PRISONS FILLED
s Evans
ing out all the gifts in his satchel."
The "civilian" junta, no doubt
feeling that it had earned its reward,
appealed to Washington January 11 in an
editorial in the Athens daily Estia:
"It is high time for this affair
of the foreign Ambassadors to come to an
end...-As the smaller embassies will de-
cide on their attitude in the light of
what the American Embassy does, it is
time to put an end to the anomalous sit-
uation."
COLONEL GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS, the head of
Greece's military junta, decreed himself
to be a civilian December 20. Thus who
can honestly say a military dictatorship
is in power in Greece?
The junta seems to have met Johnson's requirements. The New York Times reported from Athens January 12 that "'Informal' top-level diplomatic contacts between the United States Embassy in Athens and the new Greek Government were resumed this week."
But the great transformation was a fraud. The December 27 New York Times reported (not on the front page):
"Col. Ioannis Ladas, Secretary General for Public Order, said today that none of the 2,500 political prisoners identified as Communists and exiled on the Aegean islands of Leros and Gyaros, would benefit" from the amnesty (emphasis added).
As to how many the so-called amnesty would cover, Colonel Ladas said that only "about 300 would be set free." This means that the great majority of the political prisoners remain in jails and concentration camps.
Behind the democratic fagade, Greece's nilitary-capitalist rulers, backed by American imperialism, have established a chamber of horrors -- that is the only real transformation that has taken place.
A report by Grigor Praxis in the November 24 New Statesman describes some of the innovations of the Papadopoulos regime.
Some political prisoners, Praxis writes, "have been interrogated at considerable length but have never been physically maltreated, because they were designated for appearance in court. Others, beyond any doubt, have been tortured from the day that they were arrested."
Praxis describes the treatment of three women from well-to-do families who were accused of taking part in the political underground:
"Since being arrested, all have been kept in solitary confinement for periods ranging from 14 to 45 days. They have been ruthlessly beaten, interrogations have lasted for periods leading to collapse, and one girl has suffered acute haemorrhages. The most delicate of the
-37-
three has been subjected to repeated elec-—
tric shock treatment. She now suffers
from hallucinations and from continual
trembling of a type reminiscent of Parkin-
son's disease.
"Interrogation is carried out by
the security police. Thick basement walls
insulate prisoners from the outside world.
The airless cells below street level, ab-
solutely dark round the clock, measure
one metre by 1.90 by 1.20 [one metre =
39.37 inches]. Suffocatingly hot during
the summer months, they are infested with
fleas, bugs and lice -- deliberately, it
is claimed....
"When first arrested, they are not
let out at all for 72 hours; and they are
allowed no food, water or cigarettes for
that span of time. As soon as they fall
asleep they are abruptly woken by the
guards and hurried to an officer's room
for interrogation. This can last for 10
hours or more....Women have been stripped
naked for questioning.
"In between the sessions of ques-
tioning, the prisoners are not left alone.
They are beaten with truncheons on the
face and head in the cells, and are also
taken to the terraced roof of the build-
ing for ‘special treatment.' This means
beating with sticks or whips on the soles
of the feet, alternating with karate chops
on the arms and other sensitive spots. One
released prisoner has described how po-
licemen stubbed out lighted cigarettes
on his chest and stomach."
For Johnson, none of this is any
discredit to his new friends; after all,
comparable things go on in Mississippi,
and even in Newark and Detroit. Besides,
Papadopoulos' helper has a ready explana-
tion to reassure any doubters. Former col-
onel Patakos declared, as reported in the
January 10 Le Monde:
"Our intention is to have as few
people as possible in prison or detention.
I would like all the prisoners to be free,
but they themselves don't want that, be-
cause they don't want to give the impres-
sion that they aren't dangerous."
With practice this Patakos might
become as good a conjurer as his master.
GUERRILLA