No Picnic - Spring 88

              THE · GITKSAN
WET'SUWET'EN
TITLE ACTION
"I wanted to asl~ them (Province of 13.C. and Canada) where
their geneologies were ... where their ancestors are
buried ... where they came from'."
Gisdaywa (like a mountain goat)
A landmark land claims trial is now taking place in
Vancouver for title and jurisdiction over 22,000 square
miles of territory in Northwestern B.C .. The Gitksan
(people of the misty/mouldy river) and Wet'suwet'en
(people of the lower river) peoples are taking the pro­vincial
and federal governments to court to win ownership
and jurisdiction over the land, with which they have
lived and respected since at least the last ice age, over
10,000 years ago. The court battle for control of the
area of the Skeena and Bulkley River watersheds, is a
reaffirmation of the foundations on which their societies
have been built from time immemorial.
The Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en peoples maintian they have
never yielded their ownerhip and jurisdiction of the terr­itory.
Never have they signed a treaty, or in any real
sense yielded to the newcomers' legal system. The Prov­ince
of B.C., for over 100 years, has refused to negotiate
land Claims settlements with any of the aboriginal peoples
of this province.
The occupying governments have acquired the services of
a high powered law firm to ensure continued uncontested
domination of the aboriginal peoples. They argue that the
hereditary Chiefs no longer have any basis of authority,
that they do not represent the people of their Houses,
that they no longer have any instituted basis of law and
jurisdiction, that they no longer are a distinct culture
and that in fact they no longer exist as a distinct peoples.
"We don't feel we are going to lose because it doesn't
matter what the court says. We'll keep on fighting until
the last breath of the last little Indian," said Yagalalh
(line on the side of a hill) from the1clan of Laxgibuu
(wolf) and the House of Spookx. The ~awyers for the Chiefs
have had to rely on the ada'ox to de\nonstrate unsurrendered
ownership. Testimony before the system of injustice of
the ada'ox came as no easy decision for these Chiefs. The
ada'ox is a complex and sophisticated system of histories,
the origins of names, sagas, symbols, myths, laws, gene­ologies,
social rank and duties. The ada'ox is a fiercely
guarded secret and to demonstrated publicly the sacred
stories before the foreign system and alien court that
have systematically, directly and indirectly, sought to
obliterate their peoples and culture was a grave decision
and an important step in the battle for justice.
The Ci. Lk:;un mid WeL 'suwet 'en peoples have come Lu :;h;i re
an extremely complex social and legal system over the past
several centuries. Hoth societies are matrilineal: all
inheritan~e paSSeS through the mother IS line• The Sy Stem
is based on membership of the Clan and House. Some of the
Clans are Wolf, Firewet!d, Frog, Small Frog and Eagle . Each
Clan is made up of Houses, based on family-type connections,
which can have 10 to 50 members . Each house has a terri­tory
on which it's members hunt, fish and gather berries.
No-one can use another territory without the consent of
it's Chief, who bears it's name.
The perspectives of Gisday Wa (like a mountain goat)
and Delgam _Uukw (person who handles the copper shield) can
bes~ describe the two societies attitudes and approach in
their address to Justice McEachern of the Supreme Court of
B.C.:
"For us, the ownership of territory is a marriage of
the Chief and the land. Each Chief has an ancestor who
encountered and acknowledged the life of the land. From
such encounters come power. The land, the plants, the
animals and the people all have s pirit - they all must be
shown respect. That is the basis of our law.
The Chief is responsible for ensuring tha·t all the peop
in his House respect the spirit in the land and in all living things. When a Chief directs his House properly and
the laws are followed, then that original power can be re­created.
That is the source of the Chief's authority.
That authority is what gives the 54 plaintiff Chiefs the
right to bring this action on behalf of their House member:
- all Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en people. That authority is
what makes the Chiefs the real experts in this case.
My power is carried in my House's histor:i.es, songs,
dances and crests. It is recreated at the feast when the
histories are told, the songs and dances performed and the
crests displayed. With the wealth that comes from respect·
ful use of the territory, the House feeds the name of the
Chief in_ the feast hall. In this way, the law, the Chief,
the territory and the feast become one. The unity of the
Chief's authority and his House's ownership of its terh.­tory
are witnessed and thus affirmed by the other Chiefs
at the feast.
By following the law, the power flows from the land to
the people through the Chief; by using the wealth of the
territory, the House feasts its Chief so he can properly
fulfill the law. This cycle has been repeated on my land
for thousands of years. The histories of my House are
always being added to. My presence in this courtroom to­day
will add to my Houses's power, as it adds to the power
of the other Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en Chiefs who will
appear here or who will witness the proceedings. All of
our roles, including yours, wil be remembered in the his­tories
that . w.i.J l be told by 111y. grun<lchildren. Through
the witnessing of all the histories, century after century,
we have e xercJ.sed our jurisdiction .11
••1•1 I.' 1· lC Lt1ropern1s t .Ld not 1w11t Lo know our historito's ; they
did not respect our laws or our ownership of our territor­ies.
This ignorance and this disrespect continues. The
former Delgam Uukw Albert Tait, advised the Chiefs not to
come into this court with their regalia and their crest­blankets.
Here, he said, the Chiefs will not receive the
proper respect from the government. If they are wearing
their regalia, then the shame of the disrespect will be
costly to erase.
Officials who are not accountable to this land, its
laws or its owners have attempted to displace our laws
with legislation and regulations. The poiiticians have
consciously blocked each path within their system thnt
we take toussert our title. The courts, until perhaps
now, have similarly denied our exestance. In you legal
system, how will you deal with the idea that the Chiefs
own the land? The attempts to quash our laws and exU.n-
THEY WILL CARRY ON THE STRENGTH
AND THE POWER OF THE LAND ·~
THEY WILL HOLD THE TRUTH.
OUR CRESTS, OUR POLES,
OUR BLANKETS, OUR LAND ••...
"THAT'S OUR MARK.
BIG WITNESS FOR EVERYBODY
ALL OVER THE WORLD. "
Lelt
guish our system have been unsuccessful. Gisday Wa has
not been extinguished.
If the Canadian legal system has not recognised our
ownership and jurisdiction but at the same time not ex­tinguished
it, what has been done with it? Judges and
legislators have taken the reality of aboriginal title
as we know it and tried to wrap it in something called
aboriginal rights. An aboriginal rights package can be
put on the shelf to be forgotten or to be endlessly de­bated
at Constitutional Conferences. We are not inter­ested
in asserting aboriginal righ·ts - we are here to
discuss territory and authority. When this case ends
and the package has been unwrapped, it will have to be
our ownership and our jurisdiction under our law that is
on the table."
Walking jnto the courtroom to witness this spectacle
was a humbling experience. Tears of anger, sadness and
respect welled to my eyes as I saw the patience, dignity,
wisdon and respect of the Chiefs as they were forced to
repeat over and again how they have lived and respected
each other and the Earth, to a barrage of racially biased
cross-examination from crown lawyers. One can feel the
life of the people in the face of the hypocracy of the
system that now struggles to repress it, one more time.
Over and again the court sights discrepancies of terri­torial
boundaries marked on maps to prove ineffectiveness
of House control of territory. Over and again the witness
testifies that one cannot know the land through a map.
One must be there and see the land to know it's detail.
At one point, Jeff Plant, lawyer for the Province attempt­ed
to get Tenimgyet (half man, half bear), Bitwangak
Lazgibuu Clan Chief to agree that moose prefer clear-cut
logging sites, grown over with brush to natural forest.
Tenimgyet replied that no, the moose does not like to he
in the open space, and it cannot pass easily through the
unnaturally dense growth. The moose likes natural forest.
The crown would try and prove the carnage and theft of
land and resources since the arrival of whites, has ben­ifitted
the original peoples.
o.v-i !floJ~ ki lle.d i l'I ar> areo.?
I o.lso 'no.ve this rule
I like to kl"oW how
· f'00-1'\Y <joo.ts or o.nirno.ls
o.re TG\~ey, from Y'l'f lo.ncl.
At the same time the Chiefs find themselves in a fam­iliar
situation; between a rock and a hard place. The
crown maintains that to fish, hunt, trap without liscenc
from occupying authorities is to break Federal and Pro­vincial
laws and is subject to punishment. At the same
time the main thrust of the state's proof of no authorit
is that the native peoples have been getting permits fro
the government to carry out their ancestral ways, th P.r"b
acknowledging the state as authority and final arbitrato
of control. The clear-cutting of immense valleys is pro
the crown uses, that it has been de facto ruler.
Recently, Chief Luulak (ghost) and supporting Gitksan
Hereditary Chiefs, deemed extraction and utilization of
resources on their territory as illegal, thereby proving
that they do not recognize the alleged provincial author
ty. On February 12th, Chief Gwis-Gyen (pitch) said,
"It is appalling what the Ministry of Forests are doing
us while our case is before the courts. ~ The ~ logging · in­dustry
does not even rest on weekends or holidays, and
they even work in the dark stealing the trees off our
land."
LAW 11 s ~y ooK
·-··--·----··
Equipment of a logging outfit that was on Luulak's
territory was confiscated.· Twenty four (24) hour notic
had been given to have it removed. The logging contra
ors claimed that the action of Luulak was 'theft of ex­pensive
equipment'. Luulak replied " ... you are tres­passing
on Gitksan territory. You are stealing our tre
It is our land, our resources and our laws."
Spokesperson for Luulak, T'ax Ts'ox (tangled) sta t ed
that: "We gain nothing from the removal of trees from c
territories. Our quarrel is not with the individual le
It is the Crown who gives logging permits to people to
destroy our trees. The method of present day logging i
one of rape and carnage. Clearcuts destroy our trap­lines,
our hunting grounds, our medicinal plant gatheri
areas; our sacred places. Clearcuts affect the water,
creates erosion and destroys fish habitat. The natural
cycles are broken. Not only is the land clearcut, but
is then burned, scraped and sprayed with pesticides.
1is has got to stop now. The land cannot absorb this
mishment. We are a caring and peaceful people. We
ire about our children and the health of the environment
1ey will inherit. Both Indian and non-Indians have a
1ral responsibility to be proper guardians of the land."
The Hereditary Chiefs now real'ize t hat tc• continue to
tbmi t to alien state control of their territories, is
1t only see the destructi on of the land and people, it i s
_so to be used against them in court by agents of the
1me s tate, They have begun to a ssert control by block­ling
r oads , confiscating loggi ng equipment or demand-
1g the remova l of ha rdware f rom territory. On February
_th: The Gitwasgak Chief s announced today that the Pro­_
nce of Bri tish Columbia can 110 l onger al:i.enate resources
t their House Territories without their consent.
"We are aski ng the logging contractors if they have
t a ined the permission of the chiefs to log on Gitwangak
use Territories, and if not; notice is given today for
e contractors to stop logging until the contractors
me hefore the Gi twnngak Chiefs for permission", the
twangak Chiefs said.
In March the Chiefs of Kispiox (the hiding place)
blockaded the road in their heavily logged valley that saw
a truck loaded with logs, leave every ten minutes. B.C.'s
Attorney General, Brian Smith, responded with a show of
force that brought 35 RCMP from throughout the northern
region to repress this exercise in hereditary jurisdict­ional
control.
In many ways, the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en have al­ready
won this case and made history. Ardythe Wilson
states: "When we started to prepare, we didn't prepare
to take the governments to court. We prepared to ~ake
our people stronger. We do the work as much as possible
at home. We rely on a lot of professionals for their ex­pertise,
but in the process, all the people who have been
beaten and subdued by the imposed systems of the reserves
and everything else that goes along with it, have picked
themselves up and dusted themselves off, and have seen
that maybe there is hope, maybe there is life after death.
"Now, people are becoming trained and skilled. Re­gardless
of how the court case turns out, the movement has
started to take place and we are now becoming skilled.
The Gi tksan and Wet'Suwet'en have become very strong in
the pr ocess simply because we have had to. Simply to
address this court case."
The court battle; barring unexpected developments,
will continue for several. years, with the loser of the
first trial appea!ing to the B.C. Court of Appeal, whose
outcome will then uncoubtably be appealed to the Supreme
Court of Canada. After that it is possible for the World
Courts to hear a case if needed.
Other national eyes will also be on the outcome of the
Gitksan - Wet'sunwet'en case. The millions of people who
constitue what has been called the Fourth World - Austral­ian
aborigines, Maoris of New Zealand, Indian peoples
across United States, the so-called Tribals of the Indian
sub-continent as well as hundreds of cultures in South
America and Africa - all share a long-standing claim on
the nations by which they find themselves surrrounded.
All the societies of the Fourth World seek recognition
for their jurisdictions, lands and, in some cases, their
right to exist at all.
The Gitksan Wet'suwet'en Tribal Council would appre­ciate
very much, a show of support through attendance at
the trial in Vancouver. Testimony resumes April 25th and
continues through the end of June, every weekday from
10:00 to 12:30 and 2:00 till 4:00 in courtroom #53 of the
Law Courts on Hornby Street.
This middle.-class, white male writer can testify that
there is much of interest, inspiration and knowledge to be
gained by those of the occupying society's attendance at
the trial.
The Tribal Council is also in dire need of other forms
of support, both material, moral and financial . For more
information write: Head Office: P.O. Box 229, Hazelton,
B.C. VOJ IYO. Tel: 842-6511 Fax: 842-6828.
Vancouver Office: #303 - 865 Hornby,
Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 2G3. Tel: 682-1990 Fax: 682-8752.
Ardythe Wilson, GWTC (604) 682-1990
"I'm changing my plea and uh, in terms of
reasons, the left hand side of my face is kicked
in, I'm blind in one eye, I've got a broken
eardrum, my left collarbone sticks out, I've
got twelve holes in my guts, I've got four cutri
on my feet, and I'm tired. So I'm copping a
guilty to all charges. There's your reason and
there ' s· my plea. 11
"Mr. Gallant, I take you're pleading guilty
to all. three charges."
11All three charges."
The trial for the murders of the three guards
on July 25, 1982.
Jason Gallant, one of the prisoners held in
segregation and tortured in the aftermath of
the incident in Archambault Penitentiary.
On July 25th, 1982, Archambault Institution,
a maximum security penitentiary in Ste-Anne-des­Plaines,
outside of Montreal, Quebec, was the site
of a violent incident that left 5 men dead. As
with any incident of this kind, much regarding
the events themselves remains unclear. However,
five subsequent inquiries (see resource list at
end of article) allow us a certain degree of clar­ity
as to what actually occurred. At approximately
11:00 PM, as prisoners were returning to their
cells from the yard or gym, Christian Perreault,
23, and Yvon Martin, 39, both of whom were serving
25 year minimum life sentences and whom had been
refused a sentence appeal in the previous week,
took two guards hostage in an escape attempt. The
two prisoners then demanded that they be allowed
to leave the prison with their hostages, whom they
claimed they would otherwise kill. The officer in
the Control Unit refused to open the doors. It
was at this point that Perrault and Martin all­egedly
killed their two hostages, David Van Den
Abeele, 36, and Denis Rivard, 27.
At approximately this time a prisoner broke
the glass of the Control Unit window with a broom
handle and the guard responsible fled. This al­lowed
prisoners free access to the prison. Some
prisoners armed themselves with tools from the
industrial section, and acetylene torches were
used to start fires.
At around this time the 'Commando du Group
d'Intervention' (Emergency Response Team - an in­ternal
prison riot squad) arrived on the scene,
followed shortly thereafter by ambulances and 60
squad cars of le Surite du Quebec (Quebec Provin­cial
Police). By this time Perreault and Martin
had committed suicide using cyanide capsules, in
what was allegedly a pre-arranged pact in the
event that their escape bid failed.
At approximately midnight the authorities re­gained
control of the prison, evacuating five dead
men (two prisoners and three guards) and two woun­ded
men. The prisoners were removed to the yard,
forced to lie face down, individually i;earched,
and returned to their cells by armed guards one
at a time, in a process that lasted the remainder
of the night.
The following day inmates were again i;earched
and their cells were stripped of all possessions,
with the exception of mattresses. Upwards of 150
men were thrown into the 'hole'(segregation) for
varying lengths of time: about fifty of these were
eventually alleged to have been involved in the
incident. The remaining prisoners were accused of
participating passively and having been socially
responsible, and were penalized as a consequence.
Immediately following the incident the inmates
were subject to a variety of forms of harassment,
deprivation and torture. Prisoners were unneces­sarily
awoken in the night with noise and lights.
Meals consisted of a cup of milk and two sandwiches
twice a day, and were delayed and often adulter­ated
by guards pissing or spitting on them. Pris­oners
requests for their rights due them were of­ten
ignored.
Consequences of even what might appear to be
petty harassment cannot be underestimated in a
closed and controlled environment such as prison.
Deprivations included prisoners being denied
the right to shower, denied toilet paper, towels,
toothbrushes, ·soap and changes of clothing, as
well as writing paper, pehcils, cigarrettes, combs
and reading material. Prisoners were refused visits
with their lawyers, Classification Officers (the
workers with whom they have most direct contact),
and the Chaplain. This continued until mid to late
August. During this time family and friends were
not allowed information or contact with the in­ma
tes. On September 9th, Reverend Clarke MacDonald
of the United Church of Canada visited the peni­tentiary
at which point basic ammenities had been
restored,however, in piecemeal fashion: eg, thirty
inmates were sharing five pieces of paper and fou~
pens, and were showering one at a time.
- Prisoner signals to journalists touring Archambault Institute.
Prisoners were also subjected to two forms of
torture; torture as it is generally understood and
so-called 'clean' torture, which means it leaves
no physical marks on the body. 'Clean' torture in­cludes
all the above mentioned deprivations along
with incidents of forced masturbation, of inmates
being urinated upon, uses . of excrement, as well as
being gassed, often directely into the face. This
constituted sensory deprivation, de-personalization
and humiliation, causing profound anguish at being
utterly vulnerable to the violent exploits of the
guards. This often leads to suicidal feelings and
veneful anger.
Torture, as we generally understand it, included
systematic beatings, often of long duration, being
s11spcnrlcrl hy nrrns or cnrs, squeezing of the tes­ticles
and suffocation by having ones head forced
down a toilet.
A ream of inquiries was initiated by the lawyers
who first got in to Archambault after the incident
to find prisoners threatening suicide if something
was not done to improve their situation. They re­quested,
as did every report made in the aftermath,
that the government of Canada launch a full and
independent inquiry. Under pressure from these
reports Solicitor General Kaplan finally, a year
later, requested that Inspector General Ron Stewart
conduct an inquiry, which could neither be said
to be full or independant, as it was commissioned
by, and turned in to Kaplan, who witheld the re­sults
until things in Archambault could be cleaned
up a bit. He released the report along with a
three page press release where he contradicted
the report in denying all allegations of physical
brutality. Kaplan said right from the beginning
that a full and independant inquiry would not be
neccessary and that the matter should be settled
in court - which, needless to say, is a costly
and lengthy procedure and will hardly deal with
the full dimensions of the issues involved. These
inquiries, including an International Commission
of Amnesty International, The United Church of
Canada, The International Federation of Human
Rights and The International Human Rights Law
Group, also deduced that prisoners suffered "cruel
and unusual punish"m' ent"(as
usual punishment that is a way of life in Canada's
penitentiaries). The . Maleville Report (Internat­ional
Federation of Human Rights) points out that
in legal terms the systematic deprivation, hara­ssment
and torture of prisoners in the aftermath
·1 of the incident was a violation of the Canadian
, Charter of Rights, of Resolution 345 (XXX) adopted
by the General Assembly of the United Nations
(known as the Declaration on the Protection of all
Persons Against Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Pun­ishment
or Treatment) .and the Universal Declara­tion
of Human Rights. Even the Inspector General's
Special Inquiry (a case of the system examining
itself), While tamer than indepedent inquiries,
was forced to concede that the guards' behavior
was unprof fessional and unnecessarily violent
(which is deemed as unfortunate but, under the
cicumstances, understandable).
If one wishes to really understand what is
behind the incident of July 25, 1982, one must
look at the structures of prisons themselves.
It is reasonably clear that the 25 year minimum
s0.ntP.nce playerl fl vitf1l role i.n the unfolding of
cve11Lt; 011 JuJ.y '.L'.iLli. Th.ls s1rnLc11ce, wl1.ld1 cume J. 11 -
lo bc:ing W:l the pu11'ish111cnl for F·i nit: 00gr00 Murclc~r
after the death penalty was struck down, can per­haps
be best described as a form of walking death
penalty, as there is no possibility of parole for
nt least 25 years. The prisoner must come to grips
with spendins u lileLime in prison. The [acL thut
this will create a sense of desperate rage and
that, as the Malville Report notes, "Those impris­oned
under the new 25 year no-parole sentences may
feel they have nothing to loose.", can orily lead
to instances of intense confrontation. As long as
such a sentence exists, there will doubtless be
more and uglier examples of violence. With a pro­jection
that Quebec penitentiaries alone will hold
upwards of 400 prisoners serving the 25 year min­im~
m, the scenario is not good.
Nor should the impact of mixing short term and
long term prisoners go unacknowledged. The' Inspec­tor
General's Report itself states,"Lifers are be­friended
by other inmates who, in as little time
as some months are being transferred to lesser
security and closer to the street. Predictably,
this would have the effect of driving the lifers
closer to despair. This may well explain what
motivated inmates Perreault and Martin to do what
they did." (pg 59)
The Malville Report also notes the impact of
the general incompetence of the staff, quoting
Robert Van Der Abelle, brother of one of the slain
guards as saying that his brother chose his pro­fession
"to avoid unemployment" and "because it
was the best paying job at the time." The report
concludes "that training of a maximum security
establishment's personnel leaves much to be de­sired."
(pg 2) The low standard of acceptance as
a guard in Archambault (as in all other prisons)
does not supply people equipped to deal with such
a complex situation, anrl the aftermath of July 25th
bears this fact out. One finds badly trained men
......
seeking money and, one presume in many cases
power, introduced into an extremely tense and ex­plosive
environment to run loose in an exercise of
retributive machismo against unarmed, caged men.
There is little reason to believe, as such, that
their behavior before the incident would have of­fered
any model.
Regarding programs available at Archambault at
the time of the incident, the Malville Report states:
"If one adds the problems which accoding to the
prisoners are caused by the decrease in work and
the loss of salaries, one realizes that the appar­ent
harmony on July 25, '82, hid deeper tensions
related to the future prospects the establishment
was offering to the prisoners . "(pg 2)
Finally, the Malville Report concludes it's at­tempts
to understand the source of the incident
with some observations that offer an overview for
understanding the problems and tensions within
prisons that make future events akin to July 25th
inevitable: '~re not the shackles on prisoners the
same as those on all humans without power over
their lives? When it is no longer possible to
speak or understand, when one no longer wants to
submit, then one turns to violence to affirm that
one .still exists." (pg 3)
As a result of the July 25th incident and it's
aftermath, several legal procedures have been in­itiated;
the obvious one being that of the crown
against nine prisoners for the murder or attempted
murder of the three prison guards. But, also there
have been three avenues attempted in order to gain
some legal retribution for the prisoners in respect
to abuses suffered at the hands of the guards dur­ing
the period of the aftermath.
Individual allegations of torture by guards bro­ught
to the magistrates office (the first step in
initiating legal proceedings) were rejected on
grounds that prisoners could not name the guards,
as the guards refused to wear name tags. Voluminous
testimony was submitted to the magistrate claiming
that incidents of torture had occurred, but he did
not feel this to be enough grounds to have photos
of guards provided for identification by prisoners.
To this day guards at Archambault refuse to wear
name tags, which is conLrury to penitentiary rules
following the commissioner's directives, and those
handed down by the Solicitor General.
Guards man Archamb.<1ul\ control roorrrwhere,prisoners broke. windows and_i:ut rnetai bars.
The other court action, the most significant,
was launched in the Quebec Superior Court seeking
to sue the Warden at Archambault, Andre Lemarier,
personally, in a Class Action Suit. This suit for
18 million dollars, represents 424 people, and is
financed by the Class Action Fund of the Quebec
provincial goernment.
The Class Action suit in the Qu6bec Code of
Procedure under section 1003 is an action taken
by an individual on behalf of a class of people,
asking that one judgement be rendered on behalf
of all. The Class Action can only claim for damages
that are identical or similar for everybody, and
thus does not deal with individual cases perhaps
connected but extraneous to the basis of the suit.
The former Vice-President of the Inmates Commit­tee
at the time of the JuJ.y 25th incident, Roger
Lasalle, is the petitioner of the Class Action
Suit on behalf of the 424 prisoners in Archambault
and the CDC (Correctional Developement Centre - a
high maximum security segregation unit where many
of the prisoners in Archambault at the time of the
incident were sent) during the aftermath. He is
claiming for moral, punitive and exemplary damages
resulting from the aftermath of the incident; events
that took place from the 25th of July until the 3rd
of September, 1982. These damages are being claimed
in connection with the deprivations previously
mentioned, but don't involve any of the allegations
of torture under the Charter of Rights and the
Civil Code of Quebec.
The Class · Action Suit has only been recently
authorized, (early '88) which is to say that in
Appeal, the case has been judged well founded en­ough
to merit a full scale trial. The trial itself
has not yet begun. Originally Roger Lasalle had
applied also to take a suit against Solicitor Gen7
eral Robert Kaplan, but that was denied on a tech­nicality.
In an unclear ruling by the Court of
Appeals a personal suit against Kaplan is deemed
the same thing as a suit against the Federal State,
and the Federal State cannot be sued in a prov­incial
court. (very convenient. ed.) One cannot
take out a Class Action suit in a Federal Court,
which renders Kaplan and the like in practice, un­touchable.
This is the first time that a Class Action Suit
on behalf of prisoners has ever been accepted.
While it does not allow for the surfacing of the
depth of abuse within penitentiaries a full and
independent inquiry would have, it does represent
a victory in making the Warden potentially person­ally
liable for general abuses such as those at
Archambault during the critical time period. A
trial will give the right to be heard on every­thing
that h~s been alleged, permitting testimony
from prisoners and other witnesses such as the
people from Amnesty International and the Inter­national
Federation of Human Rights, who will give
evidence on the results of there respective inq­uiries.
The trials will be open to both the public
and the media and may help expose some of the at­rocities
suffered by the prisoners at the hands
of the institution. Given that guards were walking
around in gas masks for several days, and that as
per regulations medics checked on but then did
not formally report the condition of prisoners
there, the trial hopes to prove that the Warden
must have been aware and therefore responsible
for the conditions at the institution at that time.
Prisoners will be able -to collect benefits if
the Class Action Suit is won. Once the final jud­gement
is rendered, on the hypothesis that it is
succesful, a notice will be published informing
those represented by the suit where to claim. It
will be possible for prisoners to opt out of being
treated in the class action; there will be a noti­fication
printed in various newspapers and posted
on Federal Peitentiary bulletin boards across
Canada, explaining the procedures to be followed
should one wish to opt out. Prisoners who are not
interested in the suit will have a certain period
of time to make it known, otherwise they will be
automatically included. The notice is in the pro­cess
of being formulated by the Superior Court of
Quebec and will be forthcoming in the months to
come. Those prisoners affected by the suit are en­couraged
to make contact with the lawyer (address
at end) so they can be kept informed. It is also
important to note that the trial which will not
begin until approximately 1990, could last until
1995 or 2000, exhausting all appeals, before a
final judgement is handed down. It will then take
several years to sort out the prisoners' claims.
Finally, _ out of the nine prisoners brought to
trial for the murder of the guards, two were con­victed
and one, Jason Gallant, admitted guilt,
which at certain points was withdrawn only to be
readmitted under stron·g suspicion as indicated in
his testimony that he suffered torture before and
<luring the trial. Yet these allegations of torture
were not allowed as evidence in the trial. All
these prisoners had been transfered to the CDC
after July 25th and have claimed to have been at
the mercy of the guards there. Observers from ;,_
Amnesty InternationRl said the trial of Daniel
Boulet, where the Attorney General bypassed the
normal procedure of a preliminary hearing which
allows for a preparation of a defense, was a
political trial. Since then Daniel Boulet has won
an appeal overturning the murder conviction.
by Terra Jovi and Frank Verity, Montreal, PQ
Lawyer; Robert St-Louis, 420 Lauri er Est, Montreal.
Quebec, H2J 1E5, tel: (514) 286-9135
Resource List
Regarding Archambault;
- A Report to the International Human Rights Group,
presented by Charles E M Kolb
- Report from the Moderator of the United Church of
Canada the Right Rev Clarke MacDonald on Visits
to Archambault Prison, Sept 9 - Sept 30, 1982
The Malville Report, (International Federation of
Human Rights)
- Amnesty International Report on the Allegations
of Ill-Treatment of prisoners at Archambault
Institution, Quebec, Canada
- Report of the Inspector General's Special Inquiry
i"nto the Riot at Archambault Prison, July '82
Regarding Prisons in Canada - General;
- 'Barred From Prisorl - Claire Culhane
- 'Still Barred From Prison' - Claire Culhane
- 'Prisoners of Isolation' - Michael Jackson
'Go Boy' - Roger Caron
Canadian newspapers/journals dealing with prison;
- Bulldozer/The Marionette,c/o PNS Publishers
PO Box 5052, Stn A, Toronto, Ont, M5W 1W4
Wimmins' Prison Support Network, PO Box 6326,
Stn A, Toronto, Ont, M5W 1P7
Network, Box 2193, Kingston, Ont, K7L 5J9
ABC - Toronto, Box 6326, Stn A, Toronto,
Ont, M5W 1P7 ..
ABC - Vancouver, c/o Tragic Bandit Publishers,
Box 2881, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3X4
Prisoner Advocacy Groups;
- Prisoners' Rights Group, 2075 E. 12th, apt 303,
Vancouver, BC, V5N 2A9
- Office des Droits des Detenus, 1030 Cherrier,
no 303, Montreal, Quebec, H2L 1H9, tel 522-5965
- Quaker Committee on Jails and Justice,
60 Lowthar Ave, Toronto~ Ont, M5R 107, ph 922-6128
- Elizabeth Fry, (phone book)
- John Howard, (phone book)
VANCOUV
./JLAC1>
0.1toS~
Greetings, since the last 'No Picnic' we at
the Vancouver Anarchist Black Cross have
been continuing our work, which at this point
is centred around writing letters to prison­ers,
to the authorities on their behalf ,mak­ing
contact with other prisoner support groups
putting out a newsletter{ free to prisoners~
and S.A.i.S~E. for others~, and working on pub­licizing,
demonstrating etc. for K. <Jn.1'rl.. As
well, some of us a.re involved in a weekly, halt
hour radio show( Stark Raven ) , where we regul­arly
cover the situation ot prisoners supperted
by the 'Anarchist Black Cross, locally and Int­ernationall.
y.
Recently we reprinted Carl Harps prison diary,
Love and .Rage, this 50 page booklet is made up
of excerpts written by Carl during his incarc­eration
at San Quentin and W8lla Walla , he
and fellow prisoners were responsible for the
Anarchist Black Dragon, prison rag that came out
or Wallawal.la during the late 70' s and early
8o•a • We added an epilogue to the booklet which
describes how Carl was found dead in his prison
cell. Jik>st likely murdered .by the prison filth.
This edition. et~ Carls book was compiled by the
pirates at 'Tragic Bandit Publishers' as a means
of raising funds for Black Cross prisoner supp­ort
work. ( $2.50 individual./ $2.oo for bulk &
distributors )
Shane Green who was a member of the original An­archist
Black Dragon collective is compiling info.
for a'best of' A.B.D •• Since the last issue ot
'No Picnic ', Shane has been transferred to Walla
Walla .Send letters ot support, and if you want to
help him out, send some stamps.(Robert Shane Green
# 628148 I.M.U. E-7, P.O.Box520 Wal1a Walla,
Wash. 99362)
As of this printing we are participating in the
International ~ of Action for Qnori(Mar 29 88)
by helping to organize a demo. at the Japanese
Consulat that date.
For people interested in Anarchist Black Cross
prisoner ·npp0rt ·'1IO?°'k' you can write us and we 111
send you a more detailed list of Black ;Cross
prisoners, i.e. how you can help, and it arry or
you out there can send money to help out some of
these prisoners , write to us and we!ll tell you
where to send it, or you can pass it on to us
and we'll send it oft. The Vancouver Anarchist
Black Cross can be Written to at: Box 2881
Vancouver, B.o. V6B .314
"It is not the wrongs and crimes punishable by law that cause the
greatest evil in the world. It is the lawful wrongs and unpunishable
crimes.
"Stifled and protected by law and government, they fill the earth
with misery and want, with strife and conflict, with class struggle,
slaughter and destruction. "
-Alexander Berkman +
Prior to their arrest,conviction(for oners would have to be granted them too.
armed robbery and shooting a 1have-a- An appeal is now being sought,but is
go:· reckless cop )and sentencing to ltl'e
imprisonment in 1974,Noel and Marie
Murray were active Black Cross miJ.itants
who helped comrades and organized f'und­raising
for prisoners.Thirteen years
being blocked by bureacratic inefficiency. 1
The Mirrays solicitor has gained little,
financially from his representations,
hardly covering costs,but if the appeal
later they are still in prison but have
determinely- .kept in touch with mack Cross
activities.They would have been released
some years ago if it had not been for
is to proceed then costs will have to be
found for Counsel.If' no funds can be found
then it is possible that the Appeal might
not go ahead.Aey- further delay ~ make
the political climate peculiar to Ireland.
Their imprisonment continues without reason
except to prevent Marie from having a
child.We owe it to them to see that al1
efforts are made to fight for early release.
Inaction is the same as complicity.
it Virtually impossible !or Marie to bear
children.Tunds,therefore,are of the essence.
We are therefore launching a new appeal
for the ?-furrays.We ask comrades to raise
money locally through benefits,raffles
A major campaign battle has been tor con­jugal
rights.Marie is now 39 years old and
wants desperately to have a child. Unfo~ .":_
unately their long cmapaign has been marred
by the inaction of greedy lawyers who have
done little but overchar1e them for their
1services 1.Several legal experts agreed to
ofter their services for free or on the
receipt of any court costs awarded to the
Murrays.
and any other means.In the meantime the
Black Cross (London)is sendingf..100 to
the main f\lnd.Any further contribution
can be sent to them and they will
forward it on.
It is vital that the funds are
raised.Noel and Marie are comrades
second to none.We must see to our
own.Without mutual aid we are noth
ing. (A.B.C. London)
The case finally went ahead in May 198.S
and i~ was lost on the grounds that it
conjugal rights were to be granted then
a precedent would be set and other .. pris
Noel ~ay,Li.merick Gaol,Lim.eric
Ireland.
Marie MJ.rray,Mountjoy Prison,
fublin, Ireland.
Pablo Serrano Serrano
From this issue The Anarchist Black Cross
(London) intends to publish a series on
Anarchist prisoners around the globe curre­ntly
in need of suppon, and recommend our
readers in tum to send messages of solidarity
to these prisoners by simply writing to them
directly at the address supplied below.
Number I in our series highlights the case
of Pablo Serrano Serrano, a Spanish
Anarchist from the region of Aragon.
Serrano was arrested on 22 August 1984 and
subsequently charged with assassinating
company director Luis Ascaso on 30 July that
year. In November 1985 Serrano was not
only"convicted of his killing, which he
denies, but also of planting a bomb in a bar in
Zaragoza frequented by US NATO perso­nnel.
He is currently serving a 30-year
sentence.
Serrano first acquired what he calls a
' political consciousness· at the age of fifteen
following employment as an electrician· s
apprentice working for the 'Electricidad
Mazon' company (his first job). He was
outraged at the way he was expected to act as
an errand-boy as well as carry out his other
duties as an apprectice and soon fell foul of
this employer who eventually sacked him for
rebelling. At seventeen he got another job,
this time for the • Electricidad Doma'
company, but again lost the job after arguing
with his employer over denwlds for a decent
wage. By now finding it difficult to find work
on the mainland Serrano 'got on his bike' and
went to Mallorca, where he worked for a
shon time in a number of different hotels until
he and a friend had a slight altercation with
one hotel manager, culminating in a plate of
lentils being thrown!
After a stint in the ' mili' (compulsory
national-military service), he got more
temporary work and in 1980 was briefly
arrested for allegedly beating up a policeman.
In June 1982 he was sacked for the sixtlt ti.JM
after reponing the firm he was working for
('Electro-Aragon') to a health and safety
officer. By now no-one would employ him so
he got active in local unemployed/claimants
groups for a while then - in his own words -
• 'went on to other forms of struggle ' until his
arrest in 1984. From 1977 until just before his
arrest he belonged to the CNT (Spain's
anarchist.syndicalist union).
In coun Serrano stated: 'I am being put on
trial partly due to the fact that we have an anti·
terrorist law that forces people like me to
confess to actions they never committed,
although I happen to be ideologically in
agreement with them' .
Pablo Serrano Serrano can be contacted clo
Penal de Sorio, Apdo. Co"eos 42071 , Prisof'i
Pro.vincial. Soria, Spain.
BM Hurricane London WCIN3XX England
Avi Naftel
(update)
Anarchist activist Avi Naftel con­tinues
his strur,glo to obtain a
transfer back to the United King­dom.
Avi is ~resently incar.cerated
at Florence in the Ariz.ona State
Penitentiary. The prison administ­ration
is refusing to allou Avi
( who is a citizen of the U. K. )
the possibility of filling out tr­ansfer
application fonns. A port-ion
of the policy regarding Int• l.
Transfers states :'Prisoners con­victed
of crimes involving violence.
or threatened violence are not el­igible
for transfer•. (Internal
Hanagement Policy No.502.1, section
4.1.4. ) Avi's original sentence is
in fact for an act of threatened
violence,under the appropiate stat­utes.
However, this policy statemer! t
is strictly a prison administration
procedure and is not included in the
transfer Treaty between the U.S. and
the U.K. The prison is using an arbi­trary
method · to keep Avi from ap­plying
for the transfer, so that they
can respond to his letters that since
no application has been filed, they
can 1t do anything about it • A real
catch-22 situation. ·
'I'his is only bureaucratic prison pol­icy
and not .law. This statute wasn't
even in place when Avi firs·t applied
for transfer, and was added shortly
after Avi 1s application.
To get the administation to change or
override this.policy, you· can
help Avi by writing and phoning
the appropriate officials. ·
The reason that the transfer should
be disregarded in Avi 1 s case are ·.as
follows:
1. The section of Pelioy 4.1.4 ·is
arbitrary and capricious and does ·
not have any articulable govenunental
reasoning to justify its use;
2. The section of policy sini;les out
certain prisoners and places them at
. an unfair di:rndvantage, forbidding
them to take part in the treaty bet­ween
tho U.S. nnd the U. K., the treaty
was designed for transfers, and should
be used without unnecessary inter­ference;
3. Most of the prisoners seeking to
take advantage of an international
transfer are ones who have a lengthy
sentence or sentences, which are more
often than not a result of a danger­ous
or violent, or threatened type of
offense. 'I'he policy is, in fact, more
limiting than the Treaty f\ureement.
Letters should include all or one or
whatever of the above you feel is cor­rect
; or if you have other reasons,
write to Avi and share them. Send hi.Jn
a stamp so he can write back.
11 I would like onc:e aga:l.n to
thank all of you who partic­ipated
in last years efforts
which showed that together we
·can fight the State • Never
before have I witnessed per­sonally
the power of the writ­ten
word. I am grateful and im­pressed.
TI1ankyou all, and pleas
se do continue".
( The full text of Avi 1s letter
is available from A.B.C. Vanc­ouver.
Avi Naftel, P.O. Box B-45287,
Florence AZ. 65232, USA
Please send letters of protest to;
u Actinr, Governor, Ilose Hofford
1700 H. Hashington,Phoenix AZ.
USA
lfr. Sam Le1·1is, Director,Arizona
Dept. of Corrections, 1601 w.
Jofferson,Phoenix,AZ,85007,USA
lls. Jody Ferru!li 1 US DP.pt of Justico
Office of interno3.tional Affairs,
P.O. Dox 7413 Den Franklin Stn.
\fashington DC, 2004h, USA
Home Office, Criminal Policy Dept.
Q11een Annes Gato,London,SW1119A1',
England.
Katsuhisa Omori
en January 21st Katsuhisa Onori was again sentenced
to death. Qnori is a Japanese political prisoner who
has been in solitary confinement for the last eleven
years, Omori was sentenced to death tor supporting
actions undertaken in support of oppressed minorit-ies
in Japan. His convictions were based on nimsy
circumstancial evidence.( contact us for further info.)
,,.,:~ ,-;$~<~(;-;·; ... ·.·-:·:-,·;·.-·.;.,.~;;. .--~-;- .;.':.: .. -.,·~.:;:;:::C.;:, w:.;.;-; ·.·:-~;.;.
---- w ::a:
Mess,ge from Omori ••
The state power has decided that they pronounce a
verdict/sentencing on me on Thursday-, January 21 / 88
They have absolutely no evidence to convict me. It 1 s
sure, however taat the state power who regards 11\V'
thought to be a dangerous one will. uphold the verdict
by the Sapporo District Court and will again find me
guilty and sentence me to death.
But I will never give in. I shall continue to f'ight
to the bitter end toward· the realization of a hor­izontal
stateless society.
I send warm greetings of solidarity to our canrades
overseas.
KATSUHUA OMORI 28/ 12 /87
PRISON BARS CANNOT CONFINE IDEAS
MARCH 10 1988
Hello! I'm Katsuhisa OrDri. Thank ~ very ITllch for )«Ir support. And
thank you again for the ~nderful ral_ly today.
On January 2~ 1900, Chief Justice Fwroto Hizutani of Sapporo High
Court pronounced a death sentence on me as soon as he opened the court. (Since
there is oo jury ·system in_ Japan, the chief justice just reads the sentencing
first and then a lengthy "Verdict" on the final "hearing" day. ~ich shows that
Japan is an extrenely baclcwaNI and authoritarian state.- translator's note.)
Voices of anger and protest filled the courtrocrn. And without a mcxnent' s delay
Chief Justice Hizutani ordered rre and lots of our comrades W10 were sitting in
observers seats out of the aiurtroon, and he went on to read a>ncocted reasons
for the ruling in a courtro<n fran "1ich we were forcibly taken out.
Hi zutani and other judges fu 11 y supported the "evidence" al though
they knew perfectly well that it had been manufactured by police and
prosecution. They had forrred such an irrational opinion on the evidence as they
would even call a circle a triangle and S01Tething "1ite black, in oNler to put
rre to death.
It was political oppression launched by police, prosea.ition, and court
in collusion. It was oppression against anti-Japanis~ It ~s nothing but an
express ion of the wi 11 of the state of Japan aiming to strangle revolution. The
state of Japan is going to a>nderm"" thoucjht and annihilate it together with rey
body.
From prison, as well as from courtroom I have consistently been
supporting the bolrbing struggle against the Holck:aido governnent office. The
statenent claiming responsibility for the boobing accuses the enemy denending
that .. Japan and the Soviet Union, the aggressors-«:cupants, rrust withdraw from
all areas of Hokkaido, the Kurile islands, and Sakhalin!" Holclcaido, the Kurile
islands, and Sakhalin belong neither to Japan oor to the Soviet Union. They are
the rrother earth for such indigenous inhabitants as the AiT'lJS, the Uiltas, and
the Gilyalcs. Japan and the Soviet Union have invaded them and have been
occupying ttem. The truth is that the Soviet Union has been occupying Siberia.
Japanese inhabitants in Holclcaido are the advance troops of aggression and
occupation against Ainu noshiri or Airu connunity. And the 1-blclcaido govenrrent
office is the center for the aggressors-occupants.
The sarre staterrent claiming .responsibility for the bont>ing asserts
that ''\-ie rrust continue to crush Japanese aggression against the Ainus, the
Koreans in Japan, the Taiwanese, the Okinawans and the Asian people. .\E rrust
create our O'w'Tl anti-Japan front in response to their anti-Japan struggle" and
it urges comrades to start anti-Japan struggle.
fhe ant1.iapan st.rugg1e 1s a revo1uL1on t:argeL1ng .J<iPan 1Lse1r as me
enemy, and as an aggressor state and nation. The people who carry on the
revolution are the people of all the nations i.tio are being forced to suffer by
the very existence of Japan. Japan is an ~ire with a tuge sl*ere of influence.
That is to say, Japan is neo--colonialistically invading and robbirf:J Asia, Hiddle
East, Africa, and Latin Anerica. People in those lands will carry on the anti­.
Japan revo l uti on. And tt-ose Japanese \oh:> wou 1 d be anti -Ja.pa. n ITllS t f undamenta 11 y
continue to betray the state and ration of Japan.
I define anti-Japani'sm as fundamentally perishing of Japan or to
rephrase "anti-Japan, perish! state." I've been contiruing to urge my canrades
to fight the anti-Japan, perish! state struggle.
Japan llLISt be smashed by joint efforts of people of the thiNI 1oiOrld
including Asia, and Japanese revolutionaries \.ltlo continue to betray Japan and
fight .an anti-Japan, perish! state struggle. Hairely, "anti-Japan! perish!
state!"
.. Anti.ya.pan, perish! state" me.ins that we denand all states to perish.
To generalize, it ire.ans a perish state revolution. European states require the
perish state revolution, or anti-furope perish state revolution. We believe in
the building of a rorizontal society ~re there are neither states or nations
as we demlish eltl>ires and as people of the third world dissolve their own
rations and cause their own states to perish. That is, reedly to say, a society
~re there is abolutely no domination or exploitation. It would be a society
~re sne.11 rorizontal societies are associated..
Sapporo High Court's death pena 1 ty a ttaclc on ire is for the purpose of
suppressing the revolution. Therefore we must by all means go on
countera ttaclci ng them through an ever grolo(i ng anti -Japan perish state s trugg 1 e.
I' 11 put up a good fight. •
At the same tine we nu.st snash the concocted death pera 1 ty ru 1 i ng. In
and out of the Suprerre Court, we nust teraciously fight to dissolve the franed­up
death ruling and to liberate Orori, rrobilizing all a:mceivable mans.
\.e' 11 cb our best. Let's fight in solidarity! Let's fight together!
OMORI SUPPORT GROUP
Katsuhisa Orori.
CHITOSE P.O. BOX JS
TOKYO IAPA"'I
Rehab Or Rehash
(ex-prisoner speaks out.)
\olten one thinks or all the
the corrupt tentacles or the
govenunent in Ganada, one th­at
comes to nti.nd surely must
be the prison facilities oper­.
ated throughout the nation.In
!I- society mo~nir at such a-rap­id
pace we still choose to
leave the penal systElll in the
dark. Unfortunately, society is
either ignorant or indifferent
to what a prisoner must go thr­ough
while in a maximum or min­imum
security system.
When an offender is sent to
prison,it is for the purpose of
rehabilitation. Yet more often
than not, the average prisoner
is admitted, given his/her cell
and that's it, that's rehabilit­ation.
In June of 198.5, I was
serving six months in Oakalla
I was eighteen years or •age and
very confused in the new sU?'l'­oundings,
Oh but how that chan­ged
when some of the guards ,
sick and dehumanizing in char­acter,
decided I would be an
excellent target to vent their
frustrations on. This was my re­habilitation.
Now, almost three years later
I am. stil.l tr)t'ing to come to :
grips with what the institution
has done to me, and what I saw
it doing to others. I sense a
great need to change the perver­sity
of the prison system.
The physical and mentaJ. torture
alot of Prisoners are subjected-to
conjures images that the majority
of Canadians would only believe
to be happening in politically
unstable ird _world countries.
'nlis, I can attest, is not true,
and is why the public should be
edified in the area of prison re­form.
Society in general needs to
be aware or what is really happen­ing
inside it's prisons, and to
know why incidents like riots and
hunger strikes are a continual
occurrence.
It is my belief the objective of
most riots and hunger strikes is
to focus;' the public eye. It is the
only way in which they (the pris­oners
) can air their gri:evances
and, under the public's scrutiny
eventuate a change. And it would
make more sense for the adminis­tration
to listen to the prison­ers,
and avoid the confrontation
rather than the narrow-mindedly
conferring rules "ipse dixit"
If,on the occasion a prisoner
has a complaint about a rule or
thumb in the system,she/he is
given four choices of investi­gati1111t
it : The R.c.M.P., the
Qnbudsman, Inspections & stan­dards,
or it can be "discussed"
Internally. All of these are
goverrunental departments. For
the ~risoner, it hArdly makes
sense to have one governmental
department investigate another
The prisoner is classified'sec­ond
class' right off the bat,
his/her opinions hold little
weight. This type of biased
policy must be changed. cne
alternative would be private
organizations for internal in­vestigations_~_
The after affects of prison
life can tear one down, ment>­ally
and physically. It.1 s res­idue.
will carry with it a pro­grammed
consciousness of dep­ression
and alienation and low
self esteem. A "rehabilitated"
person leaves prison with a
complete misconception of soc­iety
and will, nine times out
of ten ,carry on the social
life she/he lived in the oris­on.
The one out of that ten
will stay gway from the prison
society as well as stand out­side
observing the "nonn" This
person may cO!mlit suicide9 In
this respect, a greater need
for rehabilitation programs is
in order, inside the prison
and outside. Basia life skills,
and the chance to apply their
potential through education &
incentives for determination
to succeed.
The more the public becomes
involved or knowledgeable
about the truth of prison re­fonn
the better chance of re­structuring
it to fit the
needs of everyone. To asnire
to a perfect society, and we
do, we must start at it's
source, the prisons of our
minds. And make no doubt
about it, our refonn systems
perpetuate that.
Help Us Stay Freel
( submitted by:}
steven G. Dickson
_,
AH-white jury finds racist Gosset - 'Not Guilty'
Montreal cop Alan Gosset was aquitted of a lesser
charge of manslaughter for the murder of unarmed Black
youth, Anthony Griffen.
Initial media reports told of Grifen Weing slain by
Gosset, a known racist, as he tried to escape custody.
A subsequent coroners inquest showed that the bullet enter­ed
Griffen's forehead from close range. Shot between the
eyes from close range while running away! The real story
unfolded later.
19 year old Griffen was picked up by Gosset and partner
[im Campbell after a call from a cabbie saying he was
being stiffed for a $26 fare. Griffen was taken into
custody when a computer check connected him somehow to a
break and enter warrant. He was put in the back of the
squad car without being checked for weapons and rode
alone in the back seat with the two bulls up front with
their backs to him. Obviously he was not considered to
be dangerous by the pigs. Testimony then showed that he
bolted from the two constables as hewas let out of the
car at the back of the station. He was ordered to stop,
which he then did, turning and facing the officers with
both arms at his sides. Gosset then pulled his gun,
·cocked it, aimed it at Griffen's head and fired the weap-on,
literally blowing the black man's brains out.
Other information has come to light since then, that
leads even the die-hard supporters of police power to
question the arming of these psycopaths.
Gosset had a history of racist brutality within the
police force. In '82 he was fined $8,000 for the vicious
beating of Daniel Otchere a black Montrealer from Ghana.
In that incident Gosset seized Otchere "for no apparent
reason" and shouted "damn nigger" at him. He held the
man while the same woman, constable Campbell , smashed
her long handled flashight into Otchere's face. He was
repeatedly struck in the stomach, legs and shoulder.
Otchere was beaten unconscious and had his nose and jaw
broken and was blind for two weeks, almost losing an eye.
Montreal's Black community are outraged at the aquittal
of this racist murderer, who may well be re-armed and
back on the street in a very short while.
Over 1,000 people, mostly blacks, marched on Station
15 in the Notre Dame de Grace part of Montreal to demand
jstice for the slaying. They were greeted at the station
with a squad of riot police in full gear behind the locked
doors of the station.
After the slaying it took 10 days for Goset to be
charged at all. The eventual charge of manslaughter was
a less serious offense and also harder to prove than
marder. lie was tried as a civilian, and aquitted of
criminal negligence by an all-white jury who agreed with
cop Gosset - racist and murderer
the defense council that Gosset's weapon, aimed between
the eyes of Griffen, went off 'accidentally.' Strong
reaction to that outcome, forced the injustic~ system,
sensitive to the bad press it was receiving, to go ahead
with an appeal of the verdict. This procedure can take
years with the murderer able to return to work in the
meantime. A decision by Montreal Police Chief Roland
Bourget, has not yet been made as whether or not to allow
Gosset back on the "beat".
Reports from Montreal have the cops mounting a highly
visble Public Relations project to clean up their badly
tarnished image. There are only six black police officers
in the Montreal Urban Commity (MUC) Force out of a total
of 4,481 officers. Yet since the slaying, the cops have
made sure that a black officer is present whenever there
is an incident that will draw media attention.
Tenants recently occupied an apartment block, to re­sist
eviction and gentrification by greedy developers.
Knowing it as an issue that draws much media coverage and
also public sympathy,the head cops' got a black officer
to arrest tenants and supporters at the Overdale apart­ments,
while the cameras rolled.
Radio, newspapers and other media drivel on about · how
the "morale" of the force has never been so low. A self­pitying
pig on the radio told of how his bra's are so
down, they don't go out boozing anymore but spend time
at home with the wife and kids. Pity their families.
But police attempts to sweep their dirt under the rug,
won't satisfy the black community, who demanded, and have
now received a full and independent inquiry into this
brutal slaying.
"With everything he did in the past, now they're going
to put him back out there?" said Anthony's mother Augustus
"What's going to happen to the public? . If something isn't
done soon, to eliminate police racism, there's going
to be a breakdown."
This latest incident is only one of many incidents of
racially motivated oppression, people of visible minori­ties
are subjected to by Montreal's racist cops. Small
wonder crowds at a demonstration on February 27 chanted
"Hey! Hey! . Ho! Ho! The killer pigs have got to go!"
We be watching to see how the filth try to get out of this
one.
Alert! The moral of the police is at it's lowest:
"We can't get it up to fire a shot"
( Rock Laforest was a carpetlayer machine-gunned
to death while he slept by police in a case of
'mistaken identity' a couple of years ago.)
COMMUNIT~
& /iESIST4_tlCE --
Anarchists consider their prooosal essentially
an organizational one. They seek a. society that
is organized non-hierarchically, for need and not
for profit, etc. Banners and posters and buttons
all proclaim that anarchy is not chaos.
I am often askedz " How would society be orga­nized
if anarchists had it t heir way?". and " What
group is going to bring it about?". Apparently
they imagine the following scenario: I explain to
tr.em wh.:t anarchism is, what it would be like, and
then , if they are satisfied, I tell them where to
si gn up. We are suddenly brothers and sisters
dedicating our lives to strengthening our organi­zation
( party, union ) so that eventually ,, e can
crush our opponents and win the game. This unfor­tunately
· is the scenario that authoritarians, or
those unwittingly in service to the ideology of
au~ h oritariani sm, also imagine. Anarchists,
however, usually claim that they would rather see
a more decentralized mass movement devellop. They
ieacribe a situation whereby many different
anarchist groups federate, as equal partners,
rather than submit to the bureaucracy, hier-archy
and authoritarian tendencies that are inher­ent
in a centralized organization, like a party
for instance.
In my opinion, how- 1
ever, all organizat­ions
share those s&Jlle
tendencies.
When people do ask
about anarchism, I ex­plain
it not as an
anarchist, but rather ·
as a pro-anarchist. I
have to confess I have
no answers, but I do
have desires and dreams
and observations that
I would like to share.
I have come to realize
the authoritarian
social function o! ex­oerts
and have no
desire in ever beco­mming
one. They are all
empty handed in . any ·
we want. ~e've been convinved from birth through
autltori tarian condi tionii1g, that someone else
knows best. Olr parents/guardians, teachers, those
older than ourselves, our men, our politicians,
our exoerts. 'l'here has always been someone there
to tell us what we want and often to organize us1
ostensibly.so that we can get it. Usua.l.ly, how­ever,
the organizers become the new oppressors.
Unfortunately many anarchi sts are not Bllare that
they act out both roles. Either they accept being
organized or they want to be. ·organizers. The
point is to 01:11;anize yourself/selves.
f.ty idea is that free, egalitarian societies
would be based on t he full fillment of what I Per­ceive
to be a universal desire. That is for a
world of communities. Now, given that the
structures we choose to struggle in should end
probably will, prefigure revolutionary society,
then an ongoing critique of those structures is
as essential as criti~uing the society we feel
forced to live in. Therefore if our goal is to
create societies in which autonoN011s, self­directed
activity is natural, then the movement
that will create it must also be autonomous and
self directed. ~rtherrnore, if a planet of
communities is also our goal, then shouldn't
~}--.. i I I
..; .1 7'-......f. / / ' / · , ' ' -./ /
.,{. / '")..
/ "' .. ... /
. '
/' \
I' ' '
'community• be the
basic unit of resis­tance?
In this respect
it seems ethnocentric
to suggest that a par­ticular
organizational
form is the best or
only revolutionary on~.
A tribe is as valid a'
a collective, for
inst;:ince.
case. Their message is IJll!!!~::;!!::!:l~!:;'..:..:.::::;:::..:.;;:;:::!:~~;,;.::~;.!::;;._....,;,..,:.~:=::.:.,.;.;..:.;;.;..J
si.J'llple: " Let me tell
The destruction of
comrrrunj ty is quite
oossibly the founda­tion
on which this ci­vilization
is built.
If this is so, then it
is obvious that every­thing
that has come
after the deciJl!ation
of the original ( hi.m­ter-~
atherer ?) comm­unity
is what should
be destroyed. Every­you
hl'W it is "or "How it will or should be. 11
Just as our submission to authority needs
addressing as much as authority's domination of
us does, so too must our expectations of having
someone hand us a blueprint or program be as cri­ticized
as our thinking we should have one to
offer. We do not need patronizing experts on the
radical transformation of societies to tell us what
thing that is er.capt the links to that community.
We must defend what little is left of the few
existing authentic, naturalt satisfying societies,
for instance the traditional indigenous peoples
cultures, as well as the non-human eco-communi­ties
that constitute our planet in its natural
state.
I am not talking about returning to a roman­t
i cized golden age that existed pre-civilization.
Community exists inside ourselves. It exists out­side
of academic his-story and language and other
separations from our existence. Community is a
lo~ging that we all have now for collective free­dom
and love, for sharing and giving, a desire
for connection and belonging. We are prevented from
re-touching it by the whole author·itarian complex
of patriarchy, hierarchy, capital and anthropo­centricity.
Realizing the extent to which we are daily
encircled and crushed by this monstrous civiliza­tion
our hatred is visceral. We know we are not
alone in our anger or in our idealism.
It is my opinion, as stated earlier, that
anarchists and other anti-authoritarian rebels
should not propose anything too specific about
how societies should be organized and how
we should get there. Rather, folks can decide
together, for themselves, at their workplace,
in their neighborhood, etc., what they want
and how they are going to get it.
Personally I see community
as an obvious common
thread that links us all.
As it has literally been
beaten out of us we seem
to have no choice but to
defend what little is left;
begin building new commu­nity
and to attack that
Inspired by this I think that urban sabotage
and monkeywrenching could also be effective.
Activity that combines a serious commitment to
security with effectiveness in stopping the machine.
I
Again, 'how people orcanize themselves within thi~
resistance will determine if the results W'ill be
truly liberatory.
Of course uublicizini; and sha.ring our under­standi
ng of t his niglitmare i s al so of Primary
imuortance. ?erhaps a few words about the 'systeM;
wiil help tie this rather loosely organized
essay together.
At this point I understanri the bourgeoisie to
be functionaries of capitalism in the same way
that many males are functi onaries of the patri­archy.
In appearance only do they manage their
respective dictatorships. Both
groups do benefit from their real
nowe.,., ( thou~h Jl'!Uch of their ner-­eeived
power is illusory), but
only materially, physically. They
too are condemned to a life in
which their spirituality, their
emotional self, their dream
state, their desire for cor.unu­nity,
are robbed from birth.
Through prooaganda and s
~ variety of confrontational
~'\ ~ strategies, some will reluc-which
is based on our misery
and subjugation: civilization.
Though it is clear that a
position of defense is not
sufficient, it is not equally
clear what targets within
civilization should be prtori­ti7.
ed in tenns of immediate
at tention. However, my opinion
,,,,,,.,_~""'~---·•~1 !:~!1i~ ~~~ui~g{~i~;~o ~~~;
~~~r own inner rebel, if only they
~iair'.:-()!:;~ ~:-..~ can come into contact with
.,.~I!"" ~\\\\ \ l.~J either. Unfortunately, for
is that eco-def enders and aarth­war
riors should be defended as
much as possible' includi ng or .
course by engaging in di r ect action
environmentalism ourselvesJ
Although watching strands of grass
and wild chamomile pushing through
the rest, they will find
themselves on the wrong
,~-.~ side ~;:::,,::;~c:~~··
-~ -~ only ohysical, action
oriented activity and
l ove, passion and thought
innefective. On the other hand,
theory and discus sion are empty without a
serious co~.rni tment to action.
the pavement makes me optimistic .
about the reg~nerative ability of the planet, I run
not at all convinced that this observation is a
valid excuse for not actively defending the e~rth.
There are critical points, irreversible damage,
wounds that even time does not heal.
We wanted to print this submission from 'Racoon'
because we feel there is a need to develop a discus­sion
of t/Je physicDl conditions \ WC exist, move and
struggle within. Hopefully it will help to stimulate
this devel opement . We look forward to other views,
comments and experiences that readers may have.
I wanted to make some personal observations on
the general topic of 'militant actions' as it applies
to the situation here in Canada and especially here
in Vancouver. I think the word 'unique' sums up how
I feel about the conditions that should be taken into
consideration. Then again, any situation is unique in
it's own way, any place you might chose to look at,
anywhere on earth. So here's some of the mai~ things
that I see influencing activities in our society.
Before I go on, I wanted to mention two things; The
vast majority of us in this state, are (materially)
comfortable. Shelter, food and clothing are easy
enough to come by for the average Joe(anne), and
there~s usually some income left over to spend on
lots of things we're convinced we want. Also, there
is no mandatory military service here in Canuduh.
Comrades with knowledge of hardware and tactics are
few and far between. Two basic considerations.
Now, given the desire for radical change, first
and foremost of all factors, in my mind, is the dis­tribution
of the population. If we compare the dis­tances
between the centres of population here, to
other industrialized states in which exist large num­bers
of individuals and groups that are active, we
can see clearly that the geographical isolation in
Canada is extreme, to say the least.
The sparcity of population affects us in various
ways . One cannot, simply, keep in personal contac!
with friends or comrades in, say Toronto or Montreal
It's no simple matter of an hour or so on the road.
We can not expect support from people, for pro-jects,
actions, demos, etc, who live anywhere but
where we do. Generally, communication becomes limitec
to mail and phones, and these have obvious fundament<
security problems. Nothing compares with eyeball to
eyeball contact.
Not only are urban centres light-years apart, but
the level of isolation within our cities is, I think
developed to a extreme degree. North American cities
are designed for the automobile. Especially those in
the Western part. They are more recent blights on
the Earth's surface and the main growth here happene1
about the same time as Mr. Ford's advances in the
dehumanization of workers. This was coupled with the
seemingly endless supply of land to utilize creating
serious isolation of distances even within a given
metropolitain area.
We, in Canada, more than anyone from any culture
that I've ever encountered, need our 'personal space
The elders in our society are separated from the
community to the isolation of their own prison/homes
At home with our parents, we usually had our 'own'
rooms. We leave the oppresion and isolation of the
nuclear family as soon as possible to live on our
own or with friends(or strangers) in a rented box,
more often than not, no short . walk from other friend'
homes and such neccessities as the bar or a erocery
store. As a society our abilities to live together,
understanding and respecting our differences, and
sharing common projects and space, are underdeveloped
because of our life experiences.
Here in Canada, especially the West, maybe more
than anywhere else, our sense of tradition has been,
for the most part lost. Add to that, any vestige of
a tradition of radical dissent, rebellion or revolu­tion
that does remain, has probably been rewritten
so as to be harmless or else completely obliterated
as a part of our culture.
We have no popular radical tradition. Period . It
is not an issue . Alienation from each other and com­munity
increases hand in hand with the developement
and sophistication of popular forms of 'soft' control
In the past several years we've witnessed a bad sit­uation
go badder. Much badder. An example: The mar­keting
of home video decks has kept even the Holly­wood
movie zombies at home with doors locked, stares
fixed and minds vacant. Meanwhile video games for
the kids have effectively cleaned up the streets of
those remaining potential humans. They're all down
at the 7 - 11 exercising their 'freedom of choice' on
what flavour of Big Gulp to buy while playing Green
Beret or He Man. 0 Thank Heaven.
What about the politicals? Well, there are some.
But don't talk too loudly of militant action. They're
all on their way to a workshop on non-violent civil
disobedience. Yeah, look around and it's quite obviou
that potential allies and sympathisers for activities
that ACTUALLY THREATEN THE RULERS are few and far
between. I do not, neccesarily, include pacifists as
potential allies.
If we could take Canada's population and concen­trate
it to the degree of say West Germany or Great
Britain , that shit disturber in Hamilton might get
to know those people from Moose J aw. And the womyn
i n Nelson could work with that collective in Moncton .
Silly? Well this is what we're up against.
And t hen there's the streets .. . . Straight , wide
and empty. Not full of people that one can kind of
melt into. No crowds to mix with. Not narrow and
winding with passageways and lanes here and there.
There is no street culture. The remains of street
culture that still exist amoung some of the more
visible minority communities is soon capitalized on
as a quaint spectacle for the lifeless ones . The
street is well lit . It's ordered , clear , and every­thing
is locked-up . Urban cores become l ifeless zones
after business hours as the zeks r eturn to suburbia .
-HARV-EST
Anyone moving in this zone aft er hours becomes a
target of suspici on and control , and cont r ol they do .
All of this is leading up to my main po i nt which
is: If one is to partake publicly in projects and/or
actions that call for a SOCIAL REVOLUTION, you shoul d
expect to be noticed. You will stick out like the
proverbial sore thumb. You see there ' s very few of
us. CSIS has their Counter Subversion Branch and
these trained professional are adding more names ,
faces and information to their files daily.
This is my point. The more one takes part in public
radical dissent, the more one limits their possibility
to securely involve themselves in illegal and/or mi l­itant
action. This is true in any society , but it i s,
I would say, acutely true in the in the great white
North. We stick out. There's not many of us .
That's what I was getting at and the reason I
wanted to say it is because for those indi viduals
that desire revolution, but have yet to be filed,
photographed and categorized, consider that publ ic
activity limits the potential for ~ activities
in other areas .
The intention of this is certainly not t o create
paranoid reactions . Along with all t his , the unique
situation also i ncludes a number of circumstances
peculiar t o our r eality t hat allow for great possi­biliti
es . Even within our given set of realities the
opportunities ar e endl e.ss . This i s the land of oppor­tunities
is it not?
You must choose how you will be active. Inform
yourself. Be cool . Keep your mouth shut. Bon chance!
Raccoon
suggested r eading; Without a Tra ce , Towards a Citi­zens
Militia , Ecodefense , Var ious classified govern­ment
publications .
ecomec1ia. vancouve
O.AKALLA BREAKOUT
The public was once more exposed to the barbar­ity
of the pr ison system, after 13 people made
a mass exit from Oakalla Jail.
The series of events leading up to the break­out
begun on Dec 27th when guards apprehended
David Dean, 30, for talking during a reli gous
s ervice, t his turned into a scuffle with guards
in which Hean received a cut to t he eye that re­quired
seven st i tches to close. The abuse didn't
stop there , the guards continued t o fight with
Dean when they br ought him back t o his cell.
At t his point a riot erupted i n which So pris­oner
s began setting fires , pull ing sinks and
toilets f r om t he wall • Prison officials estim­ated
the damage at $80 , 000- ~~100 , 000 . 'rhe next
day prisoners began to riot again, after they
were refused entrjr from their cells into the
common area. Irunates said that the guards spray­ed
t hem with f ire hoses, opened t he windows and
turned off t he heat. Later , 200 inmates in t he
east wing joined in , but a 14-man tactical
squad with tear gas quelled the outbreak.
December 29th guards began moving inmates in
the south \·Jing to the other cells. The so call­ed
•trouble-makers' were placed in segregation
(the cow barn) • The cow barn which is referred
to by prisoners as 'the hole' ltns cells that meas·.
ure little more than four square metres and con­tains
a thin mattress that lies on the floor and
a plastic bucket which alternate.:; as a night table
and a shit bucket. The ·escape began when Bruce
l-bKay fii:;ured out how to spring the latch of his
lock • At this point he grabbed a guard as he
passed by his cell and forced hirmnto pass on the
keys using a homemade knife for influence.
Then Bruce McKay opened up the cel l s to his fell­ow
inmates and t hey made off on t heir short
jaunt to freedom, on New Years Day.
All of the prisoners have been caught , some
being picked up quickly after the escape others
lasting out longer. A ' judicial inguiry 1 to
look into conditions at Oakalla and the break­out
, have begun but i t-i;ha~d to see anything
positive coming out of it, as the person cond­ucting
the inquiry is a judge, someone who has
profitted. off the judicial process, which r e­affirms
the prison industry.
PRISONS, B.C . S # 1 INDUSTRY
In Maple Ridge a new 250 cell institution is being
built which wil l bring tl1e nwnbcr of cells in t hat
municipality up to 611 more than anywhere else in
the province. The plan is to have the prison oper­ational
by 1991, Residents in the ar e disturbed by
the deci simn as they feel t hi s new prison will
bring a general deteriorat i on t o t he quality of
lif e i n t heir community .
No doubt it will, there'll be more police cruising
the streets, that means more harrassment of youth
for minor offences, less community control as the
police presence increases people will be made more
and more to feel that they need protecting. Also
as mor e prisons are built a greater number of peop­le
will suffer the results of inc arc eration. The
new prison in Maple Ridge means more people of
that community and the surrounding area will be im­prisoned.
i a vancouver ecomedia vancouver eco
WOMEN ATTACKED IN WEST GERMANY
West German Secret Police pulled off simultaneous raids
on 33 different women's groups, on December 18th.
Heavily armed, the Bundeskriminalamt burst into the
offices and homes of feminist critics of genetic and re­productive
technology at 4:30 pm and proceeded to ransack,
photograph, steal and abuse all those present. Fifteen
to thirty of them would run into every room with their
guns drawn.
The women raided were then forced to undress. All
' non-changeable' marks (scars,moles, etc) were noted in
police records. Cops seized drafts of the wimmin's speech­es,
papers, video and audio tapes, scientific articles,
pamphlets and private address books .
They were especially looking for those from the groups
Revolutionaren Zellen (Revolutionary Cells) and the fem­inist
Rote Zora (Red Zora).
In 1985/6 Rote Zora attacked the facilities of the
Gene Centre in Heidelburg, the Max Planck Institute for
Reproductive Research in Koln, and the Human Genetics
Institute of the University of Munster . Two women, Ulla
Penselin and Ingrid Strobl, were arrested and are now in
prison, charged under Paragraph 129a, "Support for a
Terrorist Organization."
In Germany today the mere criticism of something is
enough to bring gangs of terrorist-hcnting police to your
door. German feminists have developed a strong critique
of reproductive and genetic technology as a weapon of social
control and its' role in the world marketing strategies
of the multinational corporations. Police were interested
in information on prenatal diagnosis, 'genetic councelling',
development in the pharmaceuticals industry and the involve­ment
of universities and institutions ~ in research.
" .... we see no benefits," said Rea te Zimmerman, a phy­sician
whose office and research archives were raided. "We
have to warn about the risks. In this sense we are radical.
We stand clearly against r e productive and genetic engineering.
We think they are t rying to criminalize against this po­sition
and say: If you are radical against this, then it is
a verbal radicalism which is very near to being an active
terrorist . "
Feminists issued a statement after the raids saying ,
"These raids serve to frighten, shut up or criminalize those
who work critically against reproductive and genetic en­gineering
. " They asked supporters to write letters to
Frau Prof. Rita Sussmuth, Ministerium fur Familie,
Frauen and Jugend, 5300 Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany.
Source: Off our Backs, Mar. 88
see also Open Road, Spring 88
and Kinesis, April 88
Fines Program Unfair
According to recent provincial Justice Department figures
almost half of the wimmin jailed in Saskatchewan in 85-86
were behind hars because they did not pay fines levied as
alternatives to prison . Also known as paying your way
out of prison, poor wiimin, including single parents who
can bar,ely afford childcare, simply cannot or will not
pay the fine. No class war here.
Source: Toronto Ecomedia
POLISH ROCK CONCERT
At a Polish rock concert recently, the lead singer of
a band called Perfect belted out the lyric "don't be
afraid of this .. . .. " and 30,000 fans screamed "Jaruzelski
The premier Polish group made it's Warsaw comeback 4 year
after disbanding in frustration over battles with the
censors, bans on performing and the pittance it received
for work that made the government big money. Besides
jibes at General Wojciech Jaruzelski, enthusiastic fans
danced around the playing field and lighted torches made
from rolled up copies of communist party newspapers,
laughing when guitarist Zbigniew Holdys joked that the
band could play freely because the bureaucrats were all i
Moscow attending a festival on Polish culture.
Source: On Gogol Boulevard
151 First Ave., #62, New York,NY
10003
meclia vancouver ecomeclia vancouver '
OMORl'S SUPPORT GROUP RAIDED
On December 26, 1987, police officers of the Tokyo
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Invaded and
searched residences of eleven comrades of the Omori
Support Group. This search was on the suspicion of
helping Mr. Osasmu Maruoka, a Japan Red. Army
activist, to forge false passports. On the same day,
they searched approximately sixty places in various
parts of Japan. None of the persons searched has
anything to do with the Japan Red Army. They are relief ·
groups for other cases, groups working for the abolition
of the death penalty, workers' groups active in San' ya
skid row area, groups who are in solidarity with t~~
Palestinian people, and nine anarchist activists.
. Mr. Osamu Maruoka was arrested by MPD in
No\.ember 1987, when he re-entered Japan.
- The Police told newspapers and television
stations they had searched supporters of the Japan
Red Army. MPD also misinformed media that the Red
Army was planning to hi-jack airliners.occupy Japanese
embassies and businesses in various countries, and to
take hostages to have Mr. ManJOka released. The
security of Jlpanese embassies has been tightened.
MPD took away personal notebooks, letters, mailing
lists from many places that they searched.
A campaign has been started to appeal that the said
searches were unjust.
( Toronto F.chom.edia )
Abortion campaign News
In Spain, abortion can only be obtained· in very
few circumstances, like •proven• rape, and wimmin must
go through a long, humniatlng bureaucratic procedure.
This has forced the formation of clandestlne
abortion services, and the feminist movement in
Barcelona announced that they are perfonnlng their own
secret abortions. On Nov. 6, the Cupe . Cllnlc in
Barcelona was raided by the National Polee and was
closed down. Two Dutch wimmin, Tosca and Anna
Valda, were arrested and held two days on suspicion
of giving abortions. They were released without charge,
although tf:le police claim that the cfinic had performed
over 4000 abortions and had given the wimmin fake
certificates to say that the abortions were done in
Holland. WhUe the two wlmmln were held, feminist
groups picketted the police station, and the following
week 500 wimmin marched through the city, spray paint­ing
graffrtti and demanding the right to free legal a­bortions
on demand.
On the weekend of Nov. 25, the Wimmin~
Assembly of lruna mobilized people to protest the trials
of wimmln who had had abortions, and 60 wimmin
chained themselves in front of the court house.
Cop/Rapist Released
In Badalona, an industrial suburb of Barcebna,
militant demonstrations were held to protest the freeing
on bail of a policeman, who is twice accused of raping
his neighbour at gunpoint. The cop's home was pick­etted,
and the court was occupied by 15 wimmin,
including the victim, who locked themselves in and
demanded to present a 2000-name petition calling for
the CX)J>'s re-arrest. The offlC8r has not y9t danJd retum
to his home.
Direct Action In Spain
Last swmner in the area of the 60 villages of Salamanca
a region in Spain, effigies with business suits and.
brief cases were hung from powerlines. Next to each a
sign was hung saying : "This was a member of ENRESA
( the Spanish nuclear waste agency ) , who tried to b~
ild a nuclear waste dump here". The Salamancans learn­ed
of the project from the Portugese press in Februal'T
87. They feared the nuclear waste lab would contaminate
the Duero River less than a Kilometer from the proposed
site. They also resented the governments contempt for
rural peoples and the land where they live. In March
the villagers formed an anti-nuclear co-ordinating com­mittee
which took advantage of an existing network
based on rural schools with contacts in each Village.
They also used general asseinblies in the Villages. After
the government refused to give information on the lab,
a large and spontaneous action arose. The Villagers spot.
ed a government official in the area Who had come to in­spect
plans for the ?reject. People rushed to the town
hall to get some.of their questions answered, this took
two nights and a;.day as those present had decided in a
general meeting not to let the man go. People from oth­er
villages made their w~ to Aldeadaville on hearing
or the action, finally there were were 15, 000 people
in the Village waVing their fists and chanting" We
want life and not the shit". Bells rang constantly
·and no one went to work. Riot police using rubber bull­ets
had to break down the door to the city hall in ord­er
to free the official.
In May a tower holding a 400,000 volt powerline was
blown up. Nobody knows who did it, but for several
weeks villagers prevented repairmen from reaching the
site.
On October 16 the Spanish government announced that it
was withdrawing its plans to build a high level radio­active
waste storage near the Salamancan village of
AldeadaVille , saying the wi thdrawl was due to lack of
funding from the E.E.c •• It seems more likely though
that it was the courageous resistance on the part or
the peoples of the area that stopped the project
(Toronto F.chomedia )
COAL TRAINS
Reports are still coming in of coal hijacking in
south wales(U.K. ). Pissed ott miners lying in wait
for trains oadng by, 1'uJ.l or the sturt. The coal
is then being distributed for free or very cheaply.
Police are concerned.... ( London Fchomedia )
~~
We need your favorite anarchist protest, anti-nuclear, feminist,
gay, lesbian, drinking, animal liberation, bOB aVAKIAN, etc.
.. songs for the first edition of the anarchist· songbook.to be
available In spring 1988. Send your songs and melodies to:
ANARCHIST SONGBOOK . · ·
cJo Wooden Shoe Books
112 S. 20th SL .
Philadelphia, PA.19103
and don' fo
omeaia vancouver ecomedia vancouver e
ANTI-PRISON ACTIVITIES IN FRANCE
In France, the past few years have seen the appearance
of a number ·of journals and groups which are specifically
devoted to prison support work. It has also been a per­iod
of high tension in the prisons, and frequent take­overs
and revolts have occurrred, such as those at Bois
d'Arcy, Saint-Maur, des Baumettes and de Fleury. As in
other countries in the west, prison support activities
are limited in scope and a recent editorial in Oavales
lanients the all-to-familiar "feeble interest which pris­oners
struggles still arouse in this country." The follow­ing
is a list of projects involved in anti-prison strug­gles
.
The Commission Prison-Repression has a 24-hour number
(42-46-59-30) and has been concentrating on organizing
inf ormation meetings. A recent one inParis attracted
120 people and others have been held or are planned in
other cities. The Commission's journal Breche (Breach)
has been coming out for threeyears. Write to: Commis­sion
Prison-Repression, c/o CDR, BP 771, Paris Cedex
03, FRANCE.
Otages (Hostages) has published 9 issues. The most
recent contains an analysis of the prison revolts and
prisoners' texts. Write to: Otages, B.P. 37, 59651
Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex FRANCE.
Cavales (Escapes) has reappeared after a year's ab­sence.
The most recent issue has an interview with the
Commission Prison-Repression and an article on new iso­lation
units that are being installed. Write to: Cavales
CDR , B.P. 771, 75123 Paris Cedex 03 FRANCE.
The APAD (Association of Prisoners' Family and Friends)
publishes a bulletin, does tracts and interviews and or­ganizes
demos. Write to: APAD, 29 rue Stephenson,
75018 Paris FRANCE .
Up-to-date info on prisoners is available in Le Monde
Libertaire, the weekly journal of the French Anarchist
Federation. Write to: Le Monde Libertaire, 145 rue
Amelot, 75011, Paris, FRANCE .
The January, 1988 iss ue of Courant Alternatif, the
journal of the Organization Communiste Libertaire contains
an extensive dossier on prisons. Write to: OCL/Egregore,
H.P. 1213) 51058 Reims Cedex,FRANCE.
In Switzerland, the ADPS (Association in Defense of
Swiss Prisoners) can be contacted. The state has used
the recent prison revolt in Bochuz as an excuse to try to
destabilize ADPS by separating and dispersing 30 of i t s
members to different prisons. Their external support
group can be contacted by writing to: ADPS, B.P. 129,
1000 Lausanne 17, SWITZERLAND.
EAST GERMAN CRACKDOWN
There's been a recent internal crackdown by East
German authorities against the independent new left,
ecology, human rights and peace movemnt activists. Some
of these people face treason charges.
On January 17th, 100 to 150 indepedent East German
activists joined an official state parade commemorating
the assasinations of the revolutionaries Rosa Luxemburg
and Karl Liebnecht. The activists regard Rosa Lu xemburg
as their own for her anti-statist socialism and oppose t i
government's recuperation of her name for state propogan•
All were detained and over 50 of them expelled from ti
country. A number of activists did not even make it to
the demonstration as they were arrested enroute or had
been already placed under house arrest. Some of their
names are Regina and Wolfgang Templin, Barbel Bohley,
Werner Fischer, Ralph Hirsch, stefan Krawczyk and Freya
Klier.
On January the 25th these people were taken into cust·
ody and are being investigated on charges of treason .
All of them are prominent and respected activists.
In the spirit of the growing 111ovc111c11t of rnnk & f i.l c
activism from below we demand that the repression of our
political counterparts in East Germany cease.
Protest letters can be sent to: Erich Honecker,
Marx-Engels Platz, Berlin, GDR.
Source : Neither East Nor West
MACHINE GUNS SIEZED IN ALBERTA
A sh:i p111e11t of <JOO machine guns were seized by Cunuda
Customs. No one will confirm where the fully automatic
weapons came from or where they were going. Roy Cardinal
government spokesperson in Calgary would only say they die
not come from the States. Police and customs officers
are still investigationg the "ultimate end use" of the
arms. The first thing that comes to mind are the racist
Aryan Brotherhood groups that seem to flourish in the
foothills .....
Globe and Mail October 1st
r ecomedia vancouve-r ecomed.ia van co
ATLANTA
A meeting was held on January 16th and 17th of this
yeur in Atlu11La, Ceurgiu , which brought people from ull
over Canada and the States to try and develop projects
and networks of anti-authoritarians from all over the con­tinent.
Besides partying, energies were put towards find­ing
out what things we all had in common. A series of
separate meetings were held over the two days covering such
topics as; prisoner support work, co~operative publishing,
anti-racism struggles, AIDS, indigeonous peoples struggles,
boycott campaigns, a network newsletter , alternative and
pirate radio, polysexuality and a planning meeting for the
Anarchist Unconvention that takes place in Toronto from
the 1st to the 4th of July.
There was a wide range of ideas, attitudes and approach­es,
which included a number of people who chose not to
attend on principle because they felt that merely organ­izing
a networking meeting was exclusive and elitist,
with attendance out of the question for those who are
tied to jobs, offspring or who have limited funds .
Overall the meeting was a success if only for the per­sonal
contacts made with others working on similar issues .
A description of the meetings will be included in the
network newsletter called "Mayday."
The next Mayday should be out in April. Write them
at: Mayday c/o Gabriella
P.O. Box 3266
El Segundo , CA.,
90245 - 8366
Send Amerikkkan $$$
CREEPING FASCISM
B.C.' s new anti labour legislation, Bills 19 and 20,
were compared to similar laws under Italian Fascist
leader Benito Mussolini. Dave Werlin of the Alberta
Federation of Labour said, "It is in fact the cutting
edge of a fascist police state." He said B.C. has the
most reactionary labour laws in Canada and other govern­ments
are watching the situation carefully to see what
::an be gotten away with. "It'll spread like a disease,
like a plague across this country." he said.
The Sun
MARIJUANA OR GUERILLAS?
US DEFOLIATES GUATEMALA
Between April and June 1987, the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA) sprayed vast areas of Guatemala's north and
western regions with highly toxic defoliants, ostensibly to
eradicate marijuana, poppy fields and the fruit fly.
Approximately one third of Guatemala was sprayed with
glyphosate (RoundUp), used extensively in the forests of
B.C., and malathion by U.S. pilots, authorized by the
Crezo government. As of mid-June, 14 people had died and
hundreds were poisoned after drinking contaminated water .
The University of San Carlos condemned the spraying of
the country's greates wildlife reserve and the largest
area of untouched rainforest in Central America. It is
reported that the insecticide paraquat and the fumigant
EDB were also used . The spraying will cause extensive
ecological damage and, because it was carried out in the
rainy season, stands to contaminate the ground water .
Hundreds of cattle were reported dead.
Since the targetted areas are not used for marijuana
cul ti vat ion, the reason fo1- the spruy lng seems to be mil­itary:
the Guatemalan government is involved in "counter ­insurgency"
operations there against a number of anti-govern­ment
groups. Also a larger than usual number of fires in
the area has people suspecting that napalm has also been
used to deliberately defoliate the forest.
Akwesasne Notes, Fall 1987
"I 111111111,,
ALCAN t,
SLASH BURNING
"There has been a lot of slash burning out here this
spring and the haze has cooled our spring down abnormally.
It also caused some strange occurances with the new foliage,
which just withered up and is all spotty, if not dead,
after the first rainfall. It could have been acid or light,
don't know yet as we are just having the tests done and are
doing some studies into weather modification fr0m slash burn­ing.
From the satellite photos, it is quite evident that
we have created ·our own little weather system over the
coast and up into the Charlottes. It is criminal. Some
major happenings are causing much concern about the sur­vival
of the remaining rainforest, and I wonder if we haven't
just gone too far for it to sustain itself.
We will keep you informed about the results of tests."
Susanne Hare, Wickanninish Island, B.C.
P.O. Box 394, Torino, B.C. VOR 2ZO
low-level flights in BC
The filth have started it here ..• The first run
was March 9th. Long range, high speed, low level,
tar.t.i.c11:J ni1cln11r· w• ' ILJ>oll:: 11:::11L11lL L1 ·1.tJ1ii11g. Cl•'-ltl
fighters. F-15s. FB-111 bombers. B-1Bs and B-52s,
cruising only 100 metres above Earth. Ten, twenty, or
thirty of them over the widerness.
I was somewhat familiar with the fact that the
Innu and Dene peoples of Nitassinan ("Our Land" in
Innu; northeastern Quebec and Labrador) hnve been
terrorL,;ed since 1979 by tactical fighter and bomber
training over their territory. But I didn't know many
details . •.•.• When it all started, the filth said
that they just wanted to do a few flights; some in
each of the seasons. It's like somebody walks up be­hind
you and clubs you in the back of the head. Once
you 're down, you're politely asked if you've got any
cowμlaints. Meanwhile, they're taking another swing
at you .... The Innu and Dene peoples of Nitassinan
wer e not aware of what lay in store for them.
Over in the East, there's not too many white folks
live i n the bush up there. Except around Goose Bay.
The f olks there are mostly military filth, their fam­ilies
or parasites who provi de servicPs f or the filth.
The res t of t he peoples , the firs t peoples, were not
asked about the flights. Well, actually, they wer e
asked, but t hen that 's the democratic way. The veneer
of democracy. You know how it works. Oh yeah, and
t hey did do envir onmental impact studi es . Well sur e ~
The DnpnrLmcnt o f' Na ti onal o rron no did ono . I L would
ha ve an impact they said. Make s noise. Causes stress.
But you see , t he whites in Goose Bay wanted the flights,
and so did the DNO. t he generals. And so did the
AmerKKKans. Soooo . . fuck the Indians.
They've escalated from a few flights in '79, to
over 6,000 flights last year. 6,000 flights means
more than 15 a day , average , everyday. Now, not just
the Canadians and AmeriKKKans, but also the British,
West Germans and Dutch are training killers over
Nitassinan.
The Canadian government is now modernizing facil­ities
in Goose Bay in an effort to encourage NATO to
build a Tactical Fighter Weapons Training Centre there.
The Turkish government is promoting a site there , near
Konya . If the Canadian site is too be chosen (the de­cision
is to be announced soon), it would establish the
first NATO base on Canadian soil. It would mean a
dramatic increase in the number of flights, and also
the creation of bombing ranges for the boys.
There has never been a treaty signed wi th the Dene
or the Innu. The Innu claims r oughly 300,000 square
kilometres of territory. They had been living with
the caribou as a way of lif e before the white invader s
arrival. Since then they 've been forced onto r eser­vations
. They ' ve had their language and religion
str i pped from them and made illegal . Enormous reser­voi
rs behind hydr oel ectric power installations have
flooded immense regions , upsetti ng weather patterns ,
and de stroying the cycl e of life. The people are
thrown in jails for hunting the caribou. The original
peoples have suffered greatly here . They say the mil-i
tar y f l i ghts di srupt further the migrations of the
caribou . The DNO is doing an environmental impact
study ... The rulers assure us tl:at the war makers are
studying tho effects on the Earth. f\ Newfoundland
governmental task force study of 'The Health Effects
of Low- level Flights warned in it's conclusion of
the "increasing probability that VIOLENCE could occur
given the rising levels of tension in Goose Bay over
the military flights." They saw this a s a "signifi­cant
public health concern,"
Now they've started over here. Super(Sonic) Nat­ural
BC. The flight corridor stretches f r om the North
end of Vancouver Island, past Ocean Falls , by Bella
Bella, over vast regions of 'uninhabited bush', cr os­sing
highway 16 near Burns Lake, up pas t Fort St J ohn
and then on to the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range.
Primrose Lake. Also known as Cold Lake(name of the
base). In '53 the Feds leased 4,600 sq miles to the
DNO for 20 years so that they could test Air Weapons
Systems. Five Cree Metis bands were cleared from their
traditional hunting, trapping and gathering areas . A
sacred burial ground was l ost to the might of the
military. In '57 the Feds were f orced to compensate
the Metis, as they'd already paid off t he white trap­pers
and fishermen of the area. The Metis were given
$800 each. The people understood that they would be
given their traplines back after 20 years. They were
not told that the filth's lease was r enewable t o
perpetuity. The Dene Metis on the Nort her border of
the range were never compensated f or their l os s .
The new flight corridor, Route IR-910, is 1, 387
kilometres long and 15 wide . Archie Pootlass of the
Oweekneno Kitasoo Nuxalk tri bal council of Bella
Coola BC said, " ••• hunting, fishing and trapp~ng is
our sustenance and it shouldn't be disturbed because
our people a r e so di sadvantaged." Birds reproducti ve
cycles are disturbed. The flights will affect moun­tain
goats, sheep, cari bou, elk and moose , causing
panic reactions and interfering with mat ing. These
are only the most spectacular r esults. The overall
effects run deeply through the enti re life cycle.
Every living thing is disturbed in some way.
The US Air Force - Strategic Air Command also com­mi
s sioned a report on the impacts of the flights.
Their consultant says residents and wildlife 'could'
suffer. These types of flights are not allowed over
us
i n the region over Lake Supe r i or in Ontario.
This one may be oper ational soon.
One day of fli ght s has now taken place in BC.
Below is a list of some statistics released by the
fil t h:
- Pr oposed Low-Level Route Activity. Normal
activi ty along each route will consist of the fol­lowing
f our exer cises per year(one day per exercise):
GLOBAL SHIELD exercise (daytime) will occur
during 15 ·May - 20 June. The one day exercise will
i nclude a maximum of 25 bombers and 15 fighters.
SHOWTIME exercise (daytime) will occur during
15 November - 20 December. The one day exercise will
i nclude a maximum of 15 bombers and 15 fighters.
SAC exercises (daytime and nightime) will occur
during Mar ch and September (one day each month). Each
exer ci se wi ll include a maximum of 15 bombers.
The following are actual altitudes and speeds to
be flown by Strategic Air Command on both proposed
Canadian routes (BC and NW'l') .
B-1B 580 mph average
350 feet Above Ground Level (AGL)
B-52 450 - 475 mph average
400 - 500 feet AGL
FB-111 530 - 580 'mph average
400 - 500 feet AGL
* The investigation of all US military aircraft
accidents in Canada will be accomplished by US auth­orities.
The make-up of the investigation team is
the responsibility of US authorities; however, a
Canadian observer will be part of the team. All re­quired
follow-up actions will be the responsibility
of US authorities but will be coordinated through
the appropriate Canadian agencies.
* Comments and questions regarding the proposed
Low-Level routes can be referred to; Media Liason,
Department of National Offense, Ottawa, Ontario,
K1A OK2
As you can see , exact da t es of the tests are not
given. The is the same policy used with the cruise
mi ssile tests in the North. An effective method to
diffuse dissent.
As the Monster of civilization continues to crumble,
the Empire steps up it 1 s offensive. The war machine
must be smashed. The military filth calling the shots
are sick ..• insane. Their humanity has been bludgeoned.
They must be stopped.
Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.
Contacts; Committee for the Demilitarization of
Nitassinan, Montreal, Quebec.
phone: (514) 274-0604 (version francaise
aussi disponible)
North Atlantic Peace Organization- Quebec/
Labrador Updates, PO Box 13392, Stn A,
St John 1 s, NFLD, Canada, A1B 4B7
Caribou Presbytery, c/6 Box 55, Vanderhoof,
BC, Canada, VOJ JAO (a coalition recently
formed in BC) phone:(604) 5672653 or 567-3383
=c:.a c
= N
Nobody predicted it ... Oh sure, later, the specialists all
pointed to so-callee "objective conditions", and described how
this condition and that and the other brought about "the moment" .
. But still, no-one predicted it . It came as a surprise. A great
shock to some. Those who had something to lose. To others it was
' an explosion of freedom, of power, a celebration of life and love.
Large student movements had developed in Japan, West Germany,
the United States, Italy and elsewhere. In France it quickly grew
into a mass movement that sought to overthrow the socio-economic
structure of capitalist society. The University of Nanterre in
Paris was shut down by the Dean on May the 2nd. The next day the
Sorbonne was closed and riot police were sent in to attack stu­dent
demonstrators. This set off a chain reaction. Students ej ­ected
from their universities, took to the streets, drawing layers
upon layers of new people into the struggle. For a week the de­monstrations
grew larger and more militant. On May 10th some
50,000 decided to occupy the traditional student part of the city
the Latin Quarter'. They built over 60 barricades in the streets
with newspaper stands, automobiles, construction equipment and
whatever else was at hand. The police were ordered to clear the
streets. The resulting battle lasted several hours, with repeated
charges by club swinging riot police firing a deluge of phophorus
grenades and teargas at the students who responded with molotov
cocktails, homemade smokebombs and cobblestones torn from the
streets. Hundreds of police and demonstrators were injured, many
of them : setioas~y.
Up to this point, the newspapers, including the Communist
Party organ, L'Humanite, had characterized the student movement
as "tiny groups" and "adventurist extremist11 • After the brutality
of the 10th, the Communist Party led union, the CGT, called for
a general strike. On May the 13th over 800,000 people hit the
streets of Paris to demonstrate against the state repression;
these were no tiny groups. The next day the factory of Sud Aviation
was taken over by it's workers who held the chairman hostage. On
the 15th, numerous plants were taken over by workers, including
the automobile producer Renault. Students and workers occupy the
French national theatre, the Odeon, and plant revolutionary "ed
and black flags on it's dome, announcing an end to a culture
limited to only the economic elite.
Students have taken over the universities and are organizing
comittees of action and factory occupations continue to spread
while the radio stations continue to broadcast that the students
are concerned only with final examinations and workers only with
improving their salaries.
Inside the liberated universities, the state, the ministries,
the faculty and student government bodies are no longer recognized.
A vast experiment is taking place. Laws are now being made in the
lecture halls and auditoriums by "general assemblies". There is a
great explosion of creativity. Art and posters quickly cover the
walls everywhere. Spray paint is the most popular medium of com­munication
. Walls now captured the imagination of passersby with
their scrawled words, much of it inspired by the Situationists.
"Power to the imagination!" 11 Forbidding is forbidden! 11 "Only the
truth is revolutionary! 11 Posters reflected the deeply libertar-ian
philosophy; _"Humanity will only be happy when the last capi­talist
is strangled with the guts of the last bureaucrat!"
"Culture is disintegrating. Create! 11 111 take my dreams as reality
for I believe in the reality of my dreams!" University corridors
sprang to life with poster wisdom; 11Workers of all lands, enjoy
yourselves!" "Those who carry out a revolution only halfway,
merely dig their own graves . (St. Just)" "Long live communication!
Down with telecommunication!" "We will claim nothing. We will ask
for nothing. We will take! We will occupy! 11
Action comittees established contacts with striking workers
and leaflets informed them of the experiences of direct democracy
taking place at the universities.
The insurrection quickly spreads throughout Paris and the rest
of the country. France is brought to it 1s knees. The impossible ,
the unimagined has happened. The world is shocked . De Gaulle
orders the army and the police to stay in their barracks and
stations for their safety cannot be guaranteed.
But s~mething is amiss. The worker-student action comittees
are met at factories with the gates closed . The Communist union
reps inside tell the comittees to go home. Workers, isolat~d in
their homes and locked out of their factories, through radio,
T.V. and the papers, hear only of workers demanding pay raises .
No talk of workers demanding self-control over factories and an
end to the bougeoise-capitalist state.
Inside the factories the reactionary union bosses control the
loudspeakers and the presses , repeating over and over.that their
leaders are working hard, negotiating to increase their wages
and improve working conditions . Workers are told to stay away
from the student "provocateurs" .
The trade union heirarchy were a negatiye force on the revo­lution
. They had but one objective; to strengthen their own
po sition of power within the existing social system .
At this point the insurrection began to die . De Gaulle .called
in all of the troops at his disposal , including the Gaullist
Action Civique - hundreds· of thousands of petite bourgeoise
supporters frightened by recent events hit the ~treet s wh~re the
workers still had control. Riot police re-occupied factories .
"The explosion which paralyses France in May 1968 was a frus­trated
revolution and a clear warning . It represents a frustrated
revolution to the students and workers who were rushing, almost
blind with joy and enthusiasm , into a .. ew society . But the. revolt
and the strike are a warning to all rul ing classes, a warning
to capitalists and bureaucrats, to governments and unions. The
frustrated revolutionaries are beginning to take stock of the
accomplishme[~ S and are attempting to pinpoint the shortcoming ~ .
However the revolutionaries are not the only ones who are taking
stock . The forces of repression are also undertaking the task of
analyses ; they too are l iking stock of the accomplishments, or
rather the dangers unvei~ed for them ~~ May 168 . And the revol­utionaries
will not be tne only ones wno will prepare for t he
next crises · the ruling classes will also prepare, and not only
in France . Politicians , Jureaucrats and capitalists will define
the forms of the May revolution, so as to prevent their re-appear­ance
; L;. will study the sequence of events , so as to prevent a
recurrenc~ of May 1968. In order to remain ahead of the forces of
CON1'£11CHCE 5UR LE5 OP/!R.A.T/OH5
ELEHEHT.ll-5 0£ H.lllHT/EN 0£ L'OIWRE'
ET EXEftCICE5 PR.llT/OUE5
Pttt.R L£.S
UN/TES D' INSTRUCTION
du FORT d~ CHARENTON
From a po lice man ual. instruct ions in riot conlro l, Fr:rnce, 19 70.
Lessons in the element ary tu li cs of law enrorc.:cmcnl and practic31 i:xcrciscs.
B ~· lln· l raini n ~ corps o f lhc Forl of Ch;ucnlon .
reacti on , the May. revol utionaries will have to provide more than
souvenir s; they will have to see the general models behind the
specific sequence of events ; they will have to analyse the con­tent
behind the forms.
The sequence of event s which led to a sudden confrontation
between French state capitalism and a determined revolutionary
movement caught both sides by surprise. Neither side was prepared .
But the moment of hesitation was fatal only to the revolutionaries;
the ruling class took advantage of the brief pause to extinguish
the fi re. The fact that only one side gained from the pause is
understandable; fhe revolutionaries would have had to rush into
the unexplored, the unknown, ·whereas the "forces of order" were
able to fall back to well known, in fact classical forms of re­pression.
The revolutionary movement rushed foreward at a tremendous
speed, reached a certain line, and then suddenly, disoriented,
confused, perhaps afraid of the unknown, stopped just long enough
to allow the enormous French police forces to push the movement
back, disperse it and destroy it. Reflection now begins on both
sides . Revolutionaries are beginning to define the line which
was reached; they are determined to go beyond it "next time".
They had come so close and yet were pushed back so far! To many
it was clear that steps into the unknown had been taken, that
· the line had in fact been crossed , that the sea had in fact begun
to flow over the dam. To many it was not surprising that the dam
should be reinforced, that efforts to stem the tide should be
undertaken. What they had not expected, what they only. slowly
and painfully accepted, was that sea itself should begin to ebb.
They accepted the retreat with pain because they knew, as t hey
watched the waters recede, that as high as the tide had risen,
that as close as the flood had come , the· sea would have to gather
much more force, the tide would have to rise far higher, merely
to reach the l evel of the dam once again.
The ruling clas ses have been warned; one must assume that they
will take the necessary precautions . Analyses of the particular
cracks in the dam through which t he fl oodwaters rushed will be
undertaken by both sides. Such analyses will be a documentation
of a particular event, a history of a revolution that failed. On
the basis of this documentation , ruling classes will prepare
themselves to prevent the recurrence of the same event. This is
why revolutionaries cannot use the documentation as a basis for
the preparation of a future event: the same cracks will not be
found twice in the same dam; they will. have been repaired and
the entire dam will have been raised . A future tidal wave will
find new cracks in the dam, cracks which are as invisible to in­surgents
as to defenders of the old order . This why conspiratorial
organizations which plan to rush through a particular crack in
the dam are bound to fail: no matter how ingenious their 11central
committees, 11 there is no reason to assume that the 11directors11
or 11leaders" of the conspiratorial group will be able to see a
crack which the directors of the established order cannot see.
Furthermore, the established order is far better armed with tools
for investigation than any conspiratorial group.
Historians will describe through which cracks tqe sea rushed
in May 1968, "The task of revolutionary theory is to analyse the
sea itself; the task of revolutionary action is to create a new
t idal wave . If the sea represents the entire working population,
and if the tidal wave represents the determination to re-appro­pria
te all the forms of social power which have been alienated
to capitalists and bureaucrats at all levels of social life, then
new cracks will be found, and if the dam is immaculate it will
be swept away in its entirety.
At least one lesson has been learned: What was missing was
not a small party which could direct a large mass; what was mis­sing
was the consciousness and confidence on the part ?f the .
entire working population that they themselves could direct their
social activity. If the workers had posessed this consciousness
on the day they occupied their factories, they would have proc­eeded
to expropriate their exploiters; in the absense of this
consciousness, no party could have ordered the workers to take
the factories into their own hands. What was missing was class
consciousness in the mass of the working population, not the
party discipline of a small group. And class consciousness cannot
be created by a closed secret group but only a vast, which ~ev~
el opes forms of activity which aim openly to s~bvert the ex1st7ng
social order by eliminating the servant mentality from the entire
.. orking population ."
~1
••,,. .j i, : ",t,.. ?:\.i'. .
!f. ~#
F. Perlman
With the events of May/June 68 an epoch came to an end. An
epoch in which people could say 11it can't happen here. 11 Another
epoch began: that in which people know the revolution is possible
under the conditions of modern bureaucratic capitalism.
For Stalinism too a period ended~ the period in which the
Communist Parties of Western Europe could claim they remained
revolutionary organizations, but that revolutionary opportunities
had never really presented themselves. This notion has now been
irrevocably swept into the proverbial ''dustbin of history •11 When
the chips were down, the French Communist Party and those workers
under it's influence proved to be the final and most effective
11 brake11 on the revolutionary self activity of the working class.
There are no hard and fast rules to be learned from what hap­pened
in France in 68. We must discuss the successes and the
failures and develope new analyses to keep up with an ever changing
world.
There is a danger here. If the revolution is only an explosion
lasting a few days (or weeks) the established order - whether it
kno'is it or not - will be able to cope. What's more - at a deep
level - class society if it is to continue to exist even needs
such jolts. This kind of revolution 11 permits 11 the society to
survive by compelling it to transform and adapt itself. This is
the real danger today. Explosions which disrupt the imaginary
world in which alienated societies tend to live - and momentarily
bring them down to earth - help them eliminate outmoded methods
of domination and evolve new , more sophisticated and flexible ones .
Our problem is now to destroy the social context in which these
new forms of domination exist .
Mostly plagiarized from various publications.
For two excellent reports and analyses from eyewitnesses in Paris:
11Worker-Student Action Committees, France May 16811
published by Black and Red - Detroit
and "Paris - May 196811 Dark Star, Rebel Press - London
JT~4YN (STEIN VALLE,V)
THE LAST NL' AKAPXM WILDERNESS ?
,,:·:h:,:::~,;: :~·,~;,~:=,~:,::.h::·:;,·:~.'.:;~.~~·:~;- rl.l.
ning into the valleys between these posts is also our ter- ~
ritory in which my children gather food. We extefnd hto !.~·i::·'
meet the boundaries of the hunter, territories o ot er h
tribes all around over all this country I have spoken of, j
I have jurisdiction. I know no white man's boundaries or i
posts . If the whites have put up posts and divided my ~
countr y , I do not recognize them. They have not consulted ~
me. They have broken my house without my consent. All I'."
Indian tribes have the same as posts and recognized bound- .
ari es, and the chiefs know them since long before the first
whites came to the country." .
CExpentlEm, "Head Chief", ·
The Nl'akapxm Nation, 1858 ·
The fight to keep clear cut chaos out of the Stein ~
wate rshed in Southwestern B.C. has entered a new phase. I
A moratorium has been called, halting road building by Ii_.·
multinationals into the last major unlogged watershed in i
this region. The destruction has been halted until the end [
of April pending negotiations between the provincial gov- j
ernment and the Lytton and Mount Curry peoples. The state ~
was faced with an overwhelming s how of support for these ~
people's determination to s ave their land, " ... whatever it ~~=~.I:.
takes ." ..,
The government was under intense pressure after it had I
t old the bulldozers and blaste r s tha t they could begin build-}
ing a r oad into the valley. Thi s go-ahead was a complete 1
~~:~~a~:~t~~~e~~c~=~~m:~~~~~i~~~e~a~~o~in: ~~~:i~~!0 ~i~~ I
pute , i ssued as statement s aying tha t no logging should take I
place in the t ein without formal agreeement with the Lytton »
and Mount Curry I ndi ans. I
The sta te had made no attempts whatsoever to even enter :t,
into discus sion with the guardians of that part of Earth. m
Inst ea d they formed an alliance with corporations and .'.~, ! ,~,·
launched the "Share the Stein" campaign. Share the Stein ;:;
meant taking out 90% of 'harvestable' timber from the i
heart of this last jewel of the natural world Northwest of I
Vancouver. ~-~.'.:;
The mor atorium is seen by insiders as a public relations _
trick to enable the state to justify the slaughter by show- ij
ing they attempted to negotiate an agreement. The two ~
sides have not yet begun negotiations but are preparing ~
their positions. The state will undoubtedly orchestrate I
a misinformation campaign helped by, the media and then i
attempt to begin the rape, claiming the original people's [
demands to be 'unreasonable.' The corporations are up ..,
against a strong adversary. l
"As the direct descendants of those aboriginal people's t.!~
who have i nhabited, shared, sustained, and been sustained ~
by t he Stein Va lle y for tens-of-thousands of years down to ~•~
the pres ent, our authority in this watershed is inescapable. I
The r esponsi bi lity we bea r f or protection of the Stein has ~
been pased us by our ancest ors from our earliest memories, m
and should not be l igh t ly dismissed . We , ourselves , have ~
never dismissed this obliga tion: we ha ve never entered an ~
agreement with any nat ion or government which would abro- ~.".i.r!..,
gate our authority a nd r esponsibil ity in the Stei n wat er- •
shed . I
It is our forebearers who developed the sustainable
patterns of resource management in the Stein which leave
the valley in its unmarred state today . Our tread has
been deliberately light, but the spiritual and physical
"footprints" of our peoples are evident for all to see
throu ghout this watershed . to us, the valley is like the
pages of a book upon which thousands of years of our his­tory
are written. There is no other record in the Stein
Valley except our own, and we can never wi l l inglv a bandon
our committment there .
~·· ti :~i ii I •:;:
~~jj
We can wait no longer for other governments to come to
their senses. For us to exist as a people and a culture
we need to preserve certain of our lands, the only right­ful
place we have on this earth, in their natural state.
We must continue to exercise our responsibility to protect
these lands as we have since time began.
Our position, which will never waver, is to maintain
the forests of the Stein Valley in their natural state
forever; to share our valley with other life forms equally
but also to share the valley with those peopl~ who can bri:
to the Stein a respect for the natural life there similar
to that taught us by our ancestors.
We will seek and form alliances with other native nations
in the defence of the Stein watershed and in opposition to
the common thread of aboriginal injustice which we suffer
along with indigenous peoples everywhere.
Under the cooperative authority of our two bands we wil
maintain the Stein Valley as a wilderness in perpetuity
for the enjoyment and enlightenment of all peoples and the
enhancement of the slender life-thread on this planet.
In so doing we are but honoring those ancestors whose
legacy to us is the Stein Wilderness, and in our turn we
will extend this same opportunity, legacy, and responsi­bility
to generations yet unborn."
Lytton Chief Ruby Dunstan
info: Western Canada Wilderness Committee
#103-1520 West 6th Ave.,
Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1R2 Ph. (604) 731-6716
and: Stein Co-ordinator, Lytton/Mt. Curry Tribal
Council, Box 1420,
Lillooet, B.C. VOX lVO
TEARS OF THE EARTH
"Paint this way and thus not die soon."
Nl'akaxpm Elder as told to him
by his Guardian Spirit
Nl ' akapxm face painti ngs carr y i mpor tant messages fo r
the people . this painting was of a mystery lake with two
colours of water, (re presented on t he chi n). This l ake
was to be found nestled in the mountai ns and trees, (rep­resented
on the right s ide of the face) . This man's guar­dian
spirit was an earth spirit , (the tea rs of the earth
are represented on the left side) . The wi l derness was the
tonic for the people's health. As t he Earth Spi rit told
this man, paint this way "and thus not die soon."
Recorded c.1900
Fieldnotes o f Jimmie Teit
Against
the Megarnachine
. . ;._.~
How do we begin to .discuss something as immense
as technology? To investigate it means to investigate
tHe totalify-pf this modern civilization, not only its
massive industri11I vistas ~ich represent the strucrtur·
al apparatus, the stage scenery; not only the hierarchy
of command_and..specialization which reveals the ske­letal
structure of. this 11pparatus in human relations;
not only "the humble objects/' which "in their aggre­gate
... have shaken our mode of living to its very
roots," as Siegfried 'Giedion has written; but also ill
that inten:ial_ized country of our dreams and desires,
in the way we unconsciously see ourselves and our
world.
What is technology~ When you present this ques­tion,
you confront the entire code of themodern
religion, the universal fetishism of technics. The tech,
nological religion is a justification of its world and