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Year 2001 No. 45, March 9, 2001 Archive Search Home Page

The Proscribing Orders of the Terrorism Act are Violating Freedom of Conscience

Workers' Daily Internet Edition : Article Index :

The Proscribing Orders of the Terrorism Act are Violating Freedom of Conscience

For Your Information:
What Has Been Said on the Terrorism Act

Will Britain Be on the Side of Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Association, Or Will It Support Fascism?

The Campaign for Human Rights in Turkey

Meeting in Support of the Just Cause of the Palestinian People

Video Review: Hidden Wars of Desert Storm

News In Brief: Birmingham-based Britannic to Sack Salespeople

International News
China Issues Article on Human Rights in the United States
Minorities in US Accept Cuba’s offer of Free Medical Training

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The Proscribing Orders of the Terrorism Act are Violating Freedom of Conscience

In this issue of WDIE we are reproducing a call from the Devrimi Halk Kurtulus Cephesi (DHKC) of Turkey, which has been forwarded by e-mail from the DHKC London Information Bureau. In our opinion, this call deserves serious consideration.

The DHKC is one of the 21 organisations that have been subject to an Order by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, recommending that they should be proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000. If this Order is confirmed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords, then it will become an offence to display the emblem of these organisations, raise financial support for them or appear on the same platform as their representatives.

The call of the DHKC points out that the organisation is waging a completely democratic and legal struggle against the Turkish regime. It stands opposed to fascism and for justice and freedom. The DHKC is not alone in its struggle and stand, in Turkey itself, and elsewhere where peoples are fighting for national and social emancipation.

In taking action in proscribing the DHKC, the government is violating the right of freedom of association. In outlawing support for organisations such as the DHKC in the ways specified by the Terrorism Act, the government is further in violation of the right to conscience.

The call of the DHKC raises the issue that in banning the organisation, the British government is serving fascism in Turkey, and is bowing to the declaration of the Turkish regime that the DHKC is "terrorist". It further raises the issue that the leading exponent of state terrorism is US imperialism, and that the peoples and states opposed to its hegemony and lawlessness, US imperialism itself labels the "terrorists". The call justly raises the demand that in this respect the British government must dissociate itself from the US and its imperialist interests.

It is a matter of serious concern that the British government is embarking on the path of outlawing legitimate struggles of the people and bolstering reaction and the status quo. It is equally a matter of serious concern that it is in violation of the right to conscience in criminalising expressions of support for organisations engaged in political struggle and their causes. In so doing, the British government itself is heading in the direction of fascism in the name of "combating terrorism" as its moral duty. Its stand is opposed to all those who are taking action against globalisation. Are all such organisations also to be added to lists of "terrorists"?

Article Index



For Your Information:

What Has Been Said on the Terrorism Act

John Wadham, the director of the civil rights group Liberty, said: "Banning organisations and criminalising membership is a serious attack on basic rights of free speech and assembly."

Liberty says the new definition will have far-reaching effects. "It is a quite extreme piece of legislation and creates a far wider definition of who a terrorist is. The GM protesters, Trident Ploughshares or anti-road protesters could all be branded as terrorists under the new Act. They are all people that potentially fit the definition because they commit acts with political motivations," a spokesman said.

Liberty also pointed out that the Act gives sweeping powers to the police. "You can be held in detention for seven days and the police don't have to tell anyone where you are being kept. It creates a two-tier system where committing a criminal act with political or moral act with a lesser degree of viciousness will receive the same penalties as more violent act by hardened criminals. We also question why the Act was necessary when much of it was already covered by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act."

The government has said that the measures are not aimed at Muslims but at terrorists. Home Office minister Charles Clarke said: "We deeply respect the contribution which the Muslim community makes to the life of this country. We are concerned on the other hand to isolate and attack terrorist organisations, and that is why we have named the organisations we have."

The minister also denied that foreign governments seeking to suppress dissent had any influence on the list. British-based groups in Northern Ireland are covered under separate legislation.

In the Terrorism Act, "terrorism" is defined as the use or threat of action if it involves serious violence against a person, serious damage to property, endangers a person's life, other than that of the person committing the action, creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public, or is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system. The use or threat of such action is defined as "terrorism" when it is designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and where the use or threat of action is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause. If the action involves the use of firearms or explosives, it is classed as "terrorism" whether or not it is designed to influence government or intimidate the public. The action and government referred to can be within or outside the United Kingdom.

Article Index



Will Britain Be on the Side of Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Association, Or Will It Support Fascism?

March 5, 2001

Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Cephesi (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front)

European Representation

The government of Britain wants to ban the DHKC, which conducts a completely democratic struggle in Europe and in Britain, which shows solidarity with and organises people from Turkey who live in Europe and which struggles to keep their culture alive.

What conception of law, freedom and democracy would want to ban the DHKC, which wages a completely legal struggle? The government of Britain has to explain this to the whole world, above all to the people of Britain.

Is Britain Defending Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Association?

No country, no government which defends freedom of thought and freedom of association can ban thoughts and organisations. If there are bans, that means there is no democracy but only interests are being served. What interests is Britain defending by banning the DHKC? Banning the DHKC is a matter of serving fascism in Turkey. A state which supports fascism is also opposed to freedom of thought and freedom of association. Banning the DHKC, which opposes fascism in Turkey and struggles for justice, freedom, equality and democracy, means helping the fascist regime in Turkey to continue its existence. It means there is no justice, democracy, freedom and equality. A state which fails to defend freedom of thought and freedom of association cannot call its own country a democracy and is not able to practise democracy.

There Is No Democracy in an Area Where Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Association Are Banned

The British government, which says that in its country freedom of thought and association exist for everybody, needs to explain the logic behind its ban.

If Britain says that "there is freedom only for my ideas, and there is no freedom for those who are against imperialism", then it has to explain this logic to the entire world.

Today the People You Call "Terrorists" Are Those Whose Hands You May Have to Shake!

The British government declared revolutionaries to be terrorists. Every state which bans the beliefs and the ability to organise is also robbing the people of their rights and freedoms by declaring its own opposition to be "terrorists". Those countries whose states share interests with this one have used the term "terrorist". When the "terrorists" have come to power, those who earlier called them terrorist have shaken their hand, because their own interests are served by shaking their hand. These accusations and decisions to impose bans are shaped by circumstances. As long as that goes on, it is not possible to talk of freedom of thought, freedom of association, democracy, law and human rights. History has proved this many times. The fascist government of Turkey declared the DHKC to be "terrorist". That is why once again the government in Turkey wants the whole world to declare the DHKC to be "terrorist". If anyone or any country fails to call the DHKC "terrorist", the system in Turkey then questions the democracy of those countries. If an organisation does not suit their interests or does not support the state, the state calls them "terrorist", and if another country does not do the same, that country is accused of "supporting terrorism".

Some states gave in because of their current interests and they threw away justice, law and freedom and surrendered to bullying and anti-democratic methods. Turkey puts pressure on them in this regard, and if pressure does not work, blackmail and threats are used. Harassment, threats and blackmail are characteristics of fascism. In Turkey's press, it is said that "at last pressure on Britain has yielded results and the DHKC is banned", and this is the proof of what has happened. Britain has now surrendered to pressure, blackmail and threats from the authorities in Turkey. Serving fascism in Turkey, doing what fascism wants, giving way to the threats and blackmail from fascism is first of all an insult to the people of Britain who stood up to Hitler fascism.

We Are Not "Terrorists", We Are Revolutionaries!

The state in Britain called DHKC a "terrorist" organisation according to the definitions used by fascism in Turkey and the USA. In this way, it tried to hide the support it has given to state terrorism and despotism in Turkey. If Britain says that it is defending democracy, before it calls us "terrorists", it has to examine a fascist state's massacres and torture, its terrorism aimed at taking away rights and freedoms. Yesterday 28 prisoners were killed with bombs, bullets and burning and then the prisons were destroyed. The state in Britain has to see the repression and harassment that has been practised against the people of Turkey for decades. The state in Britain has to examine this and explain why it has supported such a regime in Turkey for years.

We are not "terrorists", we are revolutionaries. We are a liberation movement opposed to the fascist government in Turkey. We are fighting against a fascist regime in Turkey, and we are fighting for a country in which there is democracy, law, justice, equality, rights and freedoms. If those who want freedom, democracy, justice and equality and fight for it are terrorists, then we are terrorists. We accept that we are terrorists if terrorism is defined as above, and if it is an honour to support fascism in Turkey, we leave this honour to Britain. Giving support to fascism for the sake of one's own interests is not honourable.

They Must Stop Imitating the USA!

Britain must stop copying the USA. The USA which has spilled blood everywhere, which has made peoples fight one another, which has bombed other countries for US interests, starting wars and carrying out military coups, is the greatest terrorist. For this, whoever is against imperialism, whoever is against US interests must be wiped out. The USA engages in every form of lawlessness, and to do this it issues a list of "terrorist" organisations and a list of "countries supporting terrorism". Freedom of belief and freedom of association mean nothing to the USA. They do not know what democracy, justice and freedom is. They only know spreading US interests world-wide. This USA declares us to be "terrorists". They have been preparing to take decisions on bans for a long time. Britain must give up walking in the footsteps of the USA and must stop protecting the interests of the USA. There is a country that nations all over the world hate and call a terrorist state, if you do the same as this state, then you too are an enemy of democracy and the peoples. There is one criterion for calling a country or an organisation "terrorist", and that is US interests. Tomorrow perhaps its interests will change and it will be Britain that is on the list of "terrorist" countries. There is nothing to stop this happening, because the USA does not believe in freedom or law, but merely in its own interests.

The British People Must Lay Claim to Freedom of Belief and Association - Freedom of Belief and Freedom of Association Cannot Coincide With Bans. If There Are Bans, Then It Is Not A Democratic Country.

We are calling upon democratic public opinion in Britain, we are calling upon those who say they are on the side of law, justice and freedom; we are calling upon all who say they are against fascism; those who say they are progressive, socialist, and on the side of oppressed peoples; we appeal to you to oppose the British state's policy of banning revolutionaries. Opposing the ban on the DHKC, defending freedom of thought means opposing fascism.

(Forwarded by DHKC London Information Bureau, tel. 020 7254 1266, e-mail dhkcbureau@netscapeonline.co.uk and dhkc@mail.com)

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The Campaign for Human Rights in Turkey

WDIE has recently received the latest bulletin of "The Campaign for Human Rights in Turkey". This was launched by the Liverpool Dockers’ Shop Stewards Delegation to Turkey, July 1996. On Tuesday we reprinted the lead article, and on Wednesday an article exposing the operation that took place in December against the prisoners on hunger strike. Here we reproduce two further articles.

F-Type Prisons Are Isolation And Torture

The Turkish media and state officials have presented the F-type prisons to the public as single and comfortable cells. In fact, they propagated the idea that in some European countries there are waiting lists for prisoners who want to make transfer applications from dormitory wards to single cell; while at the same time the political prisoners in Turkey are refusing what is claimed to be a similar change and this is not understandable.

In reality the reasoning behind the implementation of F-type prisons is to allow isolation, psychological and physical torture on political prisoners to be practised at any time. In various countries in Europe where single cell type prisons are in operation, the prisoners actually only remain in their cells during night time- that is, to sleep. In places where such a system is existing the prisoners have the use of common areas with facilities for social interaction such as workrooms and reading rooms. The inmates also have opportunities for using the telephone, receiving visitors, watching TV and access to reading newspapers etc. Therefore, a prisoner who is already punished by being removed from normal daily society cannot be punished a second time with heavier punishment methods. Although situations may exist where this does not occur, single cell type prisons are used primarily for this purpose.

In stark contrast, the implementation of F-type prison aims to punish political prisoners imprisoned for their thoughts for a second and even heavier time. In any case torture and isolation, which is part of cell type prison life, are being implemented and are carried out more systematically so that the prisoners are rendered submissive and the individual and any organisation is destroyed. Not only have prisoners been denied access to books, newspapers, TV and telephone these have been used as elements of offence during the 19 December 2000 operation. In addition, in F-type prisons the cells are not properly heated, the prisoners are not allowed to wash as needed and visitors and items like clothing and food are not allowed. The prisoners are prevented from seeing each other. Medical services like medication and doctor are not provided. The prisoners who have been transferred to the F-type prison in Edirne were beaten, raped with batons, tortured with cold water and so on. The injured were not treated and all sorts of abuses were carried out, while the cost of electric and water was demanded from the relatives of the prisoners. The guards and torturers are simply carrying out psychological and physical torture.

F-type prisons are therefore being implemented with the aim of isolating the prisoner, destroying the individual and any organisation, and rendering the prisoner psychologically and physically submissive.

"Death Fasting Could Have Been Ended Without Military Intervention"

Mehmet Bekaroglu, member of the Human Rights Investigation Commission for the Turkish Greater National Assembly (TBMM) and elected MP for the Virtue Party (FP) in the Rize city constituency called upon the state and the government in power to keep its promise of awaiting implementation of isolation cells until public agreement was gained.

The TBMM Human Rights Investigation Commission set up a sub-commission with representatives from all the political parties in TBMM in order to initiate negotiations. Mr Bekaroglu (FP) and a representative from the DSP (Democratic Left Party) and the DYP (True Path Party) started negotiations with the prisoners in the Bayrampasa and Cankiri prisons followed by numerous meetings with the Justice Minister (A. S Turk). Subsequently, writers and intellectuals became involved in the negotiation meetings.

Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Evrensel held an interview with Mr Bekaroglu on January 3, 2001. A summary and highlights of the interview have been translated. Mr Bekaroglu stated that:

The so-called "returning to life" military intervention in the prisons did not in fact seek to end the death fasting but sought to implement isolation cells.

The commission's role in this process was to mediate between the prisoners, the Ministry and the Government to end the death fasting by reaching an agreement and we managed to reach an opportunity for agreement. During the negotiations, an opportunity for a solution was reached but the government did not utilise this opportunity. The implementation of isolation cells was postponed until public support could be obtained. However, because the prisoners and the convicts brought forward more concrete demands and the deadline stipulated by the Ministry was looming we had to end our negotiation meetings.

Meetings with Yucel Sayman from the Commission were continuing after the deadline. The prisoners requested further meetings but the Ministry did not allow these and instead intervened. As we now know, more than 30 people died during this "returning to life" intervention.

The prisoners wanted isolation cells to be turned into dormitories. They also had a number of political demands on prison conditions, changes to specific articles of the Anti Terror Law, changes to the treatment and discharge of prisoners to be carried out according to CMUK and demands extending to DGM (State Security Courts). There were discussions about all of these issues and they were not considered a major obstacle to an agreement. The primary disagreement was over the issue of turning isolation cells into dormitories. The Ministry argued that legal and architectural arrangements did not prevent an acceptable number of people to have contact within the prisons but no commitment or assurances were given.

The Home Minister, the Justice Minister, the gendarme and others held meetings and took decisions. The Minister imposed a deadline to leave the prisons at 12 o'clock midnight, which meant that intervention was about to take place. Rightly, military intervention took place three days later.

Judging from the press conferences of the Home Ministry, it was obvious that the Government or the State was about to complete the building of isolation cells and was getting prepared with the transfer process. Isolation cells were being treated as part of the Anti Terror Law and the necessary laws were passed in the Assembly. The Home Secretary said: "We have been rehearsing for a year now, we have been using dummies to decide who is going to be placed in which cell, and we have been training the personnel". The government has been planning this all along.

We tried to meet with the Minister to re-start negotiations. He simply said "no", "there is nothing that can be done form now onwards". We then knew there was going to be a military intervention. We held a review meeting with the Sub-Commission. We received telephone calls from doctors. We found out that Accident and Emergency doctors were being called to the prisons. After several calls to various people around 1 a.m. we were certain that a military operation was going to take place.

Mr Bekaroglu, who is also known for his academic writings in the field of Psychology, said that:

He was against isolation cells because they isolate people and threaten the psychological being of a whole person. He also pointed out that this so-called "life saving" military operation was a tool to implement isolation cells and not to end the death fasting. Prisoners are now in a worse situation.

The prisoners are opposing Isolation cells because they are concerned about their safety. They claim that they have been attacked on many occasions whilst living in dormitories of 50 to 100 people in the Diyarbakir, Ulucanlar, Usak and Bergama prisons. They believe that their lives are threatened. Prisoners are also placed in single or two to three bed cells where they will not be in contact with other prisoners. There are international standards... There should not be isolation... Prisoners too need to be in contact during certain hours of the day. This was problematic.

Despite the crime they have committed, prisoners continue to be human beings and should be treated as such. Prisoners have been tried and sentenced. They should, therefore, not be subject to further penalty whilst in prison.

In the absence of Mr Bekaroglu and in spite of the death of 30 people and medical intervention forced on prisoners, the TBMM Human Rights Investigation Commission's Sub-Commission said that the military operation was justifiable.

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Meeting in Support of the Just Cause of the Palestinian People

Three speakers addressed a meeting in London attended by more than 20 people, organised by New Worker, the weekly newspaper of the New Communist Party, in support of the struggle of the Palestinian people for their independent state and for the right to return to their homeland.

The speakers were Chris Coleman of RCPB(ML), Labour councillor Mushtaq Lasharie and NCP general secretary Andy Brooks. The speeches were followed by a lively discussion.

Below we carry a summary of the points made by Chris Coleman.

Chris Coleman, National Spokesperson of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)

I would like to extend thanks to New Worker for organising the meeting and for the invitation to participate and contribute.

The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) stands shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian and Arab peoples and progressive people throughout the world in condemning the latest attacks against the Palestinian people carried out by the Israeli Zionists with the support of their imperialist backers. The current Middle East situation has intensified since the beginning of the bestial attacks against the people from October 2000 and has the danger of even more disasters for the people of the region.

There is a link between the recent election victory of Ariel Sharon’s, who stands condemned as a war criminal for his acknowledged responsibility for massacres in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in 1982, and the election to US President of George W Bush. It is part of the tightening of the grip of US imperialism on the region. This is also connected with the recent shameful bombing of Iraq of the US imperialists with British government backing and RAF participation. The logic of the Anglo-American pretext in this context replicates the fascist rationale of a Hitler in that the latest attacks on Baghdad supposedly took place to protect British and US fighter jets from attack. It is the right of every sovereign country to protect its air space and the Iraqi government merely used its radar to lock on to the British and US jets which were violating their air space in their flights through the "no-fly zones".

The recent atrocities carried out by the Israeli state against the Palestinians have however not been to the liking of the Anglo-American imperialists. Their decades-old policy of "no war, no peace" has been compromised. With this policy they have retarded and consistently repressed the struggle for sovereignty of the Palestinians and for their own state. The aim of Anglo-American imperialism is to spin out the "peace process", and compromise the sovereignty of the Palestinians. They do not wish the region to erupt in flames, for other countries to be drawn into the conflict, for even the Israeli people to seriously consider that the Israeli state must be done away with in its present form. In this regard Tony Blair presents himself as "enlightened" – falsely. Britain too wishes to prevent the situation spiralling out of control, to prevent the Palestinian people taking their destiny in their own hands, and the Israeli people taking a stand against the atrocities being committed.

The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) maintains that it is a vital call of the working class in Britain to condemn the brutality of the Israeli repression of the Palestinian struggle for sovereignty and an independent state. Also to be condemned are the government and state of Britain, especially Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, and the sophistry of his justifications for British imperialism contained in the notion of "enlightened self-interest". On this basis and with such a sentiment the British government and US imperialism wish to maintain a situation where they have unrestricted access to the mineral wealth of the region and perpetuate the "no war, no peace" situation in this regard.

In this regard, our Party condemns the continued attacks against the Palestinians, which intensified in October 2000. It condemns the interference in the region of the Anglo-American imperialists, and pledges full support for the struggles of the Palestinian people for an independent state and for sovereignty.

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Video Review:

Hidden Wars of Desert Storm

The video Hidden Wars of Desert Storm exposes the background to the Gulf War as a means of establishing the US military presence, which for decades US imperialism was unable to establish due to outright opposition by the Arab population.

A US government intelligence report, eight days prior to the invasion of Kuwait, of July 25, 1990, shows the role of US imperialism in Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. This is backed up by prominent figures involved in the Gulf War.

The video shows the genocidal effects of sanctions on the Iraqi populations, especially children. It also shows the use of depleted uranium – its effects, its use, its origin and the secret tests conducted by the US military. The effects of depleted uranium on Gulf War veterans is also mentioned. The UN sanctions against Iraq and the "no-fly zones" are shown by prominent figures connected to the UN to be illegal and genocide. A short history of the region is included showing Kuwait was artificially created by the British imperialists in 1928 from the territory of Iraq.

The video Hidden Wars of Desert Storm runs for 64 minutes. It is a documentary by Audrey Brohy and Gerard Ungerman, and narrated by John Hurt. It is produced by Free-Will Productions, and costs £15. It is available from the Mariam Appeal, 13a Borough High Street, London SE1 9SE, Tel: 020 7403 5200, e-mail: info@mariamappeal.com

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News In Brief

Birmingham-based Britannic to Sack Salespeople

Insurance firm Britannic Assurance is to axe over 2,000 jobs over the next year. Most of the redundancies will be within the direct sales force. The company is seeking savings of £82m in order to boost profits. The life assurance company reported a 7.5 per cent rise in pre-tax operating profits to the tune of £174.5m.

The company is planning to become more competitive and has taken the view that getting rid of employees is the way to maximise profitability. It says that keeping all of its workforce, "no longer makes economic sense". The company will only be left with a specialist team of 100 advisors.

Large insurance companies notoriously exploit their workers and have regard to the consumer when it comes to pushing up premiums. They hire and fire when it pleases them and often consider temporary, non-contract staff from agencies as expendable. It appears that they also now consider sales staff as expendable too.

About 1,600 staff based around the country will lose their jobs, along with 400 support staff at Britannic's base at Wythal, to the south of Birmingham.

The plans are following similar job losses elsewhere amongst large insurance corporations. Recently 4,200 jobs were lost at Prudential and Sun Life.

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International News

China Issues Article on Human Rights in the United States

The Information Office of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China recently issued a major article entitled US Human Rights Record in 2000, detailing infringements of human rights in the United States. The article was in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2000 issued by the US State Department at the end of February, which denounced more than 190 countries, including China, for their human rights record and accused these countries of human rights abuses. The Information Office article makes the point that although the US government reports on human rights issues around the world, nothing is ever said about America’s own human rights record. For the second year in succession the Chinese government has redressed this imbalance by releasing its own report.

By citing numerous examples the article aims to dispel the myth of "American democracy" by giving a wide-ranging account of human rights violations in the United States. These include the escalating violence, unfair judicial practices, the widening gap between rich and poor, widespread discrimination against women and minorities and arbitrary interference in the affairs of other countries. The article points out that by elevating itself as a "model of democracy", the US aims to peddle "American-style democracy" as the only model to be adopted by other countries throughout the world. Then under the pretext of safeguarding this kind of democracy, the US criticises other countries that do not follow its example and establishes a pretext for interference in their internal affairs.

Amongst other things the article points out that in the "democracy" of the US the gap is widening between rich and poor and that homelessness, poverty and hunger are becoming increasingly serious social problems. Statistics show that the richest 1% of US citizens own 40% of the wealth of the country, while 80% of US citizens own just 16%. In the last 20 years the income of the poorest 20% has decreased by 9%, while those on the lowest incomes are worse off than they were 30 years ago. According to the statistics of the US government itself, 32 million of its citizens live below the poverty line and the incidence of poverty is amongst the highest in any industrialised country.

The article thus highlights that "democracy" in the US is incapable of meeting even the basic human rights of its own citizens, while in international affairs its criminal activities, including waging war more than forty times since the 1990s, are well known. The article points out that the US which brazenly criticises other countries has not ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; is one of only two countries in the world not to have acceded to the International Convention on Children’s Rights; has not joined the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women; and has consistently voted against the Declaration on the Right to Development. Even in the case of those conventions it has signed and ratified, the article stresses, the US government by various means "has reduced the international conventions into nothing but empty rhetoric".

The article from the Chinese government concludes by stating, "China would like to offer this advice to the US government: abandon your old ways and make a new start, take effective measures to improve the human rights record in your own country, take steps to promote international cooperation in human rights, and stop ordering other countries on the pretext of safeguarding human rights."

Minorities in US Accept Cuba’s offer of Free Medical Training

According to news reports, students from disadvantaged minority groups in the United States are planning to take up the offer of free medical training made by Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro when he visited Harlem, New York, in September last year.

On that occasion Fidel delivered a speech in the Riverside Church in Harlem in which amongst other things he reprimanded the US government for not taking care of its poor and disadvantaged. He offered to provide six years of free medical education and training in Cuba for hundreds of low-income students from minority communities in the US. Recently the Congressional Black Caucus has accepted Castro’s offer and has begun to develop a registration programme for potential students.

A New York-based politician, Charles Rangel, commented, "This appears to be an excellent opportunity to improve health care in our Congressional districts, as well as a chance to fulfil a life’s dream for students who could not otherwise afford it."

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