"European Parliament Appeals to Gov. Ridge"
by Julia Wright
12/18/98 Text of European Parliament Resolution,
JAMAL NEWS SERVICE -12/18/98
Responding to an invitation by Madame Aline Pailler -- who belongsto the United European left group of the French European Parliament-- two organizations (International Concerned Family and Friends forMumia Abu-Jamal/France and the Leonard Peltier SupportCommittee/France) invited to the palace of Europe in Strasbourg,France, a delegation representative of the increasing momentum ofour united front for the abolition of the Death penalty in the UnitedStates.
On December 16th, this high profile delegation led by Angela Davis(Critical Resistance Movement), Ramona and Sue Africa(MOVE/International Concerned Family and Friends for MumiaAbu-Jamal), Bobby Castillo (Leonard Peltier Defense Committee /American Indian Movement, Sam Jordan (Amnesty USA, Director forthe Campaign Against the Death Penalty), Leonard Weinglass (maincounsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal), Professor Raymond Winbush (FiskUniversity Race Relations Institute), and Julia Wright (InternationalConcerned Family and Friends for Mumia Abu-Jamal/France),addressed a packed auditorium of European members ofParliament onthe racist, classist and barbaric use of the death penalty in the UnitedStates and the inhuman ordeals of the internationally known Blackand Indian political prisoners: Death Row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal,who has been railroaded both by a corrupt criminal and racist justicesystem AND by the media -- as well as Leonard Peltier, whose stateof health behind bars has been criminally allowedto grow critical.
The response by an indignant group of European Parliamentarianswas both supportive, informed and action-oriented. SeveralParliament members spoke forcefully in favor of Economic pressure tobe placed on the United States when such agreements are beingnegotiated with European member states (see Clause 5 of theResolution adopted on Dec. 17).
Later in the day (Dec. 16th) at a well attended press conference withthe European Parliament, Angela Davis made a passionate appeal toworld opinion and to the European Community to focus on helping tosave the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal, "an eminent champion of humanrights, indeed a human rights defender" whose case has become alandmark challenge within the struggle to abolish the death penalty.As a former journalist, Julia Wright appealed to all the journalistspresent at the press conference to be supportive of Mumia Abu-Jamal,a fellow journalist and colleague, whose highly acclaimedinvestigations into the Philadelphia police brutality onslaughtstargeting the organization Move and whose articles written when hewas a teenaged member of the Black Panther Party marked him forthe infamous 1981 frame-up.
Professor Raymond Winbush introduced the theme of the heavyresponsibility of America's mainstream media in the railroading of theBlack and the poor: "The United States' most important export to therest of the world IS the media."
Ramona Africa chillingly reminded the gathered journalists of the1985 bombing of Move -- an eerie reminder a few hours before thebreaking of the news of the bombing of Iraq by the United States.
Julia WrightICFF-MAJ/FranceDec. 18, 1998
Text of European Parliament resolution
The following is the definitive text of the European Parliament resolution of the abolition of the death penalty adopted by a wide majority in the presence of the above mentioned delegation on 12-17-98:
The European Parliament,
having regard to its previous resolutions on the death penalty,
having regard to the resolution adopted in Geneva by the 53rd session of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the question of the death penalty,
A. having regard to Protocol 6 of the european convention on human Rights,
B. having regard, in particular, to its resolution of 18 June 1998 on the establishment of a universal moratorium on executions(1) and regretting the fact that the Council has not yet acted thereon,
C. having regard to the continuing use of capital punishment in many countries, often without a free and fair trial,
D. appalled by the number of executions taking place each year in countries such as China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States,
Regarding certain specific cases
E. expressing its deep regret about the fact that, despite international reaction against executions, the United States continues to apply the death penalty,
F. noting that Mumia Abu-Jamal was condemned to death in December 1982 following an unfair trial, that his application for a re-trial was rejected on 30 October by the Supreme court of Pennsylvania, and that an appeal to the Supreme court is now the only avenue left open,
G. whereas this rejection means that the Governor of Pennsylvania may at any time sign a fresh warrant seting a date for his execution,
H. having regard to the case ofthe Spanish national Joaquin Jose Martinez, who has been condemned to death and is in Starke Prison, Florida; whereas Martinez' defense lawyer is submitting an appeal to the Supreme Court of florida,
I. noting that Sarah Jane Dernatera, a 24-year-old Filipino woman, was sentenced to death in February 1996 by a Saudi Arabian court, and emphasizing that Mrs. Dernatera had only a very limited opportunity to prove her innocence, as she had no access to legal assistance nor any other opportunities to enable her to exercise effectively her right of defence,
J. expressing its concern at the death sentences passed in Turkmenistan on Shaliko Maisuradze, Gulshirn Shykhyeva and her sister, Tylla garadshayeva,
1. Calls for the immediate and unconditional global abolition of the death penalty;
2. Calls on those states still practicing the death penalty to declare an immediate moratorium;
3. Calls, therefore, on the Council and on the Member States of the European Unioin to promote the tabling, at the 1999 session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, of a motion for a resolution entailing a universal moratorium on executions, with a view to the complete abolution of the death penalty;
4. Calls on the member States not to agree to extradite individuals for crimes which carry the death penalty to those states which retain it on their statute books;
5. Calls on the commission and the council to promote the abolition of the death penalty through their relations with third countries, including when they negotiate agreements;
Regarding certain specific cases
6. Calls once again on all the States within the United States to abandon the death penalty;
7. Issues an urgent appeal to the Governor of Pennsylvania not to signa fresh warrant settingan execution date and reiterates its call for a re-trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal and for the death sentence passed on him to be commuted;
8. Calls for the Supreme Court of Florida to annul the death sentence passed on the Spanish national Joaquin Jose Martinez and to guarantee his right ot prove his innocence through a re-trial;
9. Calls on the Saudi Arabian Government to abolish the death penalty and to commute the sentence on Mrs. Dernatera and all other death sentences, and furthermore calls on the Saudi Arabian Government to give all those accused of capital crimes the necessary access to legal assistance during all stages of their trials;
10. Expresses its concern about the high number of death sentences being passed in Turkmenistan, and calls on the President of turkmenistan to use his constitutional authority and commute the death sentences passed on Shaliko Maisuradze, Gulshirin Shykhyeva and Tylla garadshayeva, and all other death sentences that come before him;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the UN Commission on Human Rights and the parliaments and governments of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Iran and the People's Republic of China.
(1) OJ C 210, 6.6.1998, P. 207.
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"European Parliament Appeals to Gov. Ridge" by Julia Wright
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