Legacy of Torture: the War Against the Black Liberation MovementThis session will be on: June 28, 2007 - 10:30amIt will be held at: Georgia Ballroom East room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown. The session will view the 28-minute video: The Legacy of Torture The session will discuss: Murder Charges Against Former Black Panthers Based on Confessions Extracted by Torture Eight former Black Panthers were arrested January 23rd in California, New York and Florida on charges related to the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer. Similar charges were thrown out after it was revealed that police used torture to extract confessions when some of these same men were arrested in New Orleans in 1973. Richard Brown, Richard O'Neal, Ray Boudreaux, and Hank Jones were arrested in California. Francisco Torres wasarrested in Queens, New York. Harold Taylor was arrested in Florida. Two men charged have been held as political prisoners for over 30 years – Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim are both in New York State prisons. A ninth man -- Ronald Stanley Bridgeforth – is still being sought. The men were charged with the murder of Sgt. John Young and conspiracy that encompasses numerous acts between 1968 and 1973. Harold Taylor and John Bowman (recently deceased) as well as Ruben Scott (thought to be a government witness) were first charged in 1975. But a judge tossed out the charges, finding that Taylor and his two co-defendants made confessions after police in New Orleans tortured them for several days employing electric shock, cattle prods, beatings, sensory deprivation, plastic bags and hot, wet blankets for asphyxiation. Confirmed panelists: Cynthia McKinney, former Congressional Representative Kathleen Cleaver, Professor of Law at Emory University and formerleader of the Black Panther Party Soffiyah Elijah, Harvard Law School Criminal Justice Institute _______________________________________________ Please support these brothers by sending a donation. Make checks payable to CDHR/Agape and mail to the address below or donate on line: http://www.cdhrsupport.org/what_to_do.html#donate Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) PO Box 90221 Pasadena, CA 91109 (415) 226-1120 FreetheSF8@riseup.net Freedom Archives |