[Ppnews] 2 Nobel laureates call charges to be dropped against SF 8

[Political Prisoner News]

Two Nobel Peace Prize laureates are calling for all charges to be 
dropped against eight former Black Panthers

New York

http://freethesf8.org/international_call_SF8.html


Friday, November 30, 2007, 11 am

At a press conference held at the Interfaith Church Center, World 
Council of Churches representative Lois M. Dauway officially released 
the International Call on the San Francisco Eight, a document drafted 
to bring the attention and the solidarity of the global peace and 
human rights community to the case. The Call, currently signed by 
three Nobel Peace laureates and two activists in leadership positions 
with Nobel peace prize winning organizations, is based on 
internationally recognized principles of prisoner rights, human 
rights, and against all forms of torture. Dauway, a senior executive 
of the Women's Division of the United Methodist Church, stated: "The 
time has come to set free those who have been bound. The case of the 
SF8 requires all of us to come together, and take an active stand for 
justice for all U.S. political prisoners."

In addition to Nobel peace related and church organizations, the 
International Call will bring world-wide and key regional 
associations into direct contact with the Committee in Defense of 
Human Rights, and other groups working on behalf of the SF8. Intended 
also as a tool for local activists within the U.S. to help reach out 
to local religious and community based organizations, the Call will 
eventually be used to put pressure on both federal and local 
California authorities to see that justice is done for all members of 
the Eight, and all who have suffered torture at the hands of the U.S. 
criminal justice system. Call organizer and War Resisters 
International activist Matt Meyer reported that interest in the Call 
has already been generated amongst the founders of the Nobel Women's 
Initiative, in academic circles, and in key constituencies across 
three continents. "We have a great opportunity," he noted, "and a 
great responsibility to bring news of this case far beyond our usual 
circles, until justice is finally done."

The full text and current signers of the International Call is 
attached and below.

International Call on the San Francisco 8
Given our commitment to and history in the global justice and human 
rights movements,

Given our commitment to reconciliation between peoples and governments,

Given that the U.S. government and Federal Bureau of Investigation 
has been shown, through past U.S. Congressional hearings and legal 
proceedings, to have been involved in illegal policing activities 
against civil and human rights organizations;

Given that these illegal activities, epitomized by the FBI Counter 
Intelligence Programs (COINTELPRO), targeted the Black Panther Party, 
and appears to have an ongoing presence;

Given that eight former Black Panthers--men now all in their fifties, 
sixties, and seventies-were arrested on January 23, 2007;

Given that these arrests were based on charges related to a 1971 
murder, a murder investigated and brought to court in 1975 with the 
charges dismissed;

Given that no new evidence has been uncovered, and that the alleged 
evidence in the 1973 investigation was thrown out of court due to a 
judicial finding that statements were made under conditions of 
extreme torture, including: electric shock, cattle prods, beatings, 
sensory deprivation, plastic bags and hot, wet blankets for asphyxiation; and

Given that these new charges amount to little more than continued 
governmental harassment, violating basic principles set forth in the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations 
Convention against Torture;

We call on all appropriate legal and governmental authorities to:
    * Investigate and end all incidents of torture within the U.S. 
criminal justice system;
    * Drop all current charges for all eight men in question, namely: 
Herman Bell, Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, Henry W. (Hank) Jones, 
Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom), Richard O'Neal, Harold Taylor, and 
Francisco Torres;
    * Convene official investigations into the ongoing legacy and 
possible continued operation of COINTELPRO and similar programs, with 
an eye towards true reconciliation and human rights based on 
internationally recognized standards and principles; and
    * Release immediately, on humanitarian grounds, Herman Bell and 
Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom)-each of whom has served over thirty 
years of disproportionately long sentences based on the COINTELPRO 
criminalization of the Black Panther Party and the U.S. civil rights movement.

The Most Reverend Dr. Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape 
Town, Primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa; Nobel 
Peace Laureate 1984

Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Community of Peace People, Northern 
Ireland; Nobel Peace Laureate 1976

Betty Williams, Community of Peace People, Northern Ireland; Nobel 
Peace Laureate 1976

Darryl Jordan, Director-American Friends Service Committee* Third 
World Coalition (Nobel Peace Laureate 1947)

William Wardlaw, Executive Director's Leadership Council, Amnesty 
International* (Nobel Peace Laureate 1977)


* Organizations listed for identification purposes only

For more information on the International Call, contact: Matt Meyer, 
War Resisters International, 339 Lafayette Street, NY 10012 USA 
mmmsrnb at igc.org; and the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, 
www.freethesf8.org





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