Astrid should stay THE authorities in both Britain and Germany are getting rather DCIOUS OYCE growing protests against their bid to extradite Astrid Proll.
In the Appeal Court last week, Lord Chief Widgery adjourned the Proll hearing to await clarification on Astrid's nationality status.
Her claims nationality, Dy virtue of nel marriage to Robin Puttick, are currently being heard at the Family Division of the High Court. Her lawyers argue that Inere can be no extraction or a British subject.
In an obvious attempt to get Astrid back to West Germany, the Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Baum, has hinted at clemency.
In an interview with the magazine Stern, he suggested that Astrid would be treated leniently if she gave herself up and renounced her alleged associations with the Red Army Fraction.
The Friends of Astrid Proll held a rally on 20 February at an interview which Jo Richardson MP spoke out against the extradition bid. Violence against women A NUMBER of groups and or canisanons women's liberation movement, including the National Women's Aid Federation everal rape crisis centres, are riataine a week of action on rolence against women from 3 to 10 March.
Activity will be concentrated at a local level and directed towards women. The organisers of the protest point out that 25 per cent of violent crime is wife assault, and that 50 per cent of rape cases reported to the London rape crisis centre involve men known to the WORCIA More information on the week of action can be obtained Dy phoning the following numbers: Scotland Leeds son, Jo Kirk, 031-225 8011; Leeds - 689882; birmingnam - Heather Powell, 021-452 8742; Cardiff Carol Jenkins, 499084; Sheffield Maureen Storey 0742 51816; London - 01-837 9317, or 01-340 6913.
Expulsions
A LEADING member Oxford City Labour Party has been expelled. He Heslin, chairperson of party's anti-racism sub-committee.
Heslin was expelled month on the charge that he supported and distributed the literature of an organisation whose principles and constitution are contrary to those of The right wing in the branch complained that he had sold Socialist Press, the newspaper Workers Socialist League.
The branch has also refused two applications from membership on similar grounds, and past expu sion bids have been made against both Socialist Press and Socialist Challenge SUUUUrECIS Heslin's trade union branch he is chairperson of GWU 5/833 - protested against the expulsion at a meeting on 7 February and elected a steering committee to fight lifting of the ban.
Socialist Challenge 22 February 1979 programme turned out to be.
Panorma hardly mentioned the actual circumstances surrounding H Block. there any description legal procedures which lead to convictions for offences.
Instead Panorama concentrated on explaining American newspaper columnist Jack Anderson had been misled into criticising British policy in The programme ended with Ireland Minister Roy Mason, who "welcomed' the straight! tunity put the Panorama hardly mentioned the actual circumstances surpropaganda being waged by the H BYCESHHICEEL on Already it has 250,000 copies of a special and newspaper on the issue But at least H Block is now talked about, and argued about. Here is how the argument should proceed.
What's actually going on in H Block?
Over 350 Republican ers and a lew prisoners are wearing nothing but a blanket. They are refused exercise and normal facilities and are kept locked up for 24 hours a day.
As a rule the only time the Sue prisoners leave their cell is to go to mass or, more ominously, hospital.
The prisoners are refusing to "slop out', wash or empty their toilet Consequently most of the cells are filthy.
The prisoners also say that they are regularly assaulted and beaten up by the of But the government says that Ted these conditions inflicted'. the The CORICHCHE prisoners to the cells and the denial of normal facilities are not "self-inflicted" They are punishments imposed by the prison authorities for protests UnC DrISOnCES Nor have the chosen to have no chairs, beds or tables in their cells. These taken WCIC dWay authorities as punishment.
But nobody is stopping these people from washing, slopping out or cleaning their cells. They have done that from choice.
It depends what you mean by "choice'. The prisoners say they had no choice, it was the only waw to craw aeros to wid was going on.
What happened early last year the authorities "THE PROPAGANDA prison' was the sub-title of last week's Panorama programme, advertised as a report on H Block, Long Kesh. And propaganda the suddenly stopped allowing the prisoners to go to the toilet unless they uniform.
Nor was So unless the prisoners gave in to this demand, they were unable to dump their piss and "terrorist" shit.
Then, once these new rules were introduced, how orderlies were given the work of emptying the toilet vessels and they began to topple the pots over the cells.
It was the combination of all this which led to the 'dirty with Northern strike' of the prisoners.
opporrecord It all seems to go back to this question of prison uniforms.
What's behind the refusal to wear them? now It is a bit more complicated Block. then just produced uniforms.
happened was as follows.
In 1972 the Conservative goverument hopefully peculiar prison for crimes with the political the North of Ireland and granted those prisoners special category status In all but name this was political status. It meant that prison- the prisoners were allowed to Loyalist wear their own clothes, freely, and take orders only from their officers' rather than the prison staff.
DESOI also Spots.
Prison *selfof the prison prisoners by the he stayed out of it?
Just like the Derry 14.
Sunday?'
natural to them.
whisky." *Irish?' 'No, Seotch." 'You bet it was!" was that wore a prison Loyalist deliberately the question Essentially what recognised nature of those in connected situation in prisoners who fell still operating.
Most mix The 'You see Maudling's dead? 'Yeah, died of drink you know. The newspapers' version was all censorship. He died of a booze-ridden liver." 'What will he berememberedfor? His mates in jail, or how 'Well, he always did say they would never take him alive 'Do you think he was drunk when he approved Bloody 'Not necessarily. It's like Mason. Such things come 'You know Reggie's famous remark on a plane leaving here? "What a bloody awful country, bring me a large "Well I hope it was Irish that got him in the end."
Their status was similar to that given to prisoners of war.
There were not a great many into this (1973). category at that time, because internment without trial was the Republicans were simply interned, and the camps after operated on a similar basis to granted the special category' rules.
status. phasing out of internment was accompanied facilities. noused. itself offences criminals. alone, accused blanket' differently Act. by the establishment of new legal procedures as contained in the Emergency Provisions Act Eventually this was joined by abolition of *special category' status by the Labour government in May 1976. No prisoner convicted of a crime was be 'special category' Those convicted refused to accept this change, and refused uniform to wear ne prison required under the new laws. The British reacted to this by denying the prisoners the usual So essentially it was a change of rules by the British government which produced the whole H Block issue. The H Blocks are the compounds in Long Kesh where the prisoners are But why should the government treat these prisoners differently from any others?
First of all, the government recognises those Convicted of so-called terrorist' al C normal They are convicted by special "Diplock' courts, in which the normal laws regulating criminal trials do not apply.
For instance, there are no The accused are tried by judges and those making the accusations are not required to appear in court and therefore need not be cross-examined.
The Amnesty International invesuigation mo ponce bru tality testified that the way the are tried, held and convicted has eroded the rights of suspects held in connection with terrorist offences.
From the minute they are picked up to the minute they are convicted. those now on the are treated entirely ordinary criminals. The argument is that this process should continue all. Inese prisoners are ponucal The legislation under which most of them are convicted is the Emergency Provisions Act This Act talks of terrorist OTTenCes What is meant by terrorist offences? Another piece legislation, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, offers It is the PTA under which the suspects are first picked up, and some are convicted under the It defines terrorism as 'violence for political ends Thus even on its own terms the British government admits that the offences are political' But this is not the central reason why the prisoners are demanding political status. Instead it involves the nature of the crimes committed racher alleged, for often the evidence under which they are convicted is extremely flimsy Amnesty International. 1o1 instance, reported that 90 per cent of convictions are based or confessions and Amnesty went on to severely question how these 'confessions' were obtained The main point 1s thal "crimes' are committed in the course of a national liberation struggle for the right of all the Irish people to rule themselves. It is a political struggle for political ends The vast majority of those committed have no 'criminal' record, they are volunteers who are fighting not for personal gain but for a political ideal Their actions take place in the context of a war against ar occupying army and govern ment.
Since 1918 the Irish people as a whole have never been given the right to vote on the presence of this or on the government of Ireland.
The volunteers in Long Kesh are arguing they given that right, and that only the Irish people have the right to determine their own future So why doesn't the government give in to the demands of those 'on the blanket'?
Precisely because that would be to admit the political nature of the conflict taking place in th North of Ireland. It would rais the whole issue of the nature of the struggle taking place.
As long as the government can say that the IRA are just 'criminals' or 'gangsters", it can portray the war as merely a 'policing action' to root out *terrorists" who have community.
SUPPOR How these 'isolated gangsters" can exist, as they have done for the past nine years, in the face of between 15,000 and 20,000 troops, the government does not care to explain What the British want to avoid is a discussion of the real causes of the conflict and of the justice the Republican demands in that conflict.
Denying 'political status to the prisoners is one means of doing this, for its pretends that the conflict is not political at
Developments in Iran have put to the test the political strategies
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"THESE FENIANS ARE ALWAYS EXACGERATING ABOUT H.BLOCK CONDITIONS. WERE JUST SENDING A CLEANER N NOW?.