AWS (Polish) DEPUTIES VISIT PINOCHET
A group of public Polish figures, organized by Sejm Deputy Michał Kamiński (AWS-ZChN, Solidarity Election Action-Christian-National Union) and including Marek Jurek (of the National Radio and Television Council) and Tomasz Wołek (editor-in-chief of Życie daily), traveled to London on Jan. 9. They flew there to show their solidarity with the imprisoned ex-dictator of Chile, General Augusto Pinochet, currently detained by the British authorities pending a possible extradition to Spain to face charges of murder.
Pinochet, 83, is staying at an exclusive private residence in Wentworth outside London. He is there under house arrest, awaiting the second decision (the first having been annulled) of the British House of Lords on Jan. 18 concerning the extradition. The Spanish government wants to try him for the murder of Spanish citizens caught up in Chile's civil strife in the 1970s.
His case opens up deep ideological divisions in almost every European country and, in the context of a contemporary renewal of Poland's struggle to come to terms with its communist past, its political salience could not be more obvious. Pinochet arouses great passions on both the left and right: For the former he is a personification of fascism, for the latter, a bastion of anti-communism. He was even recently cited in the Sejm, by Kamiński, as an upholder of family values and law and order. And in early January, Kamiński, ostentatiously addressing the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) section of the Sejm, said "Instead of speaking about him [Pinochet], it would be more useful to follow his example." Quite what this might have meant in practice remains open to speculation.
"This was the most important meeting of my whole life. Gen. Pinochet was clearly moved and extremely happy with our visit," Kamiński told the BBC Polish Section's Małgorzata Stecko in an interview following the visit on Jan. 10. The group took with them a small gift of a Madonna-embossed breast-plate, which they presented to the general at what they described as a "low-key" ceremony. A letter of support for Pinochet, signed by 20 AWS deputies and most prominently by Deputy Aleksander Hall, one of the Conservative Peasants' Party's (SKL) leaders and a prominent AWS figure, was also submitted to the British Embassy in Warsaw in the week before the visit. The letter demanded his release and return to Chile.
The Jan.10 meeting followed minor skirmishes at both ends of the journey: In Warsaw, representatives of the youth federations of both the Socialist Party (PPS) and Labor Union (UP) shouted "fascists" as the entourage made its way through the streets of Warsaw. "The visit dishonors Polish democracy," said an unnamed PPS representative. On the arrival of the group in London, anti-Pinochet Chilean groups also scuffled with police in an attempt to disrupt the visit. "We were attacked by hooligans," said Kamiński, "but these people are the same everywhere. We have support from many different quarters." On Jan. 11, having returned to Poland, Kamiński in fact demanded an apology from the leaders of the two parties whose youth representatives had been involved in these incidents the previous Saturday, Leszek Miller (SLD) and Marek Pol (PPS). "We will end up like a third-world country if physical violence becomes accepted as the norm," he told Życie daily.
The visit was strictly private, officials at the Polish Embassy in London were keen to emphasize to the Voice. "We have no official position on this visit and none of the group has contacted us. Whatever information you need can be obtained, I am sure, from the Polish or British press or from one of Mr. Kamiński's two Polish offices," Andrzej Woźniak, the embassy press officer said. Paweł Dąbrowolski, a spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had no comment to make on the matter.
Asked what they and the general talked about, Kamiński said they discussed the history of Poland (about which they were apparently "pleasantly surprised by the depth of his knowledge") and South American football, amongst other things. "He is in a very good physical and mental state," Kamiński told the BBC, adding, "General Pinochet is misunderstood in Poland. In fact he saved Chile from the same fate we had to endure. We congratulate him on defending Chile from communism."
Pinochet was responsible, both directly and indirectly, for the murder, torture and disappearance of an estimated 3,000-5,000 people (some 300 of whom, it is alleged by the Spanish authorities, were Spanish citizens) following a bloody military coup he led to overthrow the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende in 1973. Pinochet was recently ranked 12th in a poll conducted by the highly acclaimed Polish weekly Polityka of the century's most despised individuals. Interestingly, however, the same poll ranked him 64th for his contributions to the 20th century.
Joe Harper
with Tomasz Oljasz