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On April 24, ’99
roughly 30,000 people demonstrated in Philadelphia, USA, for the release of
Mumia Abu-Jamal — an African-American (Black) political prisoner.
Simultaneously, thousands more marched for the freedom of Mumia across numerous
cities of the US and Europe. Mumia has emerged as a symbol of revolt in the
West, in an increasingly traumatised and oppressed social system. The streets of
central Philadelphia thronged with radicals from across the US.
Kathleen Cleaver, a
former Black Panther leader opened the main rally with the call of "All Power to
the People" — a slogan of the 1960s. Jean-Pierre Page, of the French General
Confederation of Workers (CGT) said "Mumia is not only struggling for his own
life, he is struggling for the respect of human rights here and all around the
world." Subcommandante Marcos’s message, from the mountains of the Mexican
southeast, read : "I am writing to you in the name of the men, women, children
and elderly of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.... we learned about
your birthday through the international mobilisations which, under the name of
‘Millions for Mumia’, are being prepared this April 24..... We Salute you, and
may justice and truth find their place."
Mumia has been
sentenced to death since 1982 and has been in death row for the last 17
years.... on a false murder charge !!
Who
is Mumia ?
Just another
African-American, facing the brutality of the racist American state. When Mumia
was charged with the December 1981 murder of Philadelphia cop Faulkner, he was
already well-known to the authorities. When Mumia joined the Black Panther Party
at the age of 15, he became the target of the FBI. Later, he was known among the
people as a radical radio-journalist who exposed police brutality and other
injustices. He became a supporter of the organisation MOVE, which was under
constant attack from the police. When the police bombarded MOVE headquarters on
August 8, 1978, Mumia strongly condemned the police. A few years later he was
arrested at the scene of a gunfight.
The 1982 trial,
presided over by Judge Sabo (who has the distinction of having awarded the
highest number of death sentences in the US) was a farce. Sabo colluded with the
prosecution, who withheld important evidence and eye witnesses from the defence.
Sabo banned Mumia from the courtroom for most of his trial and forced a
court-appointed attorney to defend him. He refused the defense adequate money
for ballistic tests and investigations. The only ‘evidence’ on the basis of
which the death sentence was pronounced were ‘eye-witness accounts’ by police
informers — prostitutes working in the area.
Mumia’s original
appeal was turned down by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the US Supreme
Court refused to hear his case. In the summer of 1995, Pensylvania Governor, Tom
Ridge, signed the death warrant. In April, 1996, when a prosecution witness,
Veronica Jones, said she had made the earlier statement under police pressure,
she was arrested right outside the court. Mumia has not yet been murdered by the
racist American judicial system only because of the huge mass movement outside.
In August 1997 the execution was temporarily stayed just 10 days before the date
because of the broad mass movement in the US and internationally.
Inspite of being
incarcerated in a small cell in solitary confinement with the possibility of
death at any moment.... Mumia’s spirits remain high. Speaking at a rally in
Philadelphia Square in December 1996, his literary agent, Frances Goldin said :
".... when you go to see Mumia, your heart is heavy and when you leave, you’re
exhilerated. This man is optimistic. This man believes in the power that is in
this square and he knows that your efforts and our efforts are not going to stop
until the death-penalty is abolished."
But Mumia, is not
alone ... there are over 3000 people on death row awaiting execution in the US.
Racist Terror in USA
A large section of
these are coloured. The most serious injustice of the judicial system is its
disproportionate use of the death penalty against racial minorities. Recent
surveys have revealed that the odds of receiving a death sentence are 4 times
higher if the defendant happens to be an African-American. In states where the
death penalty exists, almost 98% of the District Attorneys are white. The courts
are notorious for their racism.
In the US, while one in every 25 males is under the direct
supervision of the prison industrial complex; for African-American males, the
percentage is one in every three. Native Americans are ten times more likely
than whites to be imprisoned. Latinos constitute the fastest-growing group
behind bars. Blacks comprise 12% of the American population, but represent
nearly half those in jail. The incarceration rate for black men, according to
figures published last year, is eight times that for white men. About one in
every 12 black men aged between 25 and 29 is currently behind bars, ten times
the rate among whites. In fact the prison-industrial complex has grown into big
business employing slave labour.
Slave Labour – US Style
The US has the largest prison population in the world. Last
year one in every 150 Americans (including children) was behind bars. In the US
there are two million people in jail, with another 3 million under the
surveillance of the criminal justice system. In the 1960s the prison population
was one-eighth its current size. And since 1980 the prison population has
quadrupled. The US has the highest rates of incarceration in the world (except
for Russia) — 668 per one lakh of population. This was 40 times the rate in
South Africa, 20 times the rate in Japan and 5 to 10 times the rate of West
European countries. While the number of people in America on social security has
nearly halved since 1994 (from 5.4% in 1994 to 2.9% in 1998) the prison
population in the 1990s has been rising at an annual average rate of 6%.
Obviously, the US government finds it more profitable to imprison the unemployed
and use them like slaves than pay social security to them.
Besides, prisons make for good business. Between 1971 and
1992 public spending on prisons in the US jumped from $2.3 billion to $31.2
billion. In 1995, expenditure on prison construction increased by $926 million,
while outlay for university construction DROPPED by $954 million. The prison
industry generates an estimated $40 billion a year. Among the beneficiaries of
the system are large corporations such as IBM, Motorola, Boeing and Microsoft
who hire prisoners to manufacture goods and services behind bars at a wage of
$0.25 per hour (a small fraction of the statuatory minimum wage of $7 per hour).
Prisoner Eve Goldberg says "Prisoners do data entry for Chevron, make telephone
reservations for TWA, raise hogs, shovel manure, make circuit boards,
limousines, waterbeds and lingerie for Victoria’s Secret — all at a fraction of
the cost of ‘free labour’. "
Such then is the reality behind the main champions of the
‘free world’, ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’.
Free Mumia Immediately
In the racist American prisons, in the dark cells of solitary
confinement, amidst a police and judicial system that is unjust and racist,
faced with possible execution at any moment, and even after nearly two decades
of incarceration ..... Mumia Abu-Jamal’s struggling spirit is exemplary and his
optimism and faith on the masses in the face of adversity are qualities to be
emulated.
His struggle for justice has become a symbol for the fight
against a rotten system. This struggle has brought out the hypocrisy of the US
administration’s talk of the so-called Western democracies’ ‘freedom’, their
hypocritical talk of ‘human rights’ and the extent of their oppressive policies,
not only throughout the third world, but in their very home.
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