wé have received from the west Indies Committee for National Sovereignty a statement giving détails of a witen hunt agains the workers’ movement in Trinidad, west Indies, which reads:
"A Commission of enguiry is now sitting in Port of Spain, Trinidad, with powere to investigate “ithe nature and extent of subversive activity within Trinidad and Tobago with particular reference to its influence in the Trade Union Movement, the Public Services and the Youth Organisations and to ascertain the extent to which external influences contribute to such activity".
"The Commission, which comprises Sir Louis Mbanefo — Chief Justice of Nigeria, -—Ghairman, MacDonald Moses, representetive of the I.C.F.T .U., in the ivest Indies, and Osley Roy Marshall, Prof— essor of Law at Sheffield University, Britain, is also diredted to make "recommendations on the measures necessary for the vrotect— ion of the democratic society as established in Trinidad and Tobago". The enquiry is also "to be held in private".
"The spokesman for the Government defined subversive activit— ies as "the clandestine machinations of conspirators which are intended and calculated to acheive the gentual overthrow and destruction of the Government and Constitution of a Country by unlawful means"
"The Commission comes after a series of strikes during the last two years, some lasting as long as 3 months, or more, involving every important section of industry, agriculture and Government activity. Those who have struck included the vital port workers, sugar workers and oil workers, On more than one occasion civil servants and government workers have held massive demonstrations while threatening to go on strie.
"The Govurnment pretends that these actions of the workers, to defend their living standards and to prevent thousands of workers from being made redundant and put on the slready high un— employment scrapheap which now totals about I8A4 of the labour force, are now the worldof subversives.
The President and Economic Adviser of the poverfield Oilfields orkers Trade Union at their recent annual confernce charged the Government with instituting MoCarthyism,.
“The Government blueprint for Trinided and Tobago announced in June this year is based on partnership between the imperialist oil and sugar monopolies and the Government. It is very obvious that the Government is now under pressure from their imperialist "partners" to discipline the rebellious workers and other sections of the people by all . or any methods at its command. And the Government has bowed. to their pressure.
"Numerous persons have been drepged before the Inquisition including lawyers, trade unionists, economist and workers, sand the retiring editor of the “overnment Perty Organ “The Nation", Lennox Pierre, lawyer and Marxist leader, accused the Government in @ case now before the Trinidad Supreme Court of violating the Consitution.
"While the Commision will be held in secret and evidence will be taken from informers behind the yack end without the knowledge of persons accused, because “evidence will inevitebly touch the question of security of the state” a foreign Chief 2 Justice has been allow d to interfere in this matter so as to give an appearance of impartiality to this edition of ‘est Indian oe which Prime Minister Eric ‘illiams is commencing in the