 September 2000
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Addressing Issues in the Streets--Philadelphia Report Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns: PO Box 29132, Washington DC 20017; 202/832-1780; <www.maryknoll.org/GLOBAL/global.html> Dear Friends of Maryknoll: During the last few days, we have received many disturbing reports about the situation in Philadelphia regarding the treatment of demonstrators at the Republican convention, especially of those arrested. There are some discrepancies about the exact number of people still being held in jail, but as of Friday morning, August 11, it was probably around 250. First, we would like to note that the presence of a viable and visible movement for social change in the streets of Seattle, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and other cities and towns in the United States is both important and hopeful. For too many years, calls for public witness fell on deaf ears. In some ways it feels like "dry bones gathering sinews and flesh!" We believe that dramatic, nonviolent, public expressions of popular concern are a very important and potentially effective tool in the work for social justice, peace, and the integrity of creation. The issues being addressed in the streets these days are extremely important. They are being raised in the streets because they are not discussed with honesty or adequacy or any measure of participation in places of power. Street demonstrations here are echoing public demonstrations in many other places around the world and are part of the same struggle for social transformation and ecological wholeness as the advocacy, dialogue, educational, and public witness efforts in which so many of us have been engaged for years. We vigorously reject any violence in these actions or strategies provocative of violence. We believe that carefully discerned decisions to engage in civil disobedience are appropriate and that a willingness to live with the consequences of such civil disobedience contributes to the power of the action. We just as vigorously reject, however, and are profoundly concerned about what seems to be a growing pattern of abusive official response to a legitimate expression of public concern. No person should be subject to arrest without due cause and no person arrested, even for due cause, should be mistreated physically, emotionally or psychologically. According to Leslie Cagan, a peace activist from Philadelphia, "Not everyone arrested was actually involved in any direct action: 75 people were taken into custody at the space where puppets were being put together for use in the protests; others have been picked up just walking the streets. The 75 people arrested at the puppet site have all been given $15,000 bail for obstructing traffic charges, and they were not even in the street when arrested." The bails set for many of the demonstrators were excessive and clearly punitive. Reports from many different sources describe significant physical and verbal abuse, plus sleep deprivation by overnight handcuffing in awkward positions; the use of pepper spray to coerce arrestees into attending arraignments; stripping of prisoners' clothing; beatings; denial of essential medication, including for people with diabetes and asthma; and denial of food, water, and access to the bathroom for extended periods. Many of the demonstrators participated in jail solidarity, which means they did not give their names to the police, in an effort to demand that everyone be treated equally and that all have access to food, water, and bathrooms, as well as access to their lawyers. The refusal to give their names may have slowed the process of arraignment or release, but it is not an excuse for abuse. What you can do: Register your opinion with officials in Philadelphia: Mayor John Street 215-686-2181; DA Lynn Abrams 215-686-5777; Police Commissioner John Timoney 215-686-3149 or 215-686-3388; City Council President Ann Verna 215-686-3442.
And take a moment to contact your local media outlets and ask
them to cover this story and subsequent demonstrations with accuracy.
One source of information is Independent Media at <www.indymedia.org> 
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