Editors' Note: This article contains portionsof the text of several letters and interviews byAssata Shakur and comments by two notedattorneys, Lennox Hinds and Michael Ratner.The text that follows in italics is by RosemariMealy, who has excerpted Assata's writingsfor CovertAction.

the air, and then once again from the back.

Zayd Malik Shakur was later killed, Trooper

Werner Foerster was killed. I was left on the

ground to die and when I did not, I was taken

to a local hospital where I was threatened,

beaten, and tortured Even though trooper Harper admitted that

he shot and killed Zayd Malik Shakur, under

the New Jersey felony murder law; I was

charged with killing both Zayd Malik Shakur,

who was my closest friend and comrade, and

charged in the death of Trooper Foerster. Nev-

er in my life have I felt such grief. Zayd had

vowed to protect me, and to help me to get to

a safe place, and it was clear that he had lost

his life trying to protect both me and Sundiata.

Although he was also unarmed, and the gun

that killed Trooper Foerster was found under

Zayd's leg, Sundiata Acoli, who was captured

later, was also charged with both deaths.

Neither Sundiata Acoli nor I ever received a

fair trial. We were both convicted in the news

media way before our trials. No news media

was ever permitted to interview us, although

tainly not the case. It only meant that the "ev-idence" presented against me was so flimsyand false that my innocence became evident.This political persecution was part and parcelof the government's policy of eliminating po-litical opponents by charging them withcrimes and arresting them with no regard tothe factual basis of such charges. ...

On May 2, 1973, I, along with Zayd MalikShakur and Sundiata Acoli, were stopped onthe New Jersey Turnpike, supposedly for a"faulty taillight." Sundiata Acoli got out of thecar to determine why we were stopped. Zaydand I remained in the car. State Trooper Har-per then came to the car, opened the door, andbegan to question us. Because we were black,and riding in a car with Vermont licenseplates, he claimed he became "suspicious." Hethen drew his gun, pointed it at us, and told usto put our hands up in the air in front of us,where he could see them. I complied and in asplit sec<?nd, there was a sound that came fromoutside ~ecar, there was a sudden movement,and I was shot once with my arms held up in

THE U.N. PETITION

c overtAction Quarterly has always at-

tempted to present an alternative per-

spective that goes directly to the heart of

political issues. When tyrannical governments

infringe on the basic fundamental rights of indi-

viduals and groups through both domestic and

foreign counterinsurgency programs, their vic-

timization has been reported in this magazine.

Revelations over tht;,Years have exposed, for ex-

ample, the vicious methods of the FBIs Counter-

Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) used

against U.S. political activists. Many innocent

individuals have been entrapped and then rail-

roaded through a hostile court system, criminal-

ized for no other reason than speaking out and

acting on their political beliefs. Forgotten in gen-

eral by the American public, more than 200 of

these men and women currently languish in pris-

ons throughout this country, some for more than

25 years.

One person who was able to escape horren-

dous persecution, after being convicted in 1977

by an all-white jury and sentenced to life plus 33

years in prison, was Assata Shakur (formerly

known asjoAnne Chesimard).

In her written statement to the 54th Session

of the United Nations Commission on Human

Rights, held in Geneva, Switzerland in March

1998, Assata Shakur testified:

The U.S. Senate's 1976 Church Committeereport on intelligence operations inside theU.s.A. revealed that, "The PHI has attemptedcovertly to influence the public's perception ofpersons and organizations by disseminatingderogatory information to the press, eitheranonymously or through 'friendly' news con-tacts. "

In 1978 my case was one of many casesbrought before the United Nations..., exposingthe existence of political prisoners in the Uni-ted States, their political persecution, and thecruel and inhuman treatment they receive inU.S. prisons [See sidebar.]

I was falsely accused in six different «crim-inal cases," and in all six of these cases I waseventually acquitted or the charges were dis-missed. The fact that I was acquitted or thatthe charges were dismissed, did not mean thatI received justice in the courts; that was cer-

On December 11, 1978, attorney Lennox Hinds, on behalf of the National Conference ofBlack Lawyers, the National Alliance Against Racism, and the Commission for Racial ]us-tice of the United Church of Christ, sent a petition to the United Nations Commission onHuman Rights alleging a "consistent pattern of gross ...violations of human rights and fun-damental freedoms of certain classes of political prisoners in the United States because oftheir race, economic status, and political beliefs."

The petition, referring to the case of Assata Shakur, stated that, "The FBI and the NewYork Police Department, in particular, charged and accused Assata Shakur of participatingin attacks on law enforcement personnel, and widely circulated such charges and accusa-tions among police agencies and units. The FBI and the NYPD further charged her as beinga leader of the Black Liberation Arm}\ which the government and its respective agencies de-scribed as an organization engaged in the shooting of police officers. This description of theBlack Liberation Army and the accusation of Assata Shakur's relationship to it was widelycirculated by government agents among police agencies and units. As a resu1t of these ac-tivities by the government, Ms. Shakur became a hunted person; posters in police precinctsand banks described her as being involved in serious criminal activities; she was highlight-ed on the FBI's most wanted list; and to police at all levels she became a 'shoot-to-kill' tar-

get."In response to the petition, seven international jurists visited a number of prisons on

August 3-20, 1979, and reported their findings. They listed four categories of prisoners, thefirst of which were political prisoners, defined as "a class of victims of FBI misconductthrough the COINTELPRO strategy and other forms of illegal governmental conduct whoas political activists have been selectively targeted for provocation, false arrests, entrapment,fabrication of evidence, and spurious criminal prosecutions. This claSs is exemplified by atleast: The Wilmington Ten, the Charlotte Three, Assata Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, lmari Oba-dele and other Republic of New Africa defendants, David Rice, Ed Poindexter, Elmer 'Ger-onimo' Pratt, Richard Marshall, Russell Means, Ted Means, and other American IndianMovement defendants. " ,

,i"One of the wo~t ~es," they wrote, "is that of Assata Shakur, who spent over twenty

months in solitary confinement in two separate men's prisons subject to conditions totallyunbefitting any prisoner. Many more months were spent in solitary confinement im mixedor all-women's prisons. Presentl}\ after protracted litigation, she is confined at Clinton Cor-rectional Facility for Women in maximum security. She has never on any occasion beenpunished for any infraction of prison rules which might in any way justify such cruel or un-usual punishment."

Rosemarl Mealy is a radio producer-activist and host onWBAI-FM in New York City and on its Pacifica Network.She is the author of Fidel and Malcolm x: Memories of AMeeting (Melbourne: Ocean Press, 1993). Mealy has livedand worked in Cuba. (Photo on left by AP/Wide WorldPhotos. Assata being transferred to Middlesex CountyJail after her indictment.)

@@w~m£(g'iJ'~@OO @l!)J~m~ooI!.W 35Number 65

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Assata speaking to U.S. Women's delega1

the New Jersey police and the FBI fed stories

to the press on a daily basis Because of government persecution, I was

left with no other choice than to flee from the

political repression, racism, and violence that

dominate the U.S. government's policy to-

wards people of color, and in 1979, fearing

that I would be murdered in prison, and

knowing that I would never receive any jus-

tice, I was liberated from prison, aided by com-

mitted comrades who understood the depths

of the injustices in my case, and who were also

extremely fearful for my life.

The greatest fear that Assata had to endure

during the early years of her incarceration was

for the safety of her daughte1; Kakuya, who was

born while Assata was confined to a hospital

ward.

After the daring escape from a maximum se-

curity unit at New Jerse:y~ Clinton Correctional

facilities, Assata lived and struggled underground

for many years. She was placed on the FBI~ Most

Wanted list and hunted by federal officials during

this period.

There was great relief among the progressive

community when it became known that Assata

and other law enforcement agencies throughout

the years took place in any other country, it

would be deemed a human rights violation.

In her own autobiography, Assata [Chicago:

Lawrence Hill, 1987], she chronicles her experi-

ences, and describes herself as a "20th century

escaped slave."

In the late 1980s, Assata Shakur publicly

emerged in Cuba where she was accorded the sta-

tus of political refugee.

Throughout the years, the New Jersey police

have been particularly vindictive, vowing to cap-

ture Assata Shakur; dead or alive. On December

24, 1997, the New Jersey State Police called a

press conference to announce that they had writ-

ten a letter to Pope John Paul II-who was about

to embark on a trip to Cuba-asking him to in-

tervene on their behalf to have Assata extradited

to New Jersey.

Assata sent an open letter to the Pope, which

received widespread international dissemination.

It was published in Arabic, French, Spanish, and

several other languages. In the United States, the

letter went virtually unnoticed by the mainstream

press, but was given front page coverage by New

Yorks only Black dail}\ the Daily Challenge. The

letter is reprinted at pages 38 through 40.

36 FALL 1998@@W~00'iJ'~@'iJ'~@OO @1!J)/AOO'iJ'~00~W

~

tion, Havana, Cuba, January 1998.

had been liberated from prison on Black solidar -

ity Day, November 2, 1979. Bright yellow posters

with Assatas photo were anonymously printed,

and appeared on signposts throughout Harlem,

with the message, "Assata Is Welcome Here."

But, at the same time, Black women throughout

the United States were summarily detained by

the police under the pretext that they resembled

the so-called .fugitive. Homes of Black activists in

New York and other cities were raided by heavi-

ly armed SWAT teams, where police informants

had directed them to what were falsely believed to

be safe houses harboring this dangerous "cop

kille1:"

Assatas family was also harassed. Her aunt

and attorney, Evelyn Williams, was jailed for

criminal contempt for vigorously defending her

client. Ms. Williams, in her book (Inadmissible

Evidence [Chicago: Lawrence Hill, 1993]) pro-

vides in detail a ~.$h.t;enin~ saga of American ju-

risprudence. Before'~ pii!sed in 1995, Assatas

mothel; Doris, bore the emotional scars induced

by mental torture. Imagine your phone ringing

constantly in the middle of the night with a sadis-

tic caller telling you that your daughter is dead!

If the psychological warfare that was waged

against her immediate family by the U.S. police

Affinnation

\I believe in living.I believe in the spectrumof Beta days and Gamma people.I believe in sliJ1shine.In windmills and waterfalls,tricycles and rocking chairs.And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts.And sprouts grow into trees.I believe in the magic of the hands.And in the wisdom of the eyes.I believe in rain and tears.And in the blood of infinity.

I have been locked by the lawless.Handcuffed by the haters.Gagged by the greedy.And, if i know any thing at all,it's that a wall is just a walland nothing more at all.It can be broken down.

I believe in life.And i have seen the death parademarch through the torso of the earth,sculpting mud bodies in its path.I have seem the destruction of the daylight,and seen bloodthirsty maggotsprayed to and saluted.

I believe in living.

I believe in birth.

I believe in the sweat of love

and in the fire of truth.

And i believe that a lost ship,

steered by tired, seasick sailors,

can still be guided home

to port.

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I have seen the kind become the blindand the blind become the bindin one easy lesson.I have walked on cut grass.I have eaten crow and blunder breadand breathed the stench of indifference.

@@W~lf(Ir~@Ir~@OO @1ID/A\lf(Ir~lf(i!..W 37Number 65

A Lm-rER TO THE POPEHavana , CubaMarch 1998

Your Holiness

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I hope this letter finds you in good health, ingood disposition, and enveloped in the spirit ofgoodness. I must confess that it had never occurredto me before to write to you, and I find myselfoverwhelmed and moved to have this opportuni ty .Although circumstances have conpelled me to reachout to you, I am glad to have this occasion to tryand cross the boundaries that would otherwise tendto separate us.

I understand that the New Jersey State Policehave written to you and asked you to intervene andto help facilitate my extradition back to theUnited States. I believe that their request is un-precedented in history .Since they have refused tomake their letter to you public, although they havenot hesitated to p~licize their request, I am com-pletely uninformed as to the accusations they aremaking against me. Why, I wonder, do I warrantsuch attention? What do I represent that is such athreat?

Please let me take a moment to tell you about my-self. My name is Assata Shakur and I was born andraised in the United States. I am a descendant ofAfricans who were kidnaped and brought to theAmericas as slaves. I spent my early childhood inthe racist segregated South. I later moved to thenorthern part of the country , where I realized thatBlack people were equally victimized by racism andoppression.

I grew up and became a political activist, par-ticipating in student struggles, the anti-war move-ment, and, most of all, in the movement for theliberation of African Americans in the unitedStates. I later joined the Black Panther Party, anorganization that was targeted by COINTELPRO, aprogram that was set up by the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI) to eliminate all political op-position to the U.S. government's policies, to de-stroy the Black Liberation Movement in the U.S.,and to discredit activists and to eliminate poten-tial leaders.

As a result of being targeted by COINTELPRO, I,like many other young people, was faced with thethreat of prison, underground, exile or death.

At this point, I think that it is important tomake one thing very clear .I have advocated and Istill advocate revolutionary changes in the struc- ~ture and in the principles that govern the U.S. I ~advocate an end to capitalist exploitation, the ~abolition of racist policies, the eradication of .~sexism, and the elimination of political repres- :. ~sion. If that is a crime, then I am totally <

.tUgu1lty. 2

la (To make "a long story short, ...let me emphasize ~

that justice for me is not the issue ...it is ~justice for my people that is at stake. When my ~

people receive justice, I am sure that I will re- ~ceive it, too. I know that Your Holiness will ~II:

.~

.

FALL 199838 @@W~~'ir/A\cg'ir~@~ @!!!Jt;i\~'ir~~I!.W

reach your own conclusions, but I feel compelled topresent the circumstances surrounding the applica-tion of "justice" in New Jersey. I am not thefirst nor the last person to be victimized py theNew Jersey system of "justice. " The New JerseyState Police are infamous for their racism and bru-tality. Many legal actions have been filed againstthem and just recently, in a class action legalproceeding, the New Jersey State Police were foundguilty of having an "officially sanctioned, defacto policy of targeting minorities for investiga-tion and arrest."

Although New Jersey's population is more than 78percent white, more than 75 percent of the prisonpopulation is made up of Blacks and Latinos. Eightypercent of women in New Jersey prisons are womenof color. There are 15 people on death row in thestate and seven of them are Black. A 1987 studyfound that New Jersey prosecutors sought the deathpenalty in 50 percent of cases involving a Blackdefendant and a white victim, but in only 28 per-cent of cases involving a Black defendant and aBlack victim.

Unfortunately, the situation in New Jersey is notunique, but reflects the racism that permeates theentire country .The United States has the highestrate of incarceration in the world. There are morethan 1.7 million people in U. s. prisons .This num-her does not include the more than 500,000 peoplein city and county jails, nor does it include thealarming number of children in juvenile institu-tions. The vast majority of those behind bars arepeople of color and virtually all of those behindbars are poor. The result of this reality is dev-astating. One third of Black men between the agesof 20 and 29 are either in prison or under the ju-risdiction of the criminal justice system.

Prisons are big business in the United States,and the building, running, and supplying of prisonshas became the fastest growing industry in thecountry .Factories are being moved into the prisonsand prisoners are being forced to work for slavewages. This super-exploitation of human beings hasmeant the institutionalization of a new form ofslavery .Those who cannot find work on the streetsare forced to work in prison .

Not only are prisons being used as instruments ofeconomic exploitation, they.also serve as instru-ments of political repression. There are more than100 political prisoners in the U.S. TheyareAfrican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, NativeAmericans, Asians, and progressive white people whooppose the policies of the United States govern-ment. Many of those targeted py the COINTELPRO pro-gram have been in prison since the early 1970s .

AJ.$1ough the situation in the prisons is an indi-.of human rights violations inside the united

, there are other, more deadly indicators.There are currently 3,365 people now on death row,and more than 50 percent of those awaiting deathare people of color. Black people make up only 13percent of the population, but we make up 41.01percent of persons who have received the deathpenalty. The number of state assassinations has in-

>->".J..~..

iii,

creased drastically. In 1997alone, 71 people were executed.

A special reporter assigned h¥the United Nations Organizationfound serious human rights viola-tions in the U.S., especiallythose related to the death penal-ty. According to these findings,people who were mentally ill weresentenced to death, people withsevere mental and learning dis-abilities, as well as minors underage 18. Serious racial bias wasfound on the part of judges andprosecutors. Specifically men-tioned in the report was the caseof MIJmia Abu-Jamal, the only"po-litical prisoner on death row, whowas sentenced to death because ofhis political beliefs arid becauseof his work as a journalist, ex-posing police brutality in thecity of Philadelphia. .

Police brutality is a daily oc-currence in our communi ties. Thepolice have a virtual license tokill and they do kill: children,grandmothers, anyone they percei veto be the enemy .They shoot firstand ask questions later. Insidethe jails and prisons there is atleast as much brutality as therewas on slave plantations .An ever-increasing number of prisoners arefound hanging in their cells.'The United States is becoming a

land more hostile to Black peopleand other people of color. Racismis running ranpant and xenophobiais on the rise. This has been es-

pecially true in the sphere of domestic policy.Politicians are attempting to blame social prob-lems on Black people and other people of color.There have been attacks on essentially all affir-mative action programs designed to help correctthe accumulated results of hundreds of years ofslavery and discrimination. In addition, the gov-ernment seems determined to eliminate all socialprograms thqt provide assistance to the poor, re-sulting in a situation where millions of people donot have access to basic health care, decent hous-ing or quality education. It was with great happi-ness that I read the Christmas message that YourHoliness delivered. I applaud you for taking upthe cause of the poor, the homeless, the unem-ployed. The fact that you are addressing the is-sues of today, unemployment, homelessness, chil~.~abuse, and the drug problem, is important to peo-ple allover the world. One third of Black peoplein the Unfted States live in poverty, and our com-lmJnities are inundated with drugs. We have everyreason to ,believe that the CIA and other govern-ment agencies are involved in drug trafficking .~

~@IYJ~OOIr£@Ir~@~ @I!iJI.!\OOIr~OOIL.W =ALL 1998~o

Although we live in one of the richest, most tech-nically advanced countries in the world, our real-ity is similar to an undeveloped, Third Worldcountry .We are a people who are truly seekingfreedom and harmony.

All ~ life I have been a spiritual person. Ifirst learned of the struggle and the sacrifice ofJesus in the segregated churches of the South. Iconverted to Catholicism as a young girl. In ~adult life I have become a student of religion andhave studied Christianity, Islam, Asian religionsand the African religions of ~ ancestors. I havecome to believe that God is universal in nature,although called different names and with differentfaces. I believe that some people spell God withone "0" while others spell i t wi th two .

What we call God is unimportant, as long as wedo God's work.

There are those who want to see God's wrath fallon the oppressed and not on the oppressors. I be-lieve that the time has ended when slavery , colo-nialism, and oppression can be carried out in thename of religion. It was in the dungeons of prisonthat I felt the presence of God up close, and ithas been ~ belief in God, and in the goodness ofhuman beings that has helped me to survive .I amnot ashamed of having been in prison, and I amcertainly not ashamed of having been a poli ticalprisoner. I believe that Jesus was a politicalprisoner who was executed because he foughtagainst the evils of the Roman Empire, because hefought th~ greed of the money changers in the tem-ple, because he fought against the sins and injus-tices of his time. As a true child of God, Jesusspoke up for the poor, the meek, the sick, andthe oppressed. The early Christians were throwninto lions' dens. I will try and follow the exam-ple of so many who have stood up in the face ofoverwhelming oppression .

I am not writing to ask you to intercede ~n ~behalf. I ask nothing for ~elf. I only ask youto examine the social reality of the United Statesand to speak out against the human rights viola-tions that are taking place.

On this day, the birthday of Martin Luther King ,Jr., I am reminded of all those who gave theirlives for freedom. Most of the people who live onthis planet are still not free. I ask only thatyou continue to work and pray to end oppressionand political repression. It is ~ heartfelt be-lief that all the people on this earth deservejustice: social justice, political justice, andeconomic justice. I believe it is the only waythat we will ever achieve peace and prosperity onearth. I hope that you enjoy your visit to CUba..~is is not a country that is rich in material~~alth, but it is a country that is rich in human;w~alth, spiritual wealth and moral wealth.

Respectfully yours,

Assata ShakurHavana, CUba

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@@W~~'iJ'~@'iJ'~@OO @l!JJ£~'iJ'~~I!.WNumber 65 41

needs money to pursue hisappeal. Please make tax -

deductible contributions

payable to the Bill of Rights

Foundation, earmarked

'jamal," and send to the

Committee to Save Mumia

Abu-Jamal, 163 Amsterdam

Avenue, #115, New York, NY

10023-5001.

Elana Levy

The following excerpts are from anexclusive interview that appeared on january21, 1997, on "The Black World Today" website(ww.w.tbwt.com). journalist and activist,Elombe Brath, and Rosemari Mealy discussedthe letter to the Pope and the issue of religionin Cuba with Assata Shakur:

that most of us would neverdream possible.

AS: That's absolutely cor-rect. When I was in prison theywould say and accuse me of allkinds of things, I was not able toanswer. I was not able to defendmyself. I felt that since I couldanswer, and I could speak to thePope, I could write to the Pope,that I needed to do that. Again,I want to reiterate, I don't feelthat I'm talking for myself, but Ithink that there are many sistersand brothers who are in mysame condition, whether it's inexile, whether it's in prison.Therefore, I think I have a dutyto them to try to do all that Ican. This goes especially to thecase of Mumia Abu-Jamal, whois facing death. We must workand do everything possible toensure Mumia's release and tobring him back into the com-munity where he is so desper-ately needed.

RM: With the Pope's arrival,the news in this country is in-

undated by perspectives from exiles and oth-ers who are ignorant of Cuba's revolutionaryachievements. Having lived and visited theremyself, I see how the airwaves and TV camerashave attempted to present Cuba as an islandwithout hope or soul. From your perspective,and from observations made within your owncommunity, what are the sentiments as yousee them expressed?

AS: I think people are certainly very inter-ested in hearing what the Pope has to sar Ithink that people in Cuba, in general, are in-terested in spirituality, and spirituality as it re-lates to social justice. The Pope has mademany statements recently which have dealtvery much with the current issues that peopleare facing around the world I think that thePope has turned over a new leaf or grown, andthat the whole so-called Cold War Era is com-ing to an end. I think that people are seeingthat the construction of socialism and thepracticing of religion has become more andmore interactive. These two things are notcontradictory by any means. The constructionof socialism and the practicing of religion aremore complementary than contradictory.People in Havana seem4o be chilling out andenjoying the ~ ~d re~ling hopeful, becausethe people in Mia11i'ii,wliiJ have been so criticalof the Revolution, who have been doing every-thing to promote counterrevolution are cer-tainly not popular here. People do not seethem as the bearers of religion, and they nolonger can use religion to hide their counter-revolutionary activities.

Elombe Brath: One of the things beingprojected here relates to the big media spin re-garding religion in Cuba. Yet you would thinkthat with the Pope visiting, they would have toadmit that it's not just Catholicism that existsin Cuba. A variety of denominations exist.such as the Assemblies of God, the Protes-tants, and the Pentecostals, the Baptists, andalso Santeria. Gloria Rolando's recent fIlm,Eyes on the Rainbow, in which you are the sub-ject, presented a very personal side of youshowing that you have become more orientedtoward our traditional African religion. Whatcould you say about religion in Cuba?

AS: In the early 1990s, the CubanCommunist Party changed its position on reli-gion, even though Cuba never discriminatedagainst those who practiced religion. Inside ofthe party, people who had religious beliefswere not admitted. The party admitted thatthis was an error and began admitting peoplewith religious beliefs and others who were al-ready in the party and had practiced their be-liefs clandestinely came out of the closet so tospeak. This made for a healthy situation. I be-lieve that the spirituality is one of the thingswhich has helped the religion to survive.During all of the political struggles of Cubagoing back to the struggles against Spanishcolonialism, religion has been a very impor-tant factor, especially the African religions.Africans who practiced those religious beliefsduring the war for independence in thosetightly knit religious houses where theyworked secretly to preserve the African ritualswere able to secretly and clandestinely moveto plot the war for independence againstSpain. And the same things happened with therevolution that triumphed in 1959. Religionhas been a very important pan in my opinionof the Cuban revolutionary spirit, These timesare very crucial in terms of religion and iare-more and more being divided along the linesof whether you are on the side of the op-pressed or oppressor ...whether you are on theside of pomp and circumstance or whetheryou are on the side of those who have noth-

ing EB: Assata, how would you directly ad-

dress how the people in the United States canrespond to your particular situation?

AS: I think the first thing that people needto do is to become involved. I believe that theonly way that people like myself and otherswho are in prison or exiled will ever be "safe"is for people to build a strong movementaround the issue of political repression. Wemust build a strong movement to free politicalprisoners. In conjunction, we must build a

Rosernari Mealy: Many individuals whohave been most hostile toward the CubanRevolution have also been some of the first tocriticize the Vatican's visit to Havana. curious-ly; some other groups purporting to representthe New Jersey State Police have attempted tohave you extradited back to the United States.Is your open letter in response to those newsreports which were circulated last month tothis effect?

Assata shakur: This open letter is a re-sponse to that specific event, but it is a re-sponse to a larger issue, which is the issue ofpolice brutality; of oppression. I have nothingwhatsoever to say to the New Jersey StatePolice. I don't believe that they deserve a re-sponse since they sneakily wrote a letter to thePope and refused to publish it or to assert pub-licly what their intentions were. I felt that I hadto tell the Pope about my reality; and to talkabout the reality in which I grew up, and inwhich my people are still living.

RM: I assume then that you found yourselfin a unique situation. While as an internation-alist, living in a country where the Pope is vis-iting, you also had access to having your letterdelivered directly to him. This was something

timized by COINTELPRO We mustmand freedom and amnesty for our

prisoners.

42 @@W~00'i]'IA\@'i]'~@OO @1!!)~00'i]'~00~W FALL 1998

InJanuary of 1998, during the Popes visitto Cuba, Assata agreed to do an interview withNBC journalist, Ralph Penza, about her letterto the Pope, her experiences in the New Jerseycourt system, and her views on the treatment ofBlacks in the U.S. during the last 25 years. Theinterview, as edited and broadcast, read likesomething out of the Police Gazette. It cata-pulted Assata shakur into the limelight onceagain, prompting the New Jersey State Police tostate openly that they are willing to do whatev-er is necessary to have her brought back fromCuba. It also prompted an unprecedented in-tervention by Governor Christine ToddWhitman. Assata wrote a lengthy critique ofthe show, which stated, in part:

THE INJUsncE

OF THE TRIAL

are purely political. She, like Senator RobertTorricelli and several other opportunisticpoliticians in New Jersey; came to power, as

part-time lobbyists for the Batista faction-so-liciting votes from right-wing Cubans. Theywant to use my case as a barrier to normaliz-ing relations with Cuba, and as a pretext formaintaining the immoral blockade against theCuban people.

In what can only be called deliberate de-ception and slander, NBC aired a photographof a woman with a gun in her hand implyingthat the woman in the photograph was me. Iwas not, in fact, the woman in the photo-graph It was a vile, fraudulent attempt tomake me look guilty. NBC deliberately mis-represented the truth Not once have theNew Jersey State Police, Governor Whitman,or NBC come forth and stated that I was not

I agreed to do this interview because I saw

this secret letter to the Pope as a vicious, vul-

gar publicity maneuver on

the part of the New Jersey o

State Police, and as a cynical Governor Whitman o o o and

attempt to manipulate Pope . 1 oJohn Paul II. I have lived in Senator Tomce ti o o o want to useCuba for many years, and was

b o

completely out of touch with my case as a amer to

the sensationalist, dishonest, a1i o 1 o o

th C bnature of the establishment norm ZIng re ations Wl u amedia toda)o' It is worse today d ti o o othan it was 30 years ago. Mter an as a pretext or maIntaimngyears of being victimized by th o a1 bl k d othe "establishment" media, it e lmmor oc a e agaInstwas naive of me to hope that

th C b 1I might finally get the oppor- e U an peop eo

tunity to tell "my side of the

story " Instead of an interview

with me, what took place was a "staged media

event" in three parts, full of distortions, inac-

curacies, and outright lies. NBC purposely

misrepresented the facts. Not only did NBC

spend thousands of dollars promoting this

"exclusive interview series" on NBC, theyalso

spent a great deal of money advertising this

"exclusive interview" on Black radio stations

and also placed notices in local newspapers In an NBC intervie\\; Governor Whitman was

quoted as saying that "this has nothing to do

with race, this has everything to do with

crime." Either Governor Whitman is com-

pletely unfamiliar with the facts in my case, or

her sensitivity to racism and to the plight of

Black people and other people of color in the

United States is at a sub-zero level The NBC story implied that Governor

Christine Whitman raised the reward for my

capture based on my interview with NBC.

Whitman claimed that she was writing Janet

Reno for federal assistance in my capture,

based on what she saw in the NBC intervie~

The fact of the matter is that she has been cam-

paigning since she was elected into office to

double the reward for my capture Anybody who knows anything about New

Jersey politics can be certain that her motives

Assata was convicted in New Jerseyas an accomplice to the murder of statetrooper Werner Foerster and of atrociousassault on James Harper with the intentto kill. Under New Jersey law; if a person's

presence at the scene of a crime can beconstrued as "aiding and abetting" thecrime, that person can be convicted ofthe substantive crime itself. The state ofNew Jersey convicted sundiata Acoli forthese same murders after Assata was sev-ered from the proceedings because of herpregnancr The jury at Assata's trial forthe same offenses was permitted to spec-ulate that her "mere presence" at a sceneof violence, with weapons in the vehicle,was sufficient to sustain a convic-tion-even though three neurologists tes-tified at the trial that her median nervehad been severed by gunshot wounds,rendering her unable to pull a trigger,and that her clavicle had been shatteredby a shot that could only have been madewhile she was seated in the car with herhands raised. Other experts testified thata neutron activation analysis adminis-tered by the police right after theshootout showed no gun residue on herfingers, meaning she had not shot aweapon. She was also convicted of pos-session of weapons-none of which couldbe identified as having been handled byher-and of the attempted murder of statetrooper Harper, who had sustained aminor injury at the shootout.

It had been and is my view that it wasthe racism in Middlesex County, fueled

by biased, inflammatory publicity in thelocal press before and throughout thetrial, fanned by the documented govern-ment lawlessness, that made it possiblefor the white jury to convict Assata onthe uncorroborated, contradictof}\ and

generally incredible testimony of trooperHarper, the only other witness to theevents on the turnpike. Harper's testimo-ny as well as that of all the other state'switnesses was riddled with inconsisten-cies and discrepancies. On three separateofficial reports, including his grand jurytestimony; Harper said that he saw Assatatake a gun from her pocketbook, while inthe car, and shoot him. He admitted, on

cross-examination during both sundia-ta's trial and Assata's trial, that he neversaw Assata with a gun and did not see hershoot him-that, in fact, he had lied.

-Lennox Hinds

the woman in the photograph, or that I had

been acquitted of that charge In a clear attempt to discredit me, Col.

Carl Williams of the New Jersey State Police

was allowed to give blow-by-blow distortions

of my interview: In my interview I stated that

on the night of May 2, 1973, I was shot with

myarms in the air, then shot again in the back.

Williams stated, "that is absolutely false. Our

records show that she reached in her pocket-

book, pulled out a nine-millimeter weapon

and statted firing." However, the claim that I

reached into my pocketbook and pulled out a

gun, while inside the car, was even contested

by Trooper Harper. Although in three official

reports, and when he testified before the grand

juf)\ he stated that he saw me take a gun out

of my pocketbook, he fInally admitted under

cross-examination that he never saw me with

my hands in a pocketbook, nev~-saw me with

a weapon inside the ca~~ ~t he did not-0 .

see me shoot him. ...

The truth is that I was examined by three

medical specialists: (1) A neurologist who tes-

tified that I was paralyzed immediately after

being shot. (2) A surgeon who testified that "It

was absolutely anatomically necessary that

both arms be in the air for Mrs. Chesimard to

Number 65 @@W~OOI:r£@'ii'~@IM @1I!Ji:i\OOI:r~~I!.W 43

look like a villain, and to create the kind oflynch-mob mentality that has historicallybeen associated with white women portrayedas victims of Black people. In essence, thesupposed interview with me became a forumfor the New State Police, Foerster's widow,and the obviously hostile commentary ofRalph Penza As I watched Governor Whitman's inter-

view; the one thing that struck me was her"outrage" at my joy about being a grandmoth-er, and my "quite nice life," as she put it, herein Cuba. While I love the Cuban people andthe solidarity they have shown me, the pain ofbeing torn away from everybody I love hasbeen intense. I have never had the opportuni-ty to see or to hold my grandchild. If GovernorWhitman thinks that my life has been so nice,that 50 years of dealing with racism, poverty,

persecution, brutality, prison, underground,exile, and blatant lies has been so nice, then I'dbe more than happy to let her walk in myshoes for a while so she can get a taste of howit feels. I am a proud Black woman, and I'mnot about to get on the television and cry forRalph Penza or any other journalist, but theway I have suffered in my lifetime, and the waymy people have suffered, only God can bearwitness to It has been a long time since I have lived

inside the United States. But during my life-time I have seen every prominent Blackleader, politician, or activist come under at-tack by the establishment media. WhenAfrican Americans appear on news programs,they are usually talking about sports or en-tertainment, or they are in handcuffs. Whenwe have a protest, they ridicule it, minimize it,

receive the wounds." The same surgeon alsotestified that the claim by Trooper Harper thatI had been crouching in a firing position whenI was shot was "totally anatomically impossi-ble." (3) A pathologist who testified that"There is no conceivable way that it [the bul-let] could have traveled over to hit the clavicleif her arm was down. " He said it was impossi-

ble to have that trajectof}'The prosecutors presented no medical tes-

timony whatsoever to refute the ab<;>ve medicalevidence In an obvious maneuver to provoke sym-

pathy for the police, the NBC series juxta-posed my interview with the weeping widowof Werner Foerster. While I can sympathizewith her grief, I believe that her appearancewas deliberately included to appeal to peo-ple's emotions, to blur the facts, to make me

BY MICHAEL RATNER

R ecent, widely publicized attempts by the United States government to extra-

dite Assata Shakur from Cuba began

with New Jersey Governor Christine Todd

Whitman's March 1998 letters to Attorney

General Janet Reno and Secretary of State

Madeleine Albright requesting that they pres-

sure Cuba to return Assata. Whitman asked

that any lifting of the embargo with Cuba be

conditioned on Assata's return and that of 90

other claimed fugitives from the United

States.1 Whitman also offered a $100,000

bounty to anyone who could bring her back.

Whitman herself announced the reward on

Radio Marti-a station set up by Congress to

transmit to Cuba-and asked the Cuban people

to help in the capture. Presumably the reward

would be paid for Assata's capture and return,

dead or alive. Such a morally offensive offer is

dite Assata, yet, inJuly 1998 the State Depart-ment insisted on her extradition, treating therequest in a mocking, almost racist manner.When asked at a press conference about theextradition of Assata and others, spokespersonJames Rubin replied: "There are several peopleinvolved here, and I'm fearing that I will messup their names; but since theyare prisoner-es-capees, I'm not going to worry about it thatmuch. [laughs.] llaughter.]"3

ls it any wonder the Cuban governmentworries that Assata was or may not be treated

fairly!Rubin then details Assata's alleged crime,

and says there is a 1905 extradition treaty(amended in 1926) with Cuba, but it hasn't"been invoked, presumably because the Cas-tro government won't abide by the treaties."An astute reporter then pointed out that "Cu-ba's response generally is that extradition is atwo-way street and that there are a number ofpeople accused of murder here in the U.S. thatCuba would like back." Rubin can make nomeaningful response to the point; he can onlymock Cuba by saying, "when there are mur-derers in Cuba, they send them to the UnitedStates ...[and] if we have a convicted murder-er, they would simply be returning these peo-ple to the United States. "

tantamount to a sohcitation to kidnap orcom-mit murder; it also violates the sovereignty ofCuba as well as internationalla~ Imagine ifFidel Castro broadcast a radio message intothe United States offering a similar reward forone of the many real terrorists the UnitedStates is shielding. It is likely Cuba would bebombed or invaded.

On April 2, Cuba forcefully turned downany request for Assata's extradition. Aspokesman for the Foreign Ministry, AlejandroGonzalez, said Assata was "a civil rights ac-tivist. " He stated that she would not be extra-

dited, as the "government of Cuba has suffi-cient reasons to disagree with the chargesagainst her and fears that she might be the tar-get of unfair treatment. " In other words, the

Cuban government understands that Assatawas railroaded: She was illegally stopped byracist New Jersey State police; shot in the backwith her hands in the air, tried by a jury in-flamed by politicians and a press bent on herconviction. '.

...The U.S. un~j~dsJhat Cuba has nei-

ther the intention no1'the-'obligation to extra-

Michad RaIDU is an attorney who works with theCenter for Constitutional Rights, and co-author, withMichael Steven Smith, of Che Guevara and the FBI(Ocean Press: Melbourne, 1997).1. Even prior to the notoriety of the request for Assata'sextradition, Congress had included a request for the"[e]xpulsion of criminals from Cuba" in the Helms-Bur-ton statute. Section 113 reads: "The president shall in-struct all United States Government officials who engagein official contacts with the Cuban government to raiseon a regular basis the extradition of or rendering to theUnited States of all persons residing in Cuba, who aresought by the United States Department of Justice for

crimes."

2. For some discussion of racial targeting, particularly bythe New Jersey State troopers, see, for example, "DrivingWhile Black," Peter Noel, Village Voice, June 9, 1998, p.39; "Racial 'Profiling' at Crux of Inquiry into shoting byTroopers," John Kifner and David M. Herszenhorn, NewYork Times, May 8, 1998, p. BI. 3. Department of State Press Conference of july 2, 1998.

FALL 199844 @@w~m£@'iJ'~@~ @I!JJ~m~00[!.w

or cut the numbers of the people who attend-ed in half. The news is big business and it isowned and operated by affiuent white men.Unfortunately; they shape the way that manypeople see the world, and even the way peo-ple see themselves. Too often Black journalistsand other journalists of color mimic theirwhite counterparts. They often gear their re-ports to reflect the foreign policies and the do-mestic policies of the same people who areoppressing their people. In the establi.shmentmedia, the bombing and murder of thousandsof innocent women and children in Libya orIraq or Panama is seen as "patriotic," whilethose who fight for freedom, no matter wherethey are, are seen as "radicals," "extremists,"or "terrorists. "

and strong. She refuses to be silenced even in

exile. She poses even more of a threat as her mes-

sages are read on the Internet or in magazines

like CovertAction Quarterly. Concerned about

issues particularly those which affect the youth of

this country she extols:

Uke most poor and oppressed people inthe United States, I do not have a voice. Blackpeople, poor people in the U.S. have no realfreedom of speech, no real freedom of expres-sion, and very little freedom of the press. TheBlack press and the progressive media havehistorically played an essential role in thestruggle for social justice. We need to contin-ue and to expand that tradition. We need tocreate media outlets that help to educate ourpeople and our children, and not annihilatetheir minds. I am only one woman. I own no

TV stations, or radio stations, or newspapers.But I feel that people need to be educated as towhat is going on, and to understand the con-nection between the news media and the in-struments of repression in America.

All I have is my voice, my spirit, and thewill to tell the truth. But I sincerely ask thoseof you in the Black media, those of you in the

progressive media, those of you who believe intruth and freedom, to publish my side of thestory and to let people know what is happen-ing. We have no voice, so you must be thevoice of the voiceless. Free all PoliticalPrisoners.

I send you Love and Revolutionary Greet-ings From Cuba, One of the Largest, Most Re-sistant and Most Courageous Palenques (Ma-roon Camps) That has ever existed on theFace of this Planet. .Today, Assata Shakurs voice remains fresh

.L

ing, inconsistency; and decisions made for itsown benefit are not unusual.

Even apart from her innocence, it is politi-cally hypocritical for the United States to insiston Assata's extradition or that of any other ofthe 90 so-called fugitives. If there is a place ter-rorists can call home, it is the United States. Itshistory is hardly honorable. It was a welcomehome to many prominent Nazis, particularlyscientists that the U.S. used in its own produc-tion of weapons of war. Today it gives refuge tocriminals who have attacked and murderedscores if not hundreds of Cubans. Most notori-ous of these is Orlando Bosch, living in Miami,who was convicted of blowing up a Cubanaairliner killing 76 people, including the youngCuban fencing team. And what of the agents ofthe CIA who planned and paid for numerous

sabotage and terrorist attacks in Cuba?But the U.S. is not only a home for Cuban

terrorists. Living among us is Emanuel Con-stant, the former head of the Haitian paramili-

tary organization FRAPH; irs.:fnembers tor-tured and murdered"~e~.in th~ after-math of the 1991 coup In Haln, Dunng thecoup, Constant was on the CIA payroll. Afterthe coup, the U .S. labeled FRAPH terrorist, yetrefused a Haitian extradition request, and theState Department stopped his deportationback to Haiti. And what of the SalvadoranGeneral Jose Guillermo Garcia and the head of

El Salvadors national guard, General Vides Ca-

sanova, who according to the United Nationscovered up and protected the murderers of thethree nuns and lay worker in El Salvador. Theyobtained political asylum and are living well inPalm Coast, Florida. The U.S. has laid out awelcome mat for other terrorists, includingGeneral Hector Gramajo, accused of killing as

manyas 10,000 Guatemalan Indians; GeneralProsper Avril, a former dictator of Haiti, re-sponsible for the torture of opposition leaders;and Sintong Panjaitan, an Indonesian general,responsible for the 1991 Santa Cruz massacrein East Timor that killed hundreds. But theseare only a fewterrorists who the U.S. has wel-comed; scores more are probably unknown tothe public, hidden in the U .S. after carryingout its bidding overseas.

Yet despite the hypocrisy of the UnitedStates and Cuba's unwavering support forAssata and her innocence, this effort to pres-sure Cuba must be taken seriously by all whocare about the cause of justice. Ideologues andopportunists in the U.S. Congress may try tocondition more open and fair relations withCuba on its agreement to extradite Assata andothers who have been granted asylum. WhileCuba would not acquiesce to such conditions,it could put Assata in an uncomfotable situa-tion. So the fight for Assata and for Cuba mustcontinue! .

There are, however, both legal and politi-

cal answers to the U.S. extradition request.

Even assuming the treaty is still valid, it con-

tains an absolute exception to extradition for

crimes that are of a "political character."4 Assa-

ta's claimed offense clearly fits within this ex-

ception and the Cuban government has said

so. Moreover, the treaty states that this deci-

sion is solely that of the Cuban government

and its determination is final.' There would

also seem to be serious questions regarding the

United States' continued reliance on this treaty

after it has repudiated other treaties with

Cuba, organized and supported the Playa

Giron invasion, embargoed the country in an

effort to strangle it economically; cut off diplo-

matic relations and labeled it a terrorist state.

But, for the United States political grandstand-

4. Article VI of the treaty states: "A fugitive criminalshall not be surrendered if the offense in respect of whichhis surrender is demanded be of a political character, orif it is proved that the requisition for his surrender has,in fact, been made with a view to try or punish him foran offense of a political character. " Interestingly, after the

revolution it was the United States that first invoked this"political offense" exception to shield two escaped mur-derers who had been convicted of killing a prominentmember of the Cuban Communist Party. Ramos v. Diaz,179 E Supp. 458(1959).5. Article VI states: "If any question shall arise as towhether a case comes within the provisions of this arti-cle, the decision of the authorities of the government onwhich the demand for the surrender is made, or whichmay have granted the extradition shall be final."

Number 65 @@w~m~@ii'O@OO @lIDlAm~~I!..W 45