I Want The World to Know TV

is a news and discussion forum for supporters of polit prisoners, and victims of po lice and state intimidation. This free academic journal is organized and updated sbanded Break the Chains share news and current events with prisoners. Information within Death toll rises as Syria crackdown continues eraa as security forces storm a mosque after shelling the flashpoint city. Video: Four people were reportedly killed as the southern city came under heavy "We are totally besieged. It is a tragedy. Many houses are levelled by shelling from the army. For the past six days we haven’t seen an ambulance," one witness told Al Jazeera via telephone, as gunfire rang out "We are keeping the bodies of the dead in refrigerator trucks, but many 2 3 Al Jazeera could not independently corroborate the witness accounts. Heavy gunfire 4 Bashar al-Assad in most cities and major towns after Muslim weekly Demonstrations are also expected to take place on Sunday in Deraa, which has been besieged by security forces since Monday, along with the Damascus suburb of Douma. Activists have called for rallies on Monday in Damascus, Tuesday in the northern towns of Baniyas and Jableh, Wednesday in Homs, Talbiseh and in Tall Kalakh on the border with Lebanon, and night vigils on Thursday. the AFP news agency, with 66 people reported killed, 33 of them in Deraa. The group said in a statement after the bloodshed that a total of 582 May 3rd: Rev. Joy Powell court date - polit ical prisoner for resisting police abuse Hey Everyone, I wanted to give folks a heads up about Rev. Joy Powell's court date scheduled for Tuesday May 3rd at 9:30am in Albion interested in coming. there is room! 5 Brandon from Malcolm X Grassroots Movement was the one who informed coming from NYC please contact. Brandon King for more info about Rev. Joy Powell this website Tuesday May 3rd, Orleans County Courthouse Rev. Joy Powell is an anti-police-brutality activist in Rochester, Received via email: Today, April 26th, our partners, kidnapped in the have decided to finish -in the day #65- their hunger strike since February 21th. About the decision that they have taken, we’re waiting that the them themselves who tell us. Our forces go for them. That the fear doesn’t destroy solidarity… That the solidarity destroys prison. Voices from Solitary: Colorado Department of Corrections in Need of Correction Solitary Watch Clair L. Beazer has been an inmate in the superm ax Colorado State Penitentiary in solitary confinement capital Western World. In this essay, Beazer describes the e ffects of years of solitary confinement, pointing 6 out that while it is particularly torturous for in mates already suffering from “interminable, indefinite” isola Beazer notes that “at long last,” some hope is offered by the bill introduced in the Colorado state legislature to limit the use of solitary confinement. lawmakers chose to back away from most meaningful portions of In most instances the law is a simple matter of ous legislator someplace may find it necessary to propose a law to compel you to do what you should do. Just such a circumstance has come about in the state of Colorado’s Department of Corrections (C.D.O.C.), of whom some ar called the “Department of The C.D.O.C’s execrable practice of warehousing the mentally ill in lockdown 24/7 is unconscionable. To sentence men without due process to a solitary existence in a lone ly cell with only the company of their psychoses and personal demons for interminable , indefinite periods, some lasting decades would and does appear on the surface alone indefensible. To further exacerbate their evil usage by holding them thus until their mandatory release date only serves to discharge infinitely more dangerous Enduring this type of incarceration has many deb ilitating effects, the most common being depression spectrum, motivated, active, angry inmates that compulsively work the movie “Cape Fear.” For months, then years, th en decades, driven by their isolation, not even allowed IN PRISON to walk out of a cell without a two or three-man escort. Ominously and inevitably their long-awaited day a imprisoned in full restraints, escorts them to the prison gates, where and when they unleash them upon ecidivism rate is exponentially and in some cases horrifyingly The public may want to consider mplex (of which the C.D.O.C. is the World designation and proud title) finds it more their home-made monsters. After all, we ile horrific crimes horrific crimes that lead the news cycles so mebody, anybody, everybody must have noticed that they drive incarceration rates. 7 come out in fierce oppositi e C.D.O.C would need to limit the solitary confinement of mentally ill prisoners – , March 14, 2011) , as they claim it is because they onfinement. Please allow me, from my true insider perspective, to disabuse you of that notion because for those of us actually in solitary confinement, we say the over-use of solitary confinement. Obligation) at AIG. I personally The C.D.O.C. is in need of correction and the honorable Sen. Morgan the conscientious lawmakers trying to write another C.D.O.C. with Senate Bill 176, which is a start, a I (we) don’t have much hope up he re in the shameless in carceration capital of the world, and maybe, just maybe these venerable legislators can compel th r essay by Clair Beazer , and write to him at the following address: Mr. Clair L. Beazer, CSP #49801, C.C.F., Box Number 600, Canon City, CO 81215-0600. Bristol – Stokes Croft erupts into rioting again + Telepathic Heights evicted (UK) Rioting erupts again late at night after a demo/par ty against the recent police brutality – The fighting every underdog can become an instigator , mainly due to the police unit surges – The tension grows deeper. Telepathic Heights raid against the wishes of the hated its all the way up Cheltenham roa trouble in Cotham, widespread disorder and violent resi people are reported by mainstream media as riot, news of which is being essed a film night about the riots held in a ence, leading the film to be shown in Telepathic Heights is stormed by over 100 police, riot unit units, helicopters, 4 squatters have barricaded themselves onto the r oof and as of writing are refusing to come down. A crowd is gathering. Police climbing team in attend e look of, under the premise that th ey believe them to have been involved in violent disorder. Prison ers being taken to Southmead pig sty because Trinity police station is full of last nights lot. UPDATE: OFFI CIAL ARRESTS FROM NUMBER 30 Stokes Croft Riot after massive police raid against Telepathic Heights squat in Bristol Saturday, April 23rd, 2011 de the cells in Bristol. 1 comrade from Telepathic Heights, accused of m anufacture + possession of molotovs + making threats with the items, remanded, but was since granted bail. Due to administ James Hutton AKA Elijah Smith arrested that night have received charges or are on bail, whilst a few have already been before the 8 A riot starts after a 160 strong multi-re gional police force coordinated assault down the door of a squat named ‘Telepathic Heights’ in Bristol . Telepathic Heights is in the Bristol, where there are many bars, cafes, squats, community Bristol has been burning now for some time… it will be a hot Jericho Amnesty Movement LA chapter mtg Sat, 2:00 PM at So Cal Library 9 10 Proposed Jericho People's Trial on Human Rights Violations against The proposal is to stage a mock trial of "The People vs. The State" James Simmons? Guillermo Suarez?), a defense attorney for the State (a ringer, perhaps Jim Lafferty or Colleen Flynn from NLG?), and a series of witnesses for the People, plus one witness for the State (someone in an Obama mask). (3-5 minutes to present indictments, cast) Witnesses for the People: Cross-examination: Weren't you gun toting radicals? Defense of self-defense plus explanation of other survival programs (10-12 minutes) 11 reached a verdict?: All: Guilty as charged (Versión original en español, haz clic aqui) 12 Over 800 inmates escape Tunisian prisons TUNIS, Tunisia – More than 800 inmates escaped on Friday from two Tunisian Tunisia's uprising prompted protests around the Arab world. Friday 29 April 2011 13 14 15 feeding policy, which requires guards and medical personn el to strap a detainee 16 Camp 1 closed down, but a single cell block rema ined open to accommodate ten detainees who spoke d segregated because the agency believed they were "troublemakers" and an "influence" on ot her Guantanamo prisoners, according to several Guantanamo guards. 17 18 San Francisco cops assigned to the FBI's people without any evidence of a crime. It also has members of the S.F. Police Commission 19 from long standing city policy. "The MOU is 20 scandals. The general order mandates that local authority from a commanding officer and the chief to investigate any activity that comes under also states that the chief can't approve any request that doesn't include evidence of possible criminal activity. Those requests are reviewed monthly by the Police Commission and there are annual audits of the SFPD files to monitor compliance so the notion Officials with the FBI and SFPD are doing their 21 deputized as federal task force officers (TFOs) agent. Because all JTTF TFOs are actually de facto federal agents, they are required to So the cops are actually feds. But wait: "Our standard JTTF MOU recognizes, however, that the JTTF TFOs do wear two hats, as it were, and directs JTTF TFOs to follow his or her own agency's policy when it is stricter than the FBI policy under certain circumstances," Douglas concluded. 22 provision that seeks to have the City Council force officer can take part in. Specifically, the resolution seeks to dictate for the JTTF which "Investigation and prevention of complex crimes and terrorism are typically fluid and fast-moving," he added. "It makes no sense to ask [Portland police] officers to be in for one part of a conversation, but out for another part of the same conversation as investigators discuss 23 that police officers working in the city, 24 surfaced if not for comments that then SFPD Chief At the time, Gascón, who has a law degree and graduated from the FBI Academy, had just landed in San Francisco fresh from a stint as police chief for Meza, Ariz., where he drew praise for speaking out against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's inhumane treatment of undocumented SFPD's intelligence unit, which was disbanded amid scandal in the early 1990s. Washington. and Los Angeles," Gascón said. "If somebody wanted to make a big statement about 25 COMMUNITIES UNDER SIEGE A 2011 Human Rights Commission report documents frequent complaints from Arab, Muslim, and South local and federal law enforcement personnel at their homes, places of worship, and workplaces. The report recommended asking the supervisors and the Police Commission to "ensure that all SFPD officers, including those deputized to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, follow and comply with to approve a resolution, sponsored by Sup. Ross Mirkarimi and cosponsored by Sups David Chiu, All this is happening against the backdrop of FBI guidelines that have been loosened twice since in the dying days of the Bush administration, and now by the Obama administration. And as The New York Times reported in March, records obtained through a Freedom of Information 26 filed suit in Washington, D.C., alleging that the Amendment rights by failing to obtain a warrant. in with the commission president, at the very least," she said. "The idea that they were not reporting this to anyone is disconcerting." "The SFPD does not have the authority to enter URGENT-SUPPORT NEEDED FOR UIM-FIRST FOUNDING MEMBER Comrade Capers is currently in a bad situation 27 prevent him from suffering a heart attack. After have been dropped.They openly hate on him for being a Muslim and for being part of UIM-FIRST. Capers talked to a female officer and how he told her he'd "cross her up if she continues to fuck with him." He didn't threaten her with physical violence! The female officer (Puerto Rican) and her partner (African-American) knew he was using 28 and hopefully will it not only help to resolve harassment for being part of UIM-FIRST and a Muslim. The warden's address is : Mr. Caper's information is: Lee Samuel Capers 2-EY-50 SanQuentinStatePrison P.O. Box K-01264 (his CDCR #) San Quentin, CA 94974 Death Row Committee Prisoner Writings Syrian rights group says 42 killed nationwide Assad's harsh crackdown on a six-week uprising. At least 42 people were killed, including 15 in the march on Daraa, according to witnesses and a — called for Assad's ouster, with some chanting "We are not afraid!" Human rights activist Mustafa Osso said 42 people were killed, but the A witness in Daraa — the heart of the uprising — said residents stayed witness said. Large demonstrations broke out in Damascus, the central city of Homs, the In Damascus' central Midan neighborhood, witnesses said about 2,000 people marched and chanted, "God, Syria and freedom only!" in a heavy rain, but 29 activists on YouTube. The government had warned against holding any demonstrations Friday and placed large banners around the capital that read: "We urge the brother 30 different areas just across the frontier. Residents said the gunfire has Assad's regime has stepped up its deadly crackdown on protesters in recent Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots since the uprising began, making it almost impossible to verify the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian, anti-Western regimes in the Arab world. A witness in Latakia said about 1,000 people turned out for an used for fear of reprisal. an uprising against his regime in 1982. 31 2 dead: Riots erupt in Uganda after brutal arrest 32 said the police were working to contain the demonstrations and did not Some 360 people were arrested, the government said. saying Besigye was in poor health and that he was to fly him out of the country for treatment. Besigye withstood long volleys of tear gas sprayed directly on him Thursday, but it wasn't clear how sick or injured he was. Attempts to reach Besigye aides for comment failed. violence to arrest him. Opposition members of parliament have demanded an explanation from the government over his treatment. such a harsh manner on Thursday. About comparisons to Arab uprisings, he said: "Uganda cannot be like cooperate. He is defiant against lawful orders." Earlier this month Besigye was shot in the right hand by what he says was 33 country has seen huge price spikes in food and fuel. In an interview with The Associated Press at his home last week, Besigye said many Ugandans face a "crisis of survival," that the health care saying in 1999 the government was becoming a one-man dictatorship. Uganda is a young country, with half its nearly 35 million citizens under 15. An estimated 1.2 million have HIV/AIDS. The average yearly income is just $1,200, though many here have hopes — and fears — over newly discovered oil that will soon be pumped. An oil curse has befallen other African countries, providing more incentive for corrupt leaders to remain of four and a half thousand people last week. Shawn Hatting from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front has developed the first libertarian by Shawn Hattingh (ZACF) On the 13th April, people in South Africa were stunned. On the evening pay check; handing tenders out to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) connections and talking shit in the municipal chambers. Therefore, when the township residents had the audacity to march, and call for a response, 34 who clearly was not a threat to the burly brutes that make up South life. The message was clear – how dare anyone question the authority of the state and its right to use force wherever and whenever it deems The sad reality though is that Andries Tatane’s murder at the hands of the 35 36 37 operates to protect and entrench the privileged positions of the ruling class, has also resulted in the continuation of the racial oppression of strategy of capturing state power – as has happened in South Africa. Indeed, Bakunin said that the “statist path” was “entirely ruinous for the great masses of the people” because it did not abolish class power but simply changed the make-up of the ruling class. Due to the centralised nature of states, only a few can rule – a majority of people can never be involved in decision making under a state system as it is hierarchical. As such, he stated that if the national liberation struggle was carried out 38 There is a collection of other articles on the police murder of Andries 39 Interview recorded at Free Radio Olympia by dj Questionmark on April 25, 2011 minutes transport her fake eco-cell. After the arrests, Eric's co-defendants took cooperating plea-deals and testified against him. Eric was then tried and Sac Prisoner Support has supported Eric throughout this experience and is developing long term strategies. An international day of action is called this June 11th, 2011 in solidarity with Eric and eco-defender Marie Mason. minutes Interview with environmental activist and former international political became well known for standing on the ledge of the US forest Service building in downtown Portland for 11 days. He then ran for congress for co-defendant bragged to his girlfriend, who told her dad, who told the FBI. While a fugitive on the FBI's most wanted list, Tre crossed Canada Tre served his prison time and is currently on parole. He remains Conway talks about prison life Photo from s of a Baltimore Black Panther City Paper Now 65 years old, ng a life sentence for murdering Baltimore WME Publications issued ck Panther Party and COINTELPRO for Conway’s legal defense. And earlier this month, AK Press published Conway’s memoir, Marshall Law: The Life and Times of a Baltimore Black Panther by Bashi Rose and WombWorks Productions, Pam Africa talking about the Mumia Ab u-Jamal case, and a performance redemmas.org/2640 40 41 The new memoir provides an ideal opportunity to consider the man and his life from different at Conway’s claims to The Greatest Threat places in the American tradition . And since decades in prison have temp ered Conway’s revolutionary zeal, in a recent phone interview from the Jessup Correctional In stitution, he spoke of what hurts and helps the and what he would do as a free man. licy, essentially denying th e possibility for parole for those serving life sentences. It was put in pla ce in 1995 by then governor Parris Glendening, who Marshall “Eddie” Conway: The real problem is that young people coming into the prison syst em see people that have been participating in the programs, doing all they can to become usual citizens in the community, and they see how they’ve spent possibility of release. Well, right away, young guys end up saying, “Well, what’s the point?” It increases the potential for violence, because there is frustration, and it incr means that people tend to act out. It ople to rehabilitate themselves, hope in a system like this, then seen an increase in violence, hopelessness, and nihilistic approaches to serving time? There was a real spike in violence immediat institution, for maybe a 10-year period after 1995, pr become more suited for rehabilitation? Well, of course it would. There are a lot of olde r prisoners, like myself that’s really having a good impact . But in terms of people turning nd having a desire to motivate 42 ed if this policy hadn’t been in place? me that I would have. I was a model prisoner, quote unquote, meaning that I was—and I am—working to improve the conditions among the prisoners. I want to believe that, if the community hadn’ would have probably ended up teaching somewhere. s the medical profession. I had an medical profession. I don’t know th I have two sons. One of my sons is an instruct computer science. The other is a manager How did you manage as a father in prison? Right at the beginning, I have to admit that I succeeded in the case of case of the other. In the case of my second son, I was estranged from him all the way until he was 18. It was my fault that that was the case, and I certai nly never was a father to him. We tried to recover and establish some sort of relationship, and it just from the time he was born, I kept in touch with his mother, but I kind early years in the prison system simply because, of my initial seven years, I spent six of them in solitary confinement. Somewhere along the line, his going to be a baller mates, and their issues with fatherhood? entire 40 years, but at some point I had to stop fo r a while. They were just so angry, and the morals observer when somebody is 43 talking about beating up their grandmother or disrespecting thei r mother. But after I started back working with them, I noticed this great hostility ed and attached to their children, to the simple fact that they are good, and it’s more young people like that than not, and a lot of them act out, and they realize that they almost blew that oppor But, I’m in here now with three generations of people. I’m looking across the generations of absent It strikes me that these low-level drug dealing jobs are just bad jobs. Low pay, long hours, harsh You think? And there’s e for whom it doesn’t end badly? The odds are f means that you are going to be going to be someone who’s being incarcerated by saying, “Go look at him or The real problem is that anybody in prison that a 44 were released tomorrow? Jaggi Singh pleads guilty to urging people to tear down G20 security fence, facing six e to tear down G20 security fence Crown asks for six months in prison For updates from the court on April 28, please ph one/text: Jessica Denyer, Community Solidarity the Ontario Court of Justice at Old City Hall, Montreal- based G20 protester Jaggi Singh has pl ed guilty to urging people to tear down the G20 security fence. Jaggi, a member of the Anti-Capitalist Convergen technically pled guilty to “counselling to commit mischief over $5000”. His specific crime occurred media questions during a No One Is Illegal press conference at the $5.5 million G20 security fence Jaggi’s remarks, which will be entered into ev idence, can be viewed online in two segments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ymRoN54CCc; ii) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9NnAorPigc 45 manding six months in prison, while Sentencing arguments are being heard in front of Justice Bigelow at th and it is expected that he will deliver his ruling on sentence on June 21. Down Fences and Dismantling Borders , In Toronto and Everyw here, the Walls Must Fall! * Solidarité sans frontières: D ement in Support of Jaggi Singh * Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP): S * Canadian Union of Postal Work ers (CUPW): (to be posted shortly) blocampmontreal@gmail.com ---------- - PLEA AGREEMENT: English.pdf - Exhibit A: Agreed Statement of Facts (Why the twitter feed?: The twitter feed was public l audience. The Crown is to highlight that he posted information like: 1) CLAC’s Anti-Capitalist Reader produced before the G20 called “Warning Shot!”; 2) No One Is Illegal statements produced before and after the G20; 3) not produced or made 46 by him) called “Mon voyage à Toronto”, which incl e twitter feed directly at http://www.twitter.com/JaggiMontreal eech and Q&A at the G20 Security Fence (June 24, 2010) The speech can be viewed at the following links: i) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ymRoN54CCc; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9NnAorPigc (begin at :030). A transcript of the speech is available HERE. As well, many more individuals (and other group s) from Montreal, Toronto, as well as all over sued the following short statement: “By pleading guilty to counseling to commit mischief the fence deserved to come down, and that the G20 deserved to be confr onted. I'll pay a price for having said so openly, but I am ready to assume that responsibility, I assume that responsibility knowing that I ha ve amazing and deep support from an engaged express my profound thanks to everyone who’s offere d me support in the past few months, in so many 47 Importantly, I would like to particularly expres remaining G20 defendants who continue to fight thei r criminal charges. They are all deserving of By pleading guilty now, I am ending this legal ma tter, relatively speaking, on my own terms and SUPPORT G20 DEFENDANTS: ity.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/new- http://freebyron.org/index.php/Main_Page http://g20.torontomobilize.org/ CONTRIBUTE: timate struggle against arity.wordpress.com/g20-support/ "An accessible alternate fund for G20 arrestees, mos tly those facing serious charges. The fund is for immediate short-term needs of the defendants." cefund.wordpress.com/ emming from the June 2 010 Toronto G20 Summit." d’avoir incité les gens à démolir | Jaggi Singh plaide coupable d’avoir incité les gens à démolir la clôture de sécurité du G20 Pour diffusion immédiate] [English: e d’avoir incité les gens à démolir 48 La Couronne demande six mois de prison TORONTO, LE 28 AVRIL 2011 -- Aujourd’hu militant montréalais Jaggi Singh a plaidé coupable d’ avoir incité les gens à démolir la clôture de Jaggi, un membre de la Convergence des luttes antic partie de la preuve, pe uvent être visionnés en li gne en deux parties : i) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ymRoN54CCc; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9NnAorPigc La Couronne demande six mois de prison pour les propos Les représentations pour la détermin de soutien publique à Jaggi aujourd'hui: Down Fences and Dismantling Borders italistes (CLAC): À Montréal, À To * Solidarité sans frontières: D ement in Support of Jaggi Singh * Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP): S 49 Si votre groupe ou organisme désire blocampmontreal@gmail.com ----- ACCORD DE PLAIDOYER Pièce A: Exposé des faits http://www.twitter.com/JaggiMontreal Pièce C: Jaggi Singh devant la clôtur e de sécurité du G20 (24 juin 2010) gne en deux segments : i) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ymRoN54CCc; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9NnAorPigc (à 0:30). Le verbatim des remarques sont disponsible 50 regroupemens provinciaux d’organism De plus, de multiple individus de Montréal, Toronto, 'Off The Hook' Relaunch From: Brighton Anarchist Black Cross has for many years supported Jerome White Bey, both as an anarchist and class struggle prisoner and as president of the Missouri Prisoner Labour Union. Recently we have also been involved in before. Invitation To "Law as a Weapon of War" 51 From: Dear Allies in Peace, Truth and Justice, justice event taking place in Atlanta on Preemptive Prosecution of Muslim and African Americans and immigrant communities. You are cordially invited to : ***Preemptive Prosecution: The investigation, prosecution and imprisonment of Join organizers, legal advocates, families, academics, and human rights activists 52 (NCPCF); Center For Constitutional Rights (CCR); Project South; Families United Atlanta International Action Center, National Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT), National Jericho Movement, Herman Bell - 25 to Life - What Does That Mean To Me? Although I have served more than 37 years in prison, I am still unable to wrap my 53 As I mull over this question, I am reminded of Elmina, the Portuguese slave fortress, located on 54 you once embraced might have led you to realize don't know. With luck, we come to understand that humility and wisdom come with age and experience, In doing 25-life, you never now when your release time will come; as it is with death, you can 55 We Are Troy Davis This Could Be Any of Us in Savannah, GA. Reverend Dr. l call to action: The best way to honor Virginia's life, he sa id, is to fight for her son Troy's life. 56 I am writing to ask you to help fight for Troy's life. Troy Davis is on death row for the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, GA. Troy has always maintained his in the crime. 7 out of the 9 non-poli or changed their testimony. New witnesses have come forth identifying another WHAT YOU CAN DO: Parole to grant Troy clemency, ofessional: add your name to the 4. If you are a member of the clergy: add your name to the 5. If you have contacts with legal professionals or members of the clergy, forward them the sign-on 6. If you have contacts in Georgia, urge them to si Troy's case is deeply personal to me. Troy is a fr iend of mine. I have corresponded with Troy for the become close to his incredible family, and witnesse d first-hand their struggle to bring justice to Troy. But even if Troy was not my friend, even if I did not know the Davis family--Troy's case should still be deeply personal to me, deeply personal to all of us. As Laura Moye (the Amnesty USA death shirt in support of Troy states) "I am Troy Davis." I hope you will take the time to learn more about Troy's case . Thank you in advance for doing all you can to prevent Troy's execution. As the young man in the union hall reminded me, Troy is all of us. Jen Marlowe is an award-winning documentary fil mmaker, author, playwright, human rights 57 Palestinian's Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker activist Sami Al Jundi, has just been published by Nation Books. Her previous book was Her email address is: Eddie Conway's Story A Doomed Man? arn is that he is a doomed man." or as long as I can remember, Baltimore has had the reputation as a corrupt and tough town. City Hall Bill of Rights, especially when dealing with the city's poor and non-white residents. Neighborhoods It was with this memory in mind that I recently read This memoir describes Conway's early life in Baltimore, his introduction to the Black There is another aspect to this story. It is Conway's commitment 58 with that sentence. The reader is presented with Conway's life inside the Maryland prison system. much of one's physical activity being controlled by others. While reading I was constantly reminded of Bob Dylan's lines from the ballad Eddie Conway's memoir is essent a man who has been in prison for forty years fo r a crime many people are convinced he did not considered political prisoners since the circumstances their political activities. Indeed, so me are clearly the result of frameups by law enforcement. Most of erably more time in prison than other men and women serving time for similar crimes but not known for their poli tical convictions. It is clear from reading The Life and Times of a Baltimore Black Panther that should he achieve his freedom, he will not compromise his beliefs to do so. This may be why he remains locked up. The Way the Wind Blew: a Histor y of the Weather Underground . Jacobs' essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch's collection on music, The Co-Conspirator's Tale andez Habeas Corpus Motion cubanews.ain.cu HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 26 (acn) The US government filed an opposition to the habeas corpus motion filed by Gerardo Hernandez, one of the five Cuban antiterrorist s unjustly incarcerated in the United States since The filing requests the US district court of the Southern District of Florida to deny the motion without evidentiary hearing and to rely on its own recollection of the previous trial. The government’s opposition is a 123-page and three-annex document filed on Monday by DA Caroline Heck Millar, who led the prosecution against Gerardo Hern and asked for his two-life te rm plus 15 year sentence. Heck Miller also asked harsh sentences for Ra món Labañino, René Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez in that trial. The Cuban Five, as they are known internationally, were arrested in 1998 for monitoring Miami-base d anti-Cuban terrori 59 She refused to try confessed terrori st Luis Posada Carriles in 2005. Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón recent ly spoke to the press on the habeas corpus filed by Gerardo Hernandez at the Florida court 3rd Circuit Appeal Ruling Favoring Abu-Jam al Smacks Down US Supreme Court unning smack at the U.S. Supreme controversial case of Mumia Abu-Ja mal, the convicted killer of Ph y April 26, 2011, upholds a ruling the Third Circuit issued over two The U.S. Supreme Court had ordered the Third Ci rcuit to re-examine its lifting of Abu-Jamal’s death sentence. w legal precedent in that directiv e to the Third Circuit, a strange order given the fact that the Supreme Court had precedents to Abu-Jamal’s case. The Associated Press was the first to report the Third Circuit’s latest dramatic the morning of the ruling’s release, the decision Abu-Jamal’s current lead attorney, Prof Judith Ritter of the Widene for comment. impaneling of a whole new jury, to hear and consider evidence regarding mitigating circumstances and aggravating circumstances in the case, and then available. Abu-Jamal has exhausted his avenues of ding new hearing then Abu-Jama automatically to a life sentence, which in Penns ylvania means no chance of parole. Abu-Jamal would aring would be problematic for pr guilt or innocence would not be on trial, the defense could bring in witnesses to explain exactly what sses whose testimony could ultimately raise new It is almost a certainty that prosecutors will app eal the Third Circuit’s latest ruling back up to the Supreme Court. Furthermore, prosec it was joining the Abu-Jamal defense team and working with Professor Ritter. NAACP lawyers had joined Ritter last fall during the eld by the Third Circuit in its latest ruling. Since 1983 Abu-Jamal has languished in the confinement of July 1982 conviction for the murder of Officerl Faulkner. 60 61 Now 57, Abu-Jamal has spent nearly 29 years of his denied committing--a crime that ample evidence conclusively proves could not have occurred as police and prosecutors have proclaimed. Authorities, for example, claim Abu-Jamal fired officer as he lay defenseless on a sidewalk, striki ng him only once with a fatal shot in the face. However, police crime scene photos and police reports Rulings by federal and state courts denying Abu-Jama l the legal relief routinely granted other inmates who had raised the same appeals claims are the least-examined element of this internationally- condemned injustice. The same Philadelphia and Pennsylvania courts that period after Abu-Jamal’s December 1981 arrest decl are no errors exist anywhere in the Abu-Jamal case – an assertion critics cal l statistically improbable. The federal Third Circuit, for example, declined to grant Abu-Jamal a new trial based on solid legal issues from racial discrimination documented erro rs by trial judge de the jury with simple death mplicated legal issue involving misconduct by the trial prosecutor. ecutorial misconduct would have required the Third Circuit to give Abu-Jamal a whole new trial. Unwilli ng to do that, the court sidestepped its duty to inate Abu-Jamal’s death sentence, instead. adelphians from death row (half of Pa’s death row misconduct by police and prosecutors…misconduct that was less egregious than that documented in the Abu-Jamal case. One of involved a man framed by police for a mob-related ki lling, who was arrested six months before Abu- Jamal. 62 While many people in Philadelphia may feel A bu-Jamal is guilty as charged, millions around the acts that proponents of Abu-Jamal’s conviction deliberately dismiss as irrelevant. u-Jamal’s guilt is the reason why pro-Abu-Jamal activities occurred around the world commemorating Abu-Jamal’s 4/24 movie examining ignored aspects in the case, and people marching for Abu-Jamal’s freedom in the Brixton section of London. Officials in the French city of Saint-Denis will st The ire erupting over Abu-Jamal’s prominence on th contradictions that are as clea condemning far off Saint-Denis for its honoring A bu-Jamal by placing his name on a small one block rage, over 100 members of block the U.S. government from deporting a white f ugitive convicted of killing a British Army officer in Belfast, Northern Ireland. nvestigation into the murd policeman. place the name of that fugitive – Joseph Doherty – on In 1988 – six years after Abu-Jama l’s conviction – more than 3,000 Ph One Philly supporter of suspected convicted cop k iller Doherty was the then-President Judge of 1988 that he had no problems as a ju d the “fair treatment” Irish nationa ls received in English courts. regard to the case of former Black Panther Party member Abu-Jamal. Judge Bradley's double standard contribute to Abu-Jamal’s defe one of the white Los Angeles policemen convicted in 63 million in sales from his book and from a fund-rais ing campaign on his behalf – monies generated mainly after that the former police sergeant's imprisonment following a ci One reason the decades-old Abu-Jamal case continue s to generate support and rage is Abu-Jamal himself. A charismatic figure who is articulate, with a level ce atypical of the mainly illiterate denizens of death row, Abu-Jamal is able to of the nation's prison system and its death rows. While on death row Abu-Jamal has written six crit ically acclaimed books (including one on jailhouse degrees, including a masters, and Even the prosecutor at Abu-Jamal’s 1982 trial – Jose ph McGill – described him during that trial as the Jamal’s tainted 1995 appeals hearing, is defendant.” (Abu-Jamal had no record of violence or criminal acts before his 1981 arrest.) Supporters applaud Abu-Jamal’s defe ly his poignant criticisms of America’s prison-industrial complex, that incarcerates more people per Abu-Jamal’s stance highlighting the de him the title of “Voice of the Voiceless” during his professional broadcast reporting career, which ran from 1975 till his December 1981 arrest. Abu-Jamal rarely uses his world-wide platform to sentencing hearing for convicted police killer and death-row activist Mumia Abu-Jamal, finding for a second time that the death-penalty misleading. former Black Panther within six months or agree to a life sentence. Abu-Jamal's first-degree murder el Faulkner, who was white. 64 "Yes, the criminal justice system in Philadelphia, th e criminal justice system history of problems and racism," said Williams, the city's first black district attorney. "(But) this is not Abu-Jamal's worldwide followers "don 't know the facts," Williams said. ortunate chapter in Pennsylvania history." misleading instructions and verdict slip that were relied on in Mr. Abu-Jamal's trial in order to Widener University law professor Ju dith Ritter, who argued the most re cent appeal in November. "Mr. Abu-Jamal is entitled to no le Tuesday's ruling is the latest in Abu-Jamal's long-running legal saga. A federal judge in 2001 first granted him a new se ntencing hearing because of the trial judge's instructions on aggravating and mitigating factors. Philadelphia prosecutors have been fighting the In rejecting a similar claim in an Ohio death-pena lty case last year, the Supreme Court ordered the visit its Abu-Jamal decision. ground and noted differences in the two cases. Under Pennsylvania law, Abu-Jamal should have rece mitigating circumstances outweighed the aggravati ng factors in Faulkner's slaying. The three-judge its repeated use of the word "unanimous," even in the section on mitigating circumstances. "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court fa The decision upholds the 2001 ruling by U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr., who first ruled that encing hearing. While prosec ruling, Abu-Jamal has been trying unsuccessfu lly to have his conviction overturned. Faulkner, a white 25-year-old patrolman, had pulled brother, William Cook, for a driving infraction. Abu-Jamal, from his taxicab across 65 Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, turned 58 on Sunday. Hi s writings and radio broadcasts from death row in western Pennsylvania have made him a cau se celebre and the subject of numerous books and movies. His own 1995 book, "Live From Death Row," system racist and ruled by political expediency. case, even though Abu-Jamal is Systematic Injustice Against Sundiata Acoli April 26, 2011 by Stephen Lendman sjlendman.blogspot.com In her book titled "The New Jim Cr ng the need to shift from civil to human rights for it just began. In fact, it's true Hispanics comprising two-thirds of America's pr ison population, by far the world's largest at around 2.4 million, most incarcerated for no nviolent or political reasons. es the New Jim Crow as a modern-day racial caste system designed by elitists who embrace co lorblindness. Believing poor Blacks are dangerous and economically superfluous, America's gulag becam e an instrument of control. According to "Any movement to end mass incarceration must deal with system, not (a method) of crime control. We need an effective system of crime prevention and control in our communities, but 66 Unlike them, today in America, heroic activists tly, including Mumia Abu- Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Ramsey Muniz, Oscar L and Paul Bergrin, and, among many ot hers, Sundiata Acoli (born Clark Edward Squire) for 38 years. 67 Then in mid-July, with no explanation, he got writte six years imprisonment before parole eligibility at which time he'll be 79 y On August 27, 2010, an administrative appeal to the New Jersey Parole Board was filed, his legal Throughout his incarceration, he's e Commemorating Palestinian Political Prisoners Since 1979, April 17 annually is Palestinian Prisoners Day, commemorating Mahmoud Hijazi's 1974 release - the first ever prisoner swap with Israel. Acknowledging the day, the Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association 68 69 in custody in Israel" unjustly. According to the Adalah Legal Center for Arab more, mostly for political and related reasons, including women and children. 70 -- poor ventilation and sanitation; -- sleeping on wooden planks with thin mattresses, some infested with vermin; 71 night. He had been arrested in the morning and forced to spend the entire day and took him to Megiddo prison the next day." "security reasons." Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge PA Prison Report- Monday April 25, 2011- Special Unity and Courage edition Human Rights Coalition 72 Today the Human Rights Coalition rel and torture within Pennsylvania's men confined in Huntin gdon's Restricted Housing indifference of prison administrators. Among the methods employed by prison staff to assert dominance over prisoners is as a standard technique for enforcing obedience, as we ll as the threat of indefinite solitary confinement These and other elements are present in the case study of Vincent Hallman Courage isolation after a guard confrontation over a perceived ch Upon being placed in solitary, Hallman heat or bedding in the middle of ood and denied medical attention confinement prisoners who spoke out regarding Hallman 's mistreatment were sentenced to further time 73 by solitary confinement prisoners in late Sept eight prisoners refuse The prison responded with violence. Writes Gary Wa llace, "We were all sprayed with a chemical agent and forcibly removed from th e exercise yard. We were then br later I was burning so bad and my breathing was so ha mpered that I had to cover my cell door to force a cell removal so that I could re ceive medical attention. I was agai Other protesters received similar tr eatment at the hands of guards, a s armed with pepper spray. The next month saw two more group protests on Oc h prisoners again came ment of Corrections administration and members of state and federal law enforcement agencies. A officials, along with contact informa tion, can be found online on HRC's website, human rights violations descri bed in Unity and Courage, and demand that they adopt recommendations made in the report. 74 confinement protester Gary Wallace: "The men partic ipating in this struggle are simply individuals Philly area: If you'd like to know more about the Human Rights Co , email hrcfedup@gmail.com You've been listening to the Human Rights Coalition's PA Prison Report, Special Courage The Chronicle Review Syed Fahad Hashmi 75 with him in his student apartment in London—an acquaintance later delivered to Al Qaeda. Eight years earlier, Fahad and I had sat across from each other in my office. A student in my civil- rights seminar, he had come in to discuss his final ter the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, he wanted to examine the de nial of civil rights and constitutional protections that Muslim groups across the political spec trum were facing in the United States. A devout Muslim and outspoken political activist, ay from disagreement. I often saw him in the halls before and after class deliberating w or denouncing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the treatment of Muslims in America. He seemed to prefer to talk to those who did not optimistic belief that with a good argument, he could win others over. He would sometimes tire me out by his indefatigable talking, and on occasion, by leav ing materials in my mailbox about converting to Islam. His utopia was a state ruled by a thoughtful student, and I admired his spunk and stubborn willingness to question author ity. I found out later that because all the men in his family had Syed as a first name, he was known to friends and family as Fahad. But like many other students at Brooklyn College, he was too respectful to correct me. The government specifies our duty as citizens: to Implicitly we are told to see danger in people with beards and head scarves. 76 The government specifies our duty as citizens: to Implicitly we are told to see danger in people with beards and head scarves. Muslim Justice Initiative Despite some presence by Hashmi’s family, frie nds, and Muslim student groups, the major civil- liberties organizations have remained silent about his treatment behind bars. Muslim Justice Initiative Despite some presence by Hashmi’s family, frie nds, and Muslim student groups, the major civil- liberties organizations have remained silent about his treatment behind bars. s, the civil liberties of Muslim- American groups were being violated in the afterm ath of September 11. It began with the American philosopher Randolph Bourne's claim that in times of war, dissent becomes seditious: "Minority opinion, which in times of peace, was only irritating conjoined with actual crime, becomes, with That summer, Fahad e-mailed me for advice. He wanted to know how to become a professor. The next semester he came to my office. He was applying to master's-degree programs in England. Would I write him a recommendation? Yes, I said, that makes sense. In 2003, there was a much more developed intellectual conversation among British acad emics on the role of Islam in global politics than there was in the United States. I'd be happy to Out he fished a package of chocolates. Old World in his manners, Fahad had could not come empty-handed to make a request. He handed them to me. No, no, that's not necessary, I said. This is my job. Thank you, he said, and ving me the chocolates. 77 78 I wrote the recommendation and sent him on his way. Three years later, a colleague told me she'd just seen a news story—our former student Syed Hashmi itain on some sort of terrorism charge. We were instructed by the colleg the news media. In the mind. lleague e-mailed to ask what I kne w of Syed's case. The question sat in my head. Poking around on the Web, I found sensat ional stories about the arrest of a homegrown terrorist from Queens—a fearsome picture of military gear in the hands of Al Qaeda, reams of cash After a couple of weeks, the case was still botheri ng me. Fahad had been a zealous political activist. As a scholar of African-American history, I knew that people with radical politics often became The articles on Fahad's arrest listed the name of his lawyer. I cold-c Worried at how isolated Fahad's family might feel, a nd learning that they were still living in Queens, I s father called. Syed Anwar Hashmi was distraught. The family had left Pakistan when Fahad was 3. Mr. Hashmi had worked for the City of New York as an accountant for more than two decades. He did not understand how his son coul way in a country that he had sacrificed to come to filled the national news. They follow the same form: relief mixed with jubilation that law enforcement is keeping our homeland safe. Despite the banner head lines, the actual nature of these cases receives limited public scrutiny. We hear lit tle of the government's evidence or of the treatment of suspects within the federal system. We have come to accept , almost reflexively, that while there have been abuses in places overseas—Guantánamo, Bagram, secr This, then, is the story of Guantánamo at home, of the treatment of terrorism suspects in the federal happening within the United States, that allows them. I have been lecturing and writing a strikes me, as someone who studies civil rights, is how little we in America seem to learn from our 79 an, Syed Fahad Hashmi wa For 11 months, Fahad fought his extradition, fearing the treatment he would face in American courts. In May 2007, he became the first U.S. citizen extradited under laws passed after September 11 that treatment for Fahad, it did require the United States to s the testimony of a c ooperating witness, Mohammed Junaid Babar. Hashmi's from New York, asked to stay with him at his London apartment for two weeks. According to the government, the acquaintance had luggage with him, which he, the acquaintanc e, later delivered to the third- ranking member of Al Qaeda in South Waziristan, in Pakistan. In addition, Hashmi allegedly allowed t terror—and we most certainly are," FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon publicly claimed, "then Syed Hashmi ai ded the enemy by supplying military gear to Al Qaeda." The government had caught a "quartermaster onalism, the government had been forced to admit it was not actually accu sing Hashmi of supplying military gear himself; "quartermastering" consisted of ge to stay in his apartment. "Military gear" in the luggage amounted to raincoats, Babar himself had been arrested in 2004 on five charges of material with government authorities, who interviewed him in a midtown hotel government witness in a number of terrorism cases st testimony at Fahad's trial. Five months later, that changed. Fahad was put under Special Administrati which restrict a prisoner's c 80 The federal government established SAMs in 1996 for gang leaders and other crime bosses with demonstrated reach in cases of "substantial risk that an inmate's communication or contacts with jury to persons." After September 11, the Justice his lawyer and, in very limited fashion, his The government cited Hashmi's "proclivity for viol ch harsh measures—even though he had no criminal record and was not charge d with committing an actua having any demonstrated reach outside of prison. Gi ven the number of people convicted of a violent crime behind bars in the United States, "proclivity for violence" seemed an implausible justification for the harsh measures. shmi had been housed at Britain's notorious Belmarsh prison, prisoners. No complaint was ever made about his r charged him with any support to terrorism.) Similarly, there had rst five months at th The U.S. attorney had made it clear that this at his sentencing three y ears later, "And in all about." Much like other forms of coercive punishment for not doing what the government wanted. Special Administrative Measures come directly from th On January 23, 2009, the day after President Obama si gned an executive order prohibiting torture and ordering the prison at Guantánamo closed, Fahad's citing extensive scholarly and medical evidence that long-term solitary confinement and sensory deprivation damage a person's mental and physical health. Citing the martial-arts incident and ity, the judge rejected the argument, 30 more appeals. Attorney General Eric Ho lder renewed Fahad's SAMs in October 2009. 81 The use of torture and other human-rights violations in America's war on terrorism has been framed as a problem occurring largely outside ement is increasingly out of step and is deemed torture by international standard s. On July 8, 2010, the European Court of Human Rights kept in place an injunction barring the extradition of four terrorism suspects to the United States, based on the inhumane c onditions in so-called Supermax Censure is more difficult within the United States. In a particularly troubling twist, detailed criticism of SAMs, in itself, becomes illegal. Everyone in direct contact with a person under SAMs is bound by tion with the detainee, thus making it illegal to speak out against the precise damage of these measures. Fahad's treatment was not a histori trumped civil liberties. Shadowy "un-American" en emies have long borne the brunt of scrutiny and In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Orde r 9066, allowing the internment of more than 110,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans (more than tw American citizens). Upheld as constitutional in a series of Supreme Court cases on the grounds of national security, internment hardly raised an eyebrow with journa lists during World War II. Those who objected were pilloried, with the complicity of many civil liberta rians and the silence of many Americans. When a group of 63 Japanese-American me n at Heart Mountain Relocation Camp protested internment by refusing to be drafted or swear unconditional loya lty to the United States, they were jailed. The Japanese American Citizens League supported th e government, and the American Civil Liberties stance, claiming the draft resisters three years in prison and were ostracized for years. distanced itself from its histor y of internment. By the 1950s, a new internal enemy had emerged. In a cold war 82 Civil-rights activists—variously including Martin Luther King Jr., the American Indian Movement, Beginning in the late 1960s, the United States again disavowed such tactics. In 1967 the U.S. Supreme ciate with and be member ey engaged in no criminal act. and following the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Islamic fundamentalism became the new lurk ing enemy. The subversion of liberties in what came to be known as the "war on te rror" married old practic could now be criminalized through the fearso me-sounding material-support bans instituted under deral government would sponsor bold public indictments but avoid public show tr ials—the evidence and proceedings largely kept hidden. There would be no mass-based internment prosecutions aimed at those deemed disloyal. And the journalists and many civil-ri Fahad's due-process rights fell victim to the 1980 Classified Informati Fahad faced evidence he was not allowed to review . Fahad's lawyers went through intensive security clearances to view it—but were not allowed to discuss it with him. Under material-support bans, all sorts of constitutionally protected activities can be classified as suspect, if not criminal. Material -support charges require no criminal act nor direct contact with zation. They often focus on small acts ns, which take on sinister meaning as ostensible manifestations of forthcoming terrorism. So-called "jihadist" ideas and membership in radical Islamic political groups thus become indications of "support," rather than constitutionally protecte d speech and association. While a student, Fahad had ties as a member of the New Yo the United States, nor has membership in the organization been deemed illegal here.) An activist, Fahad had demonstrated outside various embassies pr Muslims in Kashmir, S. complicity in Muslim oppression. He drew the magazine and CNN for comments he made The theory of preventive prosecution behind ma ny material-support cases dangerous characteristics that portend forthcoming terrorism 83 Department published a report on homegrown terrorism, citing Fahad as one of the examples and listing indications of a person's possible growing ra The government had no evidence it was prepared to introduce in court outside of Babar's word that Qaeda. Key to its case, then, were Fahad's e government was prepared to introduce tapes of his political activities at trial, tapes that indicated considerab le surveillance of his activism as a college student, years before Babar's visit to his apartment. Desp ite objections from the defense citing Fahad's First Amendment rights, the judge ruled that the tapes we ng his state of mind and The seminar paper Fahad had written on civil-liberties violations was no longer academic. Stunned by the rights abuses happening but a few miles away, tw o colleagues who had also had him as a student With the exception of s longtime civil libertarian Nat Hentoff, no In the winter of 2009, we sent the statement to President Obama and Attorney General Holder. The only answer we received from a constitutional-scho lar-turned-president came addressed to "Ms. Jeanne Theoharis and Friends," thanking us for "tak ing the time to share your views." For the next 15 months, the Obama administration ma inous knowledge about movies; he had never understood how Fahad intended to make money with necessity, Faisal grew into an able political spea 84 The New York Times. To begin to break the silence, I wrote an article for The Nation. A movement of New Yorkers began to grow. Outraged that this inhumanity was occurring in And so, in October 2009, Theaters Against War, toge Muslim Justice Initiative, began hol Fahad's prison. In the rain and the cold, the Broadway actors Wallace Shawn, Bill Irwin, and Kathleen Chalfant performed. The opera singer Christine Moore and the folk singer Dar Williams sang. Muslim students, playwrights, mothers with children, hi rights activists, and Fahad's own extended family ga thered outside the pris seven months, in the darkness of Progressive and international news media began to take an interest. The Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International USA, and the Coun cil on American Islamic Relations-NY put out an open statement raising concerns about Fahad's conditions. If this were a movie, the story might end with a triumphal courtroom scene, or an intrepid Post ory. It might have a sentimental e nding, with a conservative Muslim family and community locking arms with Christians and Jews and atheists and turning the country back to its commitment to civil rights. The government, shamed, would reform its practices. But this is not a movie, and inhumane treatm ent is well protected in post-9/11 America. The organizing campaign 500@500 called on people to a ttend Fahad's trial at the federal district courthouse. That alarmed the government, which filed a motion citing public interest in the case as questionable and dangerous. A 500@500 poster became the government's Exhibit A. The U.S. attorney explained that "jurors will see in the ga llery of the courtroom a defendant's supporters, naturally le least some of might share the defendant's violent radical Islamic granted anonymity and requested extra security for them. Promoting guilt by implication, such measures would have signaled to the jury that Fahad was dangerous before he stepped into the courtroom. Demonizing observers, the government legi timized the idea that ju rors should view them e granted the government's motion. material support. He made the decision after not seeing anyone but his lawyers in more than five gious support of an imam, and afte confinement. A day before trial, the government dropped the other th Six weeks later, Judge Preska sentenced him to 15 years in prison. At the sentencing, it became clear that Fahad posed a threat not only because of lugg age brought to his apartment, but because of his 85 bomb or launch an attack." Citing Fahad's "anti- American jihadist ideology," the judge echoed that t public statement in four years. With numerous references to the Qur'an, he spoke extremely hurriedly. When the j udge asked him to slow he had not spoken much in the past Fahad thanked the people, both Muslims and non-Musli ms, who had opposed the injustices in his case. "To the non-Muslims, above all, some of my former professors," he said: "I hope, that Allah gives me the opportunity to me to repay were built around this case remain so." He apologized to his family for the pain he had caused them and took responsibility s and the Pharaoh, criticized the government's inhumane treatment of Muslim prisoners, in cluding his "brothers" at Guantánamo. In August, Fahad was transferred to the federal high-security prison in Florence, Colo., and in March moved into its Supermax ADX facility, the most drac Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for its inhumane conditions. He remains in solitary confinement, still under SAMs, which was renewed Meanwhile, in December, Babar was sentenced to "time served" (four and a half years out of a knows the poster. "If you see something, say something." Our duty is laid out: to look out cons Implicitly we are told to see danger in the eyes and backpacks of people with beards and head scarves, to identify threat in those who erve terrorism trials. There is a lovely complexity to the young man who e-mails his female pr secularism. But seeing that humanity is at odds with small bottles of shampoo and fear-mongering subway posters have become the currency of national security. Where a growing obsession with homegrown terrorism means that we are again willing to the name of protecting America. Over the past three years, I have done many inte rviews about Fahad's case. you know he is innocent? Rights point out. What do you say after the plea? To one who teaches about civil rights, I explain, it is humbli few miles from my classroom. Among the hardest things to teach as a political motivations, and economic interests th at rendered good people silent in the face of government repression, civil-rights violations, internment, and redbaiting. We have freedom of speech and build bridges of dialogue and debate, I teach my students, and what makes that hard is that we have to hear things opinions far removed from our own. 86 association of Muslim-Americans. political dissents regularly enter American public debate (militant Christian "If you see something, say something." Our duty, I believ e, is different—to see in a terrorism suspect a person deserving of rights and humane treatment; to New York jail, not just when it occurs overseas; to us has become complicit in the civil-rights violations of our era. political science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New Call to a Season of Prayer for Oscar Lopez Rivera - starting April 29th Cleveland, Ohio ƒæ 87 traditions to unite in heart, mind, and spirit by participating in a 30- Oscar's release as a form of spiritual preparation to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his incarceration on May 29. to pause for prayer and meditation every morning for 30 days at 8:00 am Eastern time (or at another time if 8:00 is not possible) beginning on Friday, April 29, to participate in an ecumenical commemoration the 30th anniversary of Oscar's arrest on Sunday, May 29, and weekly on Wednesday mornings until he is released from prison. Words from comrade Camilo Perez, from libertadalos14a & translated by War 88 without which even anarchists are left tame and will drop off, by one route or another, to the swamp of legalism… In this “bombs case” that seeks to annihilate us, what is being persecuted 89 operation that led to the arrest of five comrades, the expulsion of different cities) and even the sequestration of the documentation space Fuoriluogo (which goes from being a home where radical critical texts are attacks occurred in the city in one week against IBM, ENI, Emilbanca and Northern League, they decided it was time to pursue (although in the summary of papers that was delivered at the time of our arrest, there is no reference to these facts, with good peace for the reactionary journalists). In a climate of media lynching aimed at intimidating the many individuals Because the police are there; the police have been there. It's all under there would only be docile subjects convinced they live in the best of all possible worlds. 90 Krakow banner drop in Solidarity with the prisoners in Greece and Chile In response to solidarity demonstrations for the political prisoners on Saturday in Greece and bearing in mind the solidarity week for the Chilean We can be easily distracted by Krakow's luring and picturesque BK/NY – Tuesday, April 26th – May Day Card 91 You've probably been working too many hours a week to even notice the full-blown war being waged against you by the ruling class. It is real and it is continuing. And of course there is another war-- the war against 92 ns held were innocent US officials were said to have found no rea The United States released dozens The more than 700 classified military files, part of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks , were made available to select It was not clear if the media outle ts published the documents with the consent of WikiLeaks - and it was not immediately possible to independently verify all of the leaked documents. The files are reported to reveal new information about some of the men held at the US prison facility The files - called Detainee Assessment Briefs or DABs - describe the security intelligence value of the 'High-risk' threat To date, 604 inmates have been transferred 93 Even more of the George W Bush-e released or handed to other governments, The New York Times the documents, reported. The documents show some inmates were described as more dangerous than previously known to the public and could complicate efforts by the US However, the documents also show that dozens of ivers, farmers and chefs, who Al Jazeera file The documents also show instances in which au dangerous suspects than on extracting intelligence. at Guantanamo for six years, was The administration of US president Barack Ob ama criticised the publication of the files as "sensitive information". several news organisations have ma de the decision to publish numerous documents obtained illegally by WikiLeaks conc But they added that the documents were out of date , and that the administration's Guantanamo review panel, established in January 2009, had made its own assessments. "The assessments of the Guantanamo Review Task Force have not been compromised to WikiLeaks. or may not represent the current Obama pledged two years ago to close th e prison, but it remains in legal limbo. Denies Relation To The Commercial The Palestinian Authority in the occupied West advertisement showing the Subaru car hitting two Pa lestinian children in Jerusalem with “We will see who will stand in front of you” written in Hebrew on the ad. agency that that the PA had filed a complaint to the over the ad that mocks the n from Jerusalem, who were ra , Director-General of the El 94 95 The Gulf News added sources told it that once the company noticed the picture on its Facebook page, it immediately removed it. The sources added that Subaru-Israel also asked Pale stinian media agencies to remove the picture from The ad also led Peace Now Movement in Israel to a clear evidence of the existence of fanaticism in Israel’s Subaru branch, especially in areas where there is conflict with the Palestinians. will lead to more violence, especially against children. Khalid Quzmar of the International Movement to Israeli courts are serving the o Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, also denounced the advertisement describing it as “propaganda that reached to the leveled of enc ouraging the killing of Palestinian children”. Saed Bannoura, IMEMC & Agencies, Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:38:45 A new advertisement in Israel, reportedly publis hed by Subaru-Israel facebook page, meant to show 'Deadliest day' in Syria uprising bloodiest day of uprising so far as "Great Friday" demonstrations rock towns 96 Video News: country. fatalities. Fifteen of the deaths took place in Izraa, near the flashpoint southern town of Daraa, according to the list. Deaths were reported in Douma and Zamalka, near Damascus (see this video posted from an unknown source from Zamalka). Other protesters were killed Demonstrators marching in peace were surprised by security forces' live "Demonstrators were going with olive branches, it was peaceful" until they were "surprised by live ammunition from some security forces in one of the 97 98 99 he committed 11 years ago", he said. 100 powerhouse Iran. On Friday, tens of thousands of people were protesting in the Damascus suburb of Douma, the central cities of Hama and Homs, Latakia and Banias As the protesters dispersed, the scope of the bloodshed began to emerge. A video posted on the protest movement's main Facebook page showed a man carrying a bloodied boy near a building as another child could be heard weeping and shouting "My brother!" Hospitals received scores of dead and gravely wounded. Witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. surveillance and arrest. Hey, how you doing? What's new? Been to Cuba lately? Oh, that's right, you're only a U.S. citizen; you can't. You can't. How stupid is that? I guess they worry you'll catch communism or something. But you know what? Canadians and Europeans go there all the time w Party types say they're already socialists, so ... But hey, that's what they say about Obama. 101 But really, I ask you, what's the big deal? I went to and I didn't come back a commie, though some on Fox might argue the point. ing Cuban medical and e the trip was very interesting. We saw some extraordinary things, l people and the government. We saw that education is to become doctors. As a result, Cubans have free medical care and the government provides doctors to guess Mr. Bush and company didn't like the idea of free medical care. Mr. Obama seems inclined to change things a bit, but our decades-old embargo continues to do harm - - as much to us as to them, one could argue. And th e politics that drive it ar e truly absurd. We have This anti-Castro obsession has led us down a rocky road for decades: a bungled invasion; illegal, embarrassing assassination attempts; nearly a nucl shores; and decades of lies and hypocrisy. It's nuts. And it continues. Two recent examples of Luis Posada Carriles the Cuban Five, who are not. , according to evidence bombing of an airliner his publicly celebrated move to d by the Bush Administration, not with terrorism The ante was raised a bit by the Obama Justice terrorism) for statements he made under oath rela ting to hotel bombings. But after he was finally three months ago in federal court in El who, according to one report, "simply turned the floor over to the defe nse attorney," Posada Carriles was acquitted of all charges and is now free to en joy life in Miami, where anti-Castro zealots cheer him as a hero. Compare that outrage to this one: Because of decades of attacks against Cuba by U.S. -based anti-Castro organizations like CORU, the F4 Commandos, Brothers to the Rescue, Omega great damage (including hotel bomb Carriles), five Cuban intelligence officers were sent to the U.S. to gather information about these groups in an attempt to bl Fernando González Llort and René González Sehwerer home information on the activities of the groups th at the Cuban government then made known (as if it to receive the information gathered by the five, returning with reams of evidence of terrorism committed by U.S.-b them, the FBI, having discerned the identities of the five, arrested them instea d, hoping to charge them But, because all they had done was infiltrate, observe and report on the groups committing terror five had done anything illegal other than being Refused a change of venue, the men, now known as th e Cuban Five, were convicted in a Miami court (!) and sentenced to long terms in prison (Gerardo Hernández Nordelo receiving two life sentences on the conspiracy to commit murder charge). With their sentences overturned on appeal (a three-judge panel citing "prejudice" in Miami), reinstated ve now served 12 years in American prisons for protecting their country from An international effort calling for freedom and case. It includes Amnesty International, Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002, and many others. Former President n Five imprisoned; there were doubts in the U.S. courts and also among human rights disclosure, I am one of a group of Freedom of the Cuban Five. For more information, ons to defend the Khimki hostages from 102 103 From 2nd of 9th of April 2011 and after, actions to defend “Khimki hostages”, Alexei Gaskarov and brothers Maxim and Denis Solopov were rrently out from jail, in court facing charges following from a demonstration, which was organise d 28th of July 2010 in Moscow suburg of Khimki http://khimkibattle.org/?p=1931&lang=en Wheatpasting in Barnaul, Russia On April 7 Barnaul anarchists pasted up placards demanding the withdrawal of all charges against In Belgorod, anarchist and activist wheatpasted leafle city administration. The morning of April 9, Chelyabinsk anarchists Hostages" in support of Maxim A demonstration in Copenhagen, Denmark 5th of April local activists, as well as anti-fascist s from Malmö of Sweden came to Ukrainian embassy s Solopov in Ukraine. there was a Food Not Bombs-action 104 In Irkutsk, an open lecture on theme “Journalism, fr eedom of speech and extremism” was organised in as part of the common days invited from Autonomous Action of Irkutsk and Indymedia-Siberia. ith the Khimki Hostages Within a common action campaign against criminal persecution of the antifas cists Maxim Solopov and tradition from Ukraine to Russia, a solidarity action took place on April 9. At noon, member s of the Autonomous Action-Izhevzk, anarchists and antifascists gathered at the central square of the city and joined a numerous Izhevsk opposition rally where they raised an issue of police repressions against members of the anarchist and antifascist movements. The rally participants re interested in Alexey Gaskarov and Solopov brothers' fate. Then, they marched to the buildi ng of the Udmurtia State Council During the rally an Autonomous action member s 105 Griboedov monument, and a pi 106 Within the common action week anarchists and an march through the town streets (from the Town Administration to the railway station) ity with the Khimki Hostages and other civil activists suffered from state repression s. The demonstration par numerous honks of approval from passing drivers. Activists in Sevilla of Spain for Khimki hostages l parks in the city, demanding freedom to repressed Russian anti-fascists and eco-anarchists. Stockholm of Sweden – agains http://khimkibattle.org/ info@khimkibattle.org The story of Pfc Bradley Manning, the young US Army intelligence analyst allegedly responsible for of classified documents to humiliation to which he has recently been subjected , which has involved him sleeping naked at night, morning, even though the alleged basis for this humiliation — that he is at risk of committing suicide — has been disproved by the miltary’s own records, in which his alleged propensity to commit suicide has been repeatedly While sympathizing fully with Pfc Manning’s plight , I do hope that those supporting him will also realize that the humiliation to which he is being s ubjected, and its probable intent — to make him WikiLeaks — is not unique, as “War on Terror” — at Guantánamo and elsewhere, in three instances, on the US mainland — were held by the Bush administration, whose policy that has not come to an end under President Obama, as Guantánamo is still open, and 172 me n are held there, with the admi release of any of them (even though 89 of them have been cleared for release ). In addition, at Bagram in Afghanistan, there are still men held who were seized up to nine were rendered to Bagram (after a they remain in a legal black hole in Guantánamo and Bagram, I ill-treatment of such a prominen since his initial arrest in Kuwait last May. In an important update to Manning’s story, the website The Western Front recently interviewed Evan 107 108 same intelligence school as Mann ing, and who has some important dehumanizing it was working as an intel analyst in Iraq, and how, at the same time, when it came to having access to classified documents on the Defens the leaking of information by Manni ng (if indeed it was him) “has the military’s obsession with classifying as secret ever ything that takes place in its wars, and how he is also appalled that Manning, as a whistleblower, should have rights and protections him, and also regards his treatment as a disgrace. I do hope that you have the time to read Manning Peer Sheds Light on WikiLeaks: Former military intel analyst shares his thoughts on the motive of alleged leaks yst shares his thoughts on th e motive of alleged leaks. military prison in Virginia, where he has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest in July Western majoring in mathematics. He was interviewed last week for a PBS Frontline documentary about WikiLeaks, Manning and military information security. The Western Front interviewed Knappenberger about his experience in the military and his connection to WikiLeaks. on to Bradley Manning? the same intelligence school. We we nt to the same basic training co ’turned him in. He talks about why he [leaked the documents]. He says on those chat logs that it’s out talks about the collateral murder 109 u have here and in Iraq? : Army security is like a Band-Aid on a sunken chest wound. I remember when I was training, before I had my clearance even, they were talking about diploma scandal at Fort Huachuca [in Arizon alyst school. Somebody said [in the cables] Sadaam wanted to negotiate and was willi ng to agree to peace terms before we invaded, and known. Somehow it came across on a cable at Fort for a two-star general every morning for a year. So There are 2 million people, many of them not U.S. : Do you think private military contractors play a role in this? Every military base has [a SCIF]. There’s one in Be llingham, too. It’s by the ai book, and I was like “this sounds cool,” a nd I looked up all the Hell’s Angels. 110 was kind of a game, but, yeah, ere in an Iraqi division command pos : Is all the information Bradley Mann ing leaked on those computers under the same security? ese documents and WikiLeaks have accomplished? : I think it has raised consci what happened in Iraq. What WikiLeaks did, : What do you think the attacks on Wiki Leaks and Manning’s imprisonment say about freedom in the United States? : The fact we think we can classify ridiculous. And the fact that the press really doesn’t have the freedom to report on the military is nning and his treatment. If he was in any other government agency or private agency, he’d be considered a whistleblower. He’d have protections, but he’s not. It shows the gap of human rights in our military. If he was anybody else, he’d be covered under the wh istleblower protections or the freedom of speech. about this issue? : This is an American citizen. He’s an all-American kid. Born and raised in Oklahoma. If the constitutional rights don’t appl y to him, it should scare everybody. Even if you don’t cruel and unusual punishment. freedom of the press in this case, you still have the obligation to care ab It has been almost a year. They wake him up ever y five minutes. He’s stripped naked every day. The Andy Worthington is the author of (published by Pluto Press, distribute d by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the The Battle of the Beanfield please subscribe to my Twitter Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo Worthington, my definitive Guantánamo habeas list of all my articles appreciate my work, feel free to make a donation Rioters torch Australian immigration centre 111 112 Immigration department spokesman Sandi Logan said he could not confirm rejected. New lawyers committed to new trial for Mumia Abu Jamal By Saeed Shabazz -Staff Writer- | April 19, 2011 The Final Call NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - Mumia Abu-Jamal, 58, often called the “world's most famous death- 113 “They are experienced intelligent and well-motivated lawyers, who activists, the Million Worker Ma Attorney Christine Swarms, direct and Education Fund's Criminal Jus professor at Widener Law School in Mumia Abu-Jamal The event co-sponsors were the International Concer ned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal and The journalist, former Black Panther and supporter During his 30-year imprisonment, Mr. Abu-Jamal ha In 2001, the Federal District Court for the Eastern Di tional error in the jury instruction and verdict form used in the 1982 pena lty phase of his case. The finding was affirmed by ourt by the U.S. Supreme Mr. Abu-Jamal's appeal is still pending before decision will be made,” Ms. Ritter told the gath ering. The legal team's ultimate goal remains a new trial, which has been rejected by many courts, she said. Ms. Ritter, who has represented the man ca lled the “voice of the people” since 2002, noted Philadelphia's first Black district 114 represent Mumia Abu-Jamal,” said Ms. Swarms. “No question the criminal justice system has failed him and that has everything to do with race. That is why the LDF is in this case.” The activist attorney said the Legal Defense Fund is committed to eliminating racism in the criminal this country, which is a direct des of controlling and maintaining sl avery,” Attorney Swarms said. The death sentence became a form of legal lynching by 1930 and 89 percent of those in America “So you can see that race is the most significant fact Swarms concluded. The gathering at Riverside Church received a surprise when Mr. Abu-Jamal called. He thanked everyone for coming out, saying there are so many pr oblems in the country it would seem difficult to your spirit up?” asked one questioner. family. I am inspired when I see imperialism,” Mr. Abu-Jamal. , “The spirit in that room showed the significance of this movement 30 years later. Having the LDF is a major turning point, wants to win,” she said. Pam Africa, the tireless driver of the Intern ational Coalition out of her job is “to agitate and make people stay on the move. The fact of it is we are all on death-row.” “Support is again growing for Mumia. It's good seei ng people come out asking what can collectively be done to free him,” said Ralph Poynter, husband of says that Mumia is the point pe r life is on the line tomorrow,” Mr. Radio Interviews with Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective, Denver ABC and 2011 Interview with Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective 115 Interview with Monica of the Chapel Hill, NC Prison Books Collective. Monica talks about prison abolition and restorative justice as literature. The group publishes monthly political prisoner birthday 12 mins 45 Seconds MP3 audio 116 Unlawful arrests and beatings in Khimki Forest Dear Sir/Madam, last events in Khimki Forest Today, activists got the info that la of trees in the forest resumed - despite statements of Russian company Avtodor that all the works are confined to taking away the trees that was fallen this summer. Activists of Save Khimki Forest Move ment arrived at site and found clearing ce and security forces. 117 Save Khimki Forest Movement asks you the activists and save the Khimki Forest. We also demand French company Vinci to On behalf of Save Khimki Forest Movement After 129 days of struggle, riot police are forced to withdraw from Keratea As announced a few hours ago, the minist its plan to withdraw all police forces from Ovriokastro and Keratea. It truction machinery will be withdrawn from the area and that the ministry of environment will enter into negotiations with the municipality. from Keratea. the police buses leave. Is this a vict ory for the people of Keratea? Or a tactical move on the side of the gove rnment, ahead of the easter break? More information as it comes. 3 killed at Syrian protest after Assad vows reform 118 119 120 Yemen's capital Sunday as hundreds of thousands of marchers — including and remarks he made against women taking part in rallies demanding his ouster. and women at protests violated Islamic law. Meanwhile, representatives from Yemen's opposition held talks with regional mediators in the Saudi capital Sunday to discuss a proposal by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council for ending the unrest in which Saleh would transfer power to his deputy. prosecution, which the opposition rejected. 121 and more honorable than to be offended." Saleh explained that what he said about mixing of the genders was out of fear that under black head-to-toe robes. The issue of child brides in Yemen has also drawn international criticism. But unlike in neighboring Saudi Arabia, women in Yemen when the once-independent south had a socialist government. After unification, women in the south became more marginalized, resulting in Political Prisoners, Isolation and Toture in America May 1st Phily The Moonstone Arts Center More Info Sunday May 1: RED INK: MAY DAY – 2PM Moonstone Arts Center 110A S. 13th St Political Prisoners, Isolation & Torture in America Hakim "Hak" Green is Hip-Hop. He uses it to address the ills affecting black 122 worked as a human rights advocate in US prisons with a focus on torture, isolation(no touch torture), and use of devices of torture in US prisons. She publications. She speaks widely on human rights violations of United Nations Covenants in US prisons. Ojore Lutalo is a former New Afrikan Anarchist political prisoner who served 28 years in prison for clandestine activities during the 1970’s and 1980’s. 22 of those years were in isolation in the Management Control Unit at New Jersey State Prison, for entertaining thoughts that the NJ Department of Corrections/Homeland Journey Underground and Back Location Pittsburgh, PA More Info 1985, Diana and her two-week old son and five companions-all of them active in the struggle for independence-fled L.A. after finding a surveillance device in their subject typically dominated by heroic, male discourse and offers unique insights into the radical politics and culture of the 1970s. Refreshments will be provided. The Pittsburgh Organizing Group 123 Scott Sisters Speak in Brooklyn!! Location Communiqué from Stefania and Anna, two of Two weeks until Daniel McGowan's birthday! 124 125 The rejection of the identity of victimization through cracking a Nazi's skull , 2011 some anti-fascist in National Socialist Movement's national conference for rank promotion and five-year planning. A group of 30 of us decided to march to where the N azi's were strongest, to them, and we were decidedly vict orious. After the the dust settled , more maged, and their conference was ended. On the other ired moderate first aid. immigrants, women, queer, us. We are said to be 'at risk' and must be protecte usually the State, to protect through the action of splitting Nazis' heads open, we rejected the logic of victimization. We will continue to do so, we will be victims no longer. We do not need others to stand up for us, we have each other. When we are attacked, we will find each other and counterattack, so hard and so fier ce that we will surprise even ourselves. they might not be that far off th e mark. But if they conflate those slurs with weakness, the si On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, Support Pale On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, April 17, 2011, the Camp aign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat salutes all of the the Israeli occupation's jails, for justice and freedom to join and build the larg est possible international movement to secure the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners, ackbone of the Palestinian national movement. Their torture, isolation, denial of me dical care and family visits, and demanding their rights, is an inspiration to all. In moments of Palestinia mained a clarion and full commitment not only to the liberation of all Palestinian pris oners, but also to the liberation of Palestine, to the resistance, to 126 127 ld in jails around the world, many for their own support of the Palestin use, and call for the freedom of demand that governments end their investigations Palestine - from the U.S., where 23 activists face gr and jury subpoenas and FBI raids for their public ine, to France, where boycott, divestme organizing a Nakba commemorati rnments must act to end their complicity and support for Israeli war crimes an d occupation against the Palestinian people. On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, we urge the new Egypt to mark this day by releasing all remaining Furthermore, we also spotlight today the village of Awarta, which has been subject to closure, home We also stand with the people of Gaza struggling to break their own siege, and note that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails from Gaza have been denied family visits fo r years. We demand an end to the Ahmad Sa'adat is not only a national leader of the a recognized leader and symbol of the Palestinian prisoners' movement - a symbol of steadfastness and commitment to Palestine and its people in the face of all forms of abuse and violation. And it is because Sa'adat in an attempt to silence not only Sa'adat himself, but the Pale stinian prisoners' movement, and through that, the However, neither Ahmad Sa'adat, nor the Palestinia compelled into silence or submission by isolation and ce is heard, more clearly than ever, calling for justice, freedom, and libera 128 Sa'adat and the prisoners of freedom, and encourage a ll around the world to join us in building the call to free Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners! On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, please write us at info@freeahmadsaadat.org to inform us about actions n political prisoners. We encour demonstrations and activities in support of Pale Ahmad Sa'adat, Palestinian prisone Why you should support black PP/POWs and How FCI Otisville, P.O. Box 1000, Otisville, NY 10963 Sundiata is also receiving support from the Jericho Amnesty Movement and from the Anarchist Black Cross Federation. Ryan Rainville admits to smashing 129 Rainville, who has roots in the Saskatchewan’s Sakimay Nation but lives in Waterloo, was one of the eight people included on the infamous most wanted A self-described anarchist, Rainville was one of only six people who were spent three months at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton following his arrest in August and is alleged to be part of the group of protestors who dressed in black clothing and employed Black Bloc tactics during the Dressed in a collared shirt and sporting a grown-out Mohawk hairstyle, 130 he joined the march at Dundas and University. Speaking to a courtroom packed with supporters who made several outbursts throughout the proceedings, Rainville said that when he noticed the bright No Nation! Stop Deportation! Unmask NWDC The No Borders! No Nations! Conference is coming from a place of no compromise—we harbor no false hopes that the government will tear down its borders as much as we know the City of Tacoma will never shut down the 131 132 common enemies: ICE, borders, deporta http://www.mediafire.com/i/?4fxs2vgq4j2mcbu http://www.mediafire.com/?t2d0l7cgh7v5p43 UNMASKNWDC.WORDPRESS.COM the Struggle to Free Leonard Peltier by dj Questionmark Interview with long time indigenous A NW regional march and rally for Leonard Pe ltier will take place Ma y 21, 2011 in Tacoma WA. dio Olympia on April 11, 2011 by dj Questionmark ouse and what Leonard was like before he was a The audio is rough in the first 4 minutes. Book Launch for Our Only Weapon Our Spirit Thursday, May 5 · 7:00pm - 9:30pm The Commons, Brooklyn 388 Atlantic Avenue Political Prisoners on War Resisters & Honoring Mumia Abu Jamal's B-day 133 134 Saturday, April 23 · 7:30pm - 10:00pm Location Sanctuary Wholistic Arts ORGANIZE 5/13 EVENTS TO RALLY AGAINST BOMBING AND MURDER OF MOVE FAMILY MEMBERS From: Subj: May 13, 2011 135 Take care and hope to see you all in May---Ramona A National Campaign to End Price Gouging on Prison Phone Rates Brattleboro, VT – Prison Legal News (PLN), a monthly publication that covers The report, based on several years of research that included submitting public records requests in all 50 states, found that prison phone companies routinely provide kickbacks – euphemistically known as “commissions” – to contracting government agencies, based on a percentage of the revenue earned from prisoners’ phone calls. or debit accounts, most of the kickback money comes from prisoners’ family members. those companies,” said PLN associate editor Alex Friedmann. “This is an issue of fundamental fairness.” banking firm Goldman Sachs). In some cases the commissions exceed 60% of prison phone revenue. 136 several states that have banned, limited or reduced their kickback commissions.” When states forgo commissions, their phone rates drop significantly. For example, 64.5% in Montana and 40% in Kansas after those states adopted lower commissions. Thus, prison phone companies are able to offer lower rates but for having to pay kickbacks to the contracting government agencies. “This is gross profiteering at its worst,” noted PLN editor Paul Wright. “State officials are lining their Related Articles 137 April 14-21: International Week of Solidarit This April 14th to the 21st has been chosen as a week of agitation and propaganda for the immediate freedom of the 14 Chilean anarchists arrested Embassy: 138 Take the 4,5,6,N,Q, R, to Union Square solidairty throughout the Diaspora, have been fighting against privatization of education/social services, demanding new jobs, union rights, and housing; just FOR DECADES, Puerto Ricans have stood proudly and firmly with our undocumented brothers and sisters; demanding their legalization and an end to their harrassment! What happens when you uncover FBI infiltration? A truly amazing, authentic African American history lesson. —Emory Douglas, Artist and former Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party —Bobby Seale, Founding Chairman of the Black Panther Party Marshall "Eddie" Conway is a former member of the Baltimore chapter of the Black one year later, convicted of a murder he did not commit. Read more.... 139 140 The Library is located at 6120 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044 (off the New Green-Scare Indictment over Sabotage of Logging Equipment in Michigan 10 A recent indictment order by Federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids Michigan You the faithful have been Mutulu's life line, the wind beneath his wings Because you have been there for him year after year.he has not had to compromise his principles for the sheer sake of surviving in captivity. Without complaint you have generously given to his family when he could not 141 New York times) FRIENDS of F/FMS: Only 50 cents per Day=$15 per Month (Sprinters) will pledge any of the above 2 quarters (April-Sept'11) Mutulu's foe will give him hell, that he can rely on. But Mutulu's friends will give him financial support, that he can also rely on. Best wishes to you and all of his steadfast supporters. We love you. sid wilson LEONARD PELTIER MEDICAL ALERT LEONARD PELTIER MEDICAL ALERT "A man dies from prostate cancer every 16 minutes in this country. Why does my brother have to wait over a year to receive even a diagnosis?" wrongfully convicted in connection with the shooting deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1977. Imprisoned for 35 years-currently at the federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania-Peltier has been designated a political prisoner by Amnesty International. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, 55 Members of Congress and others-including a judge who sat as a member of the court in two of Peltier's appeals-have all called for his immediate release. Widely recognized for his humanitarian 142 Tacoma Chapter, LPDOC, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415-0464. Thank you. 143 SPEAKERS: Yu'Pik/Yakama, Tacoma Chapter LPDOC Steve Hapy: Tacoma Chapter LPDOC Drum Albert Combs: Coastal Salish drum song Flier This march will kick off our New Northwest Campaign for Clemency for Leonard help. Leonard has been in prison since 1976 for a crime he did not commit. His health has gotten bad and he needs all of us now. We need people to 144 us. Please contact us if you can help. Committee (mark them for NW March) and send them to: Tacoma LPODC, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415. Thank you An 8 page mail out about Leonard Peltier's Clemency Campaign 145 146 pages 3, 4 and 5, The Case of Leonard Peltier page 6 NW Clemency campaign April 15-17 2011, Portland State * * Portland State University: Smith Memorial Building-3rd Floor *Free, open to the public and disability affirmative! *This is a low impact conference- bring reusable cups, bowls and eating *Safe Space Zone and childcare provided! Ashanti Omowali Alston- The Jericho Movement 147 Claude Marks- Freedom Archives Jeff “Free” Luers – Former Eco-Political Prisoner Tre Arrow- Former Eco-Political Prisoner People, movements, organizations and collectives will present alternative accounts to the political dimensions of civic engagement, mutual aid and revolution as they relate to economics, politics, invention, technology, work, artistic and cultural production, the body, pedagogy and social change. The conference promises to create a provocative space for * *Friday April 15th 2011* 148 *Saturday April 16th 2011* * * *Trauma, Inside and Out: Prison Life, Losing Friends, Police Abuse and * Snitches Tre Arrow- Former Eco Political Prisoner Jeff “Free” Luers- Former Eco Political Prisoner Lauren Regan- Director, Civil Liberties Defense Center *Police Accountability and Police Abolition: Dilemmas, Paradoxes, and Strategies* 149 *Political Prisoner Support and the Jericho Movement* Mark Cook- Seattle Jericho and former Political Prisoner Larry Giddings- Seattle Jericho and former Political Prisoner * * *Workshop 3 (329)* worker?* 150 to unpack history and theory while clarifying the politics behind the *The Freedom Archives* Claude Marks- Director of the Freedom Archives and former Political Prisoner *Political Prisoners in Colombia in U.S. Built Prisons*** **Sex Worker Politics and Repression Stephanie Boston- Portland Animal Defense League/Cascadia Rising Tide *Panel 9 (329)* * * Prisoners* Lauren Regan- Civil Liberties Defense Center *6:30-7:00 Performance: Chrystos * 151 MLK:Wygant&Alberta)* * * *10:30-11:45 Panels 1, 2, 3 & 4 (327, 328, 329 & Ballroom)* * * Dillon Thomson- Lead lecturer and archivist for Fertile Ground **Local Animal Rights Activism *Panel 3 (329)* **Participatory Economics and Latin American Politics 152 *Workshop 3 (329)* formerly homeless, and their allies. *2:45-4:00 Panels 5, 6, 7 & 8 (327, 328, 329 & Ballroom)* * * *Panel 5 (327)* Gerardo Torres- Spokesperson for the US and Canada of the International Commission of the National Front of Popular Resistance, Coordinator of *Panel 6 (328)* policy analyst. *GI Rights Movement and Resistance: From Past to Present* Imprisonment on April 23rd, 2011 at the African and African Diaspora Studies surrounding their imprisonment, and develop practical steps toward freeing these leaders immediately. activists in the US would make a significant contribution to a dialogue with 153 The organizers of this symposium also invite the community to contribute on the repository Irvine James, Joy (2011) Cradle to Grave: Texas "Disproportionality" from Foster Care to Death Row James, Joy (2009-01-01) The Greatest Threat Human rights in the U.S.: The unfinished story of political prisoners/victims of Imprisoned Intellectuals: America's Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion James, Joy (2003) Safiya Bukhari on U.S. political prisoners: excerpts from “The War Before: The Towards a New American Revolution Muntaqim, Jalil A. (2009) Shakur, Mutulu (2010) Chicago - Cointelpro 101, Monday, April 18, 6:00 pm 154 University of Chicago presents a special screening of the documentary film "COINTELPRO is the FBI acronym for a series of covert action programs directed against domestic groups. In these programs, the Bureau went Project, N.F.P.; The Jericho Movement/Chicago Chapter an affiliate of Actors and Artists Thank Carter for his Call to Release the Five International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 MEDIA ADVISORY CONTACT: Suzanne Thompson (310) 570-5419 DANNY GLOVER, SUSAN SARA NDON, JACKSON BROWNE, CHRISSIE HYNDE, EDWARD ASNER, MIKE FARREL, GRAHAM NASH (PLUS OTHERS) CARTER FOR HIS CALL TO PROVED RELATIONS WITH CUBA former President Carter call for the release of United for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 155 156 imprisoned, there were doubts in the U.S. courts and also among human rights organizations in the er moves forward with courage. Just as typically, he will be lack it." - Mike Farrell Llort, Ramon Labanino Salazar, and Rene Gonzalez for simply trying to protect their country from terrorism. The actors and artists also expressed their gratitude for Carter's visit and encouraged ith President Obama and 157 President Obama to correct this injustice and issue Executive Clemency for the Cuban 5 so they can return to their families." - Danny Glover, Co-Chair And certainly, until thei r release, the US government should grant regular visas in a timely manner, to their family members to visit them. 158 Americans and Cuban Americans), are fair, just and appropriate. ssions with President For the freedom of each and all political prisoners, against repression of social een sharpening a policy of repression rsecution, imprisonment, prosecution and criminalization of many people against the injustices of this system , all of which motivates us to raise our political position towards the subj ect, especially against the current stage of struggle for social 159 1. We understand that the who protest against injustice, are part the Chilean State, guaranteeing an orde class, encouraging the investment of the major economic players and wiping out all opposition to its expansion plans and increase profits at the expense of the dominated sectors. 2. The current legal system the Constitution framed in 1980, is a prime instrument of repression of and fighting. In this sense, the "anti-terror law" has become a major weapon of the Chilean State to cr iminalize social protest and submit. 3. We note that in recent years is still a repressive policy of the Chilean state and the dominant sector a) The follow-up activities, and theref ore harassment of various social and political expressions of opposition to this system of injustice. organizations more visible and symbolically most disturbing for th anti-authoritarians. c) Harassment, persecution and imprisonment of former political prisoners militant revolutionary political organizations (FPMR, Lautaro, MIR), which revenge the Chilean State. d) The defamation by the authorities and the press, the various claims, demands and proposals for social change. This state policy is well articulated by the Ministry of Interior, in ormation most desirable. prosecution prosecutions mounted comple tely irrational, the limit of its own laws, you end up with extremely hars sobering message to the people, "dissent of the law. " One example was what happened in the case of militant PC, Continental Bolivarian Movement and the Solidarity Movement for Peace in Colombia, link with the FARC-EP. A Olate is 160 Mapuche movement, which so far has not is particularly clear in court proceedings mounted against Mapuche organizations and communities. On numerous occasions they have used a nd paid faceless witnesses with obvious ence alleged. All this points to the maximum harsher sentences, which has claims against the Mapuche people. Faced with this situation, the Mapuche 161 Durante los últimos años hemos visto como se ha ido agudizando una chas sociales, por medio de la persecución, encarcelamiento, judicialización y criminalización de muchas la voz contra las injusticias de este sistema, todo lo cual nos motiv actual escenario de lucha de las y Comunista Libertaria, declaramos[...] Durante los últimos años hemos visto como se ha ido agudizando una chas sociales, por medio de la persecución, encarcelamiento, judicialización y criminalización de muchas la voz contra las injusticias de este sistema, todo lo cual nos motiv actual escenario de lucha de las y ón Comunista Libertaria, declaramos: 1. Comprendemos que la actual políti ra las injusticias, se enmarcan dentro del rol histórico que ha mantenido el Esta cosas a favor de la clase dominante, grandes actores económicos y barrie sus planes de expansión e incremento sectores dominados. 2. El actual orden jurídico enmarcado en la Constitución de 1980, es un claro instrumento de represión haci a las y los que luchan. En este sentido, la llamada “Ley anti terroris 162 sistema de injusticias. a las personas y organizaciones más visibles y simbólicamente más pert mapuche, anarquistas y antiautoritarios. c) El hostigamiento, persecución y encar políticos militantes de organizaciones políticas revolucionarias (FPMR, Lautaro, MIR), lo que demuestra una cl diversas reivindicaciones, demanda s y propuestas de cambio social. Esta política de Estado es notoriament e articulada desde el Ministerio del sformaciones sociales más anheladas. 4. Siguiendo esa política de Estado, vemos Público montan procesos judiciales 163 manteniéndolos encarcelados todo este tiempo y en las peores condiciones posibles. Como medida de presión las y los compañeros sostienen una huelga de hambre que se extiende desde acompañada por diversas movilizacione exigen penas para las y los imputados rters die police custody DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Two supporters of Bahrain's anti-government The interior ministry said the body of Rashid Zakaria Hassan, 40, was 164 165 t violated probation back in jail The Register-Guard nist-turned-informant who helped prosecution of underground environmen week after authorities accused him of violating terms of the probation he received in 2008 in exchange for his cooperation with the government. appear Monday in U.S. District Court in Eugene for a status conference. A spokeswoman in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland did not have information on what led he could be sent to prison. Ferguson pleaded guilty in 2007 to one count each of arson and attempted arson, as part of an agreement with prosecutors that allowed him to a ttempt to burn down a U.S. Forest s of sabotage — more e government prosecute in the so-called Operation Backfire case. conversation with them. When court proceedings revealed Ferguson’s coop eration, he became a pariah in the activist community and was subjected to numerous threats, Judge Ann Aiken sentenced him to probation. ordered to serve prison terms ranging from three to 13 years, and pay millions of dollars in restitu tion to arson and sabotage victims in five Western states who suffered property damage and business loss. took part in crimes that include Ranger Station in 1996, the Cavel West horsemeat p Industries office in Medford in 1998, the Childers M Lumber Co. in Glendale in 2001. Family.” protest against a planned copper mining project erupted with gun-fire from Thursday’s deaths brought to three the number of people killed this week site. Southern Copper, which is owned by Grupo Mexico, has invested nearly 116 million dollars out of a 950 million dollar investment project in the Officials at Islay Hospital say the two dead protesters were killed by gunshots. Both were shot in the head. Earlier in the week, a 22-year-old man identified as Huancapuma Clemente died after being shot in the abdomen 166 167 blocked access to the port of Matarani, where ships load ores for export Earlier in the week Peru’ s government issued an order to temporarily there US office number: Arizona: (602) 494-5328 of Revolutionary Struggle concerning the arson of the Law School in Athen concerning the use of Lambros Foundas’ name in the arson of the Law He gave his life promoting a political project that aimed at the popular 168 It is of course the same when an action in honor of the comrade is Obviously every comrade can honour him while respecting the choices of The three imprisoned members of Revolutionary Struggle P.Roupa, K.Gournas, N.Maziotis - “We watched with interest the hunger striker immigrants developing defense of the non-existent asylum. Thus in the more general dissatisfaction we selected to strike the building of the Law School of that the critical hour there are no students in the building and find themselves in a direct danger. We address a clear blackmail to democracy, ekathimerini eviction (Helsinki, Finland) 169 eviction. No one knows currently when the eviction will come - if it comes - if the city will not agree on our conditions. 170 171 of the social center began to guard the camp to keep police and other "solving the problem", without achieving anything. Jarmo Räihä, the so-called Leading Expert from the Social Services Department, who is already over-burdened. The Roma refused the deal, stating that they didn't want to take space from other homeless people. After this, we turned on the electricity to the camp, started renovating it and continued waiting and preparing for an eviction. On Thursday the 31st of March the Youth Department's Director Lasse Siurola, told that he had requested the police to evict the camp. Later we Solidarity to Mapuche communities! Freed om for all Mapuche political prisoners 172 173 174 From Athens Greece, from Mexico city to London, from New York to Bilbao, from Hamburg to Sofia and from Katm andhou to San Francisco, from all the 175 176 isoners in Chile. At that time we also made a call for international support, numerous individuals and 177 rs in Chile, Ramón Llanquileo Pilquiman, José Huenuche, Jonathan Huillical y Héctor Llaitul. We find the enormous sentences against them alarming as well as the fact that they at protect the most basic of human rights. It must be considered indigenous demands of land, territory and autonomy by criminalising social protest. We call upon the please send your messages of solidarity: libertadpresosmapuche@gmail.com for more info about the Mapuche Nation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapuche e of Mapuche in 21st century: ill-fighting-chiles-mapuche.html Syrian protests turn deadly; 32 reported killed BEIRUT – Mass protests calling for sweeping changes in Syria's 178 The bloodiest clashes occurred in the restive city of Daraa, where human tens of thousands of protesters, killing 25 people and wounding hundreds. contended that armed gangs rather than true reform-seekers are behind the 179 most activists and witnesses, he requested anonymity for fear of A nurse at the hospital said they had run out of beds; many people were and small, across the country. The videos could not be independently confirmed, but they appeared to show the most widespread gatherings since protests began. Ammar Qurabi, who heads Syria's National Organization for Human Rights, said 32 people were killed nationwide: 25 in Daraa, three in the central city of Homs, three in the Damascus suburb of Harasta and one in the Friday. taking a body away. Latakia. three weeks ago, when security forces arrested a group of high school students who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall in Daraa. Protests then exploded in cities across the country. ___ Saleh, facing an unprecedented challenge from hundreds of thousands of with the opposition. 180 the GCC would strike a deal for Saleh to leave. But on Friday, Saleh told tens of thousands of supporters in the capital 181 The United States and Yemen's key financial backer, Saudi Arabia, both "We want this regime to go. Enough lying and oppression. The initiative said Mahfouz Salam, 45, a Sanaa protester. 182 (Additional reporting by Khaled al-Mahdi in Taiz and Mohammed Mukhashaf in Dozens of raids as new investigation against anarchists begins (Italy) Breaking news from the mainstream media, treat with caution: by the prosecutor of Bologna within an inquiry carried out by the Bologna Digos. Turin, Lecce, Naples, Trieste, Genoa, Teramo, Forli, Ravenna and Milan. The comrades under investigation are accused of belonging to a ‘subversive association for criminal intent’. 60 searches are reported, resulting, so The immense operation in all Italy regards ‘anarcho-insurrectionalist’ on March & Rally for the Scott Sisters what he started. On January 7, 2011, The Scott Sisters were released from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility by the governor to save the state the of the suspended sentence in granted the Scott Sisters. On Friday, April 1, 2011 the Scott Sisters asked haley barbour to allow them to move on with their lives. They told governor barbour that 16 years and 32 days was 183 pardon. respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this Asinia Lukata Chikuyu AFRIKAN TRUTH BE TOLD (Afrikan_TBT) BROTHA LUKATA The Challenge - "Impress Me! w/ your deeds, not your words" Enemies Unknown that the nation wages war against peoples and countries it knows nothing about. 'thug', or the clincher, a Hitler, and bombers begin hitting the skies. Report from court hearings of “Khimki hostages” khimkibattle.org 184 185 e case of antifascists Al Solopov who were accused of organizing attack on th Khimki City Court. Accusation against Alexei and Maxim is absurd eyewitnesses identifying them as persons participated Besides, the case materials contain a large number of committed any unlawful acts. His arguments are suppor ted by a number of witness testimonies as well captured in the photos and videos. The State Prosecuti mask, its argument is supported by the testimony of three witnesses. During the preliminary hearing Prosecutor Olga E ctment which Solopov and investigators’ arguments was supported by evidence victims’ representative. ieved party (Khimki Administration), sn’t currently the Administration employee. Maxim Khramov, another prosecution witness, accidentally found themselves in Khimki, having a rrived there from the center of Moscow by car The only one Pitel has remembered for 8 months afte had allegedly thrown something into the Administration building, then wh mask. However he has remembered neither his face nor the color of the mask. When Pitel’s testimony, given durin g the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Pitel had remembered Gaskarov’s face because he hadn’t b een wearing the mask at the moment of the commission of the unlawful acts. However he identified him by his body features. He hasn’t remembered what Gaskarov was wearing. hearing it was revealed that Pitel had been tried for theft several years before. Two other prosecution witnesses Sergey Smirnov a activists, and spouses, changed their testimony given during the preliminary investigation. They explained that they had been forced to testif them by investigators. According to Smirnov and Krivoshanova, first investigators attempted to force them to tes Forest Protection Movement, and a famous antifascist mention them. Sergey and Anastasia filed a comp laint about pressure exerted on them during the preliminary investigation to the Prosecutor’s Offi ce; however it has refused to initiate criminal proceedings against the investigators. The next hearing, where the remaining prosecution defense witnesses’ questioning is to begin, is sche duled to take place at the Khimki City Court on The guard told me ‘you are nothing like the Muslim prisoners’. He was wrong t today they look sad. Noor's grandfather passed Communications Management Unit (CMU) 186 187 Ghassan is imprisoned for providing humanitarian aid selfless deed that the Bush administration argued was analogous to indirectly supporting Hamas, by sending charity to Zakat Committees that prosecutors allege were front s for Hamas. In the same year US AID, The Red Cross, the UN and dozens of other NGOs contribute d to the same Zakat committee to which Ghassan ed of giving aid. The US attorney's office ng one's freedom to give, and sele ctively prosecuting some charitable outside world and the news that comes from it, father-in-law's passing. Communications Management Unit is a designer penal program that focuses specifically on isolating and silencing its inmates. The demographic of the 's designees is made up of overwhelming 64% Muslim majority and a smaller minority group of de racial disparity nature of these prisons was the focus of a recent two-part investigation on entitled "Guantanamo North." inmates are isolated and silenced by administrative segregation emails. programs in Marion, Illinois, Terre-Haute, Indiana, and th e Administrative-Maximum Unit at Carswell, Texas (an institution for female inmates) are filled wi th a disproportionate amount of inmates who are Muslim, and a smaller group of non-Muslims with cases related to tax protests, environmental advocacy, and animal rights activism, all of which are considered political causes. The most of the inmates sent to the CMU classification points congruent with that of prisoners normally designated to low and minimum Gitmo in the Heartland was first implemented it may have been done so illegally becaus Administrative Procedures Act (a la w that demands that federal programs such as these must first be ess and made available for p Constitutional Rights Aref v. Holder that the violates constitutionally mandated Ghassan Elashi was accused of providing humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza through his charity nment alleges that Ghassan's charitable contributions of humanitarian aid could be deemed as indirect crim inal material support of Hamas saw a Dallas judge and was released A mistrial rdict upon and only after a second trial in 2008 were Ghassan and 4 other men found guilty of allegedly giving Material Support for Palestinians. Noor, who has often told me "I am my father's daughter," is currently working on a memoir about her father's experience with the working title Eyes Like My Father. Noor's pen is her expression and in her 188 to advocate for her father while he awaits appeal, and continues her father's work mediums she knows best, visual arts, design, and the at The New School in Manhattan, Noor has combin ed all of these medium re-center Palestine in contemporary dialogue. Project Palestine's monthly programs began in the fall and Mainstreaming Palestine student, a performance by Israeli-born , a talk from documentarian Fida Qishta , and a reading from a young woman fr om Oklahoma named Pamela Olson, Fast Times in Palestine , a recollection of her experiences as a press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candi date. Hundreds of New Yorkers from all walks of life, all religions, identity, race, and orientation attended the program helping to build an open-ended contemporary dialogue is of the utmost impor , she is able to connect with and reach out to additional supporters who view the issue as Israeli conflict. Project Palestine's programs at The New School and Noor invited me to join ffee afterwards. Noor introduces me One of the women at the table asks me if I was in the with Noor's father. I explain that I was not, that I was released about a month be then asks me to explain what it was like. I did not know if I had it in me to fully Noor, considering that this time out a pleasant distraction away from tears felt like a rock rest ed in the back of my throat. In 2008 I spent the last six months of a three-year federal sentence for animal advocacy activism in the That guard was gravely mistaken when he said e men. While I am not a Muslim, I am everything like those men. And just like them I felt the same Showing empathy towards these men and attempting to shoes does not mean that one needs to have a bleedi inking of the men at the ministrative hold 189 willing to accept them. I knew of Noor for about four months before I finally as someone who was where her father is now woul d be supportive and helpful to her. We met over suddenly remembered what it felt li thinking about hugging my wife again and then Writing about the consumes me emotionally. I pray that all of these men stripped from their loved ones; it scares me to think eir behalf. They need more voi ces to demand accountability and reconciliation from our governing powe Imagine being told you can't speak to your father. Im 2002 The Financial Times characterized SHAC as “succeeding where Karl Marx, the Baader-Meinhof gang and the Red Brigades failed.” Their actions Anti-fascist Rinat Sultanov was sentenced to two years in prison 190 191 P.O. Box 13 109028 Moscow Russia CMU lawsuit moving forward! won the right to have their day in court and challenge the violation of their fundamental constitutional rights, including the right to exactly one year ago on March 30, 2010. about the CMUs, and has vindicated their right to a day in court to pursue their claims. Our clients were designated to the CMUs without 192 Lawyers say that because these transfers are not based on facts or ROSES AND BREAD Annual Women’s Open 193 The Commons * 388 Atlantic Avenue ROSES AND BREAD To sign up to perform, to reserve seats, and/or to confirm childcare, please call 718-783-8141. group. Call Obama, Holder and Fitzgerald April 12. Stop the Grand Jury! NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY to Fitzgerald, Holder and Obama The Grand Jury is still on its witch hunt and the FBI is still harassing activists. This must stop. ask to leave a message with the Duty Clerk. 2. Call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 202-353-1555 194 s witch-hunt. In Struggle, The Angola Three's long struggle for justice American activists spent years in solitary. When will their nightmare end? by Steven Mather till segregated in 1972 when Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox were accused of murder former slave plantation. Photograph: AP campaign to free the Angola Three reaches Washington, DC on 6 April. Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace are the remaining two of th cked up in solitary confinement. Later this month, 17 April will mark nightmare. The campaign hits Capitol Hill not before time, as this summer Woodfox will appear in court for the last time to app Congressman Cedric Richmond is to host a screening of a documentary, , directed by Vadim Jean and narrated by Samuel and the brutal day-to-day reality of Woodfox and Wallace's prison conditions. And Congressmen John Conyers and Bobby Scott wi ll precede the documentary with a briefing on the horrors of solitary confinement. The one freed member of the 195 196 As members of the Black Panther party, they claim they were framed for the murder of prison . At the time, the three were or brutalities of life in Ango militant political organisation African American communities with a confronta tional attitude towards the state. FBI boss J Edgar Hoover characterised them "t fore the Jim Crow era, rights campaigns of the 1950s and 60s, nothi Prior to Miller's death, Woodf ox and Wallace, who were servi ng time for armed robbery, had formed a Black Panther chapter in the prison an d were struggling against the regime of the inmates from rape. They were convicted of Miller's murder on th her prisoners. Evidence that might have proved their innocence, such as In time, even Miller's widow came to believe th ese men were not responsible for the murder of King joined Woodfox and Wallace after he was Despite not even being in the prison at the time of Miller's murder, he was implicated. It was King was released after successfully fighting his conviction for murder and pleading guilty to a lesser charge, but Wallace and Woodfox remain in jail. Both men have also contested their Wallace's was recommended to be overtu rned by a Louisiana state judicial commissioner in 2006 Woodfox has already had his case ov erturned twice, but was reconvi the transcribed testimony of the key witness in the original tria l, Hezekiah Brown, a serial sex According to Tory Pegram of the International Coalition to Free the Angola Three both trials have raised "racial discrimination, prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defence and summing-up. Each time, the conviction has been reinstated on appeal – the state of Louisiana being the appelant. State Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell has called Woodfox "the most In the coming court hearing, Woodfox is cha llenging his conviction on constitutional grounds, claiming that the foreman of the grand jury that gender makeup of Louisiana. If that fails, he is a lmost certainly to remain in prison for the rest l lawsuit on constitutional grounds against the 197 eir solitary confinement; after a decade King hopes that first Woodfox, then Wallace, wi n their freedom. But he believes that the problems with US jails run much deeper than th e particulars of the Angola Three's case. "This US Congressional Briefing on Angola 3 and Solitary Confinement We are excited to announce that tomorrow there will be a US Congressional solitary confinement, entitled “The Abuses of Solitary Confinement in the Criminal Justice System,” featuring R in 2001 when his conviction was overturned), Congressmen John Conyers, Bobby Scott, Cedric Richmond, and more. And, we are even more excited to an the Guardian UK, which you can link to here. Below is the official announcement from the International Coalition to announcements of other A3 events 198 e Louisiana Judiciary Committee, now Congressional Rep. Cedric Richmond, visit Herman and Albert in Angola in 2008. Their visit resulted in an unprecedented 8 month move of both me n from solitary to a dorm. Although both Herman and Albert were unceremoniously transferred back to solitary only 8 months later without explanat remained involved in efforts to expos e the Constitutional abuses rampant in their cases. NEW ORLEANS of “In the Land of the Free,” at Warren Easton High School Auditorium at 7pm on Thursday, April 14th as a pa rt of Patois: The New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival. Robert King and Emily Maw, the Director of the New Orleans Innocence Project will lead a Q&A following the event. landfree@patoisfilmfest.org and we will be happy to put your name on the will call list at the door. If you have any guests you’d like to bring, just send their names along too and we ’ll do our best to accommodate them. RAE Building to mark the 39th year anniversary of Herman Wallace and Al bert Woodfox’s unjust isolation in solitary confinement. 39 people will replica cell. Our program of events over the weekend will also include: - Screenings of documentaries In the Land of the Free and The Farm, followed by panels of former Black Pa - A display of arts & crafts from Angola inmates, and The House That Herman Built by Jackie Sumell and Herman Wallace - Undoing Racism workshop, round-table discussions, educational workshops with local high school students and a teach-in. and Voices performances - Press conference and vigil at dusk. - Musical entertainment by local performers. For more info about the events in 38 years ago, deep in rural Louisiana, three young black men were silenced egation, systematic corruption, and 199 on in the US, an 18,000 acre former slave plantation called Angola. Peaceful, non-violent protest in the form of hunger and work strikes organized by inmates caught the attention of Louisiana’s elected leaders and local media in the early 1970s. Th into a host of unconstitutional and extraordinarily inhumane practices commonplace in what was then the “bloodiest prison in the South.” Eager to on officials began punishing inmates they saw as troublemakers. At the height of this unprecedented institutional chaos, Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox, and Robert King were charged with murders they did not commit and thrown into 6×9 foot solitary cells. an and Albert remain in solitary, continuing to fight for their freedom. Despite a number of reforms achieved in the mid-70s, many officials repeatedly ignore both evidence of misconduct, and of innocence. The State’s case is riddled with missteps. A bloody print at the murder scene does not match Herman, Albert or anyone charged with the crime and was never compared with the limited number of other prisoners who had access to the dormitory on the day of the murder. ngs from the victim and barely lleged to have been worn by Albert. Both Herman and Albert had multiple alibi witnesses with nothing to gain who testified they were far away from s lied under oath about rewards for their testimony. The prosecution’s star witness Hezekiah Brown told the jury: “Nobody promised me nothing.” But new evidence shows Hezekiah, a is calling upon officials to find the real killer. 200 citing racial discrimi nation, prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate otections that limit federal power recently allowed the U.S. Court of App eals to defer judgment to Louisiana, where seemingly vengeful prosecutors insi st Albert is “the 201 Convent Av.: #1 to 135 St.-City College (at e hill then From: Lee Wengraf lwengraf@gmail.com **NYC Upcoming Speaking Tour - post widely** Leonard Peltier welcomes new attorney Dear Friends: 202 all my supporters and friends to work with him in the struggle for my For decades Robert has specialized in human rights litigation and has cleared of murder charges in the case in which I was later wrongfully April Political Prisoner Poster Is Now Available Here is the political prisoner birthday poster for April. We’ve been 203 The Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective June 11th Day of Solidarity with Eric McDavid and Marie Mason and Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners June 11th began as an international day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoner Jeff "Free" Luers in 2004. At the time, Jeff was message to others who were angered by capitalism's continued war on the Earth's ecosystems – and to those who were willing to take action to put a stop to it. Free is, after all, not alone in his concerns about climate 204 june11th.org (more content soon) NEW YORK – A Libyan woman who says she is the person who burst into a Tripoli hotel to tell foreign journalists that she had been gang raped by Moammar Gadhafi's troops told a CNN interviewer Monday that she is out of al-Obeidi, who made international headlines on March 26 when she was dragged away from the Rixos Hotel by government agents as she screamed her allegations of rape to foreign reporters. 205 "Of course they had my hands tied behind me, and they had my legs tied, would pour alcohol in my eyes so I would not be able to see," she told CNN. This Wednesday Call-in for Alvaro Luna Hernandez FRIENDS IN A: 206 207 Black, Muslim, activist prisoners in experimental communications management units SF BayView esday, April 5, 6:30 p.m., at The Women’s Building, Audre Lorde Room, 3543 18th St. #8, San Francisco by Nehal Zamani 208 of so many activists in the 1970s, CMUs are es In 2010, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed llenging the policies and umstances under which they were established. The Center for Constitutional Rights also works with lo cal activists who are challenging isolation in On Tuesday, April 5, 2011, at 6:30 p.m., activists, advocates and concerned community members will gather at The Women’s Building, Audre Lorde Room for an important panel on the use of isolation in U. the increased use of solitary confinement in the criminal justice system, the CMUs, and the ramifications of isolation on prisoners, their rehabili tation and their mental he Nahal Zamani is education and outreach associate with the Center for Constitutional Rights. He can be nzamani@ccrjustice.org. Troops fire on Yemen protest; US seeks Saleh exit SANAA, Yemen – Military forces and police snipers opened fire Monday on marchers calling for the ouster of Yemen's embattled president, killing at least 15 people and sending a strong message of defiance to U.S. and on the opposition — underscored the resolve of President Ali Abdullah Saleh to cling to power even as protest crowds resist withering attacks It also showed the challenges facing behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to quell the nearly two-month-old uprising in a nation that Washington considers a frontline battleground against al-Qaida's most active In Taiz, witnesses described troops and gunmen, some on rooftops, firing marchers tried to flee, witnesses said. has not publicly demanded that he step down. But the diplomatic efforts are a clear sign that the Americans have decided the danger of turmoil and Mustafa al-Sabri, a spokesman for a coalition of opposition parties, said 209 asked opposition leaders for their "vision" for a transition. In response, the opposition over the weekend gave the Americans a proposal that Saleh step down and hand his powers to his vice president, who would The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Yemen's neighbors Oman and Saudi Arabia, also offered to try to mediate a peace deal. In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said American envoys "continue to consult intensively" with Yemen's government and the iff sentences in Henry Glover case Former police officer David Warren was sentenced to more than 25 years in prison this morning for in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-PicayuneFormer New Or leans Police officer Greg McRae, accompanied by his wife, enters the U.S. Federal Courthouse T hursday morning for sentencing in his involvement over was shot by officer David Warren in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; McRae admitted burning a car containing Glover's body. Former officer Greg McRae, who admitted burning a car Glover's body, was sentenced to more than 17 years 210 custody immediately. Warre since shortly after his indictment in June 2010. Both sentences were imposed by U.S. District J udge Lance Africk, who delivered stern speeches to both men before rendering his judgment. Warren was convicted in December of violating Glove r's civil rights by shooting him, as well as using a gun in a crime of violence. A rookie police officer at the time of the storm, Warren had been which was located on the second floor of a strip "spurious" to describe Warren's claim that Glover charged at him in a menacing way. "You killed a man ... Henry Glover was gunned down becau said. He added that every day Warren has lived si nce September 2005 is one more day than Glover Africk said Warren's conduct contrasted with that of most NOPD officers, who helped people and saved lives in the aftermath of the storm. Actions like Warren's, he said, erode confidence in law enforcement, making a harsh sentence necessary. "I reject that argument." Africk said. "You were force," he told Warren. David Warren Before imposing Warren's sentence, Africk said that he had "given tremendous thought to this case. I can promise you, not everyone will agree impose," he added. e sentence would be fair. 211 "He is not an evil man. He is not a racist," the friend said. Warren is white, while Glover is black. During the trial, prosecutors sought to show that race played a role in the event. Members of the Glover family, visibly devastated, al odium. They asked Africk to issue the maximum sentence allowed by law. "I forgive these men," said Edna Glover, the victim' don't, Jesus won't forgive me." Africk ordered Warren to pay about $7,600 in restitu tion to the Glover family to cover his funeral After Glover was shot, he was picked up by Will iam Tanner, a good Samaritan who drove him to a nearby police encampment for medical aid. Tanner and others said police there took them into custody Later, officers drove away in Tanner's car, with Glover's body inside. McRae admitted during the trial It took nearly a year for Glover's remains to be id entified, and it wasn't until after the publication of a series of news articles starting in December 2008 that the manner of Glover's death was known. McRae's lawyer, Frank DeSalvo, argued that Africk s stances of the storm as a mitigating factor when sentencing his client. He said McRae saved many lives during the hurricane. Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneEdna Glover as she and other family members leave federal cour nded down to two former 212 213 cers. Burning the car at the time didn't seem so serious, DeSalvo said, addi s the implications of what he did and has taken responsibility for it. McRae, clad in a tie and a blue blazer, addressed Af rick directly, saying he re alized the error of his "I acknowledge my mistake," he sa tly to the Warren family ... excuse me, the Glover family." McRae added that he al so apologized to the Warren family. Glover family daily. I also pray for all the victims of Katrina." ions contributed as much as thos The judge called McRae's conduct "barbaric," sayi ng it was "unforgivable" to burn Glover's body -- last photo the Glover family has of h im is that "of a pile of bones," a description that provoked a gasp from the vi ctim's family members sitting in the audience. "At some point, you lost your compass," Africk said. This story was reported by Laura Maggi and Brendan McCarthy. (April 2011) Produced by 214 various trucks and businesses. (Abraham is a vegan) and power plants. At the point of his arrest no criminal damage has actually occurred. (Eric is a vegan). Farm and an ELF arson against an old growth logging corporation. Also admitted his 215 action was claimed under the banner of the ELF. (Steve is a vegan). Costatino Ragusa, c/o Regionalgefängnis Bern, Genfergasse 22, 3001 Bern, Switzerland. On remand accused of possession of explosive materials. Costatino American Green Scare defendant accused of direct action activity in America. Serving 3 years in China for drugs related offences then due to be deported back 216 217 Ihar Alinevich, c/o P.O. Box 8, Glavpochtampt, 220050 Minsk, Belarus. Jailed for a 218 www.geocities.com/yesilanarsi/elp.htm Australian ELP.SN is our Australian contact. For more info e-mail North American ELP is our North American contact. For more information e-mail Turkey ELP.SN is our Turkish contact. For more info e-mail and Beaten by the Police (Again!) arrested during the peaceful demonstration against violations of article 31 of russian constitution (freedom of peaceful assembly) along with many 219 police superiors came to the police station, but after a short conversation with the policemen of #78 they just left. He tried for nearly Exonerated from death row by DNA: Sun. 6/12 NYC Story of the exonerated and innocent men wrongfully imprisoned for = = After Innocence is a 2005 United States documentary film about men who were exonerated from death row by DNA evidence. Directed by The featured exonerees are Dennis Maher; Calvin Willis; Scott Hornoff; Wilton Dedge; Vincent Moto; Nick Yarris; and Herman Atkins. has been confined for many years in the Security Housing Unit at California's Pelican Bay State Prison, I am attach ing a document projecting a hunger strike to begin on According to the Complaint, these men are in sol itary confinement under harsh conditions due to their "status." They have been labeled gang affiliated, even though they have not been charged or found guilty of a gang related act, based on allegations by confidential inmate informants seeking and receiving special treatment. In order to be released from the Security Housing Unit they must "debrief." That means providing staff with information implicating others as gang member s or associates, adversely impacting the gang to is can cause harm to other prisoners, and make the prisoner who debriefs (or a member 220 221 Interview with former U.S. President, Jimmy Welcome. Thank you for accepting our invitation. Jimmy Carter: Rodríguez: well. You told me that you’d like to say something to the Cuban people before our interview. Rodríguez: The camera is yours. To the people of Cuba I would like to say that I My hope is that in the future we will see norma 222 with the freedom of the so-called Cuban Five w In the future I hope that we can see unimpeded trade and commerce as well as travel back and forth When I became president I immediately lifted the tr avel restraints between both my country and Cuba and I have worked very closely with your former President Fidel Castro to establish diplomatic employed in the Interests Sections, both in the Unite d States as well as in C who work in the Interests Section in d I think that this can contribute to normal marvelous your country is. Rodríguez opportunity to ask you a few questions. U.S. President in 50 years to do something to norm alize relations. You recalle d some of the important steps. Also for the fact that you have come to extended and with respect. The Cuban people, who As you yourself acknowledge, the blockade remains in place, and the Cuban people know, furthermore, that it remains in place as stiffly as ever, sometimes even more rigorous than before. I ask: What prospects do you see for relations be blockade, that the whole world opposes? As you know, the majority of Cubans want to have normal relations with the United States, and the overwhelming majority of North Americans also want to have normal relationships with Cuba. Unfortunately there are a few radical leaders in my country, some in prominent positions in Congress, mostly Cuban Americans, who insist on keeping th 223 opinion polls even inside Miami … testifying that the younger members of that community want to move the economic blockade against Cuba and want to have normal opportuni directions: from the United States to Cuba and also from Cuba to the United States. This is a change. In my opinion, it’s a change that is re and I hope that my small voice, and the opinion of many American, can make this a reality. Rodríguez: statement, when I heard you also ask for, demand, freedom for the Five Cuban Heroes imprisoned in the States, who Cuba considers heroes, because they faced terrorist groups and were able to prevent the list of 2,099 wounded and 3,478 dead from terro rist attacks on our country from growing any larger. about the demand that the Five You said that according to U.S. law you expected that they would be freed. They have appealed to the Supreme Court, which refused to he ar their case, despite the fact th at more than 10 Nobel laureates and hundreds of political personalities and intellectu als around the world had demanded it. In other words, all the legal step The process has been extremely arbitrary, as you sa them have been subjected to the additional punishment of being denied regular visits from their wives, as well as having the visits from thei r family members made very difficult. To arrive at this point with the Supreme Court a nd not allow even for the review of such a complex case is what made these Nobel prizewinners and political personalities demand that Obama grant a t to pardon, as a humanitarian ewinners who are asking Obama to pardon the Five? As you know, I’m not only a former presid Rodríguez: Well, in my private talks to President Bush a nd also with President Obama, I have urged the I recognize the restraints within th e American judicial system, and my e president might a decision that could only be made by the president himself, it would be presumptuous of me to try to te now and before this, have known that my own opinion very doubtful, it violated standards, and also some of the restraints on their visitation were extreme. sit them in jail, and it is my wish in the future that before a pardon might be granted is that th 224 I have been informed by officials, for instance, that the shooting down of the small planes over t of the United States informed Cuban leaders that no more flights would take place. And I was informed by Cuban officials that they notified the President of the United States, very clear permit a plane to fly over extensive sentences that have been but in every way, in my private Rodríguez: Recently a person very closely connected to a man with a love for justice, who fought for justice, and his last words, his last work, even, on Rodríguez: To go further into the case would make th is conversation much longer, but what the doing was looking for information to prevent terrorist actions. I am confident that you will be able to convey the insistence on a pardon, as a humanitarian gesture. These men have suffered a lot, and have lost family members without being able and your statements in the name of the Cuban Mr. Carter, you also said this morning at the pre eapons mean for the human species, when you were le against consumer culture, promoted rational policies, defended the environment, even t hough it made you unpopular among certain sectors. a chance to do something to save humankind. Well, when I was president, we negotiated w 225 reducing arsenals, and that they have been monito ring very closely the agreements that have been signed by these governments. I think the United States has not b global warming issue. Cuban officials, since I’ve been here, have pointed out me that the old city in Rodríguez: I’m very grateful for your time. Thank you. Every time you come to Cuba, hope is Espero que podemos volver otra vez, muchas v eces. En la oportunidad traer toda mi familia. Hay muchos de nuestra familia. Tenemos treinta y seis miembros… [ Thank you very much. Rodríguez: Thank you, Mr. Carter, very much.