Voices from around the world:
'FREE MUMIA'
By
Leslie Feinberg
While the U.S. media tries to keep the lid on news about the
case of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and efforts to win
his freedom, people all over the world know about his
struggle.
On Oct. 15--two days after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge
signed a death warrant for Abu-Jamal--an indoor rally in
Paris significantly broadened support for the death-row
prisoner.
Close to 10,000 unionists and activists from 30
countries assembled in the Sports Palace. The rally was
organized to build support for the Open World Conference in
Defense of Trade Union Independence and Democratic Rights. That
conference will be held in San Francisco next February.
The fight to save Abu-Jamal's life became an important focus
of the event. Tetevi Norbert Gbikpi-Benissan--president of the
Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Togo and convener of
the International Tribunal on Africa--reported on his recent
six-city tour of the United States. He told the massive rally
about discussions he'd had with African American activists and
leaders in the U.S. who stressed the need to widen the battle
to free Abu-Jamal. And he informed the gathering about the
signed death warrant.
As a result, the rally enthusiastically approved a mass
petition campaign. Signatures would support an Open Letter to
U.S. President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno
demanding an immediate investigation into the violation of
Abu-Jamal's civil rights by the Philadelphia police and court
system.
The campaign will also include protest actions at U.S.
embassies and consulates all over the world. The rally
resolution also proposed that the International Liaison
Committee for a Workers' International--which has a presence in
92 countries--put its strength behind this campaign.
Rally organizers also won approval by acclamation for their
decision to send a delegation to Washington within coming weeks
to present their demands and the petitions to Reno and a White
House representative.
`No justice? No peace!'
Three hundred activists rallied on behalf of Abu-Jamal in
Toronto on Oct. 16. Tying the issues of racist police
repression in the U.S. and Canada, protesters marched to
Toronto Police Headquarters.
Police reportedly lined up on the avenue to block
demonstrators from taking the street. After a standoff,
witnesses said cops reportedly pushed and shoved people in the
crowd. Two people were arrested, reportedly beaten by police
and then charged with assault. Another activist was later
arrested for the "crime" of writing on the sidewalk with chalk.
All three have since been released.
The U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, was the site of a
quickly-organized protest on Oct. 14. Activists there tried to
deliver a written protest to the U.S. ambassador, but the
Embassy personnel refused to open the door.
As word of the death warrant swept through the huge
Frankfurt, Germany, international book fair on Oct. 15,
German supporters of Abu-Jamal organized a petition for
publishers and authors to sign. Signers included Nobel
Prize-winner Gunther Grass.
Abu-Jamal was featured on the front page of the daily
newspaper Junge Welt. And organizers said they will now
approach the German Publishers and Booksellers Association to
gather more support for a new trial.
And on Oct. 16, 200 people marched through the inner-city
streets of Amsterdam, Netherlands . A drumming group
named "Brotherhood" called attention to the protest as
supporters passed out thousands of leaflets calling for an
upcoming demonstration at the U.S. Consulate.
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