International Liaison Committee of Workers & Peoples (ILC)
U.S. Support Committee
P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.
Tel. (415) 641-8616; fax: (415) 824-1072.
website: ILC section in www.owcinfo.org
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International Liaison Committee
of Workers and Peoples (ILC)
Paris -- November 6, 2007
- Lift the State of Emergency in Pakistan!
- Free all those who've been arrested!
- Free Farid Awan, Assistant General Secretary of the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF)!
URGENT APPEAL:
The All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF), an affiliate of the ILC, has informed us that G. Farid Awan, Assistant General Secretary of APTUF, was arrested in Karachi on November 4, together with dozens of activists who were marching to demand an end to the State of Emergency.
The APTUF statement reads as follows:
"Farid Awan -- Assistant General Secretary of the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation-Sind Province, along with Ayub Qureshi (trade unionist) of the Pakistan Trade Union Federation and activists from 12 other political parties -- was arrested on 4th November when he and the others agitated before the Press Club of Karachi against the imposition of Emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order, suspending basic human rights of the citizens and imposing curbs on media and unleashing the coercive might of State on peaceful protestors, including women, etc. …
"Farid Awan's Case was registered under MPO 16 (Maintenance Public Order). They remained one day in the police station and on 5th November all the arrested persons were sent to Karachi District Jail. They are being tortured by the police and have no facilities in the jail.
"The APTUF Center Committee has decided to launch a campaign to demand an end to the emergency and the release of the arrested persons.
"The APTUF office is being observed by the intelligence agencies; they are following us. Our telephones are also under observation."
Immediate action for the release of Farid Awan, Assistant General Secretary of APTUF and of all the arrested activists is needed urgently.
The ILC calls upon all labor rights activists around the world to send statements and resolutions from trade union bodies calling for the release of Farid Awan and all the detained trade union and political activists.
Send those protests to the Pakistani embassy of your country and to the Pakistani Presidency in Islamabad, and organize delegations to the Pakistani embassies calling for the immediate release of Farid Awan and of all the detained trade unionists.
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Statement Issued by the ILC on November 4, 2007
On November 3rd, 2007, a State of emergency was imposed to Pakistan. In the days that followed, arrests have been multiplied. Demonstrations have been banned, and constitutional rights suspended.
The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) supports the demand of trade unions and democratic organizations in Pakistan that the State of Emergency be immediately lifted, all prisoners released and the right of expression and association guaranteed.
The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples sends its support and solidarity especially to all trade unions in Pakistan. We call upon labor activists and trade unions the world over to send declarations demanding the immediate cancellation of the State of Emergency and the restoration of all elementary democratic rights.
We invite you to send these demands to the Pakistani authorities and to communicate to us your initiatives, in order to be able to inform Pakistani trade unions which are engaged in a fight for the defence of democratic rights and the right to organise.
Send telegrams and declarations to :
- the President of the Republic of Pakistan, General Musharaff
Islamabad, Pakistan.
- the embassies of Pakistan in your own country
Please send your statements, or copies of your statements, to the International Liaison Committee -- which, in turn, will send them to the Pakistani organizations:
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ILC: 87, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris, France Tel : 33 01 48 01 88 28 - Fax : 33 01 48 01 88 36 - e-mail:
