Kosovo represents 80% of the production of coal in Serbia. Before the war, in the big electricity production, centers there was no conflict between Serbian, Albanian, and other nationalities. During the bombings, we remained united. NATO tanks attacked our electrical centers, though collectively we continued to make them work. After the war, NATO prohibited the Serbian workers from returning to the centers. About 8,600 Serbian, Macedonian, and even Albanian workers were not able to return to their jobs and the situation has not changed. We want to return to our jobs. I accuse NATO and the American government of having destroyed our jobs. The bombings indifferently killed Serbian and Albanian workers." This resistance can also be seen in the massive refusal of the tenants of Ukraine to accept new fees, imposed beginning in January 1, 2007, which are preparations for privatization. In Russia, explained an activist of the Communist Youth, "we organized support pickets throughout the country for the workers of Actovaz in Togliatti, who struck on August 1." Workers are seeking to lean upon all the conquests won by the October Revolution and state property that remain to express their class struggle. And, as the appeal of the Liaison Committee that was constituted in Caçak underlines: "The regimes that fell in 1989-91 were not willing or able to maintain these conquests. It was precisely those who were responsible for the fall of 1991 who today are at the heat of the governments that privatize and open our countries to the international institutions of the Bush government." Moldavia: The privatizer Voronine supports the summit of the European Left Party A "small caste of parasitical mafiosos that make huge fortunes," explains a young activist from Moldavia, "is the government of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldavia and its president, Voronin. This is a government that has privatized more than the so-called 'right-wing' government that preceded it. This government has privatized tobacco and the wine enterprises of the country. This government is completely subordinated to NATO and today, in the framework of the new European treaty, aims to integrate into the European Union, with the goal of making Moldavia, to come back to what the comrades of the ILC mentioned, a 'new paradise for investors.'"
Can one defend the Polish workers and remain quiet when the European Commission demands the closure of the naval yards of Gdansk? The discussion was also open concerning the subject of the policies of the Polish Party of Labor (linked to the LCR in France) that just presented candidates to the legislative elections. An activist noted: "I read the electoral platform of this party. It said extremely general things about the need for better wages, pensions, etc. But there is no reference to the policies of the European Union. One of the crucial questions in Poland today is the will of the European Commission to close two of three naval yards in Gdansk, where Solidarnosc was born in 1978. This would be the next-to-last step in the definitive closure demanded by the European Commission. A leader of Solidarnosc in the yards explained why: American investment bankers have bought the land. They want to take down the yards and take away the jobs of the 2,700 last workers that remain (compared to 17,000 in 1978). The European Commission acts as a instrument of the American investors. These are the yards, let us recall, that in 1970 and 1980 were the site of the Polish working classes resistance against the bureaucratic dictatorship. On September 1, 100 workers mobilized in front of the European Commission in Brussels and raised a banner that said: 'What Moscow was unable to doŠ Will Brussels succeed?' and 'Dictators of the East did not destroy our yards, but the Brussels functionaries continue to try!' Is it necessary to accept the destruction policies of the European Union?" Serbian and Germany workers declared during the discussion, "We are shocked to learn that the policies of the European Union have led to the closure of 86,000 hospital beds in France and to similar conditions in Germany." It is necessary to show the reality behind these destructive policies throughout Europe. Already, several activists have decided they will be present in Paris in February 2008 to testify about the problems facing the workers of all of Europe. Maintaining the tradition of the democratic revolutionary movement in the Balkans since the 19th Century In the face of policies of privatization, destruction, war, and "balkanization," in the words of a Serbian militant, we raise "the tradition of the democratic revolutionary movement of the Balkans and Hungary in the 19th century: the fight for the Balkans-Danube federation, for the free union of the people of Yugoslavia, the Balkans, and Central Europe. This was the tradition of the Yugoslav Communist Party at its foundation in the 1920s, which was broken by Stalin in 1948. Today, under NATO occupation, there is no more sovereignty in Serbia than in Kosovo. It is our task to revitalize this tradition." This is the task of the Liaison Committee of Militants of this regions that was create on October 28 in Caçak. ------ Speech by a young Czech activist Against the NATO radars, the population demands a referendum! "The Czech government wants a radar at any price; the Czech nation is against this and wants a referendum. The politicians tell us that such important matters as the entry into the European Union cannot be left to the common people. The site where the American radar would be situated will be an American territory, where American laws rule, where there is no sovereignty. This radar is a threat against Czech security and other important parts of Europe. This radar aims to protect America. It is supposed to intercept attacks from foreign missiles, with the anti-missile signals then sent to Poland. This radar is not meant to protect any European country. If the radar is set up, then the first attack by an enemy of the U.S. will not be against the U.S. but against the radar in the Czech Republic. This is very convenient for the U.S., because it would gain more time to prepare. In their opinion, the loss of one of their colonies is not the end of the world. All countries in Europe should take a position on this question, because it affects all of them. The same people who decided in the name of the Czech people that the people do not have enough 'know-how' to take a position on the question of radar bases decided, in the name of the Czech people, on the entry of our country in the European Union." ***************************
Resistance against the offensive to break up the nation Belgium has been without a government since last June. The question of its unity as sovereign state is more and more on the table. In this situation, on the initiative of the Committee in Defense of the Unity of the FGBT and Federal Social Conquests (Committee for Unity), militants of the FGTB launched an appeal titled "The Situation is Serious," which has received close to 200 signatures from labor activists from Flanders and Walloons. We interviewed two of the initiators of this appeal. Geert Haverbeke is a young Flemish trade unionist from the Brussels region; he is a SETCa-FGTB delegate from the Dexia factory. Antoine Ruggieri is a former FGTB leader in the metal sector in Liege (Walloons). He is currently the head of the pensions committee of the metal FGTB-Liege. An interview with two initiators of the appeal "The Situation is Serious" Geert Haverbeke: The role of the Committee for Unity is to draw attention to the fact that the "communitarian" tensions have nothing to do with a rise in nationalism. They talk to us about financial transfers between Flanders and Walloons, but in reality, there are transfers within regions, cities, and towns. Thus, that doesn't make any sense. The only uncontestable fact is that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. This is the reality focused on by the Committee for Unity. There is no "communitarian" difference between people, but there sure is an economic one! What we're dealing with is not relationships between Flanders and Walloons, but between bosses and workers. At this moment, the parties of the right negotiate to form a government. They are divided on many things, but they quickly found agreement on the anti-social policies pushed through everywhere in the European Union. The bosses are taking advantage of the current circumstances to push for a separatist agenda, but not because they love their region: the moment they can move their products and services abroad to save a few Euros they do no hesitate to do so. This is not patriotism; it is opportunism. It is our task to inform the workers about the intentions of the bosses and their hidden agenda, which is to destroy our federal social conquests. This is not easy, in light of the fact that the media focus most of all on the parties of the right that will probably form the new government; thus, it is these forces that are given the platform. Our means of struggle are very different. We lean on the force of workers who defend solidarity. The social struggle is difficult, but it has always been difficult. Let us not forget what has occurred during the past two centuries, the efforts and sacrifices of our grandparents, who gave their lives to win social progress. We should fight for the betterment of our social system. But instead of this, because of the capitalist bosses, we currently have to focus on fighting to defend the gains won by past struggles. The power of the bosses is significant, but the force of the workers is even stronger. We launched an appeal, which we are getting signed; we have organized and will continue to organize conferences to deepen this struggle. We are fighting and will continue to fight inside the trade unions. The whole struggle is concentrated today in what is at the heart of the appeal that we launched. The responsibility of the trade union leaders, particularly of the FGTB, is to call on the workers to take to the streets in a national demonstration - and in a strike, if necessary. By bringing to bear the strength of the workers of the whole country, and their unions, we can, despite the difficulties, defend our social conquests together in an united manner. ----- Antoine Ruggieri: They present the situation in Belgium as a conflict between communities. However, we in the FGBT, have comrades in Flanders, Walloons, and Brussels. When they speak of defending workers, we are all on the same wavelength. As a proof, on September 24, 2007, I presented a motion to the Federal Committee of Pensioners of the FGTB, where our Flemish comrades demonstrated their support, in particular through the voice of the Flemish representative. This motion said: "What preoccupies us all is how we are supposed to have food, health care, and housing tomorrow. We see a constant rise in the prices of basic goods. Š We also not that they are attempting to insight 'communitarian' tensions in an attempt to pit us against each other and distract us from the real enemies. Š. We, the elders, have fought our whole lives, with our trade union organization, to win a social security based on workers' solidarity, with decent revenues for all. This is what the bosses, today, want to undermine. Some think, to get to this point, it is necessary to divide working people through the regionalization of the federal social conquests or through separatism." The conclusion of this motion was: "Consequently, we address the leaders of the federal FGTB to ask them to organize, as soon as possible, a big federal demonstration (as a united front, if possible, or only with the FGTB): -To maintain federal solidarity and, thus, to oppose, as the manifesto of the FGTB does, any regionalization of social security, collective rights, and the right to work. - TO maintain the unity of working people from the North to South of the country." On October 9, 2007, the regional Hainaut representatives of the FGTB took a position in a communiqué where "they call on the FGTB to go beyond a publicity campaign, and organize a set of rising actions to face the current plans." Today, November 2, 2007, we not that the agreements coming from the current negotiations for a Christian-Liberal government are based on the same profoundly anti-social measures. Also, the "communitarian" aspects and the final decisions on the social questions, will be put on the negotiating table on November 5. Will they reach an agreement or not? We will see. But what concerns us, as workers, is to stay alert to face an unprecedented attack on our social rights by using all means necessary. That is why the appeal launched by the unity committee, calling on the leaders of the FGTB to organize as soon as possible a response to these attacks, is a burning question. ***************************
The truth about the "new" European treaty! (Continued) 1. A tightened calendar to pass all the counter-reforms They want to go quickly. On October 23, in the National Assembly, Fillon specified the plans of the government to adopt the Lisbon treaty: "France intends to be the first country of the EU to ratify this treaty. The government will begin this project on December 14. The text will be proposed to the Constitutional Council before being submitted to the two chambers of Parliament." But to justify the fact that this would prohibit the French people to express their opinion again on what they rejected on May 29, 2005, the Prime Minister repeated the same lie repeated by all the media, using the term "simplified treaty" many times. No, the Lisbon treaty is not a simplified treaty. It is 261 pages, with 294 amendments to the current treatiesŠ all based on what was rejected in the European "Constitution" two years ago. It is the indispensable instrument to accelerate even further the counter-reforms (privatization, dismantling of Social Security, Labor Code, pensions, etc.). 2. The repeat of the "Constitution" rejected on May 29, 2005 Giscard d'Estaing, who presided over the convention that wrote the European Constitution, commented on the real content of the Lisbon treaty, in the British The Independent: "The original proposals of the Constitutional treaty are practically unchanged. They were simply dispersed into the former treaties through the form of amendments. Why this subtle change? Above all, to banish the threat of referendums by avoiding any use of the constitutional rhetoric." Who can deny this evidence? The Lisbon treaty is the European "Constitution" rejected two years ago. 3. Example: The institutional "innovations" Le Monde, a French newspaper, confirms in its own way that the Lisbon treaty is nothing other than the "Constitution" rejected two years ago. On October 19, this newspaper noted what it called the "innovations": "The main innovations, repeated from the Constitution, concern the institutions. The EU will have a president elected by an European Council, for a term of two and a half years. A high representative of the EU on Foreign Affairs will have strengthened powers, Š and will coordinate the common foreign affairs of the EU Š A new vote mechanism will be implemented in the Ministers Council." These are measures, taken from the "Constitution," to strengthen the supranational institutions of the European Union against the roles of the states, in order to better implement all the European directives of "social dismantling". Response to a Lie: No Part III of the European "Constitution" has not disappeared "This treaty excludes what provoked in 2005 a No from the pro-European left. It does not include Part Three," declared Pierre Moscovici (former Socialist Party minister of European Affairs) and Bernard Poignant (president of the French Socialist delegation to the European Parliament) in Le Monde (October 24). The same thing was repeated, one week ago in the editorial in the Les Echos daily, which claimed that Part III of the European Constitution had been eliminated. The new Lisbon European treaty repeats virtually all of Part III of the European Constitution, through the form of amendments to the current treaties. Privatization Amendment 41 of the Lisbon treaty is identical to Article III-130, Paragraph 1, of the Constitutional treaty. This amendment stipulates: "The EU adopts measures destined to establish or assure the functioning of the domestic market," whereas the current Maastricht-Amsterdam treaty only speaks of "progressively establishing the interior market." The heart of Article 14 of the treaty is maintained and stipulates: "The domestic market is made up of a space without interior borders in which the free circulation of goods, peoples, services, and capital is assured according to the dispositions of the current treaty." This is the article in the name of which all the European directives on the privatization of public services have been decreed. There are many other similar aspects of Part III of the European Constitution that are brought forward in the 294 amendments to the current treaties. ***************************
February 2 - 3, 2008 No to the "new" European treaty! Abrogate all the former treaties (Rome, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice) Around these demands, 252 militants and leaders from 16 countries of Europe (see issues 256 and 257 of the ILC International Newsletter) have called a European Conference on February 2-3, 2008. Here is an excerpt from their appeal: "Next February 2 and 3, there will take place an European conference of delegates of signers of this appeal. The goal is to forge a common front in each of our countries and throughout Europe of all the workers and their organizations to reconquer the democratic rights founding national sovereignty and to preserve the existence of our trade unions." *************************
After the decree of emergency rule: Thousands of arrests On November 3, the president of Pakistan, General Musharraf, instituted emergency rule. The constitutional rights - particularly those protecting the security of individual - have been suspended. Demonstrations and public meetings have been prohibited. Thus, a country of about 150 million people, with common borders with India, Iran, Afghanistan, and China has been brutally plunged into dictatorship. This is an element of destabilization and crisis for the continent of Asia. Musharraf justified his coup through the pretext of "the defense of national unity" against the threat of "Islamist terrorism." But the first victims of the repression were the judges and lawyers who were at the origin of the vast peaceful opposition movement in the name of democracy. It is from their ranks that most of the 2000 arrested come from. It is true that Pakistan has faced a terrible wave of violence. The attack that marked the return of the former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, which caused the death of 140 deaths, is a tragic example. It is estimated that there has been 500 deaths by similar attacks in recent months. In the various regions of Pakistan - and not only on the borders with Afghanistan - a situation of war reigns. Tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers are in regular battle against the rebels. In fact, Pakistan, under the direction of Musharraf, has been more and more drawn into Bush's "endless war" since 2001. The result is that the war lead in Afghanistan has "spilled over" into Pakistan. The country is threatened with chaos and dislocation. In this situation, in which it holds the most responsibility, the American government has no other point of support other than Musharraf. It has sought to strengthen him by "forcing" an agreement with the Prime Minister Bhutto, as the daily La Croix (November 5) notes. "According to this agreement, the General should remain as president, but should cease to be head of the army; Benazir Bhutto would be authorized to return to participate in the elections scheduled for next year." This initiative only aggravates the crisis. Condoleezza Rice, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Bush, insisted that a state emergency not be decreed. But Musharraf responded: "Inaction would be suicide," while claiming that the state of emergency would only be a "transition toward democracy." The New York Times (November 6) reports that on November 5, Bush, in a meeting at the White House, declared: "All we can continue to do is to work with the president, while clearly expressing our position." For all those who support democracy and the rights of the people, the immediate demand is the lifting of the state of emergency, the reestablishment of basic rights, and the immediate release of those imprisoned. ------ APPEAL November 6th, 2007 On November 3rd, 2007, a state of emergency has been imposed to Pakistan. In the days that followed, arrests have been multiplied. Demonstrations have been banned, and constitutional rights suspended. The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples supports the demand of trade unions and democratic organizations in Pakistan that the State of emergency be immediately cancelled, all prisoners released and the right of expression and association guaranteed. The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples send its support and solidarity especially to all trade unions in Pakistan. We call to send declarations from all over the world asking for the immediate cancellation of the State of emergency and the restoration of all elementary democratic rights. Send telegrams and declarations to : - the President of the Republic of Pakistan, General Musharraf Islamabad, Pakistan. - the embassies of Pakistan in your own country Send a copy to the ILC <eit.ilc@fr.oleane.com>
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