Musings, page 5

Hence, it is these concerns that offer reasons why the SF 8 must be supported, and the reason why the SF 8 must be victorious in order to undermine all efforts of the U.S. corporate-government to repress and destroy socio-political movements for true fundamental change. In this regards, the SF 8 issued a joint statement that urged their supporters to organize specific objectives:

1. Anti-Torture Legislation:

In 1909, the Niagara Movement evolved into the NAACP led by W.E.B. Dubois. The principle platform of the NAACP at that time was a struggle to forge an anti-lynching movement. Today, torture in its many forms has become a scourge in America , the inhumane use of restraint chairs in jails and prison, an especially despicable device reminiscent of medieval torture mechanisms; there has been an increase use of tasers as a weapon to induce confessions and control prisoners, resulting in many deaths – another inhumane torture device. In the case of the SF 8 , law enforcement officers employed similar torture techniques, including those used in Vietnam and in Abu Ghraib by U.S. military personnel. The use of torture permeates all facets of the so-called criminal justice system.

The San Francisco 8 call for a national campaign demanding anti-torture legislation on local levels (city councils and state legislatures), holding that any form of interrogation using water boarding, simulated drowning technique, cattle prods, tasers, restraint chair, physical beatings, sensory and sleep deprivation, and psychological coercion must be deemed inhumane and criminal. Thusly, the SF 8 calls for all progressive and peace loving people to join in a national campaign on city, state and congressional levels for proclamations and legislations outlawing all forms of torture.

2. Reopen COINTELPRO Hearings:

Although it is well known the FBI targeted the Black Panther Party for annihilation employing a secret counter-intelligence program (Cointelpro), what is now known as a direct consequence of Cointelpro, there are 100 political prisoners languishing in prisons over 30 years. The FBI Cointelpro actions resulted in assassination, criminalization, vilification, and the splitting of the BPP leading to its destruction. In 1974, the Senate Church Committee investigating the FBI Cointelpro activities declared such practices unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the Senate Church Committee failed to create remedies for those who were victims and suffered from the unconstitutional practices of the FBI and police departments.

Therefore, the San Francisco 8 hereby calls for a national movement for the reopening of Cointelpro by the Judiciary Committee in Congress and hold public hearings on why 100 political prisoners, Cointelpro victims, languish in prison now over 30 years.

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