Miami: Thursday hearing on police conduct at FTA
Submitted by Reverend Chuck0:Miami: Thursday hearing on police conduct at FTAA Ministerial
Please forward widely.
****ACTION ALERT**** *****ACTION ALERT****
ATTEND THURSDAY, JANUARY 15 PUBLIC HEARING ON POLICE CONDUCT
DURING FTAA
MINISTERIAL
In the wake of the shocking suppression of political dissent and
the
unjustified use of force at the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA)
meetings in Miami, a hearing is being held on the conduct of the
police.
The joint hearing is being convened by the Citizen Investigatory
Panel
(CIP) of Miami and the Independent Review Panel (IRP) of Miami
Dade county
this Thursday, January 15.
The SAVE OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES (SOCL) campaign is mobilizing the
public
though it has very little confidence in the hearing. The IRP is a
weak
organization that has no subpoena power and informs the police of
complaints. The CIP, in turn, has very little clarity of what they
wish to
accomplish with a public hearing. One thing, however, remains
clear: the
police will be welcome and might engage in point-by-point rebuttal
of
testimony.
There are still cases in the system and a high probability of
civil suits.
Testimony at the joint public hearing could jeopardize both. As it
now
stands, we view the CIP/IRP hearing as unsuitable and unsafe for
individual testimony. Consequently we discourage individuals from
testifying at their event. Instead, we encourage groups to make a
general
statement about what happened in Miami and to join us making these
demands
of the CIP and the IRP:
The CIP/IRP investigation must:
1. Get detailed accounts of who was involved.
2. Subpoena the inter-agency communications, especially those
between the
City of Miami (including the police force) and the federal agencies
involved in security.
3. Determine which lethal and non-lethal weapons were employed for
the
FTAA ministerial.
4. Trace the systemic criminalization of dissent and subpoena
related
documents in order to show the scope of the city’s campaign against
protest.
5. Proceed without the participation of Peter Roulhac of the CIP
and the
Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, who publically awarded Chief
Timoney
“for the amazingly professional work [he] did during the week of
the
Americas Business Forum and the [FTAA] ministerial."
6. Continue beyond this initial hearing.
7. Include members of the affected communities as part of the
investigation
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Attend the public hearing! It will be held on
Thursday,
January 15 from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm at the Miami City Hall in
Coconut
Grove. We want to pack the room to show that this is a hot issue.
If you
are able to attend, please contact:
hearings@saveourcivilliberties.org to
coordinate efforts.
If you are not able to attend: Contact the CIP reiterating the
demands of
SOCL.
Direct your comments to:
Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP) -- City of Miami
http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/cip
All inquiries regarding the CIP should be directed to Shirley E.
Richardson, Executive Director at (305) 579-2444 or via email
srichardson@ci.miami.fl.us
The CIP office is located at 155 S. Miami Ave. Hours are from 8am
to 5pm
weekdays. Complaints also can be sent by fax by calling (305) 579-
2436 or
(305) 400-5028
Independent Review Panel (IRP) -- Miami-Dade County
http://www.miamidade.gov/irp
The IRP office is located at 140 W. Flagler Street, Suite 1101,
Miami, FL
33130. Hours are from 8am to 5pm weekdays. Phone: (305) 375-4880.
Fax:
(305) 375-4879. Email: irp@miamidade.gov
Initiated by the SAVE OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES CAMPAIGN
www.saveourcivilliberties.org
The Save Our Civil Liberties Campaign has formed to raise public
awareness
about the shocking suppression of political dissent and the
unjustified
use of force at the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
meetings in
Miami and to hold accountable the individuals and organizations
who were
responsible for those violations.
The Save Our Civil Liberties Campaign is a diverse collaboration
of global
justice, anti-war, labor, environmental, community, and other
organizations working at the local, state and national level. We
believe
that the attack on anti-FTAA protesters in Miami is just one
reflection of
the ongoing, systemic attack on human rights and civil liberties
in this
country that is primarily being felt by communities of color. The
detention of Arab Americans, the growth of the prison industrial
complex
in nearly every state, and the Patriot Act are just some of the
examples
that demonstrate the immediate need to organize in defense of civil
liberties.
In the long run, the Campaign hopes to foster cooperation among
the many
groups and individuals already working to save and expand our
human rights
and civil liberties and to make links between the criminalization
of
dissent, police brutality, criminal injustice, the Patriot Act,
and the
widespread assault on immigrant rights in the aftermath of 9-11.
For more
information, please visit our website:
http://saveourcivilliberties.org/
or contact: info@saveourcivilliberties.org
