TO: Open Letter to All Progressives
FR: Jalil A. Muntaqim
RE: The State of U.S. Political Prisoners Support Movement
DT: May 1, 2009 (May Day)

It is obvious to the majority of U.S. political prisoners that the movement in support of them, for the exception of Jericho Amnesty Movement and individuals support committees, is impotent and nearly non-existent. There is no national determination or initiative that captures the imagination or represents opposition to the overwhelming bleak condition the majority of U.S. political prisoners suffers. This is especially true for those who were direct victims of COINTELPRO and have languished in prison 25-40 years.

In late 1976, I initiated the U.S. Prisoners National Campaign to Petition the United Nations; by 1977, the campaign organized a signature petition gathering 2500 signatures from prisoners across the country. In fact, the campaign had affiliated cadres in state and federal prisons in 25 U.S. states, with communications with prisoners in parts of Europe.

In 1977, an attorney presented our petition and complaint to a special subcommittee of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, this being the first time U.S. political prisoners had a petition submitted and recorded at a United Nations subcommittee pertaining to racism and the conditions of political prisoners in the U.S. penal system. (See: U.N. document E/CN.4/Sub.2/NGO/75). During the course of organizing the petition campaign, Comrade Sundiata Acoli, then in New Jersey, agreed to assist by organizing a march in support of the petition to the United Nations. The march and demonstration were held in front of the Harlem State Office Building. This campaign was responsible for the firing of then U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young from his post at the U.N. by President Jimmy Carter. When, in 1978, then Ambassador Andrew Young was in Paris for a U.N. event, I suggested a reporter we had communications with ask Ambassador Andrew Young the single question, “Are there political prisoners in the United States ?” When Andrew Young answered, “…perhaps thousands…”, rightwing political forces and the media in the United States had a field day rebuking and attacking him, eventually resulting in Jimmy Carter firing him from his U.N. post.

In the course of the heightened political focus on U.S. political prisoners, an initiative was made to secure a political prisoners exchange with prisoners held in Cuba. Contact and dialogue with Cuba's representatives at the United Nations was initiated and the Cuban government shared their interest in support of an exchange of prisoners. To ensure this possibility, in 1977, President Fidel Castro at the ‘Peoples National Assembly' at Monaco publicly announced a willingness to accept U.S. Black political prisoners in a prisoner's exchange. Unfortunately, as a result of political wrangling and miscues here in the U.S., perhaps as a result of FBI interference, the exchange was never made – a lost opportunity! Nonetheless, because of this campaign in 1979, members of the International Jurists toured the U.S. visiting political prisoners and reported to a United Nations special committee that political prisoners in fact exist in the United States.

Fast forward to 1996 when I called for the Jericho March to the White House, that Baba Herman Ferguson and our beloved late Sista Safiya Bukhari organized, and in 1998, 6,000 activists from across the country, as far away as Hawaii, traveled to Washington, D.C. and participated in a march and rally in support of recognition of U.S. political prisoners. Since then, the Jericho Amnesty Movement has organized cadres and support groups across the country and overseas, continuing to broaden understanding of the existence of U.S. political prisoners. In 2008, Jericho Amnesty Movement had its tenth anniversary with a march and rally NYC organized by Ashanti Alston and Kazi Toure. Despite a decade of ebbs and flow, highs and lows throughout the progressive movement, Jericho remains the noted national representative of U.S. political prisoners.

Throughout the Jericho Amnesty Movement's existence, it has consistently called for the reopening of COINTELPRO hearings. In the last 20 years, there have been several national forums on COINTELPRO; the International Tribunals in 1990 at Hunter College, and in 2000, reopening of COINTELPRO hearings was discussed by a panel conducted by then Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. In late 2007, the San Francisco 8 issued a joint statement again calling for a national determination demanding the reopening of COINTELPRO hearings.

In light of repressive laws subject to the Patriot Act and subsequent White House enactments, it is time for a national outcry raising and demanding the reopening of COINTELPRO hearings. Therefore, I am urging all progressive forces to establish a committee specifically for this purpose and begin the process of educating the general public why reopening COINTELPRO hearings is a necessary important first step to free imprisoned COINTELPRO victims, and the ultimate liberation of all U.S. political prisoners. It is imperative to raise this issue unto the national debate, especially now that the FBI and CIA are under scrutiny for forensic evidence violations, torture interrogations, and overreaching wiretapping and electronic surveillances of the public. It is essential to explain that such government misconduct is not new, the assassination of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark is just one of many important past examples.

I am also calling on those in academia, the progressive intelligentsia to also discuss how best to pose this concern to the Obama administration. It is high time for the broader progressive academic community to join in the overall struggle as it pertains to the existence of U.S. political prisoners. There are a new generation of scholars, many of whom only read/studied about the movements of the 1960's and 1970's, having been divorced from any empirical knowledge of revolutionary engagement or struggles for civil and human rights. Yet, some of these new scholars have written excellent books analyzing and explaining that era of struggle for civil and human rights, preserving those struggles in literature for future study. However, even for them comes a time to put theory into practice, to test their knowledge in doing the work left undone. The progressive academic community can be an important component in this determination, and I am personally asking them to join, to get in where they fit in. Specifically, for progressive academics to forge a national committee of academics to jointly propose the reopening of COINTELPRO hearings.

I am now making this call for action because too many of our imprisoned COINTELPRO victims in the last 25-40 years suffer illnesses that could prove terminal. Several have died in prison, and the reality is many more will if the progressive movements fail to take action. There is a new historical era on the horizon where dialogue and exchange between the U.S. and Cuba could result in the termination of a four decades old embargo. Here, today, there is a need for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, since there cannot be any healing without revealing, to sort out the war imposed on the Black Panther Party and other liberation forces by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, and various police agencies. Therefore, the time to seriously unite and rebuild a durable and sustainable freedom movement for U.S. political prisoners is NOW

For detailed information on these and other struggles on the issue of U.S. political prisoners read: “Let Freedom Ring – A Collection of Documents from the Movement to Free U.S. Political Prisoners,” edited by Matt Meyer.

Remember:  We Are Our Own Liberators! 
Yours in struggle – Jalil

  To read about Jalil's commutation campaign

Committee for the Defense of Human Rights
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