Monday, September 29, 2008
Use of Force Against RNC Protesters “Disproportionate,” Charges Amnesty International
[London]--Amnesty International is concerned by allegations of excessive use of force and mass arrests by police at demonstrations in St. Paul, Minnesota during the Republican National Convention (RNC) from September 1-4, 2008. The human rights organization is calling on the city and county authorities to ensure that all allegations of ill-treatment and other abuses are impartially investigated, with a review of police tactics and weapons in the policing of demonstrations.
The organization’s concerns arise from media reports, video and photographic images which appear to show police officers deploying unnecessary and disproportionate use of non-lethal weapons on non-violent protestors marching through the streets or congregating outside the arena where the Convention was being held.
Amnesty International urges that an inquiry be carried out promptly, that its findings and recommendations be made public in a timely manner. If the force used is found to have been excessive and to have contravened the principles of necessity and proportionality, then those involved should be disciplined, measures put in place and training given to ensure future policing operations conform to international standards.
Police are reported to have fired rubber bullets and used batons, pepper spray, tear gas canisters and concussion grenades on peaceful demonstrators and journalists. Amnesty International has also received unconfirmed reports that some of those arrested during the demonstrations may have been ill-treated while held at Ramsey county jail.
Amnesty International is also concerned at reports that several journalists who were covering the RNC were arbitrarily arrested while filming and reporting on the demonstrations. They include host of independent news program Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, and two of the program’s producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were both allegedly subjected to violence during their arrest. A photographer for the Associated Press (AP) and other journalists were also arrested while covering the demonstrations.
Kouddous described his arrest to media, “…two or three police officers tackled me. They threw me violently against a wall. Then they threw me to the ground. I was kicked in the chest several times. A police officer ground his knee into my back…I was also, the entire time, telling them, ‘I’m media. I’m press….,’ but…that didn’t seem to matter at all.”
Amnesty International recognizes the challenges involved in policing large scale demonstrations and that some protestors may have been involved in acts of violence or obstruction. However, some of the police actions appear to have breached United Nations (U.N.) standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials. These stipulate, among other things, that force should be used only as a last resort, in proportion to the threat posed, and should be designed to minimize damage or injury. Some of the treatment also appears to have contravened U.S. laws and guidelines on the use of force. The U.N. standards also stress that everyone is allowed to participate in lawful and peaceful assemblies, in accordance with the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
For more information, please contact the AIUSA media office at 202-544-0200 x302 or visit our website at www.amnestyusa.org.
The organization’s concerns arise from media reports, video and photographic images which appear to show police officers deploying unnecessary and disproportionate use of non-lethal weapons on non-violent protestors marching through the streets or congregating outside the arena where the Convention was being held.
Amnesty International urges that an inquiry be carried out promptly, that its findings and recommendations be made public in a timely manner. If the force used is found to have been excessive and to have contravened the principles of necessity and proportionality, then those involved should be disciplined, measures put in place and training given to ensure future policing operations conform to international standards.
Police are reported to have fired rubber bullets and used batons, pepper spray, tear gas canisters and concussion grenades on peaceful demonstrators and journalists. Amnesty International has also received unconfirmed reports that some of those arrested during the demonstrations may have been ill-treated while held at Ramsey county jail.
Amnesty International is also concerned at reports that several journalists who were covering the RNC were arbitrarily arrested while filming and reporting on the demonstrations. They include host of independent news program Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, and two of the program’s producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were both allegedly subjected to violence during their arrest. A photographer for the Associated Press (AP) and other journalists were also arrested while covering the demonstrations.
Kouddous described his arrest to media, “…two or three police officers tackled me. They threw me violently against a wall. Then they threw me to the ground. I was kicked in the chest several times. A police officer ground his knee into my back…I was also, the entire time, telling them, ‘I’m media. I’m press….,’ but…that didn’t seem to matter at all.”
Amnesty International recognizes the challenges involved in policing large scale demonstrations and that some protestors may have been involved in acts of violence or obstruction. However, some of the police actions appear to have breached United Nations (U.N.) standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials. These stipulate, among other things, that force should be used only as a last resort, in proportion to the threat posed, and should be designed to minimize damage or injury. Some of the treatment also appears to have contravened U.S. laws and guidelines on the use of force. The U.N. standards also stress that everyone is allowed to participate in lawful and peaceful assemblies, in accordance with the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
For more information, please contact the AIUSA media office at 202-544-0200 x302 or visit our website at www.amnestyusa.org.
Labels: Arrests, March for Our Lives 2008, Police, RNC
PPEHRC Members on trial in both Minneapolis and St. Paul on Oct. 1st.
In Minneapolis on October 1st at 9:30AM, PPEHRC members Cheri Honkala, Natasha Euler and Deeq Abdi will go to court for demonstrating at the Minneapolis Office Housing And Urban Development (a public building) regarding the housing crisis in America prior to the RNC.
On the afternoon of October 1st at 1:00PM in St. Paul, PPEHRC Members Cheri Honkala and Tim Dowlin will go to court for setting up Bushville, a tent city for poor and homeless people to gather, at Harriet Island Regional Park (a public park) prior to the RNC.
At a time when millions of people are losing their homes to foreclosure and banks are crashing, let's stand by the Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign in
order to create another kind of world.
Please call the Mayors of Minneapolis and St Paul today and demand that all
charges be dropped!
Mayor R.T. Rybak
City of Minneapolis
(612) 673-2100
Mayor Chris Coleman
City of St. Paul
(651) 266-8510
Please also send this to as many other people as you can.
On the afternoon of October 1st at 1:00PM in St. Paul, PPEHRC Members Cheri Honkala and Tim Dowlin will go to court for setting up Bushville, a tent city for poor and homeless people to gather, at Harriet Island Regional Park (a public park) prior to the RNC.
At a time when millions of people are losing their homes to foreclosure and banks are crashing, let's stand by the Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign in
order to create another kind of world.
Please call the Mayors of Minneapolis and St Paul today and demand that all
charges be dropped!
Mayor R.T. Rybak
City of Minneapolis
(612) 673-2100
Mayor Chris Coleman
City of St. Paul
(651) 266-8510
Please also send this to as many other people as you can.
Labels: Arrests, Bushville, HUD Sit-in, March for Our Lives 2008, Police, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, PPEHRC
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Councilmember calls for investigation in RNC-related arrest
Councilmember calls for investigation in RNC-related arrest
Less than a week before the start of the Republican National Convention, police have made their first convention-related arrest.
Minneapolis Police had their hands full Tuesday with protestors and citizen journalists; a possible sign of what's to come.
Armed with their voices and a video camera, a group fighting for affordable housing held a sit in-at the Minneapolis Housing and Urban Development office.
But when a 5 EYEWITNSES NEWS photographer showed up, a Minneapolis Police officer pushed him back into an elevator.
Shortly after, a demonstrator was arrested.
In a separate incident, police detailed three videographers from the Glass Bead Collective, an organization with a history of documenting police misconduct. They are in the Twin Cities to cover the Republican National Convention.
Videographer Vlad Teichberg said he and two others were stopped early Tuesday morning while walking to where they were staying in northeast Minneapolis.
Teichberg said police violated the group's First Amendment rights by taking items including a video camera, a still camera and a laptop.
"They are confiscating the means for us to do our work," he said.
An incident report classified the incident as Homeland Security issue.
Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon, who spearheaded the drive to protect demonstrators, wants an explanation from the police chief and the city attorney.
He said the police actions appear to violate the spirit of a resolution passed unanimously last month, which prohibits seizing cameras except during an arrest or when it captures evidence of a crime.
"We don't want to hide anything and I don't think we want anything to be hidden," said Gordon.
Minneapolis police spokesman Bill Palmer said the incident happened at 1:40 a.m. and that the group was stopped on suspicion that they were trespassing in a nearby railroad yard.
Authorities are concerned transportation could be a target during the Republican National Convention.
The three videographers said they did not trespass.
Less than a week before the start of the Republican National Convention, police have made their first convention-related arrest.
Minneapolis Police had their hands full Tuesday with protestors and citizen journalists; a possible sign of what's to come.
Armed with their voices and a video camera, a group fighting for affordable housing held a sit in-at the Minneapolis Housing and Urban Development office.
But when a 5 EYEWITNSES NEWS photographer showed up, a Minneapolis Police officer pushed him back into an elevator.
Shortly after, a demonstrator was arrested.
In a separate incident, police detailed three videographers from the Glass Bead Collective, an organization with a history of documenting police misconduct. They are in the Twin Cities to cover the Republican National Convention.
Videographer Vlad Teichberg said he and two others were stopped early Tuesday morning while walking to where they were staying in northeast Minneapolis.
Teichberg said police violated the group's First Amendment rights by taking items including a video camera, a still camera and a laptop.
"They are confiscating the means for us to do our work," he said.
An incident report classified the incident as Homeland Security issue.
Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon, who spearheaded the drive to protect demonstrators, wants an explanation from the police chief and the city attorney.
He said the police actions appear to violate the spirit of a resolution passed unanimously last month, which prohibits seizing cameras except during an arrest or when it captures evidence of a crime.
"We don't want to hide anything and I don't think we want anything to be hidden," said Gordon.
Minneapolis police spokesman Bill Palmer said the incident happened at 1:40 a.m. and that the group was stopped on suspicion that they were trespassing in a nearby railroad yard.
Authorities are concerned transportation could be a target during the Republican National Convention.
The three videographers said they did not trespass.
Labels: Arrests, M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008
Poor People's Campaign Sits in At HUD
On Tuesday, August 26 2008, 25 members of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign conducted a sit-in at the offices of Dexter Sydney, Minneapolis Field Director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Members from the Twin Cities and across the US entered the International Building on 920 2nd Street in downtown Minneapolis where the HUD offices are located.
At roughly noon, these poor and homeless families sat down in Sydney's front lobby, insisting that he follow through on his written agreement to attend PPEHRC's Minnesota Truth Commission Sat August 30th at 2PM. In a July 15th letter, Sydney “look[ed] forward to learning more about the concerns ... regarding homelessness, the housing crisis, and the challenges many people face with affordable housing”.
While in the HUD offices PPEHRC members were informed by building security that the public office was in private property and were to be escorted out by Minneapolis Police. A representative of the Department of Homeland Security informed campaign members that they were there to keep HUD workers safe during our nonviolent protest. The Minneapolis Police closed down the hallway outside, even pushing a KSTP reporter into an elevator.
Sit-in Video Part 1 | Part 2
Members of PPEHRC stayed behind in the offices after the final warning of the Minneapolis Police and were arrested. Cheri Honkala, PPEHRC National Organizer, Deeq Abdi of Minneapolis PPEHRC, and Natashia Euler of the Kensington Welfare Union in Philadelphia, PA were arrested and held at the Hennepin County Jail with bail.
They have since been released.
At roughly noon, these poor and homeless families sat down in Sydney's front lobby, insisting that he follow through on his written agreement to attend PPEHRC's Minnesota Truth Commission Sat August 30th at 2PM. In a July 15th letter, Sydney “look[ed] forward to learning more about the concerns ... regarding homelessness, the housing crisis, and the challenges many people face with affordable housing”.
While in the HUD offices PPEHRC members were informed by building security that the public office was in private property and were to be escorted out by Minneapolis Police. A representative of the Department of Homeland Security informed campaign members that they were there to keep HUD workers safe during our nonviolent protest. The Minneapolis Police closed down the hallway outside, even pushing a KSTP reporter into an elevator.
Sit-in Video Part 1 | Part 2
Members of PPEHRC stayed behind in the offices after the final warning of the Minneapolis Police and were arrested. Cheri Honkala, PPEHRC National Organizer, Deeq Abdi of Minneapolis PPEHRC, and Natashia Euler of the Kensington Welfare Union in Philadelphia, PA were arrested and held at the Hennepin County Jail with bail.
They have since been released.
Labels: Arrests, HUD Sit-in, March for Our Lives 2008
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