From: "benav" <benav-AT-one.net.au>
Subject: Parkistan anti-nuke 'treason' appeal....passed on by PROVO/ASG-Perth
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 18:00:49 +0800


Dear people
PLEASE CLONE THIS MESSAGE & BOUNCE IT AROUND AUSTRALIA FAST in union,
anti-nuke and international solidarity circles
This is an URGENT appeal for a little financial assistance for some
anti-nuclear unionists facing treason charges in Pakistan. I've had half a
dozen little emails backwards and forwards from the acting secretary of the
union. The latest news (12 July 1999) is that most are now out on bail, but
two senior officials of the union are in the prison hospital after beatings,
waiting for trials.
OUR $$$ ARE URGENTLY NEEDED to fight these charges. A few dollars each from
lots of caring folk should go a fair way in Pakistan.
People for Nuclear Disarmament WA is coordinating donations, to share the
$25 international transfer fee. Please write cheque/money orders to "PND"
with a note saying it's for the Pakistan Appeal. Post to PND, PO Box 37
Maylands 6931 WA ASAP
We will send the first donation on Friday 16 July 1999
and the second on Tuesday 27 July. Please act quickly as they really are
desperate for help and they claim they have only received two donations of
$500 from Finland and a new fax machine from someone in Vietnam. They have
outlaid $5000 US so far on bail. (I admit I had a few doubtful moments
before launching this appeal in Australia but further correspondence &
reading Pakistan amnesty report since then has convinced me that it's only
too real...)
Enquiries, Brenda C. 08 9271 1977 brencon-AT-cygnus.uwa.edu.au
(We regret that donations to PND are not tax-deductible.)
PAKISTAN ANTI-NUKERS seek help to fight treason charges.
Union officials of the All Pakistan Federation of United Trade Unions in the
northern industrial city of Gujrat, have been charged with treason for
taking part in a peaceful anti-nuke protest. They have been badly beaten in
prison and are now in hospital. This charge carries the death penalty.
(Pakistan executed 4 people last year and hundreds more were sentenced to
death. Executions, torture, disappearances, and deaths in custody are alive
and well in Pakistan . See Amnesty Report on Pakistan 1999) It's hard to
believe that wearing a T-shirt with the slogan BREAD NOT NUCLEAR BOMBS could
be seen as treason, but that's because we live in another world I guess.
Their office was raided, records destroyed and all their equipment stolen by
police. They are appealing for financial help from the international
community to fight their cases. and re-establish themselves. They have set
up a bank account for the purpose.
Excerpts from their emails
Gujrat Pakistan : on June 18,1999 our organization took part in a procession
to condemn the explosion of atom bombs by Pakistan and India... The
enthusiasm of the workers and school children was worth seeing...The Apfutu
(women's wing) leadership were sitting on hunger strike to protest against
the nuclear explosion.
The male workers showed their shirts, with protest slogans. For example"
WE WANT BREAD NOT NUCLEAR BOMBS,
NUCLEAR IS DANGEROUS FOR HUMAN LIFE,
WE DO NOT LIKE TO MAKE OUR COUNTRY LIKE HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, but
WE WANT TO BRING PEACE AND HARMONY,
WE ARE A PEACE LOVING COUNTRY AND MOST VIRTUOUS NATION, COMMANDING TO DO
GOOD AND DENOUNCING EVIL.
Mr.Syed secretary-general addressed the meeting full of zeal and enthusiasm.
It was difficult to control the feeling of the protesters during his speech.
Then about 300-400 police commandos came into action using batons and tear
gas on the workers and school children. They arrested Pirzada Syed,.the rest
of the union executive and 50 others.
On June 19, 1999 the local administration released 50 workers on bail, and
rest of them shifted in to district jail from police station. We heard from
reliable sources that the executive had been charged with "damaging the
territorial integrity of the country" which carries the DEATH PENALTY. The
released office bearers told us with deep grief that the executive members
were tortured and beaten.
The hearings of these cases will be held in the Supreme Court of Pakistan .
These workers are unable to bear the legal expenses of their trial as our
organization has not sufficient funds. So we have opened a bank account in
the name of "International Solidarity Funds of Apfutu" with the" Allied bank
of Pakistan limited."
I, on behalf of my organization appeal to your good selves to stand by us in
such a critical moment.
Syed Naseer Akhtar
Caretaker Secretary General
All Pakistan Federation of United Trade Unions (APFUTU)
This arrived on 12 July 1999
Dear Sister Brenda,
Thanks for regularly contact with us. We are highly thankful to you for that
efforts which you are doing for our help. Also I request you that please do
Pray before the GOD for us. I think that there are a lot of people against
the Nuclear in Pakistan but all those persons are underground. We are
looking forward to your help urgently.
Your Brother,
ZULFIQAR ALI
Secretary International Relations.