Anti-War Resisters Imprisoned

by another one Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:39

At Glasgow District Court last Monday Trident Ploughshares activist Barbara Dowling was given fourteen days in Cornton Vale Prison for breaching a Supervised Attendance Order, imposed on her for not paying a fine for a graffiti action at Coulport last year.

She should be out early next week.

by TP - Trident Ploughshares Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:13 Scotland

"Dear Comrades,

Many, many thanks for all the cards, letters and good wishes received during my recent stay in Cornton Vale. I was great to know that people were thinking of me and supporting me.

In peace and solidarity,

Barbara."

by Jail Solidarity Tue Jan 15, 2008 14:18

On February 4 the trial of Fr. Jerry Zawada, Betsy Lamb and Mary Burton Riseley will start in Tucson Federal Court, Arizona. The three were arrested on November 18 during a protest at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, against torture, and charged with trespass, conspiracy and failure to comply with a police officer. On December 4 they entered a plea of not guilty.

Zawada and Lamb were taken into custody on December 4 because of failure to heed court orders in pending cases in other jurisdictions. They are both in prison in Florence, Arizona. Also, Fr. Steve Kelly and Fr. Louie Vitale are serving a 5 month prison sentence for their witness against torture at Ft. Huachuca in November, 2006.

Write to the four prisoners of conscience individually
Betsy Lamb
Fr. Jerry Zawada
Fr. Louie Vitalie
and/or
Fr. Steve Kelly

c/
N.R.
P.O. Box 43383
Tucson
AZ. 85733
USA

*you're solidarity letter or postcard will be redirected to the present address of the prisoner (this cuts down on mail being returned in the event of the prisoner being moved to another jail or released etc)

More background, updates and info can be found at
http://tortureontrial.org

by SOAW Thu Jan 17, 2008 07:04 Ft. Benning, Georgia, USA

On November 18, 2007, eleven human rights activists were arrested after carrying the protest to close the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning Military Reservation, (Georgia, USA) publicly defying the laws which prevent political speech on military bases and making a bold call for justice and accountability.

The School of the Americas (School of the Assasins) has a long history of triaining Latin American military personel in the arts of torrure and killing. 20,000 people gather outside the school annually on the N16 anniversary of the killing of 6 Jesuits and 2 Salvadoran women by graduates of the SOA. They gather to remember the thousand of victims of SOA and call for its immediate closure. www.soaw.org

Eleven people entered the base to continue the nonviolent resistance. The eleven were held at Ft. Benning and charged for "unlawful entry" by the federal court. The eleven were released after bail money ($500 - $1,000/per person) was posted. The eleven will appear in federal court in Columbus on January 28, 2008.

In the past SOA resisters have served 6 -18 month prison sentences.
If you are interested in writing to the SOA 11 if and when they face prison witness, check this link

http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1621

Joanne Anderson, Ozone Bhaguan, Le Anne Clausen, Michelle Yippe, Art Landis, Ed Lewinson, Chris Lieberman, Diane Lopez Hughes, Tiel Rainelli, Gus Roddy and Stephen Schweitzer
can be written to individually
c/-
School of the Americas Watch
PO Box 4566
Washington, DC 20017
USA
*your mail will be redirected to relevant jails and prisons.

by Pine Gap 4 Fri Jan 18, 2008 20:13

The Pine Gap 4- - Jim Dowling, Adele Goldie, Brian Law & Donna Mulhearn - were arrested during their December 05 "citizen's inspection" of the CIA/NSA Pine Gap warfighting base located, near isolated Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Sean O'Reilly was later arrested for interfering with Commonwealth Police but was acquited of the charges at a magistrate's court hearing in Alice Springs.

The four were charged under the "Defence Undertakings Act" drawn up in 1952 and never used before. It was a decision by the Australian Federal Attorney General to pursue charges, and heavy penalties, rather than use local tresspass charges employed on previous anti-war activists in the '80's & '90's.

The four were found guitly at a jury trial in mid-07. The prosecution demanded jail time at sentencing, but Trial Judge Sally Thomas saw no reason to depart from the precedent of previous proteters who had tresspassed at Pine Gap (she also noted their was no sentencing precedents under the 1952 Act as no one had been charged with it before) and imposed fines on the four. The Federal Prosecutor has appealed the "lightness" of the sentences and two of the defendants have also appealed their convistions on questions of law. In the meantime, the time to pay the fines has elapsed. Warrants for their arrest are active in the Northern Territory. The four are heading to Darwin, Northern Territory, to attend the appeal hearings. Existing sentences for fine default range from 5-6 days for the Adele Goldie & Donna Mulhearn to 2-3 weeks for the Jim Dowling & Brian Law.

The appeal and cross-appeal of the Pine Gap 4 case is scheduled to be heard in the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal on February 20-22, 2008 in Darwin.

For more background & updates: www.pinegap6.org

Letters of support should be addressed individually to
Jim Dowling
Adele Goldie and sent
Brian Law
Donna Mulhearn
c/- O'Reillys
69 Kurumba St.
Kippa-Ring
Qld, 4021
AUSTRALIA

by Fr. Jerry in Jail Mon Jan 21, 2008 09:46 Arizona, USA

Fr. Jerry Zawada and co-defendant Betsy Lamb have been denied bail since their trespass action at Fort Huachuca, Arizona (training centre for interrogators at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib et. al.) They await in jail a Feb 3 08 hearing. Fr. Jerry writes from jail.......

Reflection on Jeremia's Complaint - Part One
(Jer. 20: 7-18)

God, you're pretty clever. You led me on a path I didn't expect - or
even wanted. I feel duped. You overpowered me and now I'm stuck.

I'm ridiculed all day long. Everyone mocks me: "What are you trying
to prove anyway? You're not accomplishing anything. Things are never going to change; you can't fight city hall, Get real!"

Whenever I open my big mouth, even in a courtroom, I cry out,
denouncing violence and the destruction of all You long for. For us
to become, and how You want us to act.

Your message gets to be insulting, a reproach to those in charge,
those with power and lots of money. Can't you let me be a little more
"normal"? What's wrong with a little torture to squeeze out some
information... maybe? Or with some bombs with depleted uranium, just to let folks know who's in charge? Don't those "savages" from the Middle East want us to liberate them; so that they, too could have
all they want from Walmart? And be free like us too?

- So the Word of God brings me insults and reproach all day long...

But ...if I say: "I won't do it any more. I won't even consider what
you want, God, there's just no point in starting trouble."

Your message of Truth, Nonviolence, Justice, Hope, Compassion for Mother Earth and all your creation burns like a fire, a fire shut up
in my bones.

It's wearing me out - I can't keep it in anymore -- I can't...

Shut out that voice in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning
Rachel, crying for her children
and refusing to be comforted
because they are no more
(Jer 31.15; Mt. 2.18)

I can't shut out the plaintive mantra of the gentle Ozde as he was
about to be tortured (his left foot permanently mangled) in Ankara,
Turkey: "I wish I was never born, I wish I was never born."

-Or Marta A. Rivera, dedicated school teacher, her face and body cut
with razors, survivor of the Salvadoran Death Squads, whose story
left this indelible message on my soul: "I cannot NOT do something, I must walk with the Ozdes and Martas."

-Or Sister Dianna Ortiz and other torture survivors screaming through the night at Su Casa Catholic Worker (Chicago). Reliving their horrors at a refuge where "the walls reeked with pain".

-Or children at the cancer hospital in Baghdad, victims of the
bombing and 12 years of sanctions by the U.S. Coalition Forces - No
meds to relieve their pain as they died in their mother's arms.

Rachel crying for her children... The fire keeps burning - It's God
who speaks.

Reflection on Jeremia's Complaint - Part Two

ON THE OTHER HAND

During the arraignment hearings on December 4th and 6th for Betsy
Lamb, Mary Burton Risely and myself, Magistrate Estrada and
prosecutor Seamone expressed the belief that we protester-"law
breakers" have the goal to be incarcerated.

I don't know anyone in the peace movement who acts simply to be behind bars.

Our actions at Ft. Huachuca, AZ and other places where torture and
extreme interrogation methods are taught and acted upon, are to shine a light on the truth of where things are going in this country and to put a stop to the abuses committed in our name. We would have to be masochists to choose prisons and jails where human rights are greatly compromised and where separation from family and friends creates more suffering.

Our actions, the risks we take are to bring home a message, so vital
that if the pendulum of violence, torture, warfare, nuclear threat
keeps going in the direction as currently it is, there will be no
future to life on this planet.

Nonetheless, it is our hope to embrace the challenge of jail time
with equanimity and joy; to be good companions to hundreds of other cell mates who most often don't have the blessing of loving support from dedicated friends who take just as important risks to put a stop to all that causes so much suffering and grieves the heart of God.

YOU are one of those people. Help us pray for wisdom during our trial on February 4th and for the thousands of others in the peace movement now facing or experiencing incarceration throughout the world. Each of us in our own way need to be part of this effort, at least for the sake of our children and those who follow in generations ahead.

Well, God, I still find You pretty clever. You might have pulled a
fast one on me, but I rejoice in the meaningfulness You've given to
those who take risks in a myriad variety of ways for the sake of a world renewed, where Rachel's tears will cease and we'll hear Your sacred song: "Your struggle is over. There is hope for your future". Amen, (Jer. 31:16).

Background on the nonviolent resistance at Ft. Huachuca
www.tortureontrial.org

by Counterpunch Tue Jan 22, 2008 00:06

http://www.counterpunch.org/deraymond01212008.html

by Fr. John Dear SJ support Tue Jan 22, 2008 22:36

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/22/6526/

by Jack Sun Jan 27, 2008 18:01 Arizona, USA

At Friday morning's (January 25) hearing in federal court in Tucson,
Magistrate Jacqueline Marshall rejected a proposed plea agreement
between Army prosecutor Capt. Evan Seamone and Torture on Trial
defendant Frances Elizabeth (Betsy) Lamb. The agreement, sought by
Lamb so she might leave prison to be with her family at a time of
need, would have had Lamb change her plea to guilty of trespass and
failure to obey, while continuing to trial with her two codefendants
on the conspiracy charge.

In rapid succession, Marshall outlined four objections to the
proposed agreement. She sharply criticized the prosecutor for
incorporating an intermittent jail sentence that is simply "not
doable" by the Bureau of Prisons; for the length of the proposed
sentence that approximated the maximum possible were Lamb to be
convicted at trial, and for refusing to acknowledge and give credit
for Lamb's time served in prison since December 4. "That's illegal,"
Marshall stated, cutting off Seamone as he sought to clarify the
government's position by quoting back to him the particular
problematic statement in the proposed plea agreement. "What were you
thinking?" she exclaimed.

Marshall also expressed serious concern that because the conspiracy
charge would remain to be prosecuted, Lamb's guilty plea to trespass
and failure to obey presented such serious potential conflicts that a
standard waiver signed by each defendant might not be enough to
ensure a fair trial for each.

"I'm going to pretend this plea doesn't exist," she concluded with
evident impatience.

Representing the defendant, attorney Meredith Little asked Marshall
whether the court would consider a revised plea agreement later in
the day.

The magistrate agreed, but in the end, no revised agreement could be
reached. The prosecutor would not agree to a home confinement
option, instead seeking a full six months incarceration on the two
guilty pleas, in return for dropping the conspiracy charge. Lamb was
returned to prison until trial.

The schedule for the trial has changed slightly. Motions will be
heard in court beginning at 1:30 p.m. Monday, February 4, and trial
is now set to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, February 5.

Among the motions recently submitted by the defense is one to quash
the misdemeanor conspiracy charge as an "over-criminalization" of the
nonviolent protest that resulted in the arrest of Lamb, Fr. Jerry
Zawada and Mary Burton Riseley last November 18 at Ft. Huachuca. A
memo in support of the motion declares that, "Research has discovered
not one reported federal criminal case of a conviction for conspiracy
misdemeanor trespass." The government, in conversation with defense
attorneys, has repeatedly stated its desire to set a precedent with
conspiracy convictions as a means to stop torture opponents from
making Ft. Huachuca a focus for continued nonviolent protest.

For prison addresses for Lamb and the other three Ft. Huachuca
prisoners of conscience, go to http://tortureontrial.org/support.html
Background information can be found at http://tortureontrial.org

by SOA 11 Trial report Mon Jan 28, 2008 19:17

The School of the Americas, based at Ft. Benning, Georgia ,USA trains Latin American troops in techniques to torture, oppress and kill their own peolpe on behalf of U.S. interests. On last year's anniversary of the Nov 16th.1989 slaying by SOA graduates of six Jesuits and 2 Salvadoran women - 20,000 gathered at the gates demand the immediate closure of SOA. Eleven were arrested for taking their nonviolent resistance onto the base.

The broader Ft. Benning base is the departure point for many of the U.S. troops passing through Shannon Airport en route to the war on Iraq

Early this morning, Joan Anderson, Ozone Bhaguan, Le Anne Clausen, Michelle Yipé, Art Landis, Ed Lewinson, Chris Lieberman, Diane Lopez Hughes, Tiel Rainelli, Gus Roddy and Stephen Schweitzer; together with family, friends and supporters marched through downtown Columbus, Ga en route to the U.S. Courthouse where they are now appearing in front of Judge Faircloth. The 11 could face up to six months in federal prison for having taken their protest to close the SOA/WHINSEC onto the Fort Benning Military Reservation during the November 16-18 Vigil.

The SOAW 11 held a press conference for the media on the courthouse steps at 8:00 AM with Diane Lopez Hughes and Ed Lewinson speaking on behalf of the group. The defendants entered the court at 8:30 AM. We will keep you updated throughout the day on the status of the trial.

On the night of Sunday, November 27 - The SOAW 11 where honored with a Festival of Hope. Surrounded by supporters, friends and family from around the country, we sang, danced, and listened to poetry and compelling stories. Father Roy addressed the attendants and updated us on the next steps in the campaign to shut down the SOA/WHINSEC and some of the challenges that we face for 2008.

- Read more about the SOAW 11...www.soaw.org

by R.I.P. Sr. Dorothy Thu Jan 31, 2008 07:09

At 88 years of age Sr Dorothy Marie Hennesey was sent to prison for 6 months for a nonviolent trespass at the School of the Americas www.soaw.org Ft. Benning, Georgia, USA. The School of the Americas trains Latin American soldiers to torture, kill and oppress their own people on behalf of U,S, military and economic interests. Nov 16th., the anniversary of the slaying of 6 Jesuits and 2 Salvadoran women by SOA graduates, has becoming a time when people (20,000 last year) gather at the gates of Ft. Benning to demand the closure of the SOA. www.soaw.org Others cross on to the base in an act of nonviolent resistance.

Sr/ Dorothy Marie Hennesey served 6 months in Federal Prison and on release continued her life of peace, justice and service. She died recently at 94 years of age. See link.....

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?...ION01

by Jack Tue Feb 05, 2008 19:22 Arizona, USA

On Monday, February 4, in federal court in Tucson, Elizabeth (Betsy)
Lamb, Fr. Jerry Zawada and Mary Burton Riseley entered stipulations to the facts of trespass and failure to obey an officer, in return for prosecution dismissal of the conspiracy charge. After much dialogue between the court, the defendants and attorneys for the prosecution and defense, Magistrate Jacqueline Marshall sentenced each defendant to two years of supervised probation, plus a $5,000 fine or 500 hours of community service.

For a detailed report on today's proceedings, please read Brenda
Norrell's article at http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

FrLouie Vitale 7 Fr Steve Kelly remain in Federal Prisons for earlier nonviolent resitance at U.S. torture training centre at Fort Huchuca,
Arizon, USA
More details will be posted Tuesday, February 5 at tortureontrial.org.

by Nora Wed Feb 06, 2008 15:06 noorazao at hotmail dot com Malaysia 00-60125394924

I'm so proud of these brave peace and human rights activists; especially them being women at that! They're exemplary to all; especially to the ones hiding away in their comfort zones. I will write to these courageous women activists indeed!

by Jack - N.Resister Fri Feb 08, 2008 13:36 Arizona, USA

On February 4, 50 people held a rally outside the federal courthouse
in downtown Tucson before packing the courtroom in support of three anti-torture activists. The three were on trial for a November 18, 2007 protest at Ft. Huachuca, in Sierra Vista, Arizona. It was two
months since Franciscan Fr. Jerry Zawada and Betsy Lamb had been taken into custody due to unfinished court matters in other
jurisdictions. They were brought into the courtroom in handcuffs by
U.S. marshalls. The third defendant, Mary Burton Riseley, who was
weak with the flu, came to court in a wheelchair.

They were represented by a legal team - Bill Quigley of New Orleans, Louisiana, Dan Gregor of Anchorage, Alaska, and Rachel Wilson, Meredith Little and Andy Silverman, all of Tucson, Arizona.

A few days before, military prosecutor Capt. Evan Seamone and the
defense had agreed that the government would drop the conspiracy
charge in return for the defendants stipulating to the facts
describing their alleged crimes at Ft. Huachuca on November 18.

After the stipulations were entered into the record, Capt. Seamone
asked that the court view a short video depicting the three as they
entered the base and were arrested. "There is some profanity in the
video," he warned, but "the soldier has been counseled."

The video began with a view of the defendants as they approached the gate, Zawada in his brown Franciscan robe. A loud male voice is heard saying, "I fuckin' knew it, man - that goddam priest shit."
The remaining few minutes show the three moving past barricades only to be immediately stopped by MPs, whereupon each knelt down, offering their flyer to the soldiers. The image was in marked contrast to Capt. Seamone's characterization of the event during a December 6 detention hearing as a violent act, repetition of which threatened "all kinds of chaos."

After taking a recess to read the stipulation of facts, Magistrate
Judge Jacqueline Marshall found Zawada, Lamb and Riseley guilty of the charges of trespass and failure to obey an officer.

Marshall then asked Capt. Seamone for his thoughts about sentencing. Seamone began to explain why more prison time would be an appropriate deterrent for each defendant.

Marshall responded that such a sentence would not be a deterrent to any of them because their "very reason for action was deprivation of liberty." The magistrate suggested that a large fine would be more of a deterrent, and might begin to repay the government's expense of
prosecution. She told Seamone that his approach would only serve the cause of the defendants.

The defendants then made very moving and eloquent pre-sentencing statements, in the process putting torture on trial. The three spoke from their hearts about their backgrounds and their motivations to act against torture.

Riseley spoke first, as the daughter of a Marine Corps general and as a Quaker seeking truth. She described the meeting she, Zawada and Meredith Little had had with an officer at Ft. Huachuca just days
before her arrest. She agreed that torture may not be currently
taught there, but because of widespread, documented incidents of
torture in the war zone, she concluded the training is clearly
inadequate to prevent it from occurring. She had entered the base to
share this concern, and warn the military intelligence trainees.

The court invited Seamone to cross-examine Riseley - an unusual
pre-sentencing procedure. In this case, it was a losing proposition
for the prosecutor, as Riseley's certainty of purpose and calm,
non-judgmental demeanor provided no foundation for the image that
Seamone tried to paint of a disruptive presence afflicting the Army
post.

Betsy Lamb began her statement by apologizing for appearing cold and tired.

The judge soon learned that she and Zawada had spent most of the
night prior to the trial in separate cold holding cells at the
Central Arizona Detention Center with no cot, no blanket, no
sweatshirt or jacket. Marshall asked both of them more questions
about the conditions. Zawada told her that the men's holding cell
was so crowded with 30 other men that he was compelled to stand
throughout the night and hadn't gotten any sleep. In addition, he
had not been allowed to bring any legal papers or his sentencing
statement with him to court. Magistrate Marshall seemed troubled by the information. She thanked them, and told them she would look into the matter.

Lamb reflected on the reality and devastating impact of torture, for
the torturer as well as the victim, and the imperative to act against
such a policy. When she suggested that it wasn't the three of them
who should be on trial, but that the judge instead should put the
government on trial, Judge Marshall asked, "and how would I do that?"

Betsy replied that it was a question each of us has to ask ourselves.
"You know better than I what you could do as a judge, but maybe
giving us reduced sentences would send a message..."

Seamone passed on the opportunity to cross-examine Lamb. "Wise man," the judge observed.

Lacking his prepared notes, Zawada spoke quietly and compellingly of being in Bagdhad before, during, and after the initial "Shock and
Awe" bombardment. He spoke of the suffering of the Iraqi people
after 12 years of severe trade sanctions, and of the poor soldiers he
has met, who end up in a hellish situation, experience hellish
things, and then return home and have to live with it. He lamented
that our country had lost its soul. Capt. Seamone again tried
cross-examination, often only to agree with the response of the elder
priest.

Zawada told the judge that in all honesty he could not promise not to
break any laws if he felt a situation was so urgent that his
conscience called him to do otherwise.

Bill Quigley suggested a sentence of time served for all of the
defendants. For context, he told the court about the one to three
month prison terms imposed the week before on eleven people arrested for trespass at Fort Benning, Georgia on the same day as the Fort Huachuca defendants. Quigley also informed the court of a sentence recently served by a soldier convicted of the negligent homicide of an Iraqi general during interrogation: two months confinement to base. He asked what message would be received when those who protest torture nonviolently are punished more severely than someone guilty of homicide during interrogation. Quigley pointed out that sentencing is when the court has an obligation to bring the application of law ever closer to the ideal of justice.

Judge Marshall then imposed the same sentence on each of the three: two years of supervised probation, and a $5000 fine or 500 hours of community service. She told the defendants that they could do their community service by participating in demonstrations, handing out leaflets and other legal forms of protest. She also advised them that they could ask for an early end to their probation as soon as they either paid the fine or completed their community service, whichever they chose to do.

Supporters left the sixth floor courtroom to the sight of a large,
brilliant rainbow outside the large courthouse windows. Soon after,
Lamb and Zawada were released from custody.

For more information, visit www.tortureontrial.org/

by ! Sun Feb 10, 2008 00:11

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/02/hated-nation-fede....html

by Release this Friday Tue Mar 11, 2008 07:02 Arizona, USA

1) Address for Solidarity Letters
2) Upon Release - Return to the Scene of the Crime & Another Trial Pending
3) Louie's Reflections from Prison on Martin Luther King

1) ADDRESS FOR SOLIDARITY MAIL
If you would like to send Steve or Louie a solidarity postcard or letter...
send it
c/o the Nuclear Resister,
PO Box
43383,
Tucson,
AZ 85733 USA
and it will be forwarded to them.

For background on their action, see http://tortureontrial.org/

2) UPON RELEASE - FR. KELLY AND FR. VITALE DUE OUT FRIDAY, MARCH 14!

After spending 5 months behind bars for their witness against torture
in November 2006 at Ft. Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Arizona, Fr. Steve
Kelly SJ and Fr. Louie Vitale OFM are scheduled to be released from prison
on Friday, March 14.

You are invited to join Steve and Louie at a peaceful vigil against
torture across the street from the main gate of Ft. Huachuca on
Sunday, March 16. We will gather for an hour, starting at 2 p.m.
The main gate is at Fry Boulevard and Buffalo Soldier Trail, Sierra
Vista, Arizona. For those of you who have been there before, please
note that the lot where we have gathered is now off-limits and posted
with "no trespassing" signs. We will gather in the sidewalk area.
Signs will be provided, or bring your own.

Steve and Louie, along with L.A. Catholic Workers, have a court case
pending for earlier anti-war resistance at Vanderburg Air Force Base,
California

3) LOUIE'S REFLECTIONS FROM PRISON ON MARTIN LUTHER KING

Louie served with the U.S. Air Force before becoming a Franciscan monk. He was provincial of the west coast province of the Franciscans and integral in the development of the Franciscan "Nevada Deset Experience" resistnace to nuclear tests in Nevada. He has served many prison sentences for anti-nuke/anti-war, School of the Americas resistance.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day - January 21, 2008 - 40 years later

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. -STILL A PROPHET FOR OUR TIME

Two years ago at this time, I was in a Georgia jail. I could not help
but remember having lived in southern Georgia (Valdosta) while
training with the U.S. Air Force in 1956. It was very shocking to me
to see the overt signs of racism. A close friend in the squadron
could not meet us in town-he was denied access and subject to
segregation in Valdosta. He was an outstanding officer and effective
crew member. I can still remember the day we took off in two
different planes to practice intercepts on each other. We were
notified that the other crew was not available. I did notice a plume
of dark black smoke. Yes, our 2 companions had crashed on take off. I never have been able to get over his zeal to do his all to defend our country and yet he and his family were denied housing, restaurant seats, even directed to "colored" bathrooms and water fountains. He also had a flyer placed on his windshield-"Vote for Lester Maddox," with an axe handle in hand, Maddox's logo.

Yes, we have come a long way since that era - but have Dr. King's
deeper dreams been realized? The local Imperial Valley newspaper
today did look back 40 years and asked "have we really achieved the
depths of his vision, especially in the latter days of his life: true
equality for all peoples?" In 2006, the racial inequities were
obvious in the Georgia jails that I was in. The vast majority of
people that are incarcerated are African Americans. Racial bias is
patent. Sentences given take away the lives of the youth. This year
in Florence, Arizona, where some 3,000 of 3,700 prisoners were
Mexican also raised many questions-was the segregation of southern Georgia any match for the wall on the border?

Martin Luther King shared with Cesar Chavez the vision and goal of a multi-racial and multi-cultural society where power, responsibility,
visions and burdens are shared. Echoing Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker, "It's that filthy, rotten system." King challenged a
capitalism that brings about great inequalities. The gap between the
very rich and the poor is extreme, the poor fight our wars-giving
their lives and devastating the lives and lands of the poor of the
world.

Yes, after the idyllic "I Have a Dream" speech whose remembering on this holiday evokes an image of children of all races walking hand in hand to live lives together-of opportunity and abundance, later King led his marches through the cities of the North. There the fire hoses were unfurled, the dogs unleashed. I was in Chicago the summer of 1965 as a graduate student, living with the friars on the South Side. We went to Allen Chapel and listened to Dr. King preach about "Dives and Lazarus" - a message of great compassion. It was the ingredient for a system that this prophet advocated to replace runaway capitalism. But on Monday as they marched in the streets, King testified that the streets were meaner than in the South-fire hoses, impaled marchers on trees, walls and asphalt. Dogs were unleashed on seasoned bearers of nonviolence. Children were under attack, and even Catholic sisters in their religious habits, accompanying the protestors, claimed to have bricks thrown at them by their former parochial school students.

Yes, Dr. King faced a tougher world after the great Peoples' March in
1963, as he reached hard-core impoverished workers in the South and in the North. He realized we needed a "revolution of values," based on compassion and justice for all. Yes, he planned to go back to the U.S. Capitol, but not for "a beautiful day" to join hands, but also for an expression of truth. Yes, a million activists who would stay until justice was won.

But something even deeper had radically affected King. The Vietnam
War was fought by the poor of the ghettoes against the poor of Asia.
For King it was a turning moment - a "teshuva" - he had an urgent
message to bear to our world.

We are aware that we are trapped in the same unrestrained madness with its staggering impact on our country and the terrible
devastation of Afghanistan and Iraq. Some estimates are they have
lost as high as a million lives-largely children, and the devastation
of 2 countries not seen since the war of which King spoke at
Riverside Church in New York City in 1967, a year before his death.
His words were truly prophetic at that time - perhaps he can once
again challenge us today. [Ed. Note: King's speech at Riverside
Church is entitled Declaration of Independence from the War
in Vietnam, and all quotes in the remaining paragraphs are from that
speech.

I recall the first time I listened to this memorable speech how
startling it struck me. As I reread it this week, I realize that very
few proper noun changes would update his message for today's pulpit. Prophetic voices never die, and still bear the force to change
history. Martin had just one year to the day to bear the prophet's
mantle. But his prophetic nonviolence continues to impact the world.
The assassin's bullet found its way to stifle his actions of
nonviolence and silence his denouncement of the war. But we cannot afford to allow that bullet to stifle his prophecy for our times.

Dr. King shocked many when he spoke out so forcefully and cogently against the Vietnam War. Even his own colleagues felt he could have a negative impact on the Civil Rights campaigns. But Martin had come to see that poverty was a great part of injustice - and saw that the Vietnam War had a major impact on the poor.

Further, he realized that the bombing was a crucifixion to the poor
of Vietnam-in fact he insisted that war inevitably impacts the poor
of the world. He stated, "So I was increasingly compelled to see the
war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such."

King was a disciple of Gandhi. He was a student and an activist
practitioner of nonviolence. But he found it very hard at that time
to speak out against the violence advocated by activists in our own
country. After experiencing the ghettos of the North and trying to
convince those who were using violence to attempt to bring about
social change to use nonviolent means, he noticed that "They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive violence to solve its problems, to bring about changes it wantedŠI knew I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettoes without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government."

To those who may think King is exaggerating this sentiment of
returning soldiers, I can attest to having this discussion in the Las
Vegas ghetto with very disturbed returning Vietnam Vets unable to get jobs, finding impoverished segregated communities who were planning to react as they had in 'Nam.'

King continues, "Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one
who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can
ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned,
part of the autopsy must read 'Vietnam.' It can never be saved so
long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world overŠSo far we may have killed a million of them, mostly childrenŠNow there is
little left to build on, save bitterness. Soon the only solid
physical foundations remaining will be found at our military bases.We must speak for them and raise the questions they cannot raise. Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view"

"Somehow this madness must cease. I speak as a child of God, speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to
stop must be ours."

"Meanwhile, we in the churches and synagogues have a continuing task while we urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative means of protest possible. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest."

"Now let us begin. Now let us re-dedicate ourselves to the long and
bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling
of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response.
Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle
is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life
militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest
regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of
solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause,
whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it
otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history."

Unfortunately Martin Luther King Jr.'s share of that human history
had but a year to go. There is strong evidence of a clear connection
between King's campaign against the Vietnam War, as well as his
avowal to fill the Capitol with determined activists on behalf of the
poor of America (joined by anti-war activists) not just to hold hands
and sing but in true nonviolence to immobilize "business as usual"
until clear actions were taken to address effectively the war on
poverty, to bring the troops home to their communities and restore
the country so devastated by a grossly debilitating and immoral war.

As we celebrate Black History Month during February, I always recall
which month by remembering Dick Gregory telling black students in Las Vegas: "We really didn't expect to get a month with 31 days, but 28!" Well, this year we get the extra leap day-surely as we did on the
National King Day, we will recall King's '63 Dream speech. Could we
take our extra 24 hours to read, perhaps communally, his '67 vision?
Can we catch his prophetic spirit deeper, making our own turning
("teshuva"), put our lives on the line - challenge ourselves to end
the massive killing at home and abroad, stop business as usual and ride his dream to a "peaceable new heavens" ("no nukes in space") and a new earth: no wars anywhere, ever, true peace and sharing of the abundance for all-Pastor Martin truly believed the source of all creation would one day open the way, we must choose life-of all and for all-

The night before he was assassinated, 40 years ago on April 3, 1968, King spoke these prophetic words: "It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence. It is nonviolence or nonexistence." Yes, as the proliferation of nuclear weapons spreads far beyond King had imagined we must all resist nuclear war in whatever ways we are able. But ever the man of faith and vision, Pastor Martin insisted to hope is "to refuse to give up!"

We are created to live in a peaceful world-may King's prophetic
spirit continue to point the way!

Your brother,
Louie

Related Link: http://www.tortureontrial.org

by Solidarity Wed Apr 02, 2008 09:32 Duluth, USA

DULUTH SOA WATCH ACTIVIST HEADS TO PRISON

Ozone Baghuan will report to the Duluth Federal Prison Camp on Thursday to
begin a 90-day sentence for his nonviolent protest against the
SOA/WHINSEC. Ozone was one of 11 people arrested for "crossing the line"
onto Fort Benning during last November's mass mobilization against the
SOA. For more about the SOA 11, visit http://soaw. org/article. php?id=1621

At his January trial, Ozone told the court: "I stand before this court at
a time when our nation is in great peril. To this day, our nation
continues to impose violence and exports torture throughout the world. The
actions of the American government's failed foreign policy are completely
and utterly unacceptable to the people of my community..."

After Thursday, you can send notes of encouragement to Ozone at the
address below. Remember to include his prison ID number, as well as your
full name and return address on the envelope. No stamps or packages.

Ozone Baghuan 92123-020
FPC DULUTH
FEDERAL PRISON CAMP
P.O. BOX 1000
DULUTH, MN 5581
USA

by 46 Bucharest Fri Apr 04, 2008 07:59

Convergance Centre Raided in Bucharest, Romania, during NATO Conference. Police brutaity, 2 anti-war activists hopsitlaised,, 46 jailed. See link for more info and solidarity options......

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/395456.html

by Solidarity SOAW 11 Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:01

More background on the School of the Americas/Assasins
www.soaw.org

*More background on the SOAW 11 prisoners http://www.soaw.org/site/article.php?id=1621

*You can write direct to the prison (must use the prison numbers listed)
or c/-SOA Watch,
PO Box 4566,
Washington, DC 20017
USA (letters will be redirected in case of prison move or release!)

Last week, nine of the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) 11 reported to federal prison today to serve sentences ranging from 30-90 days for their nonviolent witness in opposition to the SOA/WHINSEC. The SOAW 11 were sentenced in federal court on January 28, 2008 carrying the protest to close the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning Military Reservation, publicly defying the laws which prevent political speech on military bases and making a bold call for justice and accountability.

Joan Anderson, Ozone Bhaguan, LeAnne Clausen, Ed Lewinson, Chris Lieberman, Tiel Rainelli, Gus Roddy, Stephen Schwietzer and Michelle Yipe will be reporting to federal prison throughout today. Diane Lopez-Hughes decided to self report following her trial and was released on March 11, 2008 after serving 45 days in Muscogee County Jail. Art Landis, of Perkasie, PA, is expected to report on April 10th.

We ask that you keep the SOAW 11 in your thoughts, honor them by taking part in the April Fast to close the SOA/WHINSEC and send them words of encouragement and friendship to the addresses listed below:

--> Tips on writing to Prisoners - http://www.anarchistblackcross.org/support/writing.html

--> SOAW 11 PRISON ADDRESSES AND SENTENCES:

Joan C. Anderson #93649-020 - (30 Days)
FDC SeaTac
Federal Detention Center
P.O. Box 13900
Seattle, WA 98198
USA

Ozone Bhaguan #92123-020 - (90 days)
FPC Duluth
Federal Prison Camp
P.O. Box 1000
Duluth, MN 55814
USA

McHenry County Jail
LeAnne Clausen - (30 days)
2200 N. Seminary Avenue
Woodstock, IL 60098
USA

Edwin R. Lewinson #92126-020 - (90 days)
FCI Elkton
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 10
Lisbon, Ohio 44432
USA

Chris Lieberman #93645-020 - (60 days)
FCI La Tuna
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 3000
Anthony, TX 88021
USA

Teri L. Rainelli #93552-020 - (90 days)
USP Hazelton
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 2000
Bruceton Mills, WV 26525
USA

McHenry County Jail
Augustine Roddy - (30 days)
2200 N. Seminary Avenue
Woodstock, IL 60098
USA

Stephen P. Schweitzer #93647-020 - (60 days)
MDC Brooklyn
Metropolitan Detention Center
P.O. Box 329002
Brooklyn, NY 11232
USA

Carna A. Yipe - (30 days)
Sedgwick County Jail
141 W. Elm St.
Wichita, KS 67203
USA

by Plowshares Sat May 10, 2008 13:40

http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Program_WV.aspx?episo...22112

by Fr. Bill SJ Busted Tue Jun 03, 2008 08:30

Jesuit and longtime Wobbly (IWW) Fr. Bill Bischel SJ (Bix) was one of 12 arrested at U.S. Trident
nuclear submarine base in Bangor, Washington state. Bill had just celebrate his 80th. birthday.
http://www.nwjesuits.org/BecomingaJesuit/Jubilees2006/B....html

Sunday, June 1, 2008
Kitsap Sun, Seattle WA

Twelve Arrests, But No Violence at Bangor Anti-Nuclear Protest

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jun/01/twelve-arrest...anti/

By Andrew Binion (Contact
http://www.kitsapsun.com/staff/andrew-binion/contact/ )

Twelve people were arrested at an anti-nuclear weapon demonstration
Saturday at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor — five of them for walking on a
sidewalk closed to pedestrian traffic.
l
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_bangor_pr....html