NCUUA December 16, 197 5 National Council for Universal and Unconditional Amnesty 235 East 49th Street New York City 10017 (212)688-8097 Dear Amnesty Supporter: We need your help. Now is the time to put total amnesty for Indochina war resisters back on the national agenda. There are several reasons why the amnesty debate has been somewhat stilled in recent months. The Ford Administration desparately seeks amnesia on the war, calling on Americans to "close the book" with "no recriminations," yet recriminations against war resisters continue. Ford apparently believes that his conditional "clemency" was sufficiently confusing to diffuse the amnesty issue—we hear people say, "Amnesty? Don't you already have it?" We have to say NO—NOT YETi We don't have amnesty—Universal and Unconditional Amnesty for one million Americans, including over 600,000 war-era vets with bad discharges,, and we intend to keep amnesty high on the national agenda until we get it. THIS IS A CALL FOR NATIONAL AMNESTY WEEK FEBRUARY 22-28, 1976—a week of local amnesty activities coordinated nationally and internationally by NCUUA. WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL HELP NOW to pay for the printing and dis­ tribution of a National Amnesty Week organizing guide for our national, regional and local constituent organizations, and our many individual supporters. We also need you to play an active role in bringing National Amnesty Week activities to your community. The organizing guide will give people some "how to's" for local activities, such as building public meetings, mounting support campaigns for local war resisters, door-to-door petitioning and much more. The guide is one of the keys to making Amnesty Week happen, but we need your financial help to get it out. 1976 will be the most critical year yet in our fight for justice—if we succeed in creating and maintaining the political climate around amnesty that requires government action, we will win; if not, we will lose. And that will be a grave loss, not only for a million or more Americans in need of amnesty, but for all of us. Amnesty speaks to the real "lessons of the war" in a way that Ford won't BUT WE MUST. National Amnesty Week and the rest of our 1976 program point the way to victory—now we've got to make it all happen. Your contribution is urgently needed. Please respond soon, with as much as you can, and we'll be on our way to a busy and productive 1976. Yours for total amnesty,

Irma Zigas Louise Ransom Steve Grossman NCUUA Americans For Amnesty AMEX-Canada NCUUA National Council for Universal and Unconditional Amnesty 235 East 49th Street New\trkCity:lOQ17 (212)688-8097 March 30, 1976

Dear Amnesty Supporter:

Enclosed is a copy of a mailing which was sent out by Amex- Canada about Fritz Efaw, and American draft resistor, who is living in England. Fritz has decided to run as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention which is to be held in New York City in July, 1976.

NCUUA supports Fritz in his campaign and we are sending you this mailing for your information. Enclosed is a copy of a letter that Fritz sent to Americans living abroard. We are circulating this material to our contacts in the hope that you can help Fritz get elect­ ed as a delegate, and enable us to bring the issue of universal uncond­ itional amnesty to the attention of the American public at the time of the National Democratic Convention.

total amnesty,

Irma Zigas (416) 924-6012 mm 25 March 1976 FRITZ'S PRIMARY Fritz Efaw, a draft résister living in England, has asked us to send the enclosed letter to our friends in Canada. He believes he has a chance to be elected as an "overseas dele­ gate" to the Democratic National Convention this Summer where he intends to raise the issue of universal and unconditional amnesty. He wants us to register and to vote for him. AMEX is not suggesting that the way to win amnesty is to register as a Democrat, but that Fritz's proposal represents one of many tactics that could be useful in our struggle. He is presently testifying at Democratic platform hearings in London on the case for total amnesty, knows the issue well, is himself in need of amnesty, and could be effective in keeping the issue visible before, during and after the Convention. If you believe that a "universal, unconditional amnesty delegate" should be sent to the Convention Fritz hopes that you will fill in and send the coupon below (a reproduction of the "card" he mentions in his letter) to: DEMOCRATS ABROAD (U.K.) 18 Pembroke Gardens é London, W. 8. Registration for this primary election closes at the end of April, so if you want to be part of this tactic you should complete and send off the coupon immediately.

AMEX is encouraging amnesty supporters in the States and elsewhere to raise the issu« when candidates appear at public meetings, press conferences, rallies, etc., to get the candidates to put their amnesty positions forward if possible, and to criticize those posi­ tons that fall short of universal, unconditional amnesty. We believe that our primary oal during the election period is to keep the issue visible at the community level through amnesty activities and media that use candidate's positions as springboards to define, xplain and demand total amnesty. We believe that the political structures of the parties ;nd of the government itself should be used as forums for raising the issue, but we do noi rust delegates (except Fritz, if elected), party workers or candidates to move on amnest on their own." If they are to move, we must move them. Only constant public pressure À/ill bring an amnesty, and generating and maintaining that pressure is our job through th« "lection period. Fritz's plan is an example of a potentially useful "inside" tactic with pos sibilities for effective "outside" education through media, speeches and public political confrontation. _ ""i1 .L" *-•' ••ll FELLOW AMERICAN NAME If you are a Democrat living or studying abroad, you can partic­ Address ipate in the American electoral process by registering with Democrats Abroad. By doing so you will receive a ballot for Telephone No. delegates to the National Con­ vention and information of local Siate where last voted/resided: party activities during the campaign. Registration is vital as it determ­ ines our representation ; locating I AM A U.S. CITIZEN LIVING ABROAD Americans living here who want to be notified of upcoming I AM A DEMOCRAT events is extremely difficult. If you will help by distributing Signature, these cards we will gladly supply them. This Registration is indépendant of any you may or may DEMOCRATS ABROAD not have in U.S.A., 2 Turquand Street London SE17 U.K. March 1976

Mali Fellovamericans, A few weeks ago I wrote to friends in London and the home counties asking for your support at demonstrations at the US Embassy during National Amnesty Wook. As you may know, the purpose of National Amnesty Week was to make universal unconditional amnesty for all war resisters and Vietnam veterans an issue during the 1976 Presidential campaign. The demonstrations in London and throughout, the US were fairly successful, and now it's time to follow them up.

It's important to raise amnesty as an issue this year because if a Damocrat i3 elected President he will probably proclaim some kind of amnesty just to show that he can do it better than a Republican, Even if Ford is re-electod there mojr be another amnesty since his clemoncy programme was such a miserable failure. But the ^orms of any amnesty, and how fax* it goes toward meeting the demands of the amnesty movement, depend on how much support there is for the issue.

Two things are needed to bring about a genuine amnesty, and they must both happen together: There must be gras3-roots, mass organisation for amnesty in the US, and the political pressure generated by this must be transformed into reality through Congressional or Presidential action. Mass organisation without Government action may dissipate in a few years as amnesty recipients grow .older, and the Government will not act unless they are forced to do so by popular pressure, While most of us, as overseas Americans, can do little to build the amnesty movement inside the US, there are a few things we can do to put pressure on tho Government.

Some of you may know that overseas Americans can now vote in Presidential elections, and that overseas Democrats will be represented by six voting delegates at the National Convention in New York this July. Many of the top people in the Democratic P-arty in England now umdeTstand trhat exiled waFTesTsters are a constituency of special concern for thorn, and that they should pay attention to amnesty. A strong amnesty plank in the piatform, and delegates talking about ann.es ty to politicians at the convention will result in that much more pressure to proclaim a real amnesty.

To help,accomplish this I'm doing several things: I'm going to present testimony to platform committee hearings in London; I'm going to lobby the delegates; and üia I'm running as a delegate myself. 1 need your help with the latter especially. I want to ask you to register as a Democrat by sending in one of the enclosed post cards and to vote for mo in the delegate primary to be held by postal ballot in May. To register for the primary you raist be a US citizen resident overseas, and y ;>u should return the card by the middle of April to make sure you get a ballot. -2-

I am running as a Vietnam war résister not committed to any Presidential candidate but advocating unconditional universal amnesty, I want to convince overseas Democrats that they owe it to the rest of the Party to send a real expert on the subject to the convention. If I am elected I shall attend the convention, and the Government will have to either arrest me and impede the democratic process or else let me attend the convention and grant me de facto amnesty. Either way, the amnesty movement will get publicity which will help build the movement in the States, I am * receiving full backing from the amnesty movement ih this. If I'm not elected, my votes will be a measure of support for amnesty among overseas American voters, so it's important that you show your support by voting. I'm enclosing extra cards for any like-minded Americans you J^ know, and you can get more from the Democratic Party in London, ^^

Many of you would perhaps not ordinarily take part in US elections and I want to explain why I think you should in this instaiice. First, amnesty is essentially an anti-imperialist . issue because it will curtail the pwer of the US to wage imperial wars in many ways. But we can't wait for some kind of revolution in the US to have an amnesty, because that is a long range possibility and amnesty must be won in the next year or two to be fully effective. It won't be a final victory, but it is a necessary step toward one. Second, although the Democratic Party is not anti-imperialist, it is a vehicle which can bring about amnesty, and may want to for reasons of its own. So even if you consider yourself outside the Democratic Party on most issues, it makes sense tactically to unite with pro-amnesty Democrats on this issue. And third, many of you are unable to do very mueh through demonstrations or whatever to aid the US movement, and that's understandable. But by voting in this primary, where specifically pro-amnesty candidates «A for delegate are running, you can at least do something. Kow, ^^ or whether you vote in November, and which other candidates if any you vote for in May is up to you. I don't reccommend voting for any candidate who isn't willing to say that he or she is for universal unconditional amnesty. A lot of Americans overseas don't take part in elections for good reasons, but I think many of them would if -they knew that by voting for delegates like rod they could help build anti-imperialist forces in the US. Try to pals the word along, •

Sincerely,

Fritz Efaw. NCUUA NationalCouncil for Universal and UncorditionaJ -Amnestv URGENT I I ! 235 East 49th Street New York Citv 10017 LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN (212)688-005" Dear Amnesty Supporter:

As we continue to keep amnesty a visiole campaign issue it becomes increasingly likely that a Democratic president will have to make a move early in 1977. Now is the time to apply as much pressure as possible on the front-running Democratic presiden­ tial hopefuls to make that next move UNIVERSAL, UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY! In the May issue cf Amnesty Update: "Making Amnesty a Visible Campaign Issue in '76" our program of forcing the candidates and the public to deal squarely .with the amnesty issue, was outlined. Besides all the tactics presented therein, we propose a specific additional tac­ tic which needs to be acted on rioht NOW:

A NATIONAL LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN DIRECTED AT THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL FRONT-RUNNERS, TAKING CAREFUL AIM AT THEIR.'-.PARTICULAR AMNESTY POSITIONS.

WRITE TO JIMMY CARTER: PLAINS, GEORGIA

Carter has recently clarified his "unconditional pardon" position, and his clar­ ification has been confirmed by his national "issues" people: his "pardon" is for draft resisters only I Out of over cna million people in need of amnesty, the great -jw.n-y pr mem working-class or poor, and disproportionately black and other minor­ ities, Carter has chosen to amnesty the one group of war resisters almost exclusively white and middle-class: the 4,400 indicted draft resisters. Even Ford's punitive 'clemency program" included draft resisters, deserters, and some vets with bad dis­ charges. Here's the meaning of Carter's position: Carter does not include deserters. There is no honest distinction between draft resistance (pre-induction resistance) and desertion (post-induction resistance). These different forms of resistance result largely from differences of class and race. Middle-class, particularly white, generally college-educated people enjoyed student and occupational deferments into their twenties, were exposed to antiwar information before induction through campus-centered antiwar activities, ^ad access to draft coun­ seling and legal assistance, and were able to resist being drafted. Less privi­ leged people, drafted at the age of eighteen, without exposure to the antiwar move­ ment, legal assistance or deferments, learned about the war through direct experience and resisted in the only ways they could: in-service acts of resistance, for which they now suffer from bad discharges, often in addition to prison sentences, or desertion, in which case they are either in exile, underground in the U.S., or have been captured, imprisoned, and now have bad discharges. There were over 423,000 acts of -d esertion during the war. "Deserters at large" need charges dropped, and all deserters need honorable discharges to be free of resistance-related punishment. Carter do'es not include the 790,000 vets with less-than-honorable discharges, unjustly punished literally for life for acts of resistance within the military. Over )0% of these bad discharges were issued "administratively" with no due process, at the word -(or whim) of a commanding officer, for "offenses" that would not be offenses under civil law. In cases of genuinely serious offenses, bad discharges are addition­ al, lifelong punishment piled on top of prison sentences served, after the offenders have supposedly "paid their debt to society". Nobody "deserves" a bad discharge. The discharge system itself in an unjust extension of military authority over our civil­ ian lives, branding us as "undesirable" for civilian employment and unworthy of basic civil rights such as loans, insurance, union membership, VA benefits, and voting. -2- kis call for honorable discharges for all war-era veterans and a single type of lischarge for the future. Carter does not include any form of civilian resistance except draft refusal. Carter's position does not recognize that antiwar demonstrations, draft board raids, and acts of civil disobedience were valid and necessary expressions of the people'8 will to end the war, and that the lingering legal liabilities of these -icts must be amnestied. Those still imprisor^d must be released, and "criminal records" for such acts must be expunged. It is unclear and cannot be assumed that Carter means to "pardon" the 5 - 1.7 million draft non-registrants, permanently underground in the U.S., who ace five-year prison sentences if discovered. Carter speaks of poor people in Georgia who "didn't know where Sweden was... and) didn't have enough money to hide in college. They thought the war was frong ... They were extraordinarily heroic, serving their country in great danger .. even if they thought the war was wrong." Carter's underlying logic here is simple: "My country right or wrong." Or: when the government says fight a war, •hatever the objective nature of that war, the extent of popular opposition, or the criminal tactics employed, the citizen should obey. None of us can allow this -jutdated, dangerous, and illegal (e.g. the Nuremburg Tribunal Principles) line of irgument to be put forward unchallenged by an American political figure. War resisters do not require "pardon" which presumes guilt, but amnesty. One last point: Carter's choice of the word "defectors" for war resisters is rothing but slander. à Write to Carter, criticize his position and call for universal, unconditional s.rnesty. Point out that those poor Georgians whom he tries to pit against war re- isters to a large extent are war resisters — deserters, vets with bad discharges, ,d draft non-registrants — and are specifically excluded from his "pardon". •Serie' these letters from your organizations and from yourselves as individuals. jnd copies if possible to Senators Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Edward snnedy, and to NCUUA in that order of priority. It is most important that we keep oming in at least until the nominating convention. Use your local outreach to •enerate letters from other organizations and individuals, sending copies as de­ er ibed. Carter is particularly vulnerable to criticism from the black and other minor­ ity communities, and from the church community. We should pay particular attention o generating black and church criticism of C-rter's discriminatory "pardon" with­ in this letter-writing campaign rod through pjblic forums, deleostions to the can­ didates, letters-to-the-editor, etc.

RITE TO OTHER LIBERAL COMPETITORS FOR THE NOMINATION If the candidacies of Mo Udall and Frank Church continue to be viable, writ£ eel»?* to them, urging them to come out publicly for universal, unconditional •nnesty^ and point out the racial and class discrimination of Carter's position. Govexndr Oerry Brown . favors an "earned re-entry" approach with alternative „arvice, an ironic twist for this draft-deferred, self-styled "antiwar leader" -nd sppkesperscn for the younger generation." He should face all the same criti .Isms faced by Ford and his "earned re-entry" clemency program, particularly as s position is to the right of both Carter's and Ford's. Copies of these letters ; hould be sent if possible to the other Democratic hopefuls, including Humphrey, t us McGovern and Kennedy, as well as NCUUA. -3r

WRITE TO HUBERT HUMPHREY: US SENATE, WASHINGTON, P.C.

If Carter is not nominated, Humphrey is the most likely compromise choice. His amnesty position, like Jerry Brown's, is nothing more than the punitive and discredited "earned re-entry" approach of Ford's clemency program. He talks about the "thousands of Americans (who) loot their lives," sidestepping his own role as a maker and defender of the U.S. war of aggression in Indochina, and worries about "disservice to the memory of those who fought and died" without acknowledging his own partial responsibility for those deaths. Humphrey is trying to scapegoat war resisters for a war partly of his own making. He must not be al­ lowed to escape the verdicts of history and the American people through this cyn­ ical maneuver of pitting groups of war victims against each other to demand further punishment for those who resisted his war. He and those like him who con­ tinue to seek such punishment must be told that it is they, not war resisters, who seek to dishonor our war casualties by refusing to allow Americans to come to grips with the aggressive nature of the U.S. war and thereby keep us vulnerable to similar aggression, deception and needless deaths in future "Vietnams". Let those deaths teach us and they will not have been in vain. That is their honor. If possible, include in all these letters our call for U.S. redognition of the new governments of Vietnam, Kampuchia (Cambodia), and Laos; and for recon­ struction , aid to help them rebuild their war-ravaged countries.

That's it. We'll keep up our public work at meetings, rallies, etc., drawing out and criticizing the candidates' various amnesty positions, and add this tactic to our campaign — letters to Carter, other candidates, and Democratic Party lead­ ers, criticizing Carter's position and calling for universal, unconditional amnesty, If we make it all happen we've got a good chance of winning 1

If possible, get off the first group of letters,- or mailgrams if you can afford it,- before the primaries end (June 8). Continue to generate more letters until the time of the Democratic Convention (July 1?) focusing on the front runner (s).

Gov. Jimmy Carter Plains, Ga. Gov. Jerry Brown » Sacramento, Cal. The Hon,_ Morris Udall House of Representatives Washington, D. C. 20515 The Hon. Hubert Humphrey The Hon. George McGovern The Hon. Edward Kennedy U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510