Revolutionary Worker #1205, June 29, 2003, posted at rwor.org
Dhaka, Bangladesh --Chanting "Powell is a war criminal," "Go back Powell," and "Down with U.S. imperialism" thousands of demonstrators marched in the city of Dhaka in their protest against the U.S. war on Iraq and the continued occupation.
The demonstrations were organized on the occasion of Colin Powell's visit to meet with Bangladesh's Foreign Minister in the week of June 15.
The demonstrations occurred only days after a student strike protesting the murder of a member of the Awami League (one of Bangladesh's main opposition groups) by a government supporter. The student strike shut down schools, stores and disrupted transportation in the capital.
Seoul, South Korea: In the week of June 15, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of South Korea to memorialize the death of two teenage girls crushed by a U.S. army vehicle. The army vehicle crushed them as they were driving to a birthday party.
In Seoul, the government responded to the demonstrations by dispatching 10,000 riot police to stop the protesters from reaching the U.S. embassy. Despite heightened security around U.S. military bases, 14 students were able to break into a base and demand that the Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and South Korea be revised.
Last March people took to the streets of the capital city when President Roh Moo-Hyun announced his support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Heavily armed police clashed with protesters outside the parliament building, but 50 people still managed to break through police lines while chanting anti-war slogans.
Hatred against the presence of U.S. troops on Korean soil has grown since last year, especially when it was announced that the U.S. would not allow its soldiers to be tried in Korean courts. The two G.I.s who crushed the two girls were later acquitted by U.S. courts.
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba : Several prisoners held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were recently released without charges after being detained for more than a year. The ex-prisoners described the conditions their first few months of imprisonment as unbearable.
They were kept in 6 1/2 ft. by 8 ft. wide wire-mesh cells and forced to eat, sleep, and use their cell as a toilet. The prisoners now have new cells with a bed and running water, but there's still an overwhelming feeling of injustice among the approximately 680 men detained indefinitely at Guantánamo Bay. These prisoners include men from more than 40 countries, including Afghanisan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Canada, Australia, Algeria, and Sweden.
Conditions are so isolated and desperate that many stopped eating and others attempted suicide. In response to the suicide attempts, military personnel have given many prisoners tranquilizers and injections that impair their basic motor skills.
A Pakistani who was captured in northern Afghanistan in November 2001 and taken to Guantánamo Bay by American soldiers in January 2002 said, "I was trying to kill myself. I tried four times, because I was disgusted with my life. It is against Islam to commit suicide, but it was very difficult to live there. A lot of people did it. They treated me as guilty, but I was innocent."
No charges have been brought against the detainees and they are not allowed access to lawyers. Although most were captured on the battlefield, the U.S. military refuses to consider the detainees prisoners of war.
Guerrero, Mexico: A major hunger crisis threatens thousands of peasants in La Montaña, the poorest part of Guerrero. An intense drought last year affected more than 29,000 hectares of corn in the southern state of Guerrero, Mexico. As a result there have been widespread shortages of the grain. This affects more than 17,000 peasants in La Montaña (The Mountain) who already suffer from severe malnutrition and poverty, largely as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement that has devastated thousands of campesinos throughout Mexico. More than 400,000 indigenous and other peasants in the communities surrounding La Montaña are also affected by the scarcity in grain causing further malnutrition in the overall population, especially children.
The Secretary of Rural Development said that funds have been requested from a national agency that deals with natural disasters. Although requests for more than 11 tons of grain to thousands of peasants was made more than eight months ago, relief is still slow to come. The paperwork is expected to be completed in a couple of weeks. He said, "They have been able to endure a long time without eating because of their social condition, I hope they can wait 15 more days without dying."
Philippines: George W. Bush recently ordered a new deployment of U.S. troops to aid the Philippine armed forces in fighting against powerful people's movements, including the Maoist people's war for national liberation, led by the Communist Party of the Philippines, that has gained popular support of the Filipino people for more than 30 years.
After meeting with Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in late May, Bush also agreed to provide more than $100 million in aid and equipment to help train and arm the armed forces of the Philippines. The U.S. also plans to designate the Philippines as a "major non-NATO ally." This makes them eligible for additional U.S. arms. This increases the military ties between the U.S. and the Philippines in a way comparable to Australia, Egypt, and Israel.
Last year the U.S. sent an initial deployment of 500 Special Forces to advise and train the Philippine armed forces. They also agreed to send about 3,000 more troops, including 750 ground troops. Groups fighting national liberation struggles like the Maoists and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front regard the U.S. military aid as "an invasion." There has been enormous public outrage against the possibility of U.S. troops engaging in combat in the Philippines.
Occupation and Injustice in Palestine: In the week of June 15, the Palestinian people have suffered major repressive attacks, on top of the current "peace talks" under the U.S./Israeli Road Map. The U.S. and Israeli occupiers continue to collectively punish the Palestinian people through assassinations, home demolitions, mass arrests and destruction of their whole way of life.
In the week of June 12, 2003, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, 17 Palestinians were killed. A Hamas leader was assassinated along with his pregnant wife and child-- part of Israel's policy to smash any Palestinian resistance. An Israeli helicopter shot a missile, aiming to hit a car; when the missile missed its target it destroyed the home of a family. Along with assassinations, the occupying forces continue to demolish people's homes and destroy their agriculture.
The attacks on internationals in Palestine continue. One of the founders of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Huwaida Arraf, was arrested on June 18 at a checkpoint near the city of Nablus. Huwaida had been fighting for the release of two Palestinian men being detained by the Israeli occupying forces. Due to international support, Huwaida had to be released. The oppression of the Palestinian people does not just confine to occupied Palestine. Palestinian refugees living near the city of Baghdad in occupied Iraq were run out by the landlords of the Haifa Sports Club in Baladiyat, where the 250 Palestinian refugees were staying. The Palestinian people will never get any justice, or be on the road to achieving peace for that matter, until they rise up and kick out the imperialists and colonial settlers. Anything else is a facade, and all the millions of refugees will be left without the right to return to their historic homeland, Occupied Palestine.
Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA: From the evening of June 16 through the next night, the streets of this small predominately Black community of 12,000 witnessed the rage over the death of 28-year-old Terrance Shurn, a young Black man killed in a high-speed chase by white officers from the Benton Harbor Township Police Department.
According to police, Terrance--nicknamed "T-shirt" and known for performing motorcycle stunts for neighborhood kids--was being pursued for not having current plates.
Upon hearing news of his death, people began to gather at the site of the fatal crash. Mourners lit candles and prayed. At some point the police arrived and attempted to disperse the crowd. That was too much for some people to take--and it was on. Hundreds and hundreds of people confronted the police officers and fire department personnel as rocks and bottles flew, buildings burned and at least four police cars were trashed. Police admit to having shot into the crowd and claim to have exchanged gunfire with some motorists in another incident. By Wednesday, local officials declared a state of emergency for the area. A 10 p.m. curfew was declared and the streets patrolled by at least 200 police officers in riot gear--a small army that included Michigan state police and cops from neighboring areas.
The rebellion in Benton Harbor was triggered by Terrance Shurn's death, but it was fueled by anger from years of police abuse and racism. Some of the examples given by residents to the press include: an 11- year-old killed in another police chase in September 2000; a man who died in police custody last April; and the still unexplained 1991 death of a young black man found in the river that separates predominately Black and low-income Benton Harbor from predominately white and moneyed St. Joseph.
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
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