INTERNATIOAL FEMINIST NETWORK
Petition for Bhopal Disaster Victims
Two years have passed since the gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killed at least 2,500 people and injured hundreds of thousands more.
Now, the recently-formed International Coalition for Justice in Bhopal is concerned that certain actions or inactions on the part of the Indian government is continuing to hamper efforts to compensate victims and the families of victims of the disaster. Among the areas of concern are:
1. The insufficient record keeping and inadequate disclosure of information regarding interim relief and ex-gratia payments.
2. The failure to maintain detailed medical records on the victims.
3. The failure to disclose full information on the relief efforts in progress, or planned, by the Indian government or by any of its other agencies working in Bhopal.
4. The failure to publicize the amount of monies spent by the Indian government on litigation costs related to the Bhopal disaster.
5. The failure to release information regarding Union Carbide's hiring of medical and legal professionals in India in the light of the upcoming Bhopal trials.
The coalition is also concerned about the fact that the Indian government has recently signed a contract with Union Carbide for 100 million rupees for the manufacture and/or distribution of condoms.
A petition to register these concerns is being drawn up by the coalition. For further information, please contact:
The Hazardous Technologies
Program Coordinator
International Organization of Consumers Unions
Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific
PO Box 1045, 10830 Penang
Malaysia
More Women Detained in Singapore
In our last publication we highlighted a call from Singapore where 16 persons, half of them women, were detained by the authorities earlier this year. Since then, six others, including three women, have been added to the list, while four of the original detainees have been released.
The six new detainees are: Ms Tang Fong Har, a lawyer; Ms Chng Suan Tse, a lecturer; Ms Fan Wang Peng, a student leader; Mr Chew Khen Chuan, businessman; Mr Ronnie Ng, student leader; and Mr Nur Affandi Shahid, student leader.
According to information received from the Concerned Asian Women group, the prisoners are believed to be undergoing very inhuman treatment from the prison authorities. One of them was interrogated for 122 hours with only a half hour break after the first 50 hours of interrogation. Another was reported to have been interrogated for a continuous 48 hours, while being made to stand under a spotlight. A third detainee was observed by visitors with bruises on her jaw and burn marks on her hands, while a fourth had to be taken to hospital.
Many of these people were voluntary social workers connected with church organizations which assisted domestic employees and other less-privileged groups. They were in opposition to the government's eugenetics policies, which aim to boost childbearing among educated women and forcibly restrict it among the uneducated.
When questioned on the fate of these detainees, Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, said to the International Herald Tribune on June 2 that it was not his country's practice to bring those detained under the Internal Security Act to trial.
He said he would "not allow subversives to get away by insisting that I've got to prove everything against them in a court of law or produce evidence that will stand up to the strict rules of evidence of a court of law." (Herald-Tribune, June 22, 1987)
He disclosed that one leading member of the detained group would be held in detention for two years; the others would be held for up to one year for 'rehabilitation'.
Letters of appeal, concern or protest should be sent to:
The Honorable Lee Kuan Yew
Prime Minister of Singapore
The Prime Minister's Office
Singapore
Copies should also be sent to:
The Concerned Asian Women
P.O. Box 3071, 2600 NA Delft
The Netherlands
Pat Rodney Urges Inquiry into Husband's Death
Pat Rodney, wife of the late Walter Rodney, who led the opposition in Guyana till his mysterious and violent death some years ago, has launched a signature campaign to force the Guyanese government to carry out an independent enquiry into the death of her husband. By the end of last year close to 3,000 signatures had been collected. World figures like Angela Davis have urged the international community to join in this campaign.
Letters of solidarity may be sent
to:
The Working People's Alliance
Georgetown.
Guyana
Pioneer Struggle: Thai Textile Workers
Some 113 women workers at the Srikoa Knitting Co Ltd were dismissed recently for striking for better working conditions and wage increases.
According to information issued by the Asia Workers Solidarity Links in Thailand, the conditions of the striking workers had been deplorable: they had had to endure unbearably high temperatures in the factories, loud noise, unbroken night shifts of eight hours, absence of overtime payments for working on holidays, dismissal without compensation, overstressful workloads and no drinking water. While demanding rights guaranteed by the labor laws, they were dismissed.
According to a leaflet issued by the Concerned Asian Women, this is a pioneer struggle which requires support since it will affect the fate, not only of these particular workers, but employees in other firms who are watching the situation closely.
Letters of protest or cables may
be sent to:
The Minister
Ministry of the Interior
Asaadang Road, Bangkok 10200
Thailand
Letters of solidarity may be sent to:
The Omnoi Women Workers Group
Educational and Cultural Centre for
Workers
200/11 Moo6 Settakit Rd
Omnoi Kratumban Samutsakorn
Thailand