From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (Harel Barzilai)
Subject: TELEX NEWS:Malawi;El Salv;Chad;Thai;Venez;Philippines;Zaire;Italy;Copenhagen
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 22:42:27 GMT

[Via misc.activism.progressive from PeaceNet's apc.labor]
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Topic 150       TELEX NEWS      Response  1 of  1 
hrcoord 
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord> 
Subject: TELEX NEWS 

/* Written  6:14 pm  Sep 28, 1992 by gn:geonet in cdp:geo2.its */ 

Telex News 
No.31, September 28, 1992 

Malawi: The trial of Chakufwa Chihana, general secretary of the Southern 
Africa Trade Union Co-ordinating Council has been postponed until October 
12.  Mr. Chihana is accused on several counts of "sedition". On his release 
from a 5-month detention on September 8, Mr. Chihana thanked the ICFTU for 
the pressure it exerted on the authorities for his release, and "more 
importantly, on the government to respect basic freedoms and to give way to 
popular democracy which Malawians have been starved of".  Mr Chihana is now 
chairman of the Alliance for Democracy in Malawi which, while not a 
political party, is the country's first civic organisation calling for a 
referendum on multi-party democracy. 

El Salvador: A new wave of attacks against trade union leaders and 
activists is seriously threatening the peace accord in El Salvador, ICFTU 
General Secretary Enzo Friso said in a press statement on September 25. The 
attempted assassination of trade union leader Gerardo Moscoso on September 
19 was just the latest in a series of armed attacks on trade unionists, 
according to the statement, which have resulted in dozens of deaths over 
the last four years. An ICFTU report published in June this year referred 
to death squads in operation in the country, and said that the government 
and military, by portraying trade unionists as "fronts for the armed 
opposition", bore the responsibility for the attacks on them. 

Chad: The Chadian national centre, the UST, has announced further 
industrial action next month.  October 5 will see the start of a general 
strike in the public sector and two day strike in the private sector, as 
part of the union's ongoing demands for the payment of salary arrears and 
the withdrawal of plans to reduce salaries, and raise taxes by 20 per cent. 
The last strike took place on September 7-11, during which two union 
activists were arrested, 17 dismissed, and several demoted. On September 
11, the ICFTU lodged a complaint with the ILO against the Chadian 
authorities for their abuses of trade union rights.  It has also written to 
the European Community, the World Bank and the IMF, stressing that "the 
repeated refusal by Chad's government to negotiate with the country's trade 
unions will only amplify the present economic crisis", and calling on them 
not to put money into the country without irreversible steps towards 
democracy. 

Thailand: More than a year after union leader Thanong Podhiarn went 
missing, the Thai interior ministry is reported to have set up a committee 
to investigate his disappearance. The whereabouts of Mr Podhiarn, president 
of the Thai Labour Congress (LCT), have not been known since last June, 
when he disappeared in mysterious circumstances. His family fear him to be 
dead.  The ICFTU and its Asian Regional Organistion APRO have made repeated 
calls for an investigation into his disappearance. 

Venezuela: The ICFTU and its Regional Organisation for the Americas (ORIT) 
have written to the Venezuelan authorities strongly condemning the 
attempted assassination of Antonio Rios, former president of the Venezuelan 
national centre, the CTV. Mr Rios is recovering in hospital.  He was shot 
on September 23 from a motorcycle, and a man and a woman were arrested 
shortly afterwards. 

Philippines: The ICFTU has made a contribution from its International 
Solidarity Fund to the disaster relief fund set up by its affiliate in the 
Philippines, the TUCP, in the wake of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The 
volcano has continued to erupt since the beginning of September and its 
affects have been worsened by heavy rainfall, flooding and avalanches.  In 
the region affected by the volcano, many villages have been wiped out, and 
the number of evacuees is steadily increasing. 

Copenhagen: Leaders of ICFTU affiliates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and 
Sweden welcomed the ICFTU's moves to increase co-operation between the 
itself and its national centres, particular in the area of North-South 
solidarity.  ICFTU General Secretary Enzo Friso held discussions on this 
subject with the afore-mentioned union leaders - grouped in the Council of 
Nordic Trade Unions - on September 23 in Copenhagen, where it was decided 
that contacts between the ICFTU leadership and that of the Nordic 
affiliates would be stepped up. 

Africa: Addressing the annual African seminar of the French national 
centre, the CGT-FO, on September 24, ICFTU General Secretary Enzo Friso 
stressed the unique role played by unions furthering democracy in Africa. 
"In most African countries, trade unions, as the only organised forced in 
society, took the lead in the fight for democracy", said Mr Friso.  "But 
now their role is even more crucial, since the weakness of the emerging 
democratic political parties after years of authoritarianism has generally 
resulted in the burden of furthering democracy being placed with the labour 
movement", he continued.  Mr Friso promised that the ICFTU would fully 
support unions in responding to the democratic aspirations of the African 
people. 

Zaire: In an attempt to have a clearer picture of the still confused labour 
situation in Zaire, an ICFTU mission led by Eddy Laurijssen, Director of 
the Confederation's office in Geneva, visited the country from September 
13-18.  The mission included representatives from the ICFTU affiliates in 
Belgium (FGTB), Canada (CLC), France (CGT-FO), Italy (CGIL) and the United 
States as well as representatives from the Miners' International Federation 
and the Public Services International.  The delegation had talks with 
leaders of the various national trade union centres in the country and was 
received by Prime minister Etienne Tsishikidi, the Labour Minister and the 
President of the country's national conference.  A report of the mission 
will be submitted to this December meeting in Brussels of the ICFTU 
Executive Board. 

Italy:  The ICFTU has expressed its full solidarity with the Italian CGIL 
General Secretary Bruno Trentin who was attacked by extremist elements 
during a rally in Florence on September 22.  In a message to Mr Trentin, 
ICFTU General Secretary Enzo Friso condemned the aggression "which was an 
attack against the whole of the Italian trade union movement, pillar of 
democracy and social progress". 

Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive