U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK
POLITICAL PRISONERS/STATE REPRESSION WORKING GROUP


The Obama Administration is holding meetings to prepare its list of accepted recommendations from governments at its 11/5/11 Geneva appearance. We must keep Cuba's PP recommendation in the U.S. list of human rights concerns. This group is working towards building a firestorm for US Political Prisoners in preparation of the US's March 18th return to Geneva.

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Friday, February 18, 2011

ACT NOW! DISTRIBUTE WIDELY! ACT NOW! DISTRIBUTE WIDELY! ACT NOW!

At yesterday's White House meeting on the US's response to the UN UPR Working Group Recommendations, we were told that all comments must be submitted by close of business today. On behalf of all imprisoned COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists, please

TELL White House Rep Scott Busby (ScottW.Busby@nsc.eop.gov ), Legal Adviser Harold Koh (KohHH@state.gov), State Dept Rep David Sullivan (SullivanDB@state.gov),
Asst. Atty General Samuel Bagenstos (samuel.bagenstos@usdoj.gov ),U.S. Atty General Eric Holder (AskDOJ@usdoj.gov)

1. ADOPT UPR Working Group Recommendation Numbers 92-153 and 92-154, and

2. Implement UPR Working Group Recommendation Numbers 92-153 and 92-154 by :
a. President Obama taking concrete steps and using his presidential clemency powers to commute the sentences to time served and release all COINTELRO/Civil Rights Era political activist currently held as prisoners in federal custody;
b. That he direct the Obama-Holder Department of Justice to review the convictions of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists in federal or state custody to identify and address civil and human rights violations; and
c. That President Obama use his executive authority to create a National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, for release and compensation of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights ERA political activists currently held in federal and state facilities.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

CHECK IT: Statement by Cuban Ambassador + More!

PLEASE MAKE CALLS AND SEND IN LETTERS TODAY ON BEHALF OF U.S. POLITICAL PRISONERS!
HONOR BLACK HISTORY, FREE THE ONES THAT HELPED MAKE IT POSSIBLE!

SOME OF THE LETTERS THAT HAVE BEEN SENT IN:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/48487719 - Nkechi Taifa
http://www.scribd.com/doc/48487717 - Bill Fletcher
http://www.scribd.com/doc/48487716 - Bonnie Kerness

PLEASE PARTICIPATE! Contact ushrnpp@gmail.com and ppfirestorm@gmail.com to report the number of e-mails and letters mailed/faxed.
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STATEMENT BY CUBAN AMBASSADOR

Statement by the Permanent Representative of Cuba, Ambassador Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez, in the Universal Periodic Review of the United States of America, Human Rights Council, Geneva, 5 November 2010

Cuba recommends the United States:

1. To end the Blockade against Cuba, described as crime of genocide and that seriously violates the human rights of the Cuban people, as well as fundamental freedoms of U.S. citizens and third states.

2. To release the five Cuban political prisoners -- arbitrarily detained, as acknowledged by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions in its Opinion No. 19/2005 --, serving unjust sentences that resulted from a politically manipulated trial in open disregard for the rules of the due process.

3. To prosecute or extradite for trial Luis Posada Carriles and other dozens of well-known terrorists living with impunity in the United States and responsible for the deaths of more than 3,000 Cubans and for the maiming or other disability caused to over 2,000.

4. To respect the Cuban people's right to self-determination and to cease their interference and hostile actions against Cuba.

5. To put on trial the perpetrators of tortures, extrajudicial executions and other serious violations of human rights committed in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, los Camp NAMA and BALAD, and those carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA.

6. To wipe out war crimes from their troops abroad, including the killings of innocent civilians and to prosecute those responsible.

7. To end:

A) the unjust incarceration of political prisoners, including Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal:

B) the violation of the rights of indigenous peoples;

C) the violence and discrimination against migrants;

D) the prosecution and execution of mentally-ill persons and minors.

E) the discrimination against Afro-descendants.

8. To ensure the realization of the rights to food and health of all who live in their territory.

9. To put an end to their actions against the realization of the rights of peoples to a healthy environment, peace, development and self-determination.

Thank you very much

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CHECK IT! SUNDAY ONLINE WORKSHOP AT http://www.abibitumikasa.com/forums/afrikan-events-happenings/43282-free-online-talk-u-s-political-prisoners-state-repression.html?referrerid=1
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
February 3, 2011

CALL TO ACTION:
Demand Obama Administration Respect UPR Process,
Adopt UN UPR Recommendation to Release U.S. Political Prisoners

Atlanta, GA, - The U.S. Human Rights Network Political Prisoner/State Repression Working Group (USHRN PP/SR Wkg Grp) today demands the Obama Administration adopt the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations to release COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era political activists held in U.S. prisons, some more than 40 years.

"The UPR shed global light on the United States' dirty little open secret and propelled to the forefront the unfinished business of the modern U.S. Civil/Human Rights movement. “We are working with activists across the country to put America’s political prisoners on the global human rights priority list alongside other atrocities like the death penalty, racial discrimination, the absence of treaty ratification and the lack of a national institution monitoring domestic human rights practices” Efia Nwangaza said.

Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser to the United States Department of State dismissed the significance of the recommendations made by the Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in generally and, specifically, the call for the release of long imprisoned political activists. Harold Koh, put the more than 230 recommendations into "3 categories:

1) Some in line with US policies

2) Some political provocation not to be taken seriously

3) Some to be considered.

Koh promised "all recommendations will be considered and taken back to branches for consideration before March, 2011. Further Koh remarked, “A small set of comments do not make bona fide recommendations for the UPR. These statements, those styled as “recommendations,” are actually political criticisms of U.S. policies or polemical comments about judicial cases, based on unsubstantiated or false allegations, which refer to individual matters that are either ongoing or already completed under court proceedings conducted under due process of law."

1. We call on President Obama to use his presidential powers to grant clemency and commute the sentences to time served and release all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era political activists criminalized and held in federal custody.

2. We call on President Obama to direct U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Department of Justice to review the convictions of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists in federal or state custody to identify and address civil and human rights violations perpetrated.

3. We call on the Obama Administration to create a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the release and compensation of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists in federal or state custody.

Demand the Obama Administration Respect the UPR Process and Adopt UN UPR Recommendation to Release U.S. Political Prisoners (Recommendations Numbers 92.153 and 92.154). Please call, fax, write, e-mail, the U.S. UPR Delegation and the Obama Administration to Invite family, friends, neighbors, faith communities, social and professional organizations and elected and appointed officials to join this emergency campaign.

Contact information:
Michael H. Posner, Asst. Secretary of State (Democracy, Human Rights and Labor) T: 202-647-2126/F:202-647-5283/E:PosnerMH@state.gov

Esther Brimmer, Asst. Secretary of State (T:202-647-4000/F: /E: )

Harold Koh, Legal Adviser to State Department (T:202-647-4000 /F:/E:)

Samuel Bagenstos, Principal Deputy Asst. Attorney General (Civil Rights Division) T:202-353-9065/F:202-3072572/E:samuel.bagenstos@usdoj.gov

Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General (T: 202-514-2001/F:E:AskDOJ@usdoj.gov)

President Barack Obama (T:202-456-1414/ 202-456-1111 /F: 202-456-2461/E: )

The US Human Rights Network formed to promote US accountability to universal human rights standards by building linkages between organizations and individuals. We strive to build a human rights culture in the United States that puts those directly affected by such violations, with a special emphasis on grassroots organizations and social movements, in central leadership roles. The Network is further committed to uniting the US human rights movement with the broader social justice movements both in the U.S. and globally. See U.S. Human Rights Network Reports to the UPR Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/upr_reports.

Contact ushrnpp@gmail.com and ppfirestorm@gmail.com to report the number of e-mails and letters mailed/faxed. Many thanks. FREE ALL U.S. POLITICAL PRISONERS, NOW!
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Facebook Group: USHRN PP/State Repression Working Group
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Thursday, February 3, 2011

ACTION: Demand Obama Admin Respect UPR, Adopt Political Prisoner Recommendation

IMMEDIATE RELEASE - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
February 3, 2011


CALL TO ACTION:
Demand Obama Administration Respect UPR Process,
Adopt UN UPR Recommendation to Release U.S. Political Prisoners

Atlanta, GA, - The U.S. Human Rights Network Political Prisoner/State Repression Working Group (USHRN PP/SR Wkg Grp) today demands the Obama Administration adopt the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations to release COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era political activists held in U.S. prisons, some more than 40 years.

"The UPR shed global light on the United States' dirty little open secret and propelled to the forefront the unfinished business of the modern U.S. Civil/Human Rights movement. “We are working with activists across the country to put America’s political prisoners on the global human rights priority list alongside other atrocities like the death penalty, racial discrimination, the absence of treaty ratification and the lack of a national institution monitoring domestic human rights practices” Efia Nwangaza said.

Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser to the United States Department of State dismissed the significance of the recommendations made by the Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in generally and, specifically, the call for the release of long imprisoned political activists. Harold Koh, put the more than 230 recommendations into "3 categories:

1) Some in line with US policies

2) Some political provocation not to be taken seriously

3) Some to be considered.

Koh promised "all recommendations will be considered and taken back to branches for consideration before March, 2011. Further Koh remarked, “A small set of comments do not make bona fide recommendations for the UPR. These statements, those styled as “recommendations,” are actually political criticisms of U.S. policies or polemical comments about judicial cases, based on unsubstantiated or false allegations, which refer to individual matters that are either ongoing or already completed under court proceedings conducted under due process of law."

1. We call on President Obama to use his presidential powers to grant clemency and commute the sentences to time served and release all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era political activists criminalized and held in federal custody.

2. We call on President Obama to direct U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Department of Justice to review the convictions of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists in federal or state custody to identify and address civil and human rights violations perpetrated.

3. We call on the Obama Administration to create a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the release and compensation of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists in federal or state custody.

Demand the Obama Administration Respect the UPR Process and Adopt UN UPR Recommendation to Release U.S. Political Prisoners (Recommendations Numbers 92.153 and 92.154). Please call, fax, write, e-mail, the U.S. UPR Delegation and the Obama Administration. Invite family, friends, neighbors, faith communities, social and professional organizations and elected and appointed officials to join this emergency campaign.

Contact information:

Michael H. Posner, Asst. Secretary of State (Democracy, Human Rights and Labor) T: 202-647-2126/F:202-647-5283/E:PosnerMH@state.gov

Esther Brimmer, Asst. Secretary of State (T:202-647-4000/F: /E: )

Harold Koh, Legal Adviser to State Department (T:202-647-4000 /F:/E:)

Samuel Bagenstos, Principal Deputy Asst. Attorney General (Civil Rights Division) T:202-353-9065/F:202-3072572/E:samuel.bagenstos@usdoj.gov

Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General (T: 202-514-2001/F:E:AskDOJ@usdoj.gov)

President Barack Obama (T:202-456-1414/ 202-456-1111 /F: 202-456-2461/E: )

The US Human Rights Network formed to promote US accountability to universal human rights standards by building linkages between organizations and individuals. We strive to build a human rights culture in the United States that puts those directly affected by such violations, with a special emphasis on grassroots organizations and social movements, in central leadership roles. The Network is further committed to uniting the US human rights movement with the broader social justice movements both in the U.S. and globally. See U.S. Human Rights Network Reports to the UPR Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/upr_reports.

Contact ushrnpp@gmail.com and ppfirestorm@gmail.com to report the number of e-mails and letters mailed/faxed. Many thanks. FREE ALL U.S. POLITICAL PRISONERS, NOW!

Demand Obama Admin Respect UPR, Adopt Political Prisoner Recommendation




IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2011

Contact: Efia Nwangaza (864) 901-8627 / ushrnpp@gmail.com
Stan Willis (312) 750-1950 / swillis818@aol.com
Ajamu Baraka (404) 695-0475 / abaraka@ushrnetwork.org

Obama Administration Challenged to Respect UPR Process

Atlanta, GA, - The U.S. Human Rights Network Political Prisoner/State Repression Working Group (USHRN PP/SR Wkg Grp) today demands the Obama Administration adopt the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations to release COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era political activists held in U.S. prisons, some more than 40 years.

"The UPR shed global light on the United States' dirty little open secret and propelled to the forefront the unfinished business of the modern U.S. Civil/Human Rights movement. “We are working with activists across the country to put America’s political prisoners on the global human rights priority list alongside other atrocities like the death penalty, racial discrimination, the absence of treaty ratification and the lack of a national institution monitoring domestic human rights practices” Efia Nwangaza said.

1. We call on President Obama to use his presidential powers to grant clemency and commute the sentences to time served and release all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era political activists criminalized and held in federal custody.

2. We call on President Obama to direct U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Department of Justice to review the convictions of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists in federal or state custody to identify and address civil and human rights violations perpetrated.

3. We call on the Obama Administration to create a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the release and compensation of all COINTELPRO/Civil Rights Era activists in federal or state custody.

The US Human Rights Network formed to promote US accountability to universal human rights standards by building linkages between organizations and individuals. We strive to build a human rights culture in the United States that puts those directly affected by such violations, with a special emphasis on grassroots organizations and social movements, in central leadership roles. The Network is further committed to uniting the US human rights movement with the broader social justice movements both in the U.S. and globally. See U.S. Human Rights Network Reports to the UPR Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/upr_reports.

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