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Dear Friends and Supporters,<br><br>
The office of the Minister of Justice has requested a further extension
to the end of October to make a decision on whether or not to extradite
Gary. We trust that he is carefully examining our request to deny the
extradition in a just and fair manner.<br><br>
It concerns us that Gary, an African-American man who escaped the U.S.
after facing racial persecution, should face return to Chicago at the
hands of a police department recently implicated in torture by the
infamous Burge report. The report by special Chicago prosecutors
belatedly appointed to investigate charges of police torture in the
Chicago South Side district confirmed Chicago police tortured and
brutalized African-American men for more than 20 years.<br><br>
Yet, despite the confirmation by internal investigations of horrific
atrocities committed against African-American men, none of the police
responsible for hundreds of acts of torture will face prosecution for
using illegal techniques like electrical shocks to the genitals, ears and
lips with a cattle prod or an electric shock box, Russian roulette,
beatings with a rubber hose, suffocation and mock executions. Prosecutors
claim these crimes against humanity cannot be prosecuted because the
cases are too old and the statute of limitations has expired. There was
only one firing, in 1993, with full pension benefits, and some of the
police officers involved have even been promoted and are still with the
same Chicago police department.<br><br>
Yet, Chicago seeks the extradition of my husband, who is a victim of
racial and political persecution for an incident which took place in this
same South Side district of Chicago. He has always maintained his
innocence. He was a victim of police brutality and he came to
Canada because he didn't want to die -- he came to Canada to
survive.<br><br>
To our knowledge, this police torture scandal hasn't been covered in the
Canadian media. Why? This is a huge violation of the UN Convention
against Torture on a par with U.S. torture violations at Guantanamo Bay
and Abu Ghraib -- and that is according to United Nations Committee
against Torture. (Attached is a small sample of articles on the Burge
Report)<br><br>
The direct relationship between the aforementioned and Gary's situation
is that Gary too was a victim of Chicago police brutality in 1969 on the
streets of Chicago.<br><br>
Our suffering as a family torn apart will not be over until Gary is
returned to us.<br><br>
We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has supported us. Please
continue with your support by writing to our Minister of Justice, the
Honourable Vic Toews. Please remind him that it is a core Canadian value
to protect the sanctity of the family and that he allow the principles of
justice and humanitarian compassion to be his guiding light and deny this
unjust extradition request.<br><br>
Recently, numerous Members of Parliament who have reviewed the background
of Gary's case have written letters of concern to Minister Toews. Please
visit our website
<a href="http://www.freemandrum.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freemandrum.org</a> to read their letters of support.<br><br>
A heartfelt thank you,<br>
Natercia and the Coelho-Freeman family<br><br>
Please write this week to:<br><br>
The Honourable Vic Toews, P.C., B.A., LL.B.<br>
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada<br>
284 Wellington Street<br>
Ottawa, Ontario<br>
K1A 0H8 <br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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