[GPSCC-chat] Committee Against Political Repression

Sat Sep 29 10:21:38 PDT 2012

Hello, All:

       You may know that people are being harassed and imprisoned for 
participating in legal, peaceful assembly (e.g., in conjunction with the 
2008 Republican National Convention) and supporting terrorism simply 
because they talked with people or belonged to organizations that US 
government claimed were "terrorists" -- without a need to present any 
evidence of that.  (No more the land of the brave and the home of the 
free, but the land of the fearful and cowardly; 
http://occupy.pbworks.com/w/page/55119685/Liberty%20and%20Justice%20for%20All) 

        The South Bay Committee Against Politic Repression (CAPR) is 
trying to organize actions against this.  Below please find notes from 
the CAPR meeting last Tuesday meeting.  These include details that could 
be used to organize other protests, e.g., to release Matthew Kyle Duran, 
who is currently being held in indefinite detention for refusing to 
testify before a Civil Grand Jury.  If you call or write emails to 
elected officials, please post the details of what you did back to the 
rest of us to make it easier for us to do likewise.

       Thanks,
       Spencer

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Send to Greens and Occupy
Date: 	Fri, 28 Sep 2012 22:43:30 -0700
From: 	Betsy Wolf-Graves <betsy237 at prodsyse.com>
To: 	spencer graves <spencer.graves at prodsyse.com>

Hello Greens and Occupy:

The Committee Against Political Repression met Tuesday,
September 25.  This group was formed after the attack on
human rights at the Republican National Convention held in
Minneapolis-St. Paul in 2008.

In 2010 the federal attorney in Chicago issued indictments
against many of the international solidarity activists and
antiwar activist who had organized demonstrations and the
2008 RNC..  Among them was Hatem Abudayyeh one of the
organizers of the protests. The feds have ordered the
activists to report to a federal grand jury set up for just
that purpose.  To date no one has accepted the order.  There
is something strangely dangerous to be called before a
closed grand jury not knowing what evidence will be directed
at you.  The activists well know that 92% of all cases that
appear before a grand jury end up with an indictment.

At the South Bay CAPR meeting on Tuesday, we spoke by phone
with Hatem.  He presents as very calm and thoughtful, even
in light of all that is going against him.  His home was
ransacked by the feds.  He is the last one whose effects
have not been returned to him.  It is amazing that he
maintains his job while he is being faced with such stressors.

A number of people from the Arab American community
participated in the demonstrations at the RNC.  Monday,
October 1, there will be coordinated demonstrations , led by
the Arab American community in Milwaukee, in Florida, and
Washington DC in front of the FBI buildings.

They will present a letter addressed to Attorney General
Holder and Acting U S Attorney  Gary Shapiro.  The letter
will ask for exoneration and to publicly withdraw any charges.

CAPR is now attempting to bring Hatem to the South Bay so
that more people can hear him and learn of the ordeal after
peacefully demonstrating in St. Paul during the RNC, 2008.
He will update us on the status of Midwest 23 and the week
of action September 20-26 commemorating the two year
anniversary of the FBI raids and Federal Grand Jury subpoenas.

Among the groups condemning the actions of the government
are CAIR, the Green Party and numerous unions.

I have added some larger coverage below if you would like to
know more about this attack on our rights and some actions
you can take.  Betsy

The grand jury system was imported from England by American
colonists, who often used it to defend their rights and
express grievances against the kingâ€™s policies. But the
unique subpoena power of the modern grand jury system, in
use virtually nowhere else, has long since morphed into
something different, according to attorney Deutsch (lead
attorney for Hatem and group). Since the Nixon era, he says,
the Justice Department has used
grand juries against political activists, €œforcing them to
testify [through compulsory immunity, which prosecutors can
use in further investigations but not officially in court],
even what I call interning€™ them without charges.€

If a subpoenaed person refuses to testify before the grand
jury after being offered immunity by the government, she can
be jailed for contempt €“without ever having been convicted of
a crime. The government considers this €œcoercion€ a means of
compelling testimony rather than punishment; famous victims
include former Weather Underground member Bernadine Dohrn
and former New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Jail is an
immediate possibility for some of the 14 activists, three of
whom were re-subpoenaed in November. (The Justice Department
let all of their initial appearance dates pass after they
refused to testify.)

But while Dohrn and Miller were released after less than 12
months, the uncooperative activists could face much more
time because the current grand jury is investigating support
for terrorism. (€œTerrorism enhancementâ€ sentencing
guidelines, passed after the Oklahoma City bombing, allow
judges to dramatically increase sentences if an offense
â€œinvolved, or was intended to promote, a federal crime of
terrorism.€)

€œTheyâ€™re not just looking at a few months in jail if they
do no€™t testify, they a€™re looking at years, says Deutsch
example of  grand jury abuse. In 2007, a federal judge
sentenced Ashqar,
a Palestinian and former professor of business
administration at Howard University, to more than 11 years
in prison for refusing to testify before a grand jury €“after
he was acquitted of all terrorism-related charges.

He remains imprisoned.

ANOTHER ACTION ITEM:  In Seattle Matthew Kyle Duran remains
in jail because he refused to testify against members of his
community.  Grand juries can take away your rights to be
silent.  You can look up Matt Duran on the WEB.  It would be
great if people would make a plan to write Matt regularly so
he knows he is not alone.  His address:  Matthew Kyle Duran
(Matt)  42565-086
FDC Sea Tac
P O Box 13900
Seattle, WA  98198

Solidarity drives pushback

While they would rather go to jail than be part of what they
call a €œgovernment witch hunt,€ the 14 subpoenaed activists
are trying to avoid both outcomes by pressuring members of
Congress and encouraging street protests around the country.
In October, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression organized
protests outside of the FBI offices in Chicago and
Minneapolis, and during the week of November 29, it spearheaded
a series of protests in cities across the country.

The committee also sent a delegation to Washington D.C. in
November that met four members of Congress, including Keith
Ellison (D-Minn.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), and Andrea
Martin, the executive director of the Progressive Caucus. No
politician had committed to sending a €œDear Colleague€
letter to fellow representatives, but committee members are
hoping that protests outside home district offices, a
national petition letter to President Obama and Attorney
General Eric Holder, and additional visits to the Capitol
will cause influential people to condemn the grand jury
investigation.

While the Justice Department's next step is unclear €“it
could offer immunity to those subpoenaed, push for indictments
or impanel a new grand jury after the current one expires in
February €“the reaction to its investigation is not. More than
140 organizations from around the country, including the
Green Party, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and
dozens of labor unions and councils, have condemned the
government'™s actions.

Jess Sundin, the antiwar activist who traveled to Colombia
10 years ago, sees those actions as an affront to her
freedoms €“and conscience.€œThe idea that it could be against
the law for Americans to meet with people who our government
does no€™t support“I never imagined that that was illegal,â€
Sundin said at a November 13 meeting of Seattle United
Against FBI Repression: €œI always believed that we had a
right and responsibility to speak our opinions and to
dissent when our government is making mistakes.

UPDATE: On December 3 and 8, after In These Times€™ January
2011 issue went to press, five additional Chicago-area
Palestinian solidarity activists were subpoenaed by the
Grand Jury, bringing the total number of individuals called
to testify to 19.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/continued/6745/terrorist_by_association/

http://rnc08report.org/cgi-bin/engine/search.cgi?action=search&page=1&perpage=5000&templat..

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