The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.59/No.37           October 9, 1995 
 
 
Supporters Of Mark Curtis Demand Parole Now 'In The Interest Of Justice'  

BY JOHN STUDER
DES MOINES, Iowa - Dozens of letters urging the Iowa State Board of Parole to grant freedom to union and political activist Mark Curtis continue to arrive at the offices of the Mark Curtis Defense Committee. The committee is leading the international effort to gather public support for Curtis's release on parole.

Curtis was arrested and brutally beaten by the Des Moines police in 1988 after speaking out in Spanish at a public meeting to defend 17 co-workers from Mexico and El Salvador. They had been seized by federal authorities in an immigration raid on the Monfort meatpacking plant where they worked. Curtis was framed up on charges of rape and burglary and has spent the past seven years in Iowa prisons.

Curtis has remained a political activist behind bars, and recently worked with other inmates at the Iowa State Penitentiary to gather more than two dozen signatures on a petition urging the governor of Pennsylvania to grant freedom to Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black rights activist fighting to overturn a death sentence there. Because of his political activism and his refusal to be broken, Curtis has faced a number of attacks at the hands of prison authorities. Iowa officials have repeatedly refused him parole.

This week the defense committee received a letter signed by 35 participants in the Nongovernmental Forum on Women held in conjunction with the Fourth World Conference on Women in China in early September. Among the signers were women from Tanzania, Morocco, New Zealand, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Venezuela, Sweden, Korea, Israel, Ireland, and Italy, as well as the United States. Ene Obi, from the Department of Information and International Relations of the Nigeria Labour Congress, wrote, "The struggle continues" under her name.

`Served a lot of time for conviction'
"I am fully aware of all the charges against Mark Curtis. My purpose in writing this letter is not to argue the charges with you, I have already done that," wrote Larry Solomon, president of United Auto Workers Local 751, on strike against Caterpillar in Decatur, Illinois. "Mark Curtis has already served a lot of time for his conviction. Now is the time to give some credence to all of his support and do the decent thing and seriously consider immediate parole. It would be the right thing to do."

Other unionists from around the world have also addressed the board. "As retired editor-in-chief of the German metalworkers paper Metall (circulation more than 3 million) I join all those who ask to liberate Mr. Mark Curtis," wrote Jakob Moneta, from Frankfurt, Germany.

"I would like to respectfully urge you to grant parole to Mr. Mark Curtis," wrote Mark Flanigan, vice local chairperson of United Transportation Union Local 117 in Everett, Washington. "After studying his case I believe he has suffered long enough." Flanigan also told the defense committee that he was writing letters to Iowa's elected state representatives to "let them know that in the land of the free we have a person being victimized for his political beliefs."

J. Carey wrote to the parole board from Drancy, France, on behalf of the General Labor Confederation (CGT) local at ELM Leblanc. The CGT is one of the two largest national union federations in France. "We are writing to request that you free Mark Curtis on parole as rapidly as possible," Carey wrote. "We have been following the `Mark Curtis Affair' for many years and believe that he should be freed now."

Carey also sent a letter to Curtis on behalf of his local. "We support your struggle as well as that of the committee which is fighting for your liberation. We live very far from each other but our struggles are the same: it is the fight for freedom of workers, for the oppressed whatever their country or the color of their skins."

Ronald Von Scyoc, recording secretary of United Paperworkers International Union Local 7837, locked out by A.E. Staley in Decatur, Illinois, wrote "To hold Mark any longer would only increase the injustice of an already unjust action. I fully realize that to seek justice is not something a Parole Board is usually interested in, but in the interest of justice - Release Mark Curtis."

John Zippert, the co-publisher of the Greene County Democrat, published in Eutaw, Alabama, and influential throughout the South among supporters of Black rights, wrote the board, "Simple justice and common sense suggest that it is time to grant Mark Curtis a fair parole hearing and release him from jail. While I have grave doubts about his guilt, he has served his time in Iowa's prisons, and it is now well past time to release him.

"On behalf of our 3,000 readers who have also been following this case in our weekly community newspaper, we urge you to have compassion and concern for the well-being of Mark Curtis."

Many of Curtis's relatives have also written. "I am absolutely astounded" that he has not been paroled, wrote Allen Funk, a doctor in Silver Spring, Maryland, and a cousin of Curtis. "Many other prisoners convicted of the same or worse crimes have long since been paroled.

"Recent events certainly support the fact that the police in this country can be less than honest," Funk adds. "Simply take a look at the newspapers and read about detective Mark Fuhrman or the ugly incident at Ruby Ridge."

"This is in regards to my brother-in-law, Mark Curtis, who is currently serving time in the Iowa State Penitentiary," wrote Patricia Kaku, the sister of Kate Kaku, Curtis's wife. "On behalf of my family, we fully believe he is innocent. In addition, based on the time he has served and his good behavior while incarcerated, we respectfully request that he be paroled."

Dozens of letters have come from the Des Moines area. "We write to join others in requesting parole for Mark Curtis," wrote Jane Magers-Fionof and Edna Griffin of Des Moines. Fionof is a long-time peace and justice activist in Iowa and Griffin is a veteran civil rights fighter who was chosen for the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame. "The longer he is incarcerated," they add, "the longer legitimate protests can be made about the Iowa prison system - the discrimination and unfair treatment that seems to be ongoing behind the bars."

Last August, prison authorities brought charges against Curtis, claiming he had assaulted another inmate. Even though they admitted there were no physical marks to indicate an assault had actually occurred, the authorities subjected Curtis to a special prison trial, in which he was denied the right to have an attorney or to present evidence to contradict the charges of prison guards. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 30 days in the "hole" and a year in segregated lock-up.

Curtis was released from lock-up two months ago, having received time off his sentence for good behavior. Prison and parole officials have used this victimization to justify refusing to consider him for parole in 1994.

Legal challenge to lock-up
Curtis filed a legal challenge to this victimization in Iowa state court earlier this year. On September 8, William Kutmus and Jeanne Johnson, Curtis's attorneys, were notified that a trial on this suit has been scheduled for November 30. The trial will be held in a trailer on the grounds of the state penitentiary. Six trials involving inmate challenges to prison discipline are scheduled for the same day, indicating how much time the courts allot to prisoners seeking justice. These lawsuits are accorded a special judicial status, which gives inmates less legal rights than usual.

Curtis met with his counselor inside the prison this week to discuss his parole plan. He was told that the parole board will review his case on October 18 to decide whether to grant him a hearing this November or take any other action on his situation.

The defense committee is continuing to gather letters through the October parole board meeting. Letters can be sent to the Mark Curtis Defense Committee, Box 1048, Des Moines, Iowa 50311.

 
 
 
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