Prisoners of Conscience

By Jane Louise Boursaw, Northern Express Weekly. Posted May 18, 2000.

On December 19, 1999, four anti-war activists were arrested and charged with breaking through a fence at a Maryland Air National Guard Base and damaging two A-10 "Warthog" jet assault planes. Baltimore police said the activists hit one of the A-10's with hammers and then splattered the plane with what appeared to be blood.

The four -- members of the pacifist group Plowshares -- are faced with malicious destruction of property, trespassing, and second-degree assault, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. The group not only risked imprisonment, but actually seemed to welcome it. Why? They had their reasons.

The Warthogs are used by the Pentagon to deploy weapons made with depleted uranium (DU). The Plowshares felt justified in taking action -- the first specifically against DU weapons -- claiming that they're not only part of the lethal U.S. war arsenal, but also a danger to the environment for years after use in battle. The Warthogs are capable of firing up to 4,000 rounds of DU-reinforced shells per minute, and have been used in both Iraq and Yugoslavia.

The Disappeared

Thousands of "prisoners of conscience" are sitting in jail cells around the globe -- including the United States -- because of their religious, political or ideological beliefs. Many are held without charge or trial and, in some countries, torture and the death penalty are commonplace. In some cases, men, women and children have "disappeared" after being taken into official custody. Still others have been killed without any pretense of legality.

While some prisoners welcome the support of groups like Amnesty International, others actually seek out and revel in their prison terms, hoping to draw attention to injustices that are not noticed or solved by mere talk.

That's the case with the Plowshares group, who feel strongly about the use of weapons and violence. Sara Flounders, editor of the "Metal of Dishonor," called the Plowshares' civil disobedience "a courageous action that will help bring increased awareness of the dangers posed by this weapon."

Flounders demanded the authorities release the Plowshares activists, noting, "The real criminals are those who make the $8 million Warthogs and those who use them to spread warfare and radioactivity around the world."

This isn't the first time the Plowshares have taken action they believe to be justified. The first took place in 1980, when Philip and Daniel Berrigan and six others hammered on nuclear nose cones at a General Electric plant in Pennsylvania.

For Those Who Cannot Speak...

Countless numbers of people are imprisoned every year for things like breaking into labs to rescue lab animals, causing damage to leather goods stores, or trying to free mink and other animals from fur farms.

On May 6, Josh Ellerman will be sentenced for his alleged use of pipe bombs to destroy the Utah Fur Breeder's Co-op. Ellerman caused over $1 million in damages. The maximum sentence for his offense is 35 years in prison.

On April 11 in Big Sky, Montana, two women displayed a 20' x 50' banner which read, "Racicot's Buffalo Slaughter Kills Tourism" on the ten-story Big Sky Conference Center Hotel. Graphic depictions of two bloody buffalo heads were lavishly painted on the huge banner, which was hung as part of an all-day rally organized by the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) to call attention to the hypocracy of Governor Racicot's conflicting stances on tourism and the bison who draw tourists to the region.

The activists, who were suspended from ropes anchored to the building's top floor, were arrested after construction workers opened windows, reached outside, and destroyed the banner.

"Governor Racicot epitomizes the perfect politician," said BFC spokesperson Tiffan Brown. "He placates the tourism lobby with one hand while the other shoots buffalo to satisfy the appetites of the powerful livestock industry."

According to the group's Web site, Montana has slaughtered 2,136 buffalo since Racicot took office. "Governor Racicot's buffalo slaughter kills not only wildlife but tourism. People spend thousands of dollars to come to Montana and see buffalo," said BFC volunteer Alison Lovejoy, "The state's actions are a slap in the face to tourism and show how cozy the relationship between Racicot and the livestock industry really is."

Freedom of Speech?

Many people have been thrown into jail simply by speaking their mind -- something that is often taken for granted in the United States. Such was the case for Esber Yagmurdereli of Istanbul, who, in 1997, declared "'It is all very clear. I am going to prison," as he was carted off to begin a 23-year jail sentence.

Yagmurdereli, 53, was arrested as he left the national Kanal D radio studios after joining a talk show on "freedom of conscience." Although his imprisonment has caused an uproar in the country, Yagmurdereli, who is blind, refuses to accept special privileges and has formally stated that he will not accept a pardon on the grounds of either ill health or disability.

In 1998, the Vietnamese government released 11 prisoners of conscience in Hanoi, as part of a mass presidential pardon for over 5,000 prisoners. But hundreds of others remained imprisoned for their religious or political activities.

The mass amnesty, which included two prominent political dissidents, Doan Viet Hoat and Nguyen Dan Que, as well as three high-ranking Buddhist monks, has gained Vietnam widespread approval from foreign governments and human rights groups. However, human rights activists point out that while the Vietnamese constitution assures basic human rights, these are often scoffed at in practice.

The Same Old System

Not every prisoner who is pardoned is willing to walk. A 1998 report in the International Herald Tribune noted that about 20 of the 100 long-serving political prisoners in Seoul, Korea did not walk to freedom, although the government had officially released them.

Led by 69-year-old Woo Yong Gak, in prison for 40 years, the group refused to sign a pledge to abide by South Korean laws, according to activists fighting for their unconditional release.

"Prisoners of conscience think it's the same as the old system when they were asked to sign statements of "conversion from communism," said Oh Wan Ho, director of Amnesty International in South Korea. "This system does not meet international human rights standards."

The refusal of many prisoners of conscience to sign the pledge posed a major embarrassment for President Kim Dae Jung as he prepared to offer clemency to several thousand prisoners of all types. The clemency, including pardons for about 1,650 prisoners and release on parole for another 2,100, was intended to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea.

17 Years in Tibet

Then there are the Tibetan political prisoners made famous by actor Richard Gere. Included in the 1,042-plus political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are 278 women, 51 children, and several nuns -- like Phuntsok Nyidron and Ngawang Sangdrol, serving prison sentences of more than 17 years for expressing their political views.

Tibetans inside Tibet have continued to speak out against Chinese exploitation of Tibet as a land and the Tibetan people as a race. These protests are carried out in the form of peaceful demonstrations, usually conducted around the Jokhang (the main cathedral) in Lhasa, which most often result in the arrest and indefinite detention of the demonstrators. In 1995, more than 230 known arrests of Tibetan demonstrators were recorded and, in 1996, there were 204 Tibetans known to have been arrested for the peaceful expression of their political views.

Biding Time

Then again, not all prisoners of conscience are broadcasting massive human or animal rights violations. Gary Avey spends his days at the Bonner County Jail in Sandpoint, Idaho. A judge said that Avey can leave whenever he decides to get a driver's license. But Avey refuses. According to the U.S. Constitution, he notes, a driver's license is an infringement on his right to travel.

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