------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 29, 2004 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
NAACP RESOLUTION SUPPORTS MUMIA-ABU JAMAL By Monica Moorehead The NAACP overwhelmingly passed an emergency resolution on July 15 at its national convention in Philadelphia urging its local chapters to support efforts for a new and fair trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, and for the overturning of his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. This is a significant political development in the case of Abu-Jamal, the world's best-known political prisoner on death row. He is a former Black Panther, a MOVE supporter and an outspoken opponent of racist oppression and imperialist war. The African American revolutionary, known worldwide as the "voice of the voiceless," was railroaded to Pennsylvania's death row in 1982 for the killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal suffered through a sham of a trial in 1981, where evidence proving his innocence was suppressed by a racist judge and prosecutor. It has been legally documented by a white stenographer that Judge Albert Sabo, who presided over the trial, made racial slurs against Abu-Jamal. The NAACP resolution, entitled "Reaffirming Oppo si tion to the Death Penalty," also called for a moratorium on executions because the use of the death penalty disproportionately targets people of color and poor people. This resolution was introduced by the Ossining, N.Y., NAACP chapter and supported by International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal. It comes on the heels of a recent U.S. Third Circuit Court ruling that lifted the stay of proceedings on a 2001 federal district ruling which had overturned Mumia's death sentence, but not his murder conviction. This recent ruling asks for a briefing to hear arguments challenging the 2001 ruling. The passing of this resolution by the oldest mainstream U.S. civil rights organization is a blow to the U.S. government's efforts to legally lynch this political prisoner. It is up to the progressive movement to take full advantage of this resolution to help build broader support that is needed for Mumia Abu-Jamal's struggle to win his long overdue freedom. To read the NAACP resolution, visit iacenter.org or millions4mumia.org. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
