[Ppnews] Support Parole for Herman Bell

[Political Prisoner News]

PAROLE FOR HERMAN BELL

Dear Friends,

Herman Bell is requesting your support when he 
goes before the New York state parole board this 
summer.  A U.S. political prisoner and a former 
Black Panther, Herman was part of the brilliant 
liberation movements of the 1960s and early 
1970s, and as such was targeted by the government 
for "neutralization" via their infamous and 
illegal counterintelligence ("COINTELPRO") 
program.  His first trial ended in a hung 
jury.  The second time, the prosecution used 
illegal tactics (including making a secret deal 
to drop charges against one witness in exchange 
for her testimony, and calling a witness who had 
been previously tortured by law enforcement who 
later admitted to lying on the stand) to obtain a 
conviction of Herman and his co-defendants Jalil 
Muntaqim and Nuh Washington (now deceased) for 
killing two New York City police in 
1971.  Herman, Jalil, and Nuh are known as the New York Three (NY3).

Now, after nearly 35 years of imprisonment, 
Herman faces new charges.  In spite of suffering 
decades of removal from society, Herman has been 
deemed an imminent threat, evidenced by the 
government's prosecution of Herman and 7 other 
Elder Black activists and former Panthers for a 
police killing that took place nearly 40 years 
ago in San Francisco.  Herman, his NY3 
co-defendant Jalil Muntaqim, and their 6 
co-defendants are known as the San Francisco 8, 
or SF8.  The FBI's illegal COINTELPRO has morphed 
into Homeland Security's Joint Terrorism Task 
Force.  These domestic witch-hunters pad their 
fat payrolls not by looking for those who are 
actually a danger to society, but by casting 
their vengeful net towards activists of past 
liberation movements, trying to reshape these 
peace-loving activists into heinous 
criminals.  The Black liberation movement, the 
Puerto Rican independence movement, and 
environmentalists are all in the government's 
sites.  The government is not just targeting a 
handful of individuals – they are threatening any 
movement to resist tyranny and stand up for a healthy society.

Herman Bell is a courageous, loving man. He is a 
beautiful husband, father, grandfather, teacher 
and friend. He is an elder who has sacrificed his 
entire adult life to stand against government 
persecution of Black communities. Even from 
within the confines of prison walls, he's 
continued to be a positive example and mentor for 
the ever-increasing numbers of Black youth who 
are being herded into America's prison 
system.  Should Herman be paroled in New York 
this summer, he will be returned to San Francisco 
to face the preliminary hearing in the SF8 case, 
now set for early September.  He will have an 
opportunity to make bail, rejoin his family and 
friends in the community, and will be in a better 
position to work to defeat this vengeful prosecution.

Your support of Herman Bell's parole is 
absolutely critical. This letter is a call to 
action. Herman needs you to make your voice 
heard. We ask that you review the attached 
background materials, and then write your letter 
of support.  Your letter should be addressed to 
"To Whom It May Concern" or "Dear Parole 
Commissioner."  Please use the Re: line of 
"Herman Bell, 79C-0262."  Please send your letter to Herman's son:

Kamel Jacot-Bell
Ankh Marketing
179 – 11th Street, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
Fax #: (415) 865-0376

or email your letter of support 
to:   <mailto:jacotbell at gmail.com>jacotbell at gmail.com

Please write about the nature of your 
relationship with or knowledge of Herman, and how 
long you have known him.  Some points you might want to include:

* If paroled, Herman Bell will not be released, 
but will immediately be sent to the San Francisco 
County Jail to face charges in that 
jurisdiction.  Therefore, New York State would be 
relieving its taxpayers of the considerable 
financial burden of continued incarceration of Herman.

* In a 11/30/07 press conference in New York, 
Nobel Laureates Archbishop Bishop Desmond Tutu 
and Mairead MacGuire called for the release on 
humanitarian grounds of Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom).

* Quoting from the victim impact statement by 
Waverly Jones Jr., son of one of the police NY3 
were convicted of having killed, who requested to 
meet with the NYS Parole Board in 2004: "Me, 
personally, have forgiven these men for the 
positions that they took back then . . . I don't 
see them as someone that's going to come out of 
prison and commit violent crimes or anything of 
that nature. . . I feel that Herman Bell and 
Anthony Bottom were both victims as well of a 
much larger scheme which got them incarcerated to 
this day, . . . and to me they have shown great 
resilience in prison, that their mind is still 
intact, that their spirit is still eager to do 
good, and I just pray that the Parole Board will 
look at the context and the time and send a message to me of healing."

* With Maine farmers, Herman initiated the 
Victory Gardens Project, which brought urban and 
rural activists together for 8 years to learn how 
to grow and harvest free food for their 
communities and thereby learn how to work 
together for progressive social change.

* As Parole Commissioners have noted in Herman's 
previous hearings, Herman Bell has had an 
impressive institutional record and list of 
accomplishments in the course of the past nearly 
thirty-five years of his imprisonment.  He has 
completed his BA and MA in Sociology while in 
prison.  Parole should  be decided on the basis 
of one's record while in prison, rather than on one's charge of conviction.

* Through self-study, Herman has acquired a 
knowledge of music theory and is mastering the flute.

* Herman has participated in many educational and 
cultural activities benefiting prisoners, 
including teaching Black history and English grammar and writing skills.

* Herman has brought prisoners together a 
multitude of times with his football and basketball coaching skills.

* Herman is a dedicated grandfather, father, and 
husband, who has a loving and supportive family 
working for his release, waiting for him to join them on the outside.

* Because of Herman's age, educational 
achievements, and decades in prison, he falls 
into the U.S. Justice Dept. category of the 
extremely low recidivism rate of 3%.
* Herman has already served almost 35 years in prison B enough is enough.

Please also review Herman's Case Synopsis, 
below.  Please send your letter by  June 16, 2008.

We sincerely thank you for your support,
Herman Bell's Family:
Nancy, Kamel, Kihana, Sage, & Simone


CASE SYNOPSIS, by Herman Bell

In the aftermath of the murders of Malcolm X, 
Medgar Evers, Dr. King, Fred Hampton, and Mark 
Clark, to name a few, coupled with the Civil 
Rights Movement, the burgeoning Black 
consciousness movement, and the anti-war movement 
of the 1960s and 1970s, the tone and spirit of 
those times can be described as highly charged 
and volatile.  And in the wake of what had been 
perceived as an unambiguous racist policy of 
police malevolence, willful brutality, excessive 
use of deadly force and general disrespect of 
Black people's rights, scores of policemen at 
that time were seriously injured or fatally shot in the Black community.

I come out of that time period.  In 1975, after 2 
trials, I was convicted (along with my two 
co-defendants) of having killed two New York City 
policemen, to which we all pled not guilty.  No 
eyewitness identified me as one of the 
assailants.  Coerced witnesses, manufactured and 
circumstantial material evidence, along with 
prosecutorial and judicial misconduct are what 
persuaded the jury to convict at the end of the 
second trial.  Years and years of state and 
federal appeals have been unsuccessful.

I am a former member of the Black Panther 
Party.  It's now generally known from documents 
revealed by the congressional 1976 Church 
Committee (which were not admitted as evidence 
during my trial) that a domestic program of 
political repression (Cointelpro) existed to 
neutralize or destroy the Black Panther 
Party.  In fact, any Black political organization 
or individual deemed to be a threat to U.S. 
security, as determined by then FBI director J. 
Edgar Hoover, was a prime target.  Hoover gave 
his agents a wide range of discretionary power 
"legal and otherwise" to achieve this 
objective.  Thus the Church Committee report 
revealed a U.S. government 'secret war' initiated 
against the Black protest movement which I was part of.

Since being granted our "paper freedom," Black 
Americans have long claimed the right to pursue 
happiness in our own fashion.  Our historic fight 
since slavery has always been one that focused on 
carving a political and economic niche for 
ourselves in America.  During the 1960s and 
1970s, people were killed on both sides.  To the 
degree that my humanity compels me to value and 
feel remorse for the loss of all life, human and 
otherwise, I feel remorse that people were killed 
and families and lives were destroyed.  The past 
is behind me now.  Many from those days have 
moved on and have been forgiven, but I've not 
been permitted to do so.  In the Summer of 2008, 
I hope to again appear before the New York State 
Parole Board.  I am requesting your help.  I ask 
you to please consider my personal evolution 
these past nearly 35 years of imprisonment in 
composing your letter of support for my release.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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