One of its junior female members made a complaint of rape against a longstanding member of its Central Executive Committee.
Instead of insisting that this member should report this very serious crime to the Police, they agreed that an internal "Disputes Committee" made up largely of friends and senior colleagues of the the alleged perpetrater should "investigate" the complaint. To no ones surprise they found (6-1) the case against "Comrade Delta" (a well known SWP Central Committee activist and reputed to be a violent thug) was "not proven".
Check out the report in "Socialist Unity" (who broke the story), "The Independent" and "Dave Osler" blog.
While I fully accept that the Police and the Crime Prosecution Service have in the past treated some rape victims shamefully and the Jimmy Saville debacle shows that powerful men can get away with a life of crime. I cannot for a second accept that an internal "investigation" by any organisation into such serious allegations is acceptable, never mind that the investigation panel comprised of mates and colleagues of the accused. How dare they think that they are better than an independent jury of 12 of your peers.
Is this a case of history repeating itself? In the picture above is Gerry Healy, the former leader of the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP). Healey was eventually found to be a serial rapist and sexual abuser who for years was protected from accusations. The WRP collapsed after the discovery that its leader was a rapist and afterwards the SWP took its place as the "main" Trotsky sect in the UK.
Is there something in the essential DNA of these tiny ultra left sects and cults that make them prone to its leading men treating women as dirt?
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