Open World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
December
11, 2000 International Delegation to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington,
D.C.
1) Appeal for Support to Delegation's Follow-up Efforts
2)
Full Report Back From the International Delegation to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on December 11, 2000, on behalf of Mumia
Abu-Jamal
3) List of Participants in International Labor Delegation
1) Appeal for Support to Delegation's Follow-up Efforts
December 20, 2000
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
Please find below the full report on the international labor delegation that met yesterday (December 11th) at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington with Stuart
Ishimaru, Director, Civil Rights Department, U.S. Department of Justice; and Shanlon Wu, counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. A week ago, many of you received an abridged report.
The delegation was co-sponsored by the "Labor For
Mumia" campaign and the International Committee to Save the Life of Mumia
Abu-Jamal, and was supported by the Continuations Committee of the Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights.
As we reported earlier, Mr. Ishimaru pledged that the Department of Justice would issue before the end of the Clinton administration its final response to our petition for a federal investigation into the persistent violations of Mumia
Abu-Jamal's civil and constitutional rights. This gives us just a few weeks to step up this important campaign.
We are determined to press ahead to demand that the Department of Justice give us a positive response to our demands. And for this we urgently need your financial support. We are still over $1000 in debt from the December 11th delegation. And we will need additional funds to contact elected officials in the U.S. Congress and at all levels of government -- as well as trade union officials at home and abroad -- to ask them to join us in demanding federal government intervention in the case of Mumia
Abu-Jamal.
Please send your donations, large or small but preferably large, to "Labor For
Mumia," c/o San Francisco Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94109. We need an additional $4000 to meet the needs of this new situation. Checks should be made payable to Labor For Mumia with an indication that the funds are to cover the efforts of the international labor delegation.
Please fill out the Pledge Coupon below to let us know in advance that your check will be in the mail. Please return this Pledge Coupon as soon as possible to <owc@energy-net.org>. Thank you in advance for all your support to this effort.
United, we will win justice for
Mumia!
In Struggle,
Alan Benjamin,
for the OWC Continuations Committee
PLEDGE COUPON
[ ] I will send a financial contribution of $ _____ to help defray all the costs of the December 11th Delegation and its follow-up activities. I will send a check or money order for this amount to "Labor For
Mumia," c/o San Francisco Labor Council, 1188 Franklin St. #203, San Francisco, CA 94109. My check will be made payable to Labor For Mumia with an indication that the funds are to cover the efforts of the international labor delegation.
NAME
CITY
UNION/ORGANIZATION
EMAIL
(please fill out and return to
ilcinfo@earthlink.net )
********************
2) Full Report Back From the International Delegation to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on December 11, 2000, on behalf of Mumia
Abu-Jamal
[Note: On December 11, 2000, an international labor delegation met at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., with Stuart
Ishimaru, Director, Civil Rights Department, U.S. Department of Justice; and Shanlon Wu, counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. The full list of the 17 participants in this delegation follows the report-back.]
Mr. Stuart Ishimaru: The Criminal Division of the Civil Rights Department is in the process of reviewing all the materials you submitted to us last January to see if there will be an investigation. As I told Mr. Benjamin over the phone last week, I was not sure that we would be able to give you an answer today. At any rate, we have not made a decision yet. The Criminal Division is still analyzing the information. I am hoping we can come in with a recommendation very soon, perhaps in the next few weeks.
I should tell you that the information you received over the phone [from Janet Reno's appointments secretary] according to which there would no investigation on account of this being a state crime was inaccurate. As I said, we are still looking into this case to see if there is the basis for opening a federal investigation.
As for the issue of a change in administration, we are fully aware of your concern. As soon as the Criminal Division finishes analyzing the information, we will present our recommendation. We are hoping to have it completed by the end of the year.
Can I now ask you a question? What is the exact status of Mumia's case in the courts?
Bill Bachmann: Mumia's case is now before Judge
Yohn. It's at the Federal District Court level. Amicus Briefs were submitted to Judge
Yohn, but he refused to admit them into evidence or even read them. In light of Judge Yohn's unprecedented action, Mumia's attorneys have filed a Writ of Mandamus to demand that these briefs be admitted into evidence. This is happening as we speak.
Mr. Ishimaru: Who submitted these Amicus Briefs?
Bill Bachmann: They were filed, among others, by 22 Members of Parliament in Britain and by the
Chicano/Chicana Studies Foundation in Los Angeles.
Roland Biosah: In the name of all the people that I represent here and that made great efforts for me to be here today - the Race Relations Committee of the Trade Unions Congress and the Black Socialist Society of the Labour Party - I would like to explain the purpose of this delegation. We submitted to your office a list of 29 documented violations of Mumia
Abu-Jamal's civil and constitutional rights, and we are asking that you open an investigation into the violations of these rights, which you have a statutory obligation to do when the evidence of the violation of rights is compelling - as it is in the case of Mumia
Abu-Jamal. That is why we are here. We in Great Britain are very concerned.
All other matters concerning Mumia's ongoing litigation in the court system is, of course, important and will have a bearing on the case in the future. But we are not here to discuss these matters. We want you to respond concretely to our original request for a federal investigation.
Next January, a different administration will be in office. Our dossier was submitted to you last January 12; that is, eleven months ago. That is more than sufficient time for you to analyze the information and issue a response.
In a few days there will be the Christmas holidays, then it will be the New Year, with the change of administration. There is not much time left if you are to make a decision.
Mr. Ishimaru: I know it's been a long time. We deal with thousands of cases. We have wanted to make sure this case receives the attention it deserves. But I assure you we very much hope to have a response to you by the end of the year. I was simply asking about the pending litigation because a factor that goes into our analysis is whether there are other proceedings in the federal government that address this particular case.
Roland Biosah: The people I represent here are losing confidence. As you know, U.S. law is based on British law. Twenty-two Members of Parliament in Great Britain prepared an Amicus Brief concerning the violation of Mumia's constitutional rights. This Brief was addressed to Judge
Yohn, who rejected it out of hand without even examining it.
You are responsible for upholding the defense of civil rights on a federal level. You must know that there is racism-run-rampant in the courts and in the judicial system in Pennsylvania. We are here to request your help. You have all the documentation you need to render a decision.
Dennis O'Neil: I am a trade unionist. Ninety percent of the work we do as trade unionists is contracts, grievances and employee-related legislation. We defend our members; we seek fair treatment. Receiving due process is a key question for the trade union movement. That is why it is impossible for us to accept - and to explain to our members - that Mumia
Abu-Jamal did not get fair treatment.
We insist: You must open a federal investigation into the violation of the 29 violations of Mumia's civil and constitutional rights. If there is new evidence of rights' violations, we can send it on later.
I now want to take up what my brother from Great Britain just said: In a couple of weeks there will be a change in administration, either partial or total. There will be changes in the Justice Department. You say you hope to have a response in "a couple of weeks." What does this mean? The clock is ticking. If there is a change of administration, what will this mean for the review of Mumia's case?
Mr. Ishimaru: We're not trying to kick this over to the next administration. We intend to finish this up by the end of the year. You deserve an answer.
Baldemar Velasquez: Let me ask you a question: What are you personally doing next week?
Mr. Ishimaru: My wife is about to give birth. But there will be people here working at the Justice Department. As I have told you, I am working to get it done by the end of the year. It is my intention to have a response to you by the end of the year.
Baldemar Velasquez: It is imperative that we have closure on this review immediately. It is imperative in light of what is happening across the country, with these elections and the disenfranchisement of voters. This is one of the key problems that confronts the Democratic Party: Millions of people are dissatisfied with the political system. We like to see ourselves as the "greatest democracy in the world," and yet fewer and fewer people bother to vote. This, too, is what's at stake here.
And in the case of
Mumia, where the facts are so clear, it should not have been necessary to have an international delegation bring this matter to your attention or to demand that you open an investigation. It shouldn't have been necessary to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures. You should have opened an investigation into these violations as a matter of course.
Mr. Ishimaru: Again, it is not our intention to kick this over to the next administration. I fully understand your disappointment, but often investigations take longer than people would like. Moreover, we have to work within certain parameters that are not always to our liking. But we do want this review to be thorough ...
Nancy Wohlforth: If that is the case, then you should be able to give us a response today. We have no confidence in what may develop in the court system given the record of what transpired in the Pennsylvania courts and what is taking place in the Federal District Court.
You tell us that you "hope to have a response by the end of the year." It seems to me that the list of 29 civil rights' violations could have been reviewed in far less time. Also, you must know that between 1973 and 1999, 84 defendants sentenced to death in U.S. courts were later released after evidence of their innocence emerged. In fact, two of every three death penalty cases have been either reversed, remanded or released because of the high error rates in the capital prosecution system.
It's now up to this Democratic Party administration to do something. It can't wash its hands from this matter and pass it on to the next guys. If nothing is done by this administration to ensure the conditions for a new trial, this administration will be responsible for whatever may happen to
Mumia.
Mr. Ishimaru: You must understand that one of the things that goes into the decision-making process is if other proceedings are involved, and if so, do we get involved?
Bill Bachmann: The Justice Department has an obligation to intervene and not to concern itself with what the court system does. If you look at the fact that Federal District Court Judge Yohn refused to even examine the Amicus Brief sent on behalf of
Mumia, and if you look at the entire role of the Pennsylvania courts in railroading
Mumia, it's clear that the role of the courts is one of the reasons a federal investigation is warranted - as the January 12 materials document.
Daniel Gluckstein: I would like to ask two questions: When you say that you have been examining the list of 29 civil rights' violations since last January 12, this must mean that your review is almost concluded. When we met 11 months ago, you pledged to give a precise answer on each of the 29 claims. I should point out that a federal investigation could be opened on any one of these claims. Can we have information of the status of the review of these claims until now?
My second question is this: In a few weeks, there will be a turnover in administrations. Is it possible for you to set a date here today by which you will have a response? You say that you "hope" to have a response by the end of the year. Everyone hopes this too. But that's not the problem. The problem is when exactly will we have a response.
Mr. Ishimaru: I am not in a position to give you a firm date. I am trying hard to have this done by the end of the year. Also, concerning the answers you request; there will not be a point-by-point reply. I don't recall having promised this.
The problem at this stage is, can we open an investigation or not. There are still a number of outstanding questions.
Lindsay McLaughlin: What are the outstanding questions you need to resolve?
Mr. Ishimaru: We don't know if we have jurisdiction.
Alan Benjamin: I was not one of the people who met with you last January 12. But I do want to remind you that on May 12, you informed the International Committee to Save the Life of Mumia
Abu-Jamal that your review of the documents was under way and that you would have a response "shortly." That was seven months ago. Now you say, "We hope to have a response." I, too, hope you do. Ever since I was a small boy, I hoped that the San Francisco Giants would win the World Series. It hasn't happened, and there is not much chance that it will. At any rate, this doesn't depend on anything I can do.
But you - when you say, "I hope," it's not the same thing. You can actually do something about it.
This is a burning question. Without a federal investigation to ensure the conditions for a new trial, Mumia could be sent to his death - and you will be responsible. There is great anger out there over this election, over the massive disenfranchisement of African Americans, over the racist justice system. If you refuse to act on the case of
Mumia, you will be responsible for whatever may happen in the streets of major cities across the country.
Finally, concerning the outstanding questions you referred to earlier. I trust you are not talking about a matter of the statute of limitations.
Mr. Ishimaru: As a matter of fact, this is one of the outstanding questions. As I said, we don't know if we have jurisdiction.
Alan Benjamin: That is a bogus issue, as the documents we submitted to you in January fully attest. As you know, when there is compelling evidence of persistent and ongoing violations of civil rights, the statute of limitations does not apply. We submitted a memo to you in January documenting the ongoing violation of Mumia's right, right up to the present. This should not be an issue. (*)
Roland Biosah: The laws in Florida were quite clear, but this didn't prevent the Secretary of State from jumping over those laws. You have far greater powers in the case of Mumia
Abu-Jamal than she had in Florida with respect to the elections. You have the power to open immediately a federal investigation. It's all about political will. It's now up to you to do the right thing from the point of view of democratic rights.
Daniel Gluckstein: Perhaps I am mistaken because I am not that familiar with U.S. laws, but it is very difficult for me to understand how it is possible to review a case for 11 months without being able to say one single word about the review till this point.
When I return to Europe and relay this information to the hundreds of thousands of trade unionists who signed our petitions and to the members of parliament and trade union officials who have backed our efforts, I can tell you now that most of them will be left with the feeling that something very bad is being prepared for
Mumia. They could believe, for example, that this administration is stalling so as not to have to give a response, or that it is putting off announcing a negative response to our petition till the very last moment.
Is it impossible for me to understand that a specific date cannot be set between now and the end of the year to receive a positive response to our demands. It is not only a question of jurisdiction here; it is above all a question of the life or death of a man who has been sitting on death row for 19 years. Today is December 11. In a few days the Christmas holidays will begin. Then there will be the New Year holidays, then the presidential vote will be ratified by the Congress in early January, and finally, on January 20, the Clinton administration will leave office.
Mr. Shanlon Wu (counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno): We are careful when it comes to making a controversial decision, but it is certainly not the intention of this administration to refuse to give you an answer to your request.
Baldemar Velasquez: It is, above all, a question of political will.
Dennis O'Neil: I was not on the delegation on January 12, but I read here in the report, what you stated at the time, which was as follows: "I can only state that you will receive a separate answer to every question you pose and regarding every document which you submit to us. Alternatively, the response upon examination of this data may be global. Whatever the form, I commit myself to providing you a full response."
Daniel Gluckstein: I was part of that delegation 11 months ago. And that is exactly what you said. Now you tell us that you "intend" to give us a prompt reply and that you do not want to pass this review process on to the next administration. But what kind of serious guarantee can you give us today that we can take back to the people who mandated us to represent them here? If you tell me that the reply will be later this week, I will change my return airline ticket.
Mr. Ishimaru: I wouldn't do that.
Nancy Wohlforth: It is not only in Europe that people are expecting a guarantee and a positive response to our demand to open a federal investigation. As you know, there are hundreds of thousands of African American voters who are outraged that Blacks in Florida were denied the right to vote. You should understand that two years ago, the ILWU felt so strongly about this issue that they closed down all West Coast ports in a massive strike in solidarity with
Mumia. ... Millions of citizens in this country are concerned about the fate of
Mumia. If you refuse to investigate the violation of Mumia's civil rights, who could rightfully state that this judicial system is not racist and unjust?
Alan Benjamin: The Justice Department has intervened in plenty of cases where civil rights were violated. You intervened in the case of Rodney King. Obviously, all cases are not exactly the same as
Mumia's, but there is ample precedent for intervention.
The case of
Mumia, as you surely understand, is not one more case among others. We have given you all the time you needed to conduct your review. We waited till the very last minute to come before you again. It's not just the 11th hour; there are only a few seconds remaining on the clock. You now say you "intend" to have a response by the end of December. But you know as well as I do that there will be hardly anyone here in this building at the end of the year. If 11 months were insufficient to get a response, why are we to believe you only need a few more weeks to complete your study. Can I ask you to put down in writing that you will give us a reply by a specific date?
Mr. Ishimaru: No. This is far as I am willing to go at this point. It is only counterproductive if you keep pushing ...
Sam Jordan: I was part of the delegation last January 12. I bring you greetings from Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who is unable to be on this delegation today but who has followed this case very closely.
This administration has been in office for eight years. We don't want to see this case referred to the next administration.
I would like to place our request that you open a federal investigation in a broader context. The Justice Department has already investigated the conduct of the police in many cities. Your own studies have shown that the administration of capital punishment at the federal and state level is systematically biased against the poor and people of color.
The record shows that while only 4 percent of the population of Pennsylvania, excluding Philadelphia, are Black or Brown, 70 percent of death-row inmates are Black or Brown. If Philadelphia is included, the percentage increases to 90 percent.
In Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Ridge signed 176 death warrants since becoming governor in 1995, a total five times the number signed by the two previous governors over a 25-year period.
In September, the Justice Department issued a study showing that the application of the death penalty at both the federal and state levels depends more on race and geography than on the nature of the alleged crime. For example, of the 176 death warrants Governor Ridge has signed, 106 were against African Americans.
Mumia
Abu-Jamal, as a journalist, had written about police brutality and about how the death penalty is applied disproportionately on the basis of race, ethnicity and social status. Now he is the one on death row.
We have made the case for U.S. compliance with its own strictures about the violation of basic rights which are present here. Now this administration must take action. We do not want to see it remanded to the next administration.
[Sam Jordan then hands Mr. Ishimaru the letter to Janet Reno dated December 11 addressed by Congresswoman Maxine Waters.]
Lindsay McLaughlin: When my own union, the
ILWU, voted to go out on strike and shut down the ports in solidarity with Mumia
Abu-Jamal, many people came up to us to ask what this was all about. It didn't require much explanation for average working people to understand that what happened to
Abu-Jamal was unfair. These people are not extremists. They do not advocate killing cops. But they understood that
Abu-Jamal did not receive a fair trial or justice. These workers lost a day's pay by going out on strike, but they did it because they all felt that
Abu-Jamal deserves a new trial, a fair trial.
Roland Biosah: I am a member of the civil servants' union in Great Britain. Last September, the congress of my union, 260,000 members strong voted a resolution calling on the Justice Department to open a federal investigation into the violation of Mumia
Abu-Jamal's civil rights. If all these people, who are not political militants, understood that justice has not been delivered to
Mumia, then you have the responsibility to do something, now, before the next administration takes office. Do I have to remind you that during this presidential campaign, Governor George W. Bush interrupted his campaign stops to go sign execution orders?
Daniel Gluckstein: One last question. If you think it is unnecessary for me to change my return flight to Europe given that an answer may not be ready in time, would it be possible for you to make a commitment to send us a written reply to our request by the end of this administration. Could you give us an appointment to come and visit you again to discuss your response before January 20th?
Mr. Ishimaru: I had planned to send you the written report by mail, but if you wish, we can agree to meet again.
Baldemar Velasquez: I would like to insist on this matter: Could we agree to a specific date when we can meet to get a first-hand account of your report? I have many trade union duties and I need to set a date in advance.
Mr. Ishimaru: Mr. Velasquez and I can keep in touch to determine a date that is convenient. ...
Baldemar Velasquez: Fine.
Alan Benjamin: I just want to reiterate this point before we adjourn this meeting. The American people and the millions of working people around the world who have demanded justice and a new trial for Mumia cannot and will not accept the refusal of the Department of Justice to open a federal investigation on grounds of issues of jurisdiction or anything else. The evidence is compelling; it cries out for a federal investigation - today, now, before you leave office.
If you refuse to open an investigation, you will be taking direct responsibility for anything that may happen to Mumia under the next administration. If you refuse to open an investigation, you will have told the millions of African Americans who feel legitimately that they have been disenfranchised in this country, who are being sent to death row in disproportionate numbers because they are Black, poor, and lack access to competent legal representation, that there is no justice in this country for African Americans. Our delegation urges you to ponder these questions seriously before you render your decision in the coming weeks.
We will be back soon to hear from you in person the results of your report, and we expect that you will announce the opening of a federal investigation. We will continue to appeal to the trade union movement and to elected officials in this country and around the world for support. You will be hearing from them in large numbers.
Mr. Ishimaru: I make a commitment that you will have a written report with the conclusions of our deliberations and that there will be a meeting with Mr. Velasquez after the report is released. You can be assured that such a meeting will take place before the end of this administration on January 20.
---
(*) Footnote: One of the documents submitted to by the international labor delegation to the Department of Justice on January 12, 2000, was a "Legal Analysis of the Demand that Clinton and the Justice Department Intervene to Order a Federal Investigation of the Flagrant Denial of Mumia
Abu-Jamal's Due-Process and Civil Rights." The document, which was prepared by Jim Lafferty (executive director, Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles), states, in part: "It is worth noting that the Justice Department could claim that it can do nothing because the statute of limitations has run out with regard to alleged police violations of Mumia's civil right that occurred 17 years ago. This claim cannot be sustained. There is a legal statute -- 18 U.S. C183682 -- that stipulates that if there is an ongoing pattern of civil rights violations, the statute of limitations does not run out until the last act has ended. In the case of
Mumia, there has been an ongoing conspiracy. His rights in jail have been violated, new threats against potential witnesses have been documented, and the list goes on. Within the last five years there have been numerous violations of Mumia's civil rights."
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3) List of Participants in International Labor Delegation:
[The following is a list of the members of the International Trade Union Delegation on Behalf of Mumia
Abu-Jamal to the U.S. Department of Justice on December 11, 2000.]
Germany
Heinrich Becker, secretary-treasurer, GEW teacher's union, Frankfurt
Great Britain
Roland Biosah, secretary, Races Relations Committee of the Trade Union Congress of Great Britain; founding member, Labour Party Black Socialist Society
France
Patrick Hebert, general secretary, UD-CGT-Force
Ouvrière, Loire Atlantique
Jean-Philippe Katz, representative, UD-CGT-Force
Ouvrière, Rhone
Jean-Paul Tual, representative, CGT Postal Workers Union, Cotes d'Armor
Dan Moutot, Workers Party of France
Daniel Gluckstein, national secretary, Workers Party; coordinator, International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
Dominique Vincenot, International Committee to Save the Life of Mumia
Abu-Jamal
United States
Baldemar Velasquez, president, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (AFL-CIO),
with the mandate of the national leadership of the Labor Council for Latin
American Advancement
(LCLAA)
Nancy Wohlforth, vice president, California Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO);
national co-chair, Pride at Work; president, OPEIU Local 3
Kipukai Kualii, executive director, Pride at Work (AFL-CIO)
Dennis O'Neil, legislative director, New York Area Metro Postal Union
Bill Bachmann, member, New York Area Metro Postal Union
Sam Jordan, representative of Rep. Maxine Waters
(D-Calif.)
Lindsay McLaughlin, legislative representative, International Longshore and
Warehouse Union
(ILWU)
Alan Benjamin, Continuations Committee, Open World Conference; OPEIU Local 3
Several people who had planned to be on the delegation were unable to participate at the last moment, and instead sent statements of support. These include:
Rep. Maxine Waters, member of the U.S. Congress
(Dem.-Calif.)
Richard Womack, director, AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department
Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
Abu-Jamal
Ray Laforest, Haitian Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, New York City