via: icffmaj@aol.com
===============
A Space, Wed June 10, 2009 7-9, Philly
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DROP THE CHARGES: FREE THE SAN FRANCISCO 8 is an event to discuss case
updates and watch the short movie, Legacy of Torture, and raise awareness
about who the San Francisco 8 are and the impact of repression on our
movements today. This is a showing as part of a video blitz in response to
the start of the pretrial of the case on June 8th.
------------------
Eight former Black community activists – Black Panthers and others – were
arrested January 23, 2007 in California, New York, and Florida on charges
related to the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer. Similar
charges were thrown out after it was revealed that police used torture to
extract confessions when some of these same men were arrested in New Orleans
in 1973. Free the SF 8!

Another example of why the appplication of the death penalty is corrupt to the BONE!
=====================

Ex-soldier gets life in prison for Iraqi slayings

By BRETT BARROUQUERE, Associated Press Writer Brett Barrouquere, Associated Press Writer 5/22/09

PADUCAH, Ky. – An ex-soldier convicted of raping and killing an Iraqi teen and murdering her family has been sentenced to life in prison in a case that drew attention to the emotional and psychological strains on soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Steven Dale Green, 24, of Midland, Texas, was spared the death penalty Thursday after jurors couldn't agree on a punishment for the brutal crime.

In March 2006, after an afternoon of card playing, sex talk and drinking Iraqi whiskey, Pfc. Green and three other soldiers went to the home of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi near Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. Green shot and killed the teen's mother, father and sister, then became the third soldier to rape the girl before shooting her in the face. Her body was set on fire.

Federal jurors who convicted Green of rape and murder deliberated for more than 10 hours over two days on whether to give Green a death sentence or life in prison without parole. Since they could not unanimously agree on either, life in prison had to be the verdict.

"It's the better of two bad choices," said his father, John Green, who sighed as the verdict was read.

His son will be sentenced Sept. 4 by U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell.

In Baghdad, Iraqis said they were shocked and disappointed that Green was not sentenced to death.

"Has Iraqi blood and honor become so cheap, where a family can be murdered and a daughter raped and killed, and the verdict is life imprisonment?" said Tariq Dawood, 55.

Haidar Kadom, 31, a teacher there, called the sentence "a mockery of Iraqi rights."

"If an Iraqi did the same to an American female soldier, he would be regarded as a terrorist and would be sentenced to death," he said.

Green's attorneys never denied his involvement in the attack, instead focusing on building a case that he didn't deserve the death penalty. Former Marines and other soldiers Green served with testified that he faced an unusually stressful combat tour in Iraq's "Triangle of Death" with a unit that suffered heavy casualties and didn't receive sufficient leadership.

Jurors declined to comment as they were escorted out of the courthouse. A civilian jury decided Green's case because he was out of the Army before he was charged.

According to the jury verdict forms, several panelists said the stress Green was under from combat and other areas of his life was a mitigating factor against a death sentence. Just as many cited the Army knowledge that he was having homicidal thoughts.

Other factors included his bad home life, not being tried in a military court like the rest of the defendants and that he was influenced by his superiors during the attack. Two other soldiers convicted in the attack outranked Green and testified against him.

The issue of combat stress resulting from long and traumatic deployments came to the forefront again just as Green's trial was entering the sentencing phase in Kentucky. Thousands of miles away in Iraq, an Army sergeant on his third tour of duty allegedly entered a military mental health clinic May 11 and opened fire on his comrades, killing five, including a doctor who helped soldiers deal with stress.

Green had been deployed for about six months when he attacked the family. About three months before that, enemy attacks over 12 days killed two command sergeants, a lieutenant and a specialist in his unit.

The defense case also focused on the lack of military leadership in the unit and the Army's failure to recognize that Green could act on homicidal thoughts of killing Iraqi civilians that he expressed after several fellow soldiers had been killed.

Green was seen by Army mental health professionals, but a nurse practitioner sent him back to his unit with pills to help him sleep after he showed no signs of planning to act on those feelings, she testified.

The trial was held in western Kentucky because Green was a member of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford said in a statement that prosecutors have "the utmost respect" for the jury's sentencing decision.

One of Green's attorneys, Darren Wolff of Louisville, said his client twice offered to plead guilty, but the U.S. Justice Department refused amid international pressure for a conviction.

"Mr. Green will spend the rest of his life in jail and the events of March 12, 2006, have forever changed the lives of many," Wolff said. "It is a tragic case on so many levels."

Green's brother, Doug Green, 26, said the jury reached the appropriate decision.

"I do think it gives him a chance to have some semblance of a life," he said. "We're grateful for that."

But Qais Aboud Ali Khutri al-Janabi, the head of a prominent Sunni clan in Mahmoudiya where the girl and her family were killed, said justice had not been done.

"We demand this trial be held again and a death penalty issued," he said.

___

Associated Press Writers Kristin M. Hall in Paducah and Hamid Ahmed in Baghdad contributed to this report.

PLEASE PASS THE WORD -- GET INVOLVED!!

Via: Free Debbie Peagler on Facebook
===============================

IT'S NOW OR NEVER!

Dear Friends,

Debbie's Parole Board Hearing has been set for MAY 28, 2009. THAT IS ONLY 10 DAYS AWAY. The time to act is now. Please forward the petition on to as many contacts as possible (especially California voters!). We must break 1000 signatures. We must keep climbing to the new 2500 signature goal.

We currently have 875, so let's keep it up. Debbie has spent over 13 million minutes behind bars as she and her attorneys have tirelessly fought for her freedom. Her time is tragically coming to an end as she simultaneously wages this next fight against cancer. There are now 365 members of this group. If each of us could take just a MINUTE to pass this along, we can exponentially grow this voice loud enough to be heard by Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Parole Board.

Let's give Debbie the loudest voice possible on her hearing date, and let's help make this happen!!!

In addition to sending to as many contacts (particularly but not limited to Californians) as you can, letters written to the actual Parole Board can have a huge impact, as the Board of Parole Hearings is required to read each and every letter into the record at parole hearings. Sample text is available, but yours will be more effective if it varies a little from the boilerplate letter. Please personalize it as much as possible. See for details:
Send A Letter

Thank you so much for making a difference. Let's act now.

P.S. Many of us have had loved ones also go through a relentless struggle against cancer, and know how much love, support, and strength it takes. I cannot even imagine what that must be like from where Debbie sits behind bars, especially given the stress of this upcoming hearing. Below is her address so that you may send her a card or note of encouragement!

Deborah Peagler, W19341
D14-05-02L
CCWF PO Box 1508
Chowchilla, CA 93610-1508

PLEASE VISIT Troy Davis : Finality over Fairness
AND GET INVOLVED NOW!
============================

May 23, 2009

OP-ED COLUMNIST, New York Times

In the Absence of Proof
By BOB HERBERT
The options are running out for Troy Davis, a man who has been condemned to death for killing a police officer in Georgia, but whose guilt is seriously in question.

It’s bad enough that we still execute people in the United States. It’s absolutely chilling that we’re willing to do it when we’re not even sure we’ve got the right person in our clutches.

Mr. Davis came within an hour of execution last fall. His relatives and his attorney, Jason Ewart, had come to the state prison to say goodbye. Mr. Davis had eaten his last meal, and Mr. Ewart was ready to witness his execution.

The mind-numbing tension was broken with a last-minute stay from the Supreme Court. The case then made its way to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, which ruled 2-to-1 last month against Mr. Davis’s petition for a hearing to examine new evidence pointing to his innocence.

The countdown to the ghoulish ritual of execution resumed.

Mr. Davis was convicted of shooting a police officer to death in the parking lot of a Burger King in Savannah, Ga., in 1989. The officer, Mark Allen MacPhail, was murdered as he went to the aid of a homeless man who was being pistol-whipped.

I’m opposed to the death penalty, but I would have a very hard time finding even the faintest glimmer of sympathy for the person who murdered that officer. The problem with taking Mr. Davis’s life in response to the murder of Officer MacPhail is the steadily growing mass of evidence that Mr. Davis was not the man who committed the murder.

Nine witnesses testified against Mr. Davis at his trial in 1991, but seven of the nine have since changed their stories. One of those seven, Dorothy Ferrell, said she was on parole when she testified and was afraid that she’d be sent back to prison if she didn’t agree to cooperate with the authorities by fingering Mr. Davis.

“I told the detective that Troy Davis was the shooter,” she said in an affidavit, “even though the truth was that I didn’t know who shot the officer.”

Another witness, Darrell Collins, who was a teenager at the time of the murder, said the police had “scared” him into falsely testifying by threatening to charge him as an accessory to the crime. He said he was told that he would go to prison and might never get out if he refused to help make the case against Mr. Davis.

This week Mr. Davis’s lawyers, led by Mr. Ewart of the Arnold & Porter law firm in Washington, filed a last-ditch, long-shot petition with the Supreme Court, asking it to intervene and allow Mr. Davis’s claims of innocence to be fully examined.

An extraordinary group of 27 former judges and prosecutors joined in an amicus brief in support of the petition. Among those who signed on were William Sessions, the former director of the F.B.I.; Larry Thompson, a U.S. attorney general from 2001-2003; the former Congressman Bob Barr, who was the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia from 1986-1990; and Rudolph Gerber, who was an Arizona trial and court of appeals judge from 1979-2001.

The counsel of record for the amicus brief is the Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree. The brief asserts that the Supreme Court should intervene “because Mr. Davis can make an extraordinary showing through new, never reviewed evidence that strongly points to his innocence, and thus his execution would violate the Constitution.”

The very idea of executing someone who may in fact be innocent should also violate the nation’s conscience. Mr. Davis is incarcerated. He’s no threat to anyone. Where’s the harm in seeking out the truth and trying to see that justice is really done?

And if the truth can’t be properly sorted out, we should be unwilling to let a human life be taken on mere surmise.

There was no physical evidence against Mr. Davis, and no murder weapon was ever found. At least three witnesses who testified against him at his trial (and a number of others who were not part of the trial) have since said that a man named Sylvester “Redd” Coles admitted to killing the police officer.

Mr. Coles, who was at the scene, and who, according to witnesses, later ditched a gun of the same caliber as the murder weapon, is one of the two witnesses who have not recanted. The other is a man who initially told investigators that he could not identify the killer. Nearly two years later, at the trial, he testified that the killer was Mr. Davis.

Officer MacPhail’s murder was a horrendous crime that cries out for justice. Killing Mr. Davis, rather than remedying that tragedy, would only compound it.

via: Freedom Archives
==================

Leonard Peltier's first full parole hearing was held in 1993, at
which time his case was continued for a 15-year reconsideration. On
Wednesday, it was announced (in Portland, OR) that Mr. Peltier has
recently applied for and been granted a parole hearing. The hearing
is scheduled for July 27, 2009. All supporters are encouraged to
step up their efforts in support of parole for Leonard Peltier.

Letters in Support of Parole

It is really important that everyone write letters in support of
Leonard's petition for parole. These letters can be quite simple
and should cover the basic points important for parole decisions. A
sample letter follows. Feel free to use it, but know that it's even
better if you write one in your own words. Be courteous and concise.

Get as many people to sign similar letters, as well. Carry a sheaf of
spare letters with you. Get one signature per letter, that is, rather
than using a petition format. Mail them to the Parole Commission,
but also send copies to the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
(contact information below).

Guidelines for General Supporters

First, we ask that you sign the online at
PETITION IN SUPPORT OF PAROLE OF LEONARD PELTIER Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ] .

Next, draft correspondence to the U.S. Parole Commission. A sample
letter follows.

Sample Letter

United States Parole Commission
5550 Friendship Boulevard
Suite 420
Chevy Chase, MD 20815-7286
(Insert Date)

Re: LEONARD PELTIER #89637-132

Dear Commissioners,

Convicted in connection with the deaths on June 26, 1975, of
Ronald Williams and Jack Coler, agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Mr. Leonard Peltier remains imprisoned at the United
States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

The court record in this case clearly shows that government
prosecutors have long held that they do not know who killed Mr. Coler
and Mr. Williams nor what role Leonard Peltier "may have" played
in the tragic shoot-out.

Further, in a decision filed by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
on December 18, 2002, Mr. Peltier's sentences "were imposed in
violation of [Peltier's] due process rights because they were based
on information that was false due to government misconduct," and,
according to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in 2003: ".Much
of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and its
prosecution of Leonard Peltier is to be condemned. The government
withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not
disputed."

Despite these admissions, Leonard Peltier has served over 33 years
in prison.

After careful consideration of the facts in Leonard Peltier's case,
I have concluded that Leonard Peltier does not represent a risk to
the public. First, Leonard Peltier has no prior convictions and has
advocated for non-violence throughout his prison term. Furthermore,
Leonard Peltier has been a model prisoner. He has received excellent
evaluations from his work supervisors on a regular basis. He
continues to mentor young Native prisoners, encouraging them to
lead clean and sober lives. He has used his time productively,
disciplining himself to be a talented painter and an expressive
writer. Although Leonard Peltier maintains that he did not kill
the agents, he has openly expressed remorse and sadness over
their deaths.

Most admirably, Mr. Peltier contributes regular support to those
in need. He donates his paintings to charities including battered
women's shelters, half way houses, alcohol and drug treatment
programs, and Native American scholarship funds. He also coordinates
an annual holiday gift drive for the children of the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation.

Leonard Peltier is widely recognized for his good deeds and in
turn has won several awards including the North Star Frederick
Douglas Award; Federation of Labour (Ontario, Canada) Humanist of
the Year Award; Human Rights Commission of Spain International
Human Rights Prize; and 2004 Silver Arrow Award for Lifetime
Achievement. Mr. Peltier also has been nominated for the Nobel
Peace Prize six times.

Leonard Peltier is now over 60 years of age-a great-grandfather-and
suffers from partial blindness, diabetes, a heart condition, and
high blood pressure.

I recognize the grave nature of the events of June 26, 1975,
and I extend my deepest sympathy to the families of those who
died that day. However, I find aspects of this case to also be of
concern and I believe Leonard Peltier deserves to be reunited with
his family and allowed to live the remaining years of his life in
peace. I also believe that, rather than presenting a threat to the
public, Mr. Peltier's release would help to heal a wound that has
long impeded better relations between the federal government and
American Indians.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Signature


(Your Name)
(Your Street Address)
(Your City, State, and Zip Code)

For Family and Friends

As with any professional correspondence, your support letter should
be on letterhead (if you have Microsoft Word or another similar
program you can easily create professional-looking letterhead from
a template). The letterhead should include all of your contact
information including your name, address, phone number(s) and e-mail
address if applicable.

Describe your relationship with Leonard -- how do you know him, for
how long, etc. Write about his character, and his accomplishments
both before and during imprisonment. Discuss improvements made
since being incarcerated such as education and his philanthropic
work. Discuss Leonard's positive attitude and, despite his innocence,
the fact that he has openly expressed remorse and sadness over the
deaths that occurred on June 26, 1975.

Finish your support letter by telling the Parole Board how you
will support Leonard once he is granted parole. Your support might
be financial, such as a place to live, use of a vehicle, or help
finding job offers. Your support can also be emotional such as
providing advice and encouragement.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL SUPPORTERS: When you write a letter in support
of Leonard's parole, mail the letter directly to the U.S. Parole
Commission, but also please send a copy of your correspondence to
the Peltier Legal Team, c/o LP-DOC, P.O. Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106.
Time to set him free... Because it is the RIGHT thing to do.

Friends of Peltier
Friends of Leonard Peltier


Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

Freedom Archives - home Questions and comments may be sent to claude@freedomarchives.org

Man this sh*t really pissed me off yesterday that it put me in a bad mood the rest of the day.

I went to this cleaners around my neighborhood to have a couple of cloths done. It wasn't the first time I went there but I very seldom go since already having a washer and dryer. Anyway, the place is Asian owned but; as usual, they have Hispanics manning the counter and cash-register (that's a whole other topic that needs discussion in a later post/thread). Well, the girl looked my stuff over then asked me for my telephone number. I was taken back by that somewhat but I told her anyway. She then ran it in a computer and asked me my name. I told her. She said it doesn't match with what she's got. That wasn't a surprise to me, still; I told her that that's my name, to use the that and what is the cost and can I have my ticket. She replied that the name I gave her is not associated with the address of the phone-number I gave her. I said. "so what, that's my name and I'll give you an address you can put down, no problem", (my P.O. Box address that is), "but all you asked me for was a phone-number of which I don't understand why you're even asking that question anyway". This is based on the fact that in all previous times, since I was little; you go to the cleaners, you give them the cloths, your name and address, they give you a copy of the ticket and that's it. Well, me and this female was going back and forth about this a little while longer when this other Hispanic-female behind the counter that I've dealt with before walked up.

She told the other girl she'll handle it 'cause she knows I've been there before and she remembers me. Well, from that, I thought the stupidity was ended from there but I was wrong, it increased. She then looked at the computer and started running pretty-much the same thing the other girl ran. I then remarked, "that's my name, what, ya'll want my social-security number too?" I saw that that kind of embarrassed her and she replied, "no, no, I'm just asking because I see other names here". Then she asked me about one of the names and I told her that he's my uncle to which, in hindsight, I realize I should've told her anything. However, that wasn't good enough for her. She looked at the compter again then inquired about another name asking me who is [so and so]. At that point I was two seconds from going-off and cursing her ass out by saying something like, "WOE, HOLD UP B*TCH, WHERE THE F*** DO YOU GET OFF TRYIN' TO INTEROGATE ME BY ASKIN' QUESTIONS LIKE THAT . . . IT'S NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS WHO THAT IS", but I kept my cool and replied as calmly as I can, "look, this is starting to get really rediculous . . . I gave you my name and that's it, you just use whatever information I give you . . . I don't see why you're asking me all of this b***s*** and I'm really gettin' tired of it". She then proceeded to go through with the process while saying in a way of being suspecious in a weak attempt to try to save-face, "I know you've been in here before, I remember you", as if I'm trying to get away with something. No b*tch, you just don't need to be all up in my business like that.

I also know what was behind all that b***s*** they were on. It’s one of the subtle techniques of deviously getting people to live under more and more BIG BROTHER SURVEILLANCE. But I’m definitely not the one.

I went through a similar incident some time ago at HOME DEPOT. I went there to buy some stuff to do some work around the house. The girl at the counter, a young Sister, told me that I’d have to show some ID to buy a utility-knife, one of the items I brought up. There was no way I was gonna show any ID for some sh*t like that. No argument though, I simply told her that that’s alright; forget it, I don’t want it. The thing is, from her reaction about asking me to do that and my reply, it seems she understood how f***ed-up that policy is and that she was somewhat in agreement with me even though she worked there and couldn’t come right out and say so (a true Sister). A couple of days later I bought it at a local hardware store with no problem.

I went through the same thing when I tried to buy a can of spray-paint from HOME DEPOT a couple of days ago. My reaction was the same as before. However, the teller; who was White, was somewhat shocked.

People, don’t comply with the b***s***. Take serious stands of resistance and pull people’s coat around you about it too.

SHELL IS GUILTY, CHANT THEM DOWN!
=================

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Foley Square, Manhattan Street
Across from Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street
City/Town: New York, NY

Phone: 9174184133
Email: info@shellguilty.com

TURN UP THE HEAT ON SHELL

[***NOTE: The judge just postponed the opening of the trial ONE day to Wednesday. That's why the rally is NOW Wednesday May 27th!]

On May 27th, the Wiwa v. Shell trial opens in Manhattan– join our rally to mark this historic day and turn up the heat on Shell.

After more than thirteen years of waiting for justice, the family of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists murdered for opposing multinational oil giant Royal Dutch Shell will finally get their day in court. And Shell will finally stand trial for its role in their murders.

On Wednesday, May 27th, a landmark human rights trial will open in federal court in New York City at which Shell must finally answer to charges that it conspired with the Nigerian military to bring about the execution of environmental justice and human rights campaigners. Shell faces a host of other charges for its collusion with the Nigerian military to brutally crush a peaceful and popular movement of the Ogoni people to stand against the environmental devastation and human rights abuses that have accompanied Shell's operations in their land for decades; crimes against humanity, summary execution, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, assault and battery, the list goes on.

Make no mistake; this is historic. Please help us highlight this important trial that many said would never make it to court.

The ShellGuilty coalition is highlighting Shell's crimes and turning up the heat on Shell to end gas flaring, one of the abuses that Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists died struggling to stop. To learn more about gas flaring and the efforts of ShellGuilty, visit Shell Guilty

Come out on May 27th at noon for a rally to honor the legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa and others who were murdered for their opposition to Shell's exploitation and degradation of their land and communities.

PLEASE SUPPORT!

via: Freedom Archives
=================

May 18, 2009

TO: Friends and Supporters of Kamau Sadiki
FROM: Attorney Akil Secret
asecret@thesecretfirm.com

Attorney Teri Thompson
teri@terithompsonllc.com

RE: State of Georgia v. Freddie Hilton a/k/a Kamau Sadiki
Update - Motion for New Trial

On November 10, 2003, Judge Stephanie Manis sentenced Kamau Sadiki to life imprisonment for murder and ten (10) years to run consecutively for armed robbery after a Fulton County Superior Court jury found him guilty for the murder of Atlanta Police Officer James Green on November 3, 1971.

At the time of the murder, nineteen year old Kamau Sadiki was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) which was led by John Thomas. Several members of the BLA, including Mr. Sadiki, left New York City and lived in the Atlanta area for a short period of time. On the night of the murder, two witnesses observed three black males run from a van where Officer Green sat at a gas station in downtown Atlanta. The witnesses failed to identify Mr. Sadiki from a photographic line-up. There was no physical evidence that implicated Mr. Sadiki. In 1971, the Atlanta police department closed the case as unsolved.

In 2001, following increased interest in terrorism, one such former BLA member gave a statement about the 1971 murder after being detained during a traffic stop. With no eyewitness testimony and no physical evidence, the State based its case entirely upon the statements of three former BLA members who were present in Atlanta at the time of Officer Green’s murder. Mr. Sadiki was arrested in 2002 in Brooklyn, New York some thirty one (31) years later after the murder.

After a lengthy jury trial in Fulton County Superior Court that began in September 2003, Mr. Sadiki is now serving his sentence in Augusta State Medical Prison in Augusta, Georgia. Appellate Attorney Stephen Scarborough filed a motion for new trial which was heard on April 23, 2009 in Fulton County Superior Court.

Among the many issues raised in his appeal, Mr. Sadiki is urging the court to reconsider her exclusion of the testimony of John Thomas’ former wife, Ignae Thomas, wherein she was present during two conversations where others admitted their participation in the murder of the officer. Mr. Thomas who is now deceased, made statements exonerating Mr. Sadiki and stated that he had nothing to do with the shooting. Judge Manis ruled such testimony by Ms. Thomas inadmissible and excluded the testimony from the jury’s consideration. Other issues raised on appeal include Judge Manis’ inclusion of a conspiracy charge to the jury when there was no evidence of such and Judge Manis’ admission into evidence inflammatory statements regarding Mr. Sadiki’s participation in the BLA and allegations of misdeeds by the BLA.

To date, Judge Manis has not ruled on the motion for new trial. Historically, few motions for new trial are granted. In the event she denies the motion, Mr. Sadiki can file an appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals and, thereafter, the Georgia Supreme Court. Mr. Sadiki also has a right to appeal to the highest court in the land, the United States Supreme Court.

For those who wish to extend greetings to Kamau Sadiki, his address is as follows:

Mr. Freddie Hilton, a/k/a Kamau Sadiki
No. 1150688
Augusta State Medical Prison
3001 Gordon Highway
Grovetown, GA 30813



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

Freedom Archives - home Questions and comments may be sent to claude@freedomarchives.org

On May 21st, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Civil Liberties Defense Center joined in a defense attorneys' motion in the San Jose district court to dismiss U.S.A. v. Buddenberg, a federal prosecution of four animal rights activists in California for alleged conspiracy to commit animal enterprise terrorism. The four have been charged with First Amendment protected activities such as protesting, chalking the sidewalk, chanting and leafleting. The motion asks the Court to strike down the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) as unconstitutional.

On Tuesday May 26th, the California Supreme Court's ruled in favor of Proposition 8 banning future same-sex marriages but upholding existing same-sex marriages. Street actions to protest discrimination are taking place throughout the day in California and elsewhere in the nation. In San Francisco, police arrested more than 150 protesters for blocking an intersection near City Hall shortly after the ruling was announced.

On Saturday, June 6th at 6pm at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, author, elder and activist Betita Martinez presents the film made as a companion to her book, "500 Years of Chicano History: Viva la Causa." The film is an introduction to Chican@ history from the point of view of the people who lived it. This film is sympathetic to the issues of oppressed peoples, without flinching for the difficulties facing "el Movimiento" including class, sexism, interracial unity, and homophobia.

On May 19, activists in the San Francisco Bay Area and Fresno marked a Global Day of Action for death row inmate Troy Davis with rallies, vigils and public information sessions. Davis has been on Georgia's death row for more than 18 years despite a strong case of innocence. He lost his most recent appeal and his execution date is expected to be set soon.

With Mexican flags and music, Cinco de Mayo was celebrated in San José on May 3rd with the usual pride and enthusiasm. People were just trying to have some safe fun driving slowly down Santa Clara Street, the main thoroughfare from Mexican Heritage Plaza and the east side of the city into downtown. The crowds were smaller than previous years, but that did not stop San José police from targeting Latinos.

Joe Tougas writes: On International Workers' Day, 2009, after living in Beijing for five months without leaving the city, I finally made it into the country. I traveled with a British national and three Chinese folks to a small village about four hours northeast of Beijing, called Hong Xing Cun, or Red Star.

Fresno is ground zero in an epic battle for the heart and soul of the union movement. Will 10,000+ Fresno homecare workers be represented by a union run by unelected, out-of-town bureaucrats who negotiate sweetheart deals behind closed doors with corporate CEOs? Or, will workers support the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), a member-driven organization that fights for better pay and benefits for its members?

At the May 16th ceremony for UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall law school graduates, World Can't Wait protested against Boalt Hall Law Professor and author of U.S. torture memos, John Yoo. The protest against torture called on graduates to demand that the UC law school not tolerate torture and those who are apologists for torture policies.

The Rock n' Roll On the Knoll Benefit Concert scheduled to occur on the UC Santa Cruz campus on Sunday, May 17th has been canceled. This was announced with very short notice on the afternoon of May 14th. Apparently, UCSC had to export some of it's police force to a graduation ceremony at UC Merced where Mrs. Obama will be speaking.

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Peace be upon you

NEWARK, N.J. – Mohammad Qatanani's mosque was full of FBI agents the
night before he was to find out if he would be deported.

But even though the federal government was trying to link Qatanani to
foreign extremists, the agents weren't there to keep an eye on him. They
wanted to show their support for a Muslim leader they considered a
valued ally for the relationships he helped forge between the FBI and
Muslims in the wake of 9/11.

Across the nation, such grass-roots relationships between Muslims and
the federal government are in jeopardy. A coalition of Muslim groups is
calling for Muslims to stop cooperating with the FBI — not on national
security or safety issues but on community outreach.

The coalition is upset over what it says is increasing government
surveillance in mosques, new Justice Department guidelines that the
groups say encourage profiling, and the FBI's recent suspension of ties
with the nation's largest Muslim civil rights group, the Council on
American-Islamic Relations.

A petition that opposes FBI tactics is circulating in Muslim communities
and has been gaining support, said coalition chairman Agha Saeed. The
coalition, represented by the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights
and Elections, has requested a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder to discuss what it sees as the deteriorating relationship between
the FBI and Muslim communities.

"We have to decide what we're doing as a country. If it's not a war on
Islam, then these practices must be stopped," Saeed said. "We're not
asking for special treatment, just equal treatment."

A number of Muslim groups — including some of the nation's most
prominent — have declined to sign the petition. Other organizations say
they agree with parts of the petition but also support ongoing dialogue
with law enforcement.

FBI spokesman John Miller said the agency values its relationships with
Muslims and has worked hard on outreach efforts that range from town
hall meetings to diversity training for FBI agents.

"I think a lot of these inaccurate statements and claims have the
potential to do damage to those relationships," Miller said. "What we've
suggested to the major (Muslim) groups is that we try to separate the
real issues from the sound bites, and if we can identify those real
issues, tackle them together."

Supporters of the petition cite recent cases in California and Michigan
where the FBI has been accused of using informants and coercive tactics
to spy on mosques.

A federal judge in California ordered a review last week of FBI
inquiries into several Muslim groups and activists who claim they have
been unfairly spied on and questioned. A Muslim organization in Detroit
asked Holder in mid-April to investigate complaints that the FBI asked
mosque attendees to spy on Islamic leaders and worshippers.

Miller said there is no factual basis for claims the FBI infiltrates
mosques or conducts blanket surveillance of Muslim leaders.

"Based on information of a threat of violence or a crime, we investigate
individuals, and those investigations may take us to the places those
individual go," Miller said.

Miller questioned the timing of the petition, noting that it comes after
the FBI suspended ties with CAIR, partly because it was named as an
unindicted coconspirator in the case against the Holy Land Foundation
for Relief and Development — a group charged with bankrolling schools
and social welfare programs the U.S. government says are controlled by
Hamas.

Afsheen Shamsi, a spokeswoman for CAIR's New Jersey chapter, dismissed
the idea that the petition is retaliation. She said it reflects the
concerns of Muslims who have grown tired of being stopped at airports,
constant questioning and relentless scrutiny eight years after the
attacks of Sept. 11.

"I believe the Muslim community is questioning whether the mosque visits
and the handshakes are just a big show by the FBI, while behind the
scenes, they continue to engage in questionable practices," she said.

The petition is gaining little traction in New Jersey, home to one of
the nation's largest concentrations of Muslims, and a place where
relationships between Muslims and law enforcement were heavily tested in
the aftermath of 9/11.

New Jersey lost 744 residents in the attacks; many Muslims were among
the victims. Several of the 9/11 hijackers had lived in Paterson for a
time, and many Muslims detained after the attacks were held in New
Jersey jails.

But Muslim leaders say the FBI distinguished itself by reaching out to
Muslims, Arab Americans and groups like Sikhs in the wake of 9/11.
Relationships forged between the FBI and Muslim leaders in New Jersey
have endured since.

At Qatanani's mosque in Paterson after 9/11, the imam invited FBI agents
to lecture congregants on how to recognize terrorists. Qatanani also
helped train FBI agents on how to deal respectfully with Muslim
detainees and community members.

When Qatanani became the subject of a high-profile deportation case last
year, several high-ranking law enforcement officials took the stand on
his behalf.

Aref Assaf, a mosque member and supporter of Qatanani who heads the
Paterson-based American Arab Forum, say despite the imam's immigration
ordeal, he has urged his supporters not to sever ties with federal law
enforcement. When the petition came up at a recent meeting of New Jersey
Muslim leaders, Assaf said many declined to sign it.

"I'm a believer that law enforcement does not have a built-in
anti-Muslim policy," he said.

"I know from dealing with FBI leaders they have been very forceful in
their expressions of solidarity with our faith and culture, but there is
a line, where we have to accept that as part of our dealings with them,
they have a job to do, to make sure there are no terrorists in our midst
or anywhere else."

Agha Saeed says relationships between the FBI and Muslims in other parts
of the country have been more one-sided.

"There was a sense of mutuality at first. ... These local connections
people made, they wanted to see it as working with law enforcement and
making the community better," he said. "I am stupefied by the fact that
they (the FBI) are burning down the bridges that they need."

Before Nation

[col. writ. 4/26/09] (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal

As the temperature of war increases in Iraq, and the U.S. increases
troops in Afghanistan, an unanswered question looms.

Not, 'what is a nation', so much as why is this a nation, and when?

When we speak of Iraq, Afghanistan or even Pakistan as nation-states, we
are really speaking of political elites in their capitals, and of
relatively new political identities that are not truly agreed upon even
in those states.

Many of these nations had their borders drawn, not by themselves, but by
diplomats in Europe, more for their interests than the inhabitants
thereof.

Let me give but one example: remember the former Pakistani
president-general Pervez Musharraf? In the year he was born, there was
no Pakistan. He was born a citizen of northwest India.

In many of these countries there are millions of people who see
themselves, first and foremost, as members of ancient tribes, to whom
loyalties lie. They are Pashtun, Punjabi, or Tajik.

In Ayaan Hirsi Ali's autobiographical work, Infidel, she recounts the
childhood memory of her and her sister standing in their back yard in
Somalia, reciting the lineage of their clan. Standing over them was the
daunting figure of grandmother, a switch in hand, and woe to the child
who would forget or overlook an ancestor.

Her grandmother didn't demand that they recount the rulers of Somalia.
What was important was tribe, clan and sub-clan histories and lineages.

For millions and millions of people, in Africa and South Asia, one's
clan is crucial; nation is ephemeral. For before nation, there was
clan. When one is in distress, there is clan. When one is endangered,
there is clan.

Nation is a collection of strangers. Nation is the faraway capital.
Nation is the oppressive force that imposes taxation, or unwanted
military presence.

As the U.S., under Obama, plans to downsize in Iraq, and beef up in
Afghanistan, it faces a force that Americans have not had to consider
for several centuries; the power of tribes (here, I speak of the
so-called 'Indians', a European name imposed on a host of tribes,
clans, and sub-clans).

This is the true social and political power that lies beneath the
ossified and often corrupt national governments in which the U.S. has
invested billions.

There is the formal nation-state, with all the structure that Americans
like, but unseen is the true movers and shakers of society -- identity
formers -- tribes.

This may be the rock upon which all U.S. efforts, all of its billions,
all of its military might -- shatters.

--(c) '09 maj
================

The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

Audio of most of Mumia's essays are at: Prison Radio

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Mumia's got a podcast! Mumia Abu-Jamal's Radio Essays - Subscribe at the
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Mumia Abu-Jamal's new book -- JAILHOUSE LAWYERS: PRISONERS DEFENDING
PRISONERS V. THE USA, featuring an introduction by Angela Y. Davis --
has been released! It is available from City Lights Books:
Jailhouse Lawyers, Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A.

If you are planning to organize an event or would like to order in bulk,
you can also receive a 45% discount on any bulk orders of 20 copies or
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Prepayment would be required and books are nonreturnable. If you or
your organization would like to place a bulk order, please contact
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Let's use the opportunity of the publication of this brilliant, moving,
vintage Mumia book to build the momentum for his case, to raise the
money we desperately need in these challenging economic times, to get
the word out – to produce literature, flyers, posters, videos, DVD's;
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ones, TO GET THE PEOPLE OUT IN THE STREETS … all the work that we must
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