Video: Puerto Rican, Cuban, Palestinian and
Black Liberation Political Prisoners Workshop at NLG Convention.... The
National Lawyers Guild International Committee’s Cuba, Puerto Rico and
Palestine Subcommittees co-sponsored a workshop at the
NLG Convention in Puerto Rico, October 25, 2013, entitled ”Political
Prisoners and Liberation Struggles: Palestinian Prisoners, the Cuban
Five, Puerto Rico and Assata Shakur & the Black Liberation
Movement.” Video of the workshop is now available online! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16hoqe_nlg-political-prisioners-and-liberation-struggles-part-1-of-3_news
National Lawyers Guild - Political Prisioners and Liberation Struggles: Palestian
Prisioners, the Cuban Five and Puerto Rico (2nd of 3 Parts), San Juan,
Puerto Rico, October 25, 2013. Video: Eduardo Rivera Pagán / MINH
Comunicación
NLG - Political Prisioners and Liberation Struggles (Part 3 of 3)
The
workshop addresses the current state of the respective struggles and
their political prisoners.The Puerto Rican people have always resisted
colonialism, and have waged campaigns for the release of the thousands
of their compatriots who have been imprisoned
for their commitment to independence, and have always advocated for
their human rights.The U.S. has imprisoned the Cuban Five since 1998 for
trying to prevent Florida based terrorism against Cuba. An update on
legal & political developments, including newly discovered evidence.The
movement of Palestinian political prisoners has received growing
attention internationally. The struggle of Palestinian prisoners, given
the role of US aid and funding to Israel, is directly connected to that
of other prisoners held by the US.Recently,
the FBI named Assata Shakur as the first woman on its “Most Wanted
Terrorists” list, funding a $2 million bounty for her capture and return
from Cuba. The workshop will address Assata’s case as an illustration
of the criminalization of the Black Liberation Movement and numerous
political prisoners that emerged from it.Speakers:Alberto Rodriguez Alberto
Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican Independentista who in 1983 was arrested by
a FBI led task force and charged with the impossible crime of Seditious
Conspiracy for fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico. After a
lengthy federal trial during which many important political issues like
the illegality of U.S. colonialism over Puerto Rico were raised, he was
sentenced to 35 years in prison. After 16 years of incarceration, he
along with most but not all the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners
received Executive Clemency from then President Bill Clinton and was
released.Soffiyah Elijah Soffiyah
Elijah, Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York,
is the first woman and the first person of color to lead the nearly
170-year old organization in its mission to create a fairer and more
humane criminal justice system. She served previously as Deputy Director
and Clinical Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard
Law School, and before that was a member of the faculty and Director and
Supervising Attorney of the Defender Clinic at the City University of
New York School of Law. Ms. Elijah has also worked as a Supervising
Attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a Staff
Attorney at the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society, and
in private practice.An
accomplished advocate, scholar, and educator, Ms. Elijah is a frequent
presenter on national and international media and at forums on criminal
justice policy and human rights issues. Some of her work on behalf of
political prisoners has included: post trial/appellate representation of
Sundiata Acoli (the other African American survivor besides Assata
Shakur from the NJ turnpike shooting), and of Marilyn Buck (who was
charged and convicted of involvement in Assata’s escape); representation
of the San Francisco 8, and of organizations such as the Venceremos
Brigade.Bradley ParkerBrad
Parker is Staff Attorney and International Advocacy Officer with
Defence for Children International Palestine, an independent
child-rights organization dedicated to defending and promoting the
rights of children living in occupied Palestine. He was previously the
Legal Advocacy Officer with MADRE.Rafael Anglada-Lopez Rafael
Anglada López is a lawyer and a civil rights activist. He was a member
of the Federación de Universitarios Pro Independencia (FUPI-Federation
of Pro-Independence University Students), a delegate for the Puerto
Rican Socialist Party before the United Nations, and a reporter for
Claridad, the major pro-independence newspaper. Anglada has dedicated
his life to the struggle for Puerto Rican independence from the United
States and, as an attorney, defending the rights of political
dissidents. Atty. Anglada-Lopez has been associated with the defense of
the Cuban Five since their trial in Miami in 2000-2001.
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