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Date: Wed, 21 Jun 1995 21:11:11 -0400
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Subject: Amnesty for Political Prisoners and POW's
From: Prison Activist Resource Center <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Forwarded from the folks at Crossroad Support Network:
A CALL FOR AMNESTY FOR BLACK POLITICAL PRISONERS AND POW'S
by Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Federation of Black Community Partisans
My name is Lorenzo Komboa Ervin. I live in Atlanta, Georgia. In the late
1960's, I was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and
the Black Panther Party. Because of my activities in the Black Liberation
movement of the 1960's, I was railroaded by the United States government to a
"life" sentence, where I served almost 15 years. I was just one of a number
of persons who went to prison from the Black revolutionary movement. There is
nothing heroic or exceptional about my individual case. Many of those whom I
was in prison with are still there, such as Herman Bell, Sundiata Acoli and
many others who have gone there since my release. It is for them I make this
proposal, not for myself.
The idea of a general amnesty for Black political prisoners/prisoners-of-war
is based on two primary reasons, well recognized in international law: (l)
humanitarian, and (2) political, although not necessarily in that order. This
proposal is the bare outlines for an amnesty campaign, there is no
"textbook".
Just so everyone will understand what I am not talking about, let me say
this first: I am not talking about Amnesty International, the liberal reform
organization, who has a policy against supporting anyone who has engaged in
or advocated violence; I am also not talking about having political prisoners
filing for a presidential pardon and begging for "forgiveness" for their
revolutionary acts. We do not know what formula the state will use to grant
amnesty (pardon, executive clemency, declaration of amnesty, habeas corpus,
etc.), nor should we care as long as the State does not have the prisoners or
the movement make any political compromises, and as long as they deliver the
pp's/pow's from prisons alive. I want to make sure that everyoneunderstands
fully what I am talking about.
First, what is amnesty? It is a political demand on an authority, usually a
government, to drop all Criminal or disciplinury charges before or after an
insurrection or other act of resistance; or a demand upon the state to
release all political prisoners, no matter what their offense. This latter
demand is called general amnesty, but it requires serious organizing of a
movement capable of challenging the state for power and uniting all insurgent
movements in the American empire. In fact, we have not seen a movement like
this since the Black Liberation movement of the 1960's, some 30 years ago.
The fact is that we have not now reached this stage, but that we cannot
wait around for that day to arrive. We must organize a movement which can
free pp's/pow's now.
I am talking about a specific class of long-term political prisoners whom an
amnesty campaign can be built around first: imprisoned members of the Black
Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army wing of the BPP, many of whom
have been imprisoned for over 20 years. This BPP/BLA campaign, however, will
just be the first campaign of many to release all political prisoners/pow's;
the truth is that we must build this movement in stages, long term BPP/BLA
prisoners first, then other prisoners while we fight to dismantle the prison
system itself (and the state which uses it as its major weapon).
THE STATE DISPOSES, WHILE THE MOVEMENT REPOSES
There is one extremely important lesson in all of this: the state does not
set the timetable for how long political prisoners stay in prison; this is
entirely up to us in the support movement outside. If WE CAN BUILD A
MOVEMENT POWERFUL ENOUGH, with a mass base that will engage in direct
action to demand the freedom of pp's/pow's, then we can free practically
any prisoner in custody.
The second lesson is that we cannot win a piecemeal or sectarian political
prisoner defense campaign. We must build universal support for political
prisoners, not just our individual political formations opportunistically
using their cases. A joint amnesty campaign requires that all individual
defense campaigns unite both in action and organizationally. This also means
that we drop the infamous practice of "selective support" (and non-support)
of certain political prisoners on sectarian grounds, and support all
left-wing political prisoners vithout distinction. It means as well that we
drop all pretense that a sectarian group, no matter how energetic their
campaign may be, can by itself free a political prisoner. Rarely is this so;
we must build the united front for political prisoner defense THAT comrade
George Jackson spoke of in "Blood in My Eye". Twenty weak "defense
committees" simply don't do anybody any good. No rhetoric, JUST real live
facts.
A BARE BONES AMNESTY CAMPAIGN
It is important first to understand that we are talking about conducting a
political campaign and building a mass movement around the issue of politial
prisoners/pow's, and that we are not just making another paper appeal to the
"conscience of the American police state, (which doesn't have a conscience
anyway). This campaign would mobilize our forces into a joint amnesty group,
in order to maximize our resources and our human capital. It would also
expose the crimes of the state on a broad scale, for instance COINTELPRO and
how it was used to smash the BPP. So here are a few things I propose:
1. A mass meeting to be held sometime within the next few months, (I am
intentionally not being specific as to the date), to build a mass amnesty
campaign for BPP/BLA long term prisoners. This meeing ~would also be a mass
educational event to explain COINTELPRO to a whole new generation of
activists and the people at large.
2. Begin an immediate campaign to file an International Writ of Habeas
Corpus to the united Nations International Court of Justice,
UN Human Rights commission and other international bodies, to demand the
release of the BPP/BLA prisoners/POW's.
3. Conduct an international information aampaign to expose the U.S.
government's COINTELPRO, OPERATION CHAOS,and other such political repression
of the BPP/BLA. But this information campaign should especially demand the
release of all BPP/BLA prisoners now that the history of the BPP is being
revisited by playwrights, authors, film makers and scholars, presaging
intense public interest and a new reawakening of BPP politics by youth
groups.
4. Building a (political) Prisoners Defense Fund to raise money for legal
defense, to support prisoners' families, and to send small amounts for
prisoners "creature aomforts" while they are in prison.
5. Conduct an emergency amnesty campaign for Mumia Abu-Jamal, while he is
still alive on Pennsylvania death row. This case is a perfect example of how
our organizational weakness might deprive this brother of his life. We must
come together around this common agenda of saving him from state murder, or
bear the badge of shame at our indecison and inaction.
CONCLUSION
Rather than engaging in rhetoric to criticize this document or dismiss it out
of hand, it is hoped that activists can constructively discuss it, and more
importantly act on its prescriptions. I could not possibly, and have not
sought to cover everything in this proposal. I encourage others to take this
proposal, add their ideas and make it better. It won't hurt my feelings, and
it is not engraved in stone. I and the Black Partisan @ Federation, a new
political formation, cannot on our own make this project a reality; it
requires that the majority of groups organized around the cases of political
prisoners/pow's put aside egotism, opportunism, and sectarianism, and work
toward the goal of freeing our political prisoners. That is all I have to say
at this time.
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin
145 Park Drive
Decatur, GA 30030
___________________________________________________________________________
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