Posted by on August 22, 2001 at 01:32:02:
The resolution below was adopted at the National Convention of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), on August 19, 2001.
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Support the Campaign for Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal
WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal is an outstanding African-American journalist and member of the National Writers Union-UAW who campaigned against police abuses and who, with no previous criminal record, has been on Pennsylvania's death row since 1981, convicted of shooting a police officer in a trial in which there was compelling evidence of his innocence and of gross misconduct on the part of the police, prosecutor and judge; and
WHEREAS, his execution was stopped only by massive international protests, yet he still faces imminent execution if Federal District Court Justice William Yohn refuses to hear evidence on 29 charges of Constitutional violations, even while new evidence and witnesses have come forth, including one who admitted to the shooting, and
WHEREAS: Court hearings show that the trial, the defense, and the evidence against him were tainted, that he was denied the right to act as his own attorney, and that acquitting evidence was not presented to the jury, and
WHEREAS: In 1995 corruption in the Philadelphia police department was exposed, including frame-ups based on false, planted evidence and coerced witnesses, especially against African-Americans, and hundreds of cases were thrown out, but not Mumia's, and
WHEREAS: The San Francisco Labor Council, calling for a new trial for Mumia, cited "contradictory evidence from police, coercion, intimidation, suppression of critical evidence, and the exclusion of African-American jurors," and
WHEREAS: The AFL-CIO's Work in Progress cited Mumia's support for NABET/CWA workers striking against ABC, even at the cost of allowing ABC's 20/20 to air a one-sided version of the case against him, and
WHEREAS: The International Longshore and Warehouse Union shut down all ports on the west coast on April 24, 1999, as part of a national effort to prevent Mumia's execution, and
WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal's struggle for a new trial has been endorsed by such AFL-CIO affiliates as the Service Employees International Union, the American Postal Workers Union, the California State Federation of Labor, and by city governments and by organizations such as the NAACP, Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee and the European Parliament, therefore be it
RESOLVED: That this Sixth Biennial Convention of APALA commend Mumia Abu-Jamal for his principled and courageous acts of union solidarity and we continue to take our place alongside those labor organizations who stand up against racism and injustice, demanding justice and a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal; and be it further
RESOLVED: That we call upon Justice William Yohn to hear Mumia Abu-Jamal's new evidence and witnesses, and be it further
RESOLVED: That we support the LABOR FOR MUMIA Campaign urging the entire labor movement to educate our members using resources such as websites (www.mumia.org, www.freemumia.com, www.freemumia.org) and to bring organized labor's power to bear to assure Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal; and be it further
RESOLVED: That APALA forward this resolution and encourage its adoption by the national Executive Council of the AFL-CIO.
Seattle Chapter of APALA