BY MAGGIE TROWE
HUAIROU, China - "I've heard about this case in Canada," said one participant at the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Forum on Women as she read the leaflet on the campaign for parole for Mark Curtis. Another said she had helped win support for Curtis in Denmark.
Curtis is a socialist and union activist who was framed up on rape and burglary charges in Des Moines, Iowa. He has been in prison since 1988 and supporters of his case are gathering letters to go before the Iowa Board of Parole to demand Curtis be released on parole.
Many NGO forum participants had never heard of Curtis, but were interested in the case when they received the information Curtis supporters were distributing in the Global Pavilion of the forum.
A student from Hong Kong brought several friends by the Youth tent to see the video on Curtis's case. A few others joined the four youth from Hong Kong in watching the video. After seeing the video they wanted to know more about the conditions of workers in the United States, about how the U.S. justice system works, why a jury would find Curtis guilty and what socialists in the United States do today.
The reaction of a number of women was, "How could this injustice have happened in the United States?"
Curtis supporters described how Curtis is considered a dangerous man by the bosses and the government - he was and remains an active oponent of racism and someone who speaks out for the rights of immigrant workers, farmers, and victims of police brutality. They pointed to others who have been framed up in the United States in recent years, such as Leonard Peltier, a Native- American activist, and Mumia Abu Jamal.
Thirty-five people signed a letter to the Iowa Parole Board demanding Curtis be released on parole. Several women took extra material on the case to reproduce and distribute when they returned to their countries. This new support for Curtis's parole campaign included women from Pakistan, Venezuela, Tanzania, Ireland, India, South Korea, Morocco, and the United States.