Prisoners fight back

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The Prisoners Aid Committee has called a rally in London on July 9 to further their campaign against the savage treatment meted out to Irish Republican prisoners in Northern Ireland under the watchful eye of Labour Ministers.

• This campaign is linked to the continuing struggle by over 300 Republican: prisoners in Long Kesh and other jails who are still refusing to wear prison clothing or do prison work.

A new booklet, The Castlereagh File, detailing torture at the Castlereagh interrogation centre in Belfast also spells out the actions of the British imperialist forces against those suspected of republican sympathies.

One recent victim, trade union activist Brian McGuire, was murdered in his cell at Castlereagh on May 10 after prolonged interrogation.

As this crime was revealed, 1,000- joined a spontaneous march down the Falls Road, followed next day by strike action by 2,000 workers, who marched to a protest rally ar Transport House - oniy to be confronted by hundreds of troops and police.

The Prisoners Aid Committee centres on two demands:

*POW status for Republican prisoners as guaranteed by the Geneva Convention.

* Support for the war of liberation leading to , British withdrawal and an amnesty. While these demands are not sufficient for a campaign on the Irish struggle as a whole, they must be supported, and the British labour movement mobilised to support the July 9 rally. to be held in Hyde Park at 2.30.

Liverpool 4/5/78 Dear Comrade Editor, Reading through Socialist Press No. 97 several points occurred to me.

Firstly, I agree with your aim of turning unemployed youth towards the trade unions.

However it seems to me that the situation at present is that a) some unions rule books do not allow the unemployed to join or to remain members, and b) in