Militærstyret angriber pakistanske fagforeninger

Udtalelse fra PTUDC
(Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign – Kampagnen til forsvar af de pakistanske fagforeninger).

Da krigen mod talibanerne startede, vendtes verdens øjne mod Pakistan. Nu hvor blikkene er vendt bort igen, øger militærdiktaturet i landet sin undertrykkelse.

Strejkende statsansatte i Baluchistans provinshovedstad Quetta, i nærheden af den afghanske grænse, er en af de grupper, der er blevet ramt hårdest hidtil. Årsagen til strejken er, at Baluchistans provinsregering har brudt en overenskomst med de ansatte om lønforhøjelse. Siden strejken begyndte den 17. april er kontoret i fagforeningen BCSSA (Baluchistan Civil Secretariat Staff Association – Fagforeningen for offentligt ansatte i Baluchistan) blevet udsat for både anti-terror-enheder og panservogne. Dette på trods af at fagforeningens socialistiske ledelse er indædte fjender af islamisk fundamentalisme og terrorisme. Under strejken er 1.125 personer blevet fyret og 150 er blevet arresteret. Strejkelederne er blevet udsat for tortur i fængslet.

Dette er muligvis et forsøg på at få hævn over BCSSA-fagforeningen, som gennemførte en succesrig strejke i oktober og november sidste år.

Den nuværende strejke i Quetta er den største konflikt på arbejdsmarkedet, efter at militæret tog mag-ten i Pakistan. Sejr eller nederlag i denne kamp kommer til at afgøre, hvor grænserne bliver sat for militærets undertrykkelse i den kommende periode. Derfor har strejken fået stor støtte i den øvrige arbejderbevægelse i Pakistan. Første maj blev der holdt protestmøder mod undertrykkelsen i Quetta i 21 forskellige byer.

Erfaringerne fra strejken sidste år viser, at regimet er urolig over international opmærksomhed. Også dengang blev strejkelederne arresteret, men de blev løsladt igen efter omfattende internationale protester organiseret af PTUDC (Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign – Kampagnen til forsvar af de pakistanske fagforeninger).

Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign kræver nu:
At alle fængslede fagforeningsaktivister løslades.
At alle fyrede arbejdere bliver genansat uden repressalier.
At den indgåede aftale om lønforhøjelser følges.

For mere information, kig på PTUDCs hjemmeside http://www.ptudc.org
Der findes også indscannede avisudklip fra Pakistans dagblade om strejken.

Send protestbreve til:

Pakistans præsident: General Pervez Musharraf, ce@pak.gov.pk

Indenrigsministeren: minister@interior.gov.pk
Federal Interior Minister
Ministry of Interior
‘R’ Block, Federal Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan

Baluchistans guvernør:
Governor of Baluchistan
Mr. Justice (Retired) Amir Ul Mulk Mengal
Governor House,
Quetta,
Pakistan

Pakistans ambassade i Danmark:
Valeursvej 17, 2900 Hellerup
Parepcopenhagen@hotmail.com

Kopier sendes till PTUDC:
Ptudc_dk@hotmail.com

Penge kan doneres direkte til PTUDC i Pakistan via denne hjemmeside:
http://wellred.marxist.com/ptudc.asp

Her følger et eksempel på breve, som kan bruges til at protestere mod arrestationerne i Quetta. Send brevet på engelsk. Oversættelse følger nedenfor.

Til General Pervez Musharraf

Dear President Musharraf,

It has come to our notice that on April 22 a large number of police under command of SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) attacked and baton-charged peaceful protesters in Quetta. After this, Hame-ed Khan, city organiser of PTUDC and Press Secretary of BCSSA was arrested together with other workers and are still in police custody. The conflict arises from the refusal of the authorities to respect what was agreed by them after the recent strike of the Baluchistan Central Secretariat workers.

We strongly protest against this disgraceful conduct, at a time when you claim to be restoring demo-cracy in Pakistan. May we remind you, sir, that democracy includes the right to strike and demonstra-te, and that the Baluchistan authorities are systematically violating these rights. These actions will not be passed over in silence. The Danish workers’ movement will be alerted and all this will be publicly denounced everywhere.

The damage to Pakistan’s international image will be considerable. The solution is in your hands. The local authorities in Baluchistan must be brought to heel and the prisoners released at once. That is the very minimum we could expect from a civilised country that claims to be moving towards democracy. Moreover, this whole situation has been brought about by the refusal of the authorities to honour the previous agreement signed by them. This must be immediately rectified and all sacked workers read-mitted with no sanctions.

Unless you take the necessary steps to end the arbitrary behaviour of the Governor of Baluchistan, it will bring discredit upon the whole administration and reveal to the world that all the talk about demo-cracy is just a hollow sham.

Respectfully yours,

Til indenrigsministeren og/eller til den pakistanske ambassadør i Danmark

Dear Sir,

The following letter, which concerns you most directly, has been sent to President Musharraf:
It has come to our notice that on April 22 a large number of police under command of SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) attacked and baton-charged peaceful protesters in Quetta. After this, Hame-ed Khan, city organiser of PTUDC and Press Secretary of BCSSA was arrested together with other workers and are still in police custody. The conflict arises from the refusal of the authorities to respect what was agreed by them after the recent strike of the Baluchistan Central Secretariat workers.

We strongly protest against this disgraceful conduct, at a time when you claim to be restoring demo-cracy in Pakistan. May we remind you, sir, that democracy includes the right to strike and demon-strate, and that the Baluchistan authorities are systematically violating these rights. These actions will not be passed over in silence. The Danish workers’ movement will be alerted and all this will be pub-licly denounced everywhere.

The damage to Pakistan’s international image will be considerable. The solution is in your hands. The local authorities in Baluchistan must be brought to heel and the prisoners released at once. That is the very minimum we could expect from a civilised country that claims to be moving towards democracy. Moreover, this whole situation has been brought about by the refusal of the authorities to honour the previous agreement signed by them. This must be immediately rectified and all sacked workers read-mitted with no sanctions.
Unless you take the necessary steps to end the arbitrary behaviour of the Governor of Baluchistan, it will bring discredit upon the whole administration and reveal to the world that all the talk about de-mocracy is just a hollow sham.

Respectfully yours,

Til Baluchistans guvernør

Dear Sir,

It has come to our notice that on April 22 a large number of police under command of SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) attacked and baton-charged peaceful protesters in Quetta. After this, Hame-ed Khan, city organiser of PTUDC and Press Secretary of BCSSA was arrested together with other workers and are still in police custody.

WE HOLD YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE ARBITRARY AND UNLAWFUL ACTIONS.

The conflict arises from the refusal of the authorities to respect what was agreed by them after the recent strike of the Buluchistan Central Secretariat workers. We strongly protest against this disgrace-ful conduct, at a time when you claim to be restoring democracy in Pakistan.
May we remind you, sir, that democracy includes the right to strike and demonstrate, and that the Ba-luchistan authorities are systematically violating these rights. You should bear in mind that sooner or later you will be called to account for your actions. Do not imagine that these actions will not be pas-sed over in silence. The Danish workers’ movement will be alerted and all this will be publicly denounced everywhere.

The damage to Pakistan’s international image will be considerable. If you wish to avoid the consequ-ences, the solution is in your hands. The prisoners released at once and all sacked workers readmitted with no sanctions. Moreover, this whole situation has been brought about by the refusal of the authori-ties to honour the previous agreement signed by them. This must be immediately rectified.

Unless you act immediately to put things right, rest assured that these most disgraceful violations of human rights will be made known all over the world, and that YOUR NAME will be publicly associ-ated with them.

Respectfully yours,

Oversættelse af breve:

Kæra Præsident Musharraf,

Vi er blevet gjort opmærksomme på, at en stor gruppe politifolk under ledelse af SSP (politimesteren) angreb og slog ned på fredelige demonstranter men knipler i Quetta den 22. april. Efter dette arrestere-des Hameed Khan, organisator for PTUDC i byen og pressesekretær for BCSSA, sammen med andre arbejdere, og de sidder stadig fængslet. Konflikten startede, da myndighederne nægtede at respektere den overenskomst, som var aftalt med arbejderne i Baluchistans centraladministration efter den nyligt afsluttede strejke.

Vi vil på det kraftigste protestere mod denne skammelige opførsel, samtidig med at De hævder, at De genopretter demokratiet i Pakistan. Vi vil minde Dem om, at demokrati indbefatter retten til at strejke og demonstrere, og at myndighederne i Baluchistan systematisk bryder disse rettigheder. Disse hand-linger vil ikke blive forbigået i tavshed. Den danske arbejderbevægelse vil blive informeret, og det vil blive fordømt offentligt overalt.

Pakistans internationale omdømme vil blive skadet betydeligt. Løsningen er i Deres hænder. De lokale myndigheder i Baluchistan må bringes til orden, og fangerne må løslades øjeblikkeligt. Dette er det absolutte minimum, som vi kan forvente af et civiliseret land, som hævder at bevæge sig mod demo-krati. Desuden er hele situationen opstået, fordi myndighederne har nægtet at gennemføre den over-enskomst, som man har skrevet under. Dette må straks bringes i orden, og alle de fyrede arbejdere må genansættes uden repressalier.

Hvis De ikke tager de nødvendige skridt for at stoppe Baluchistans guvernørs vilkårlige handlinger, vil det bringe hele Deres regering i miskredit og afsløre for hele verden, at al Deres snak om demokrati er hykleri.
Med venlig hilsen,

De andre breve er blot mindre variationer.

Med venlig hilsen PTUDC-Danmark.

Ptudc_dk@hotmail.com