UN rebukes US over brutality in jails

By Elif Kaban

Geneva, Switzerland, May 15-- The United Nations publicly rebuked the United States Monday over brutality in its prisons and called for an end to chain gangs and to the use of electroshock belts
for restraining inmates.

The UN Committee against Torture said it was concerned about breaches of the international convention against torture in the United States, citing the alleged sexual assault of female prisoners by law enforcement officers and the holding of minors in adult jails.

This is the first time the United States, the world's most vocal defender of human rights, has been put in the dock before the Geneva-based body alongside the usual suspects such as China.

"The committee expresses its concern about the number of cases of police ill-treatment of civilians and ill-treatment in prisons. Much of this ill-treatment by police and prison guards seems to be based upon discrimination," the report said.

The committee's 10 independent experts urged the United States to abolish the use of electroshock stun belts and restraint chairs on uncooperative inmates.

"The committee recommends that the state party abolish electroshock stun belts and restraint chairs as methods of restraining those in custody. Their use almost invariably leads to breaches of...the convention," they said. The report also expressed concern about what it said was the excessively harsh regime in so-called super-maximum prisons, including the practice of putting inmates in chain gangs, especially in public.

The UN forum's two-day examination of the United States' record follows the fatal police shootings of unarmed blacks in New York and Los Angeles.

London-based rights group Amnesty International charged in a 46-page report last week that practices in overcrowded US prisons --whose total population recently hit two million inmates-- facilitated torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

Amnesty called for a halt to police beatings and the shooting of unarmed suspects.

Washington says torture is prohibited by law in the United States and categorically denounced as a matter of policy and as a tool of state authority, but admits its record is not perfect.

US Assistant Secretary of State Harold Hongju Koh, presenting his government's report on its
compliance since ratifying the convention in 1994, said last week that instances of police abuse, excessive use of force and even brutality, the death of prisoners in custody, sexual abuse of inmates and jail overcrowding were causes for concern.

The US report was almost five years overdue, the committee said, and urged Washington to submit its next periodic report by November 2001.

The UN body oversees compliance by 119 states that have ratified the torture pact, but it has no power to impose sanctions.

Source: Reuters

Nader files lawsuit against NC board of elections

Washington, DC, May 15– Today, Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina Board of Elections and its Executive Secretary-Director to challenge the unconstitutional burdens of the state's ballot access laws.

The suit alleges that "North Carolina's early signature deadline, combined with the large number of signatures required, and the misleading language required by the State on the petitions, each individually and all together, place an undue burden on new or minor political parties that are seeking ballot status for the presidential race."

North Carolina accords automatic ballot status to any political party that received at least ten percent of the entire vote cast in the State for Governor or for presidential electors in the last preceding general State election, but requires groups that did not receive ten percent of the vote to qualify through a petitioning process. That process requires 51,324 valid signatures to be filed with the State Board of Election before noon on June 1, 2000.

"North Carolina's ballot access laws are stacked in favor of the two-party duopoly and against new political parties and their candidates," said Nader. "One of the goals of our campaign is to give Americans a choice by making it easier for more people to participate in politics; we are shaking up a system that favors the same paltry tweedledee, tweedledum candidates by heaping unreasonable requirements on those who want to challenge the political status quo."

In addition to Nader, who is seeking the presidential nomination of the Green Party, the plaintiffs include The Nader 2000 Primary Committee, Inc, The Green Party of North Carolina, Douglas Stuber, the North Carolina State Party Chairman, and Mark Dunlea, a registered voter in New York, where Mr. Nader is already on the ballot. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which successfully represented Senator John McCain in his efforts to obtain ballot status in New York, is representing Mr. Nader and the other plaintiffs. Brennan Center attorney Glenn Moramarco explained that, "North's Carolina's ballot access laws constitute an unconstitutional barrier to those candidates who seek to participate in a democratic process free from unreasonable impediments."

Ralph Nader and the Green Party are on the ballot in 14 states and the District of Columbia and have active ballot access drives underway in all the remaining states so that voters may choose to vote for Nader in November.

Source: Znet: zmag.org

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 13-- Many activists are concerned that the US government may be mounting a serious attempt to cripple the work of some of the staunchest supporters of imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Clark Kissinger, organizer of the national leadership conferences for Abu-Jamal, Frances Goldin, Mumia’s literary agent, and several others have been sentenced by a federal magistrate to a fine and one year supervised probation.

Ms. Goldin and Mr. Kissinger are forbidden to associate with felons (i.e. Abu-Jamal) and cannot leave their federal court district in New York City without the permission of a probation officer for one year. In addition, they are required to be employed at a regular job (i.e. no full-time volunteer work for Abu-Jamal), they have to surrender their passports, submit to visits to their homes and offices by probation officers, list all persons they are in contact with who have been convicted of a crime, and turn in detailed financial records every month on where their money comes from and how they spend it.

These Orwellian restrictions were imposed as the result of a peaceful protest and civil disobedience action last year at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Ninety-six people were issued summonses by Park Rangers for "failing to obey a lawful order." This infraction is not even a misdemeanor. It is classified as a "petty offense" and is equivalent to a traffic ticket. Yet everyone who refused to return the summons, pleading guilty and paying the fixed fine — and who had the temerity to ask for a trial — was given one-year supervised probation in addition to the fine.

In addition, Mr. Kissinger’s wife has been served with a subpoena to produce all of her financial records for the last ten years and to testify before a federal grand jury. Many supporters of Abu-Jamal are saying that these unusually heavy-handed penalties are evidence of a giant fishing expedition by federal agents, that further exposes the role of the federal government in attempting to execute Abu-Jamal and silence the movement in his defense.

Alarmed activists claim that Mr. Kissinger, Ms. Goldin, and the others were given the one-year probation as punishment for asking for a trial.

A press release written by Roland Shepard states, "These judicial actions are an outrage and are clearly aimed at ‘shutting down’ anyone who works effectively for Mumia. The progressive forces in this country cannot surrender the right to a trial, nor can we tolerate the attempt of the government to ‘ground’ those working for Mumia.

"The imposition of these judicial restrictions and subpoenas on leading activists and their families serves no purpose other than to chill the first amendment rights of those who have been most effective in bringing Mumia’s case before the public. We demand that they be stayed at once, and overturned by the appeals court."

Those who wish to contribute to the cost of the appeal may send a check made out to Frances Goldin, at 305 E. 11th St., #26, New York, NY 10003.

Source: Roland Shepard Rgshep@aol.com