>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >August 4, 2000 >Contacts: Paul Davis, ACT UP Philadelphia, just released from jail, >215 280 7536 (cell) R2K Legal: 215 925 6791 R2K Media: 215 545 1505 > > >BRUTAL TREATMENT CONTINUES AGAINST JAILED PROTESTERS > >UNPRECEDENTED CRACKDOWN HIGHLIGHTS SYSTEMATIC ATTACK ON DEMOCRATIC >PRINCIPLES OF PEACEFUL PROTEST AND PEOPLE OF CONSCIENCE > >Philadelphia, PA ~ On the last day of the Republican National >Convention, in Philadelphia, the cradle of democracy, police and >federal authorities have demonstrated a determination to undermine >both the US Constitution and people's basic human rights. Jailed >demonstrators continue to demand medical treatment, access to >lawyers, access to phones, and timely release. Outside, solidarity >actions continue, with rallies planned at Franklin Park at 7 p.m. > >Guards, police, and administrators continue to attack protestors >in jail, seeking to demoralize and divide. Recently released >prisoners have reported eyewitness accounts of widespread abuse >that can only be described as torture. There are numerous accounts >of arrestees who have been isolated, verbally abused, punched, >kicked, thrown against walls, bloodied, and dragged naked across >floors, in one instance through a 'trash trough' containing refuse, >spittle and urine. There has been a reported sexual assault by a >female officer who pulled and twisted a prisoner's penis. Seven >witnesses saw one woman dragged naked and bleeding. Diabetics, >epileptics, and asthmatics continue to be denied medication. >Trauma and psychological stress are evident. > >Paul Davis, from ACT UP Philadelphia, reports his eyewitness >accounts of brutality inside the Philadelphia jail. "I saw a man >handcuffed to his cell door in a crucifixion position. I heard >women screaming and being dragged along the floor. I saw a woman >screaming in pain as a police officer said, 'You want more?! >You want more?!'" > >Arrestees have now been held for over 60 hours without >arraignment, some without phone calls or contact with their >lawyers. Detainees report missing paperwork, and arraignments >with incomplete or slipshod records. Philadelphia continues to >restrict R2K Legal Committee lawyers, allowing only a total of >three lawyers access to all six detention sites, and hundreds >of defendants. Prosecutors have set unprecedented high bail for >non-violent civil disobedience. Most bails range from $15,000 >to $30,000, while others are much higher. Two individuals have >bail of $1,000,000, an amount typically reserved for serial >killers, not community organizers, non-violence training >facilitators artists and puppet makers charged with >misdemeanors. > >"I consider this a civil rights catastrophe of the first >order," R2K Legal Committee counsel Ron McGuire stated. "This >is an attack on our 14th Amendment. An attack on due process >and reasonable bail." "This is a systematic political effort >to undermine and destroy the momentum of a growing movement >for social and environmental justice." > >R2K Legal has documented 381 confirmed arrests, not including >members of the International Action Center and School of >Americas Watch (15 more). Additionally, there are people we >have not heard from (we estimate up to 30), but due to >restrictions on protester's access to telephones, there is >really no way to tell. Of these people, approximately 60 have >accepted "Release on Own Recognizance" or "Signed On Bail." >Prisoners are working together to agree on and communicate >their demands. Solidarity tactics to demand their release >include singing, chanting, and story telling, along with a >150-person-strong hunger strike. Some have been on hunger >strike for as long as 56 hours. Three men have fasted without >water for 28 hours. > >Supporters are asked to phone Mayor John Street at >215.686.2181 and demand the immediate release of these >political prisoners. > > ># distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission ># <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, ># collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets ># more info: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body ># archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >___________________________________________________________ >hosted by Vancouver Community Network http://www.vcn.bc.ca > > >###################################################### >Judyth Mermelstein "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..." >Montreal, QC <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >###################################################### > > > > > > ............................................. > Bob Olsen, Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ............................................. > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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