New York, NY – Over 150 people gathered at the Holyrood Church in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City on October 27 for the International Peoples Tribunal on U.S. Colonial Crimes in Puerto Rico.

Fifteen leaders from various movements, such as national liberation, student and anti-war organizations, sat on the jury. This included Pam Africa of MOVE; Chrisley Carpio, a national leader of Students for a Democratic Society; Deirdre Griswold of Workers World Party; and Bernadette Ellorin of BAYAN USA.

The jurors heard testimony from an array of speakers and witnesses to the U.S. crimes against Puerto Rico. The crimes included environmental destruction by the U.S. Navy; 120 years of repression of liberation activists, such as Nina Droz Franco; capitalist crimes, including the Promesa Law, privatization and debt; and social and cultural crimes, like the forced sterilization of women. Two notable testimonials were given by José Lopez Rivera and Rafael Cancel Miranda, both important leaders in the Puerto Rican national liberation movement.

After deliberating, the jury unanimously declared that the United States was guilty of crimes against Puerto Rico.

The tribunal was called by A Call to Action PR, Collectives of the Boricua Resistance, Philadelphia-Camden Boricua Committee, International Action Center, and the Promises Are Over Collective.

#NewYorkNY #PeoplesStruggles #PuertoRico #colonialism

Iosbaker, who is helping to organize a campaign against U.S. drone warfare, stated “A U.S. drone base in Niger is a terrible development. President Obama says the base will provide intelligence to support Western intervention in the war in Mali. The base is part of U.S. and French plans for recolonizing Africa.”

The government of Niger, a former French colony, is dominated by U.S. and France.

In a Feb. 22 letter to congress, Obama stated, “This deployment will provide support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali and with other partners in the region. The total number of U.S. military personnel deployed to Niger is approximately 100.”

In January, 2013, France began a large scale military intervention in mineral-rich Mali, in an effort to defeat an anti-Western rebellion. The U.S., which had long been planning to use troops from western African counties for its own invasion of Mali, is currently providing military assistance to France.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #JoeIosbaker #USImperialism #colonialism #drones #Mali #France #Niger

The new law includes restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression that criminalize many forms of protest. The law criminalizes, with a mandatory 3 year jail sentence, any protest that might “perturb, interrupt or impede” politicians, or “any disorder” around them. The law also prohibits protests in schools, universities and health institutions that “obstruct the providing of services or access.” This is clearly targeted at criminalizing anything like the 2010 student strike at the University of Puerto Rico or actions to defend public services that are threatened by budget cuts and austerity. Violations of this law mean 6 months in jail and/or a $5000 fine.

Puerto Rican Governor Fortuño is with the New Progressive Party (PNP) of Puerto Rico. Since Puerto Rico is a colony (“commonwealth”) of the U.S., politicians there can also be affiliated with U.S. parties; Fortuño is also a member of the U.S.’s Republican Party and a member of the Republican National Committee, the leadership body of the Republican Party. He will be a featured speaker at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida in late August along with other controversial right wing politicians such as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. There will be large protests outside the Republican National Convention, centered by a mass march on August 27.

#PuertoRico #InJusticeSystem #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #civilLiberties #Repression #ACLU #antiimperialism #colonialism #LuisFortuño

On June 30 the Puerto Rican legislature approved a new Penal Code that includes sharp restrictions on a broad range of civil liberties and rights. Supporters of civil liberties refer to it as essentially a ‘wish list’ of many regressive laws the right wing has dreamed of passing. It now awaits either the approval or veto of Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño, who is from the New Progressive Party (PNP) of Puerto Rico, and is also a member of the U.S.’s Republican Party.

The new changes to the penal code include restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression that would criminalize many forms of protest. The law would criminalize, with a mandatory three-year jail sentence, any protest that might “perturb, interrupt or impede” politicians, or “any disorder” around them. The law would also prohibit protests that “obstruct the providing of services or access” at schools, universities and health institutions. This is clearly targeted at criminalizing anything like the recent university student strikes or actions to defend public services that are threatened by budget cuts and austerity. Violations of this law would mean six months in jail and/or a $5000 fine.

The bill includes severe restrictions and criminalization of abortion (currently legal under Puerto Rican and U.S. law). The new penal code would also create lengthy mandatory minimum sentences for a range of crimes. There is a separate (but politically related) constitutional referendum that will be voted on, which would remove the right to bail for people accused of some crimes.

Many of these measures have been proposed before and failed, and the constitutionality of some of them is questionable. There is a concern expressed by opponents of the bill that this is just the first step and the government would then attempt to restrict other rights such as the right to strike. Strikes in Puerto Rico in recent years have been militant and effective at fighting austerity. More austerity is expected in the coming period.

Puerto Rico’s status as a colony (‘commonwealth’) of the U.S. means that Puerto Rico is subject to the U.S.’s federal laws and courts in addition to Puerto Rico’s own laws. Some of the provisions in this new bill could be found unconstitutional under U.S. and Puerto Rican law, but the legislature seems intent on pushing the limits to try to criminalize a broad range of actions. These changes to the Puerto Rican penal code come in a context of sharpening repression in the United States as well, and many of the parts of this law appear to be models for deepening repressive laws in the U.S.

#PuertoRico #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #civilLiberties #Repression #antiimperialism #colonialism #abortion #PoliticalRepression