> WW News Service Digest #136 > > 1) Atlanta cops flip-flop on evidence that could acquit former Panther > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) Tightening the debt noose > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Bronx, N.Y., jury verdicts reveal widespread distrust of cops > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Women prisoners hear militant message > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Okinawa protesters tell U.S. 'bases must go' > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 27, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >ATLANTA: >COPS FLIP-FLOP ON EVIDENCE THAT >COULD ACQUIT FORMER PANTHER > >By S. Tomlinson >Atlanta > >Attorneys for Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly H. Rap >Brown, want the Fulton County District Attorney's office to >know one thing--they can't have it both ways. The defense >lawyers are seeking to bar evidence found in a search of >Al-Amin's store. > >Cops claimed they had to conduct the search in order to >find bloody clothing or bandages that a wounded Al-Amin >might have left in his store. On the other hand, the police >are changing their story about whether or not there even >was a "bloody trail" the night two deputies were shot. > >Some of the earliest reports from the March 16 shooting in >Atlanta detailed a fresh blood trail that led from the >scene of the incident to a specific property nearby. In the >hours after the shooting, which left one sheriff's deputy >dead and another wounded, the injured deputy named Al-Amin >as the shooter. The deputy also described to investigating >officers how he wounded his assailant. > >However, when Al-Amin appeared in custody in Alabama a few >days after the shooting, he was unharmed. The blood was >obviously not his. > >After the shooting, the police obtained a search warrant >citing the blood trail as evidence. They wanted to search >Al-Amin's store, near the scene of the shooting, for bloody >clothing and/or bandages. Since the assailant was wounded >and left a trail of blood, they reasoned, he would leave >evidence wherever he went. > >A large team of highly armed officers wearing bulletproof >vests, shields and helmets entered Al-Amin's store to carry >out the search warrant. Officers found assorted papers and >Al-Amin's briefcase. There was no blood. > >After the failed search and the appearance of an uninjured >Al-Amin in a Montgomery, Ala., court, police back in >Atlanta quickly changed their story regarding the blood >trail. They began reporting to the media that the blood >trail wasn't actually a trail. It was simply "some" blood >found outside an abandoned house nearly a block away from >the shooting. Police said it was unrelated to their case. > >However, in the search warrant affidavit a homicide >officer stated that the blood was found at the exact spot >where the shooter stood and fired upon the two deputies. >Officers at the scene spoke to the media and described the >blood as being fresh and wet. > >The officer who signed the search warrant affidavit was >not the lead detective. He was a homicide sergeant who did >not go to the scene of the shooting on that first night. >Authorities may argue that he was simply mistaken about the >location and importance of the blood. > >Al-Amin's lawyers are expected to make a connection >between the blood trail and 911 calls recorded just after >the shooting in which callers report an injured man, >bleeding and begging for a ride near where the two deputies >were shot. This suspect has been all but ignored by police. > > - END - > >(Copyleft 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] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00b701bff4cd$bc0b6680$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Tightening the debt noose >Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 13:45:04 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 27, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >TIGHTENING THE DEBT NOOSE > >U.S. bankers are using the AIDS crisis in Africa to tighten >the debt noose around the necks of some of the poorest >countries in the world. > >Trying to sound generous, the U.S. Export-Import Bank >announced July 19 that it would offer $1 billion a year in >loans to sub-Saharan nations to "fight AIDS." But read the >fine print and the generosity melts away. > >First, these are loans, not aid or reparations. And they >carry a stiff commercial interest rate, which is now around >7 percent--not even the discount rate sometimes offered to >countries unable to pay more. > >Second, the money has to be used to buy U.S. drugs and >medical services. In other words, this is just another >boost for profit-hungry U.S. drug companies, whose >medicines to treat AIDS complications can cost between >$20,000 and $40,000 a year in the U.S. > >Even if the drug prices were set way below the usual >market rate--which the drug companies have to do since >generic medications sold in other countries are much, much >cheaper--a yearly regimen would cost around $2,000. That is >"more than four times the average per capita income in many >of the worst-afflicted countries," according to the July 19 >New York Times. > >The Clinton administration will announce soon whether it >will spend another $60 billion on a "missile defense" >program denounced around the world as the start of a new >arms race. That $60 billion should instead be given to the >countries hit hardest by the AIDS epidemic to design their >own health care and infrastructure programs--the only way >to turn around this deadly disease. > >Cancellation of the debt owed to imperialist banks, >reparations and donation of all urgently needed AIDS drugs- >-that's just the beginning of what the U.S. bankers and >industrialists owe the people of Africa. > >--D.G. > > - END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00bd01bff4cd$db795c20$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Bronx, N.Y., jury verdicts reveal widespread distrust of cops >Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 13:45:57 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 27, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >BRONX, N.Y.: >JURY VERDICTS REVEAL WIDESPREAD DISTRUST OF COPS > >By Scott Scheffer >New York > >Cops and prosecutors are furious about juries in the >Bronx. Lately, according to an article in the July 11 New >York Daily News, Bronx juries are taking a much closer look >at evidence in criminal proceedings. And based on an >apparent mistrust of the police, they are refusing to >convict in about 50 percent of cases. > >This mistrust of the cops has been dub bed the "Amadou >Diallo factor." Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African >immigrant, was killed when plainclothes cops fired 41 >bullets, hitting him 19 times as he stood in front of his >Bronx apartment building. > >The population of the Bronx is 42 percent Black and 48 >percent Latino--communities well schooled in matters of >police racism, brutality and frame-ups. For that reason, >even before the Diallo case, defense attorneys opted for >juries in the Bronx instead of plea-bargaining. > >Conversely, killer cops have avoided jury trials there. >Officer Michael Meyer shot a man who tried to wash his car >windshield for pocket change. Officer Francis Livoti choked >Anthony Baez to death after the young man's football bumped >his police cruiser. Both cops chose bench trials in order >to avoid a Bronx jury. > >And the cops who killed Diallo were given a change of >venue after they faced a trial in the Bronx that would have >been conducted by an African American woman judge. After >the venue changed to Albany a white male judge presided >over the acquittal of the cops. > >It's clear that even before the mass protests over the >Diallo case racist cops and prosecutors were aware that >they would be less able to railroad oppressed youth to jail >in this multinational and working-class borough. > >THE WHOLE WORLD WAS WATCHING > >But the protests after the Diallo case exposed a whole new >level of oppression that the New York Police Department >carries out against Black and Latin youths. The murder >sparked huge protests, and the case came to symbolize >brutality and racism under the pro-cop Giuliani >administration. > >In particular, the use of fascist tactics by special >"street crimes units" fell under media scrutiny. These >mostly white units carry out apartheid-style stop-and- >search tactics that result in disproportionate arrests of >young men of color. > >For example, in the borough of Staten Island the >population is only 9.5 percent Black. Yet 51 percent of >those arrested in 1998 were Black. > >The New York Times reported last Aug. 23 that in the city >as a whole, "50 people a day are arrested, fingerprinted >and jailed, then released after prosecutors have rejected >the charges against them, often after those arrested have >spent hours or overnight in packed holding cells." > >The people of the Bronx are under the boot heel of this >racist occupying army of police. So juries in Bronx >courtrooms are obviously very skeptical about police >"justification" for arrests of young Black and Latino men. >This has been dramatically demonstrated by the high rate of >acquittals. > > - END - > >(Copyleft 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] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00c301bff4ce$3ab5da60$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Women prisoners hear militant message >Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 13:48:36 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 27, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >WOMEN PRISONERS HEAR MILITANT MESSAGE > >On July 15, more than 100 Bay Area activists protested at the >women's prison in Chowchilla, Calif. The demonstration was >coordinated by the California Coalition for Women Prisoners >and California Prison Focus. > >Participants demanded human rights for all prisoners and >abolition of the death penalty. The women inside the prison >could hear the loud messages of solidarity by protesters and >rally speakers. > >One of the rally speakers was Gloria La Riva from the >International Action Center. She talked about the valiant >struggle waged in an attempt to save the life of death-row >prisoner Shaka Sankofa, who was executed by Texas Gov. George >W. Bush. > >La Riva invited everyone to participate in the upcoming >protest to save the life of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal >on Aug. 13 at the Democratic National Convention in Los >Angeles. > >--Alicia Jrapko > > - END - > >(Copyleft 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] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > >Message-ID: <00c901bff4ce$68c5d860$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Okinawa protesters tell U.S. 'bases must go' >Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 13:49:54 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the July 27, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >OKINAWA PROTESTERS TELL U.S. "BASES MUST GO" > >By Gery Armsby > >About 7,000 people rallied in the central Okinawan city of >Ginowan July 15, outraged by a recent sexual assault >committed by a U.S. soldier. Many demonstrators braved >hours under the scorching sun. Others found shade under red >umbrellas, hats, and banners emblazoned with large white >and yellow letters, "No!" Other signs and banners echoed >the demand, "No to U.S. bases!" > >A U.S. Marine stationed at a base in Okinawa is charged >with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Another U.S. >soldier was involved in a hit-and-run collision that >injured a Japanese civilian. The incidents reveal a pattern >in recent years of sexual offenses and other crimes against >young Okinawan women. > >In October 1998, a U.S. Marine hit and killed a young girl >while he was driving drunk. In September 1995, three U.S. >Marines raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl, leading to >fierce demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people. > >The latest offenses have hit a nerve with many Okinawans >who say "enough is enough." Now, their anger at the U.S. >military presence on their soil is being directed into mass >protests organized throughout the island region. > >Upcoming protests will target President Clinton's planned >July 21 visit for the "Group of 8" summit meeting, which is >being held in Northern Okinawa's Nago region, where a new >U.S. base is planned. The G8 brings together leaders from >the world's richest imperialist countries and Russia. > >OCCUPATION BY JAPAN, UNITED STATES > >Okinawa was a separate kingdom until a 16th-century >invasion by Japan, its neighbor several hundred miles to >the north. In the late 19th century, Japan annexed the 50- >plus islands in the East China Sea that make up Okinawa. > >U.S. imperialism defeated Japanese imperialism in World >War II and carried out nuclear attacks that leveled >Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Ever since, hundreds of thousands >of U.S. troops have been stationed throughout Japan. > >Caught between the U.S. and Japanese imperialist armies in >World War II, Okinawa was subjected to relentless bombing >by artillery and air assault. Two-fifths of the Okinawan >civilian population were killed in the crossfire. > >After the war, the United States controlled the islands >until 1972. Okinawa was returned to Japan on the condition >that U.S. bases remain there. > >What do the residents of Okinawa get from the Pentagon in >return for the use of their island? They are subjected to >intense noise pollution from high-velocity jet engines, >environmental devastation, sexual abuse by military >personnel, and frequent denial of support from U.S. fathers >of children born to Okinawan mothers. > >In a 1997 referendum Okinawans voted overwhelmingly to get >the U.S. bases out. In response, Tokyo and Washington did >nothing. > >Okinawa houses more than half of all U.S. military bases, >hardware and personnel currently stationed in Japan. This >leaves only about three-fifths of Okinawa's inhabitable >territory for civilians. > >The Japanese Treasury pays some $6 billion of the cost of >the U.S. military bases--angering Okinawans and Japanese >alike. > > - END - > >(Copyleft 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] For subscription info send message >to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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