-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: June 23, 2007 5:55:25 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Fwd: Torture as American as Apple Pie
A group of Black Panthers were tortured in 1973 by New Orleans
police, during interrogations regarding the murder of a San
Francisco police officer in 1971. A federal court ruled in 1974
that both San Francisco and New Orleans police had engaged in
torture to extract a confession, and a San Francisco judge
dismissed charges against three men in 1975 based on that ruling.
The case was REOPENED in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Justice
using funds set aside for the Department of Homeland Security.
Several grand juries were convened as part of the reopening, with
some of the men involved in the 1973 torture being called before
the panel more than once.
Not long after that review was published, eight former Black
Panthers were arrested for their alleged involvement in that 1971
murder in a series of sweeps. Law enforcement is still looking for
one other man. As of this writing, the six who were arrested at
their homes and places of work in late January are in prison with
bail amounts running between three and five million dollars each.
No pretrial date has been set although, according to Claude Marks
of the Eight's defense
committee, there will be a pretrial hearing because "the government
isn't backing down."
According to police records, the men charged were members of the
Black Liberation Army (B.L.A.). The B.L.A. was the result of a
split in the Black Panther Party and believed the time was ripe for
armed struggle in the United States. Other Panthers took a
different route which place
more community organizing, community programs, and municipal
electoral politics foremost among their strategies for self-defense
of the community and black liberation. The split itself was the
product of genuine ideological differences in the party, but was
intentionally exacerbated by the F.B.I., local police Red Squads,
military intelligence, state undercover police agencies and other
elements of the U.S. counterinsurgency apparatus. These agencies
worked under the aegis
of the COINTELPRO program -- a series of F.B.I. counterintelligence
programs designed to neutralize political dissidents, primarily of
the left and anarchist temperaments. Methods used in COINTELPRO
ranged from the spreading of rumors regarding individuals personal
lives, putting snitch jackets on activists, publishing and planting
false stories about groups and individuals involved in antiwar and
anti-racist activities, police raids and harassment of activists,
false arrests and charges, and murder. The Black Panther Party was
the target of all of the aforementioned methods. By 1971, its
leaders were either in prison, facing prison time, in exile, or
murdered by police. The F.B.I. claimed to have ended its
COINTELPRO activities in 1971, but evidence presented to the Church
Senate committee investigating the program in 1974 proved
otherwise. Indeed, all that really occurred was that the program
was renamed. The dissident neutralization program continues to
this day under other names.
The California State's Attorney's office, working with a Federal
task force on the case, told the media that no new evidence has
been unearthed in the case. What this means is that the men will
be prosecuted a second time using evidence once declared
inadmissible by the courts in 1975 since it was obtained via
torture. But torture has become respectable again.
What do I mean by "torture"? Could it really have been that bad in
American in 1973? They were black men held in a jail run by a
police department known for its racist history; they were being
charged with killing a cop; they were believed to be members of a
militant armed organization composed of black men and women in the
United States at a time when the government feared armed resistance
and the left feared Gestapo-style fascism. Here is what the men
endured in America in 1973 (from the SF Chronicle, no left-wing
rag): "a court found that when the investigators who came to
Louisiana to interview the three men were out of the room, police
officers stripped the men, blindfolded them, beat them, and covered
them in blankets soaked in boiling water. They also used electric
prods on their genitals, court records show."
See what's free at AOL.com.
From: "Jim S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: June 23, 2007 1:42:41 PM PDT
Subject: The Men the Authorities Came to Blame ... The Case of the
San Francisco 8
http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs02082007.html *The Men the
Authorities Came to Blame ... The Case of the San Francisco 8*
By RON JACOBS
February 8, 2007
I recently reviewed a DVD about a group of Black Panthers who were
tortured, in 1973 by New Orleans police, during interrogations
regarding the murder of a San Francisco police officer in 1971.
The DVD, titled "Legacy of Torture," highlights the stories of some
of these men and their experience at the hands of the police
interrogators while law enforcement officials from other local and
federal agencies stood by. A federal court ruled in 1974 that both
San Francisco and New Orleans police had engaged in torture to
extract a confession, and a San Francisco judge dismissed charges
against three men in 1975 based on that ruling. The case was
reopened in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Justice using funds set
aside for the Department of Homeland Security. Several grand juries
were convened as part of the reinvestigation, with some of the men
involved in the 1973 torture being called before the panel more
than once.
Not long after that review was published, eight former Black
Panthers were arrested for their alleged involvement in the 1971
murder in a series of sweeps. Law enforcement is still looking for
one other man. Richard Brown, Richard O'Neal, Ray Boudreaux, and
Hank Jones were arrested in California. Francisco Torres was
arrested in Queens, New York. Harold Taylor was arrested in
Florida. Two of the men charged have been in prison for over 30
years -- Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim. As of this writing, the
six who were arrested at their homes and places of work in late
January are in prison with bail amounts running between three and
five million dollars each. No pretrial date has been set although,
according to Claude Marks of the Eight's defense committee, there
will be a pretrial hearing because "the government doesn't seem to
be backing down." Meanwhile, the committee and the men's legal
team are working to get the bail reduced to a more reasonable figure.
According to police records, the men charged were members of the
Black Liberation Army (B.L.A.). The B.L.A. was the result of a
split in the Black Panther Party and believed the time was ripe for
armed struggle in the United States. Other Panthers took a
different route which place more community organizing, community
programs, and municipal electoral politics foremost among their
strategies for self-defense of the community and black liberation.
The split itself was the product of genuine ideological differences
in the party, but was intentionally exacerbated by the F.B.I.,
local police Red Squads, military intelligence, state undercover
police agencies and other elements of the U.S. counterinsurgency
apparatus. These agencies worked under the aegis of the COINTELPRO
program -- a series of F.B.I. counterintelligence programs designed
to neutralize political dissidents, primarily of the left and
anarchist temperaments. Methods used in this campaign ranged from
the spreading of rumors regarding individuals personal lives,
putting snitch jackets on activists, publishing and planting false
stories about groups and individuals involved in antiwar and anti-
racist activities, police raids and harassment of activists, false
arrests and charges, and murder. The Black Panther Party was the
target of all of the aforementioned methods, including murder. In
1971, many of its leaders were either in prison, facing prison
time, in exile, or murdered by police. The F.B.I. claimed to have
ended its COINTELPRO activities in 1971, but evidence presented to
the Church Senate committee investigating the excesses of the
program in 1974 proved otherwise. Indeed, all that really occurred
was that the program was renamed. The dissident neutralization
program continues to this day under other names.
The California State's Attorney's office, which is working with a
Federal task force on the case, told the media that no new
scientific evidence has been unearthed in the case. Instead, it
appears that the prosecutors have reexamined the evidence they
extracted under torture and constructed a scenario that involves
all of the men charged in the 1971 murder. None the less, the
attorney general's office is, in their words, "committed to seeing
it through." What this means, in essence, is that the men will be
prosecuted using evidence declared inadmissible by the courts in
1975 because it was obtained via torture.
What do I mean by torture? Could it really have been that bad?
Before I quote the descriptions of the men's ordeal, let me ask
you, the reader, to put yourself in the position these men found
themselves in 1973. As the cursory history of the COINTELPRO
program above makes clear, these men had lots to fear. They were
black men held in a jail run by a police department known for its
racist history; they were being charged with killing a cop; they
were believed to be members of a militant armed organization
composed of black men and women in the United States at a time when
the government feared armed revolution and the movement feared
genuine fascism. With that in mind, here is what the men endured
(from the San Francisco Chronicle, surely no left-wing rag): "a
court found that when the two San Francisco police investigators
who came to Louisiana to interview the three men were out of the
room, New Orleans officers stripped the men, blindfolded them, beat
them, and covered them in blankets soaked in boiling water. They
also used electric prods on their genitals, court records show."
Today, hundreds of prisoners and disappeared exist in U.S. prisons
around the globe. Torture occurs at these prisons on a regular
basis. After more than three years of avoidance, the U.S. Congress
addressed the issue of torture in U.S.-run prisons and cam up with
the Military Commissions Act. This act effectively ended habeas
corpus for these prisoners, does little to end torture in these
prisons and excuses the torture that occurred before its
enactment. In the sham courtrooms that the prisoners in these
prisons will face trial, evidence extracted by torture will be
admissible. Besides the torture in this corner of Washington's
gulag, torture is also part of the law enforcement repertoire that
includes the beating and isolation of prisoners in the modern
supermax prison complexes like Pelican Bay in California to the so
called rectal interrogation techniques known to be occasionally
employed by the New York City Police Department. The Chicago
police department was the subject of several investigations
regarding years of systematic torture of primarily black men in at
least one of its station houses. It is but a small leap to see
that the prosecutors of the men arrested for the 1971 shooting in
San Francisco will also attempt to introduce evidence obtained via
torture and already considered inadmissible, no matter how flimsy.
If the judge in this trial does allow this to happen, it not only
flies in the face of accepted legal understanding, it is another
step on the road to a totalitarian state -- a road some in the
United States are intent on leading their fellow countrymen and
women down.
Despite their incarceration, members of the defense committee told
me that the men's spirits are high., "I saw two of the bros this
weekend." said Claude Marks. They are strong and ready to fight
back. Their lawyers are very clear, strong and united.... They're
calling themselves the San Francisco 8.... They resisted the grand
juries of 2005 and will fight now." Several speaking engagements
by members of the committee are scheduled and money is being
raised. For more information please go to the Defense Committee's
website:
http://cdhrsupport.org/index.html
UPDATE: The Eight's arraignment and a bail reduction hearing was
carried over until February 14 at 9:00 a.m. The Superior Court is
at 850 Bryant Street in SF. Please attend if you can.
~~~
[Ron Jacobs is author of "The Way the Wind Blew: a history of the
Weather Underground," which is just republished by Verso.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859841678/counterpunchmaga
Jacobs' essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch's
collection on music, art, and sex, "Serpents in the Garden." His
first novel, "Short Order Frame Up," is forthcoming from Mainstay
Press.
http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html
He can be reached at:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
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