Mutulu Shakur - To Reaffirm and Escalate Our Efforts to Prevent The Murder of Mumia Abu-Jamal by the U.S. Government-April 5, 1999

To Reaffirm and Escalate Our Efforts to Prevent The Murder of Mumia Abu-Jamal by the U.S. Government-April 5, 1999

I am sure we are all aware that Governor Tom Ridge has signed Mumia's death warrant and has refused to stay the execution, thereby eliminating the next-to-last step in their initiation of judicial remedies. It should be clear to all observers that Mumia's life and whatever pride and respect we have for his life and his life's work depend on our ability to prevent this outright blatant political assassination, which is a violation of human rights and international law.

This case exposes on the eve of the 21st Century the destruction of two fundamental instruments, which were developed to provide guidelines for the protection of individuals and human rights against tyranny on the part of government over its citizenry and government and their charge over people who have no agreed national sovereignty.

December 15, 1991 represented the 200th Anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Now, nine years later, the deterioration of the Bill of Rights by those who are charged with their principles, protection and implementation can be witnesses at every judicial proceeding in this country, particularly as it concerns its application to the descendants of slaves that have forced longevity upon them.

The Bill of Rights, although not intended for those slaves, did provide some arguable objective principles, such as the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peacefully to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

The Fifth Amendment states, in part: nor shall . . . be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

The Sixth Amendment: to be confronted with the witness against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

My brother Mumia's life depends on how and if these principles are truly the rights for all the people on United States soil, or if they are only triggered by the government and Judicial Branch, if they agree with you or see you as a member of their class.

It does not take any stretch of your sense to understand that a journalist, a New African journalist who had exposed Philadelphia police brutality to the general population, which received national attention would then, a year later, be charged in the death of a policeman in that department he has exposed. This person, Mumia, would need the complete protection of the Bill of Rights in order that the integrity of the instrument would maintain or receive the respect envisioned. No, what did happen clearly was a trial that exposed the racism and fascism in the nation state and its judicial process.

During the penalty stage of his so-called trial, after he was denied his right to defend himself, after his lawyer was not given the same right expert witness to challenge real evidence, which could get at the truth; after a favorable witness to his theory of two were hidden from him and his attorney; after the shackles and gagging-they had the nerve to continue to violate their Bill of Rights and present his political belief and background, his membership in the Black Panther Party as a basis to establish he had a predisposition to violence.

The nerve-especially when commission upon commission has shown, particularly in Philadelphia, the Cointelpro led by J.E. Hoover to set up infiltrators to promote violence. Any order to use as an excuse to arrest and murder members of organizations, such as the Black guard of RAM, Black Panther Party, etc.

Now, by right, the government should not be able to have it both ways. (But what else is new?) If the government's position is that our Brother Mumia is a common criminal subject to domestic laws and penalties, then his political views and organizational membership should have no place in any stage of the trial. But, if the state made his political belief an element of the charge, at that point Brother Mumia should be allowed to demonstrate his being targeted as the basis for the gross violations of prosecutorial and police procedures and due process violations. We are clear that it is exactly because of his belief that he was retaliated against and denied his rights.

Legally, Mumia's status changed with the introduction of his political beliefs. As a prisoner who is accused of the act which happened during a period that the state contends was hostile between the Philadelphia Police Department and MOVE, of which Brother Mumia as a journalist was reporting and an associate of. Although not involved in any of the armed incidents, Mumia's relationship to international law was established by his history of serving as a journalist for the Black Panther newspaper, clearly during a period of recorded recognizable intense conflict in our history of struggle in these United States, and the specific targeting of the Black Panther Party.

It has been my position for some time that the exploration of the changing of Brother Mumia's legal status from domestic to international law would be one of the remedies that might be used as an option to the death sentence and to enlist International Jurist Review.

Clearly, whether a formal Movement decision (not in opposition to the anti-death penalty movement) but specific to the New Africans/Black, Anti-Imperialist Political Prisoners in the United States, these prisoners should be given status similar to the A.N.C., and be treated in accord with International Law.

Further policies and trends that are in the overall best interest of our struggles are a broader question. In this instance, I believe we must subjectively confront the possibility of the death of our Comrade Mumia Abu-Jamal and other comrades-to prevent this precedent and to determine in part as to the realistic availability of various international legal principles and processes in this particular time and circumstances.

I am not sure if the international community has the power to enforce human rights protection to individuals or nations, for that matter, who are not in line with U.S. eco-geopolitical objectives. (I'm sure it's a stretch.)

I'm not sure if human rights and self-determination still carry the importance for the world activist unless it is U.S. approved. In this country, laws have been passed to make it illegal to support unpopular causes abroad or domestically that the Executive Branch and Justice Department deem untouchable.

1998 was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights and, by all objective standards, this instrument for protection of human rights will be eroded under U.S. Imperialism.

But we must have faith in the masses nationally and internationally.

In Protocol I of 1977 to the Geneva Convention, members of recognized liberation movements fighting to overturn a repressive regime in a particular territory (we would argue in this case the Black Panther Party) provided there is a minimum of organized discipline, openness of purpose and recognized insignia for the conduct of hostilities are given the right of "Lawful Combatants" P.O.W.; Adopted by the General Assembly. Three provisions securing favorable treatment of detainees are:
- prohibition of reprisals
- preferential treatment of a prosecuted person who could show that he had abided by the rules of Protocol II. (specifically, not committed any war crimes)
- deferment of the death penalty until the end of hostilities

Brother Mumia's case, viewed under this Protocol status, would call for the halt of any execution. (I'm quite aware of the domestic and Executive Branch refusal to apply Protocol to our movements, but how many individuals and countries have they invaded and extradited?)

These protocols are still supported today by the General Assembly, a status enjoyed by A.N.C. and P.A.C. members during their war, although South Africa violated the law; as the U.S. continues to do.

The dehumanizing effect of paramilitary violence, police terrorism, covert operations by Counter-Intelligence Units, prosecutions, misconduct, collusion and abuse of power-set the stage for the continued oppression of Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. Expansion of the death penalty and abuse of judicial process present to the world a false reality fight against terrorism.

The other day, the Parks Commission of N.Y.C. claimed he was at war with dog owner terrorists. It reminds us of when will they come for you?

Mumia Abu-Jamal's life covers the total spectrum of his political odyssey, reality and consequence thereof. His books describe his social, political, and legal history as one that would qualify his status as a prisoner exempt from extradition, based on the international principle of political offense exception from extradition.

If he, like General Pinochet, were captured on foreign soil, his charged incident would be so clearly connected to his political status (his innocence aside) he would be able to employ the right and protection against extradition under the P.O.E.E. analysis; contrary to the likes of the fascist Pinochet, whose charged crimes are genocide and acts against humanity, and therefore not subject to P.O.E.E. protection.

Mumia's political history, the political element introduced at trial, would weigh heavily on his ability to get a fair trial. International review would determine under the same conditions and circumstances would the detaining country give the death penalty.

The various N.G.O.'s (non-governmental organizations) with their high-profile projection who crusade for human rights within the United Nations and member states with their liberal credentials recently requested the U.S. to intervene in various countries that arrest and murder journalists. These organizations should demonstrate that same outrage in demanding that the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal be reopened in pursuit of the truth.

At the end of the day, it will be our people and the masses who bear the weight and responsibility, as in the past when we were outraged, when injustice so shocks our consciousness that the need for a demonstration of our national awareness is required to register our outrage.

We have been the vanguard to such outrage before-the Scottsboro Boys, the Kissiney Case in Monroe, N.C., led by Robert F. Williams and Mae Mallory, the Joanne Little case, Huey Newton's case, the Panther 21, the Rodney King case.

In our history, a specific period converges with a conflict that highlights the instruments of power focused on Black people to such a degree that the laws betray their objectives, be they domestic or a parallel international instrument of law, when justice is abandoned, unless and until the people expose the existing application as unjust and in violation of the very nature of the time. That time is now. We must act.

As a member of a political prisoner, prisoner of war class, whose life has been dedicated to bring about real change in the conditions of the oppressed masses, and self-determination, in particular, for New Africa, I'm clearly aware of what we are calling on you to do. The New Crime Bill authorizes the government to investigate individuals or groups who engage in First Amendment activities in support of political goals of organizations deemed "terrorist." Since Mumia was a Panther member, I'm sure they will make an argument to investigate your effort.

Our Brother Martin Luther King spoke about tactics against unjust laws, and I quote: "Thus laws that are unjust are morally null and void, and must be defied until they are legally null and void as well."

We must remember everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal.

We must stop the murder of Brother Mumia. Direct action to rectify a social situation, such as civil disobedience. Its objective is the surfacing of tensions already present in a crisis situation that must open the door to negotiation.

To cure injustice, you must expose it before the light of human conscience and the bar of public opinion (M.L.K.). Awakening of the instinctual human need for justice.

We have faith in the spirit of the people. The struggle will be intense, but it will be cleansing of the soul of fear. Demonstrating on April 29th is the right thing to do.

May love and passion for freedom guide us. Our enemy is foul of spirit.

Aim high and go all out
Stiff resistance
Happy Earthday-Brother Mumia. May Allah protect you.

Mutulu Shakur
Atlanta Prison
3-24-99 - Lockdown

I threw myself at myself and
saw myself looking back at myself
imaging myself free.
I threw myself at the sun and saw myself
looking down at the moon with starlit eyes
imagining a rainbow of people free.
DeCurry