Police in Miami may have violated various international laws and
covenants on civil rights and use of force when they crushed protests
against a free trade meeting last month, rights group Amnesty
International said.
In a letter to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, dated
Dec. 16 and made public on Thursday, the human rights watchdog repeated a
call for an independent inquiry into police actions that led to more
than 200 arrests and dozens of injuries.
"Concerns include
reports of the indiscriminate and inappropriate use of nonlethal weapons
on nonviolent protesters resulting in scores of injuries, the
obstruction of those providing medical treatment, multiple and random
arrests ... and the denial of the right to freedom of expression and
association," Americas program director Susan Lee wrote.
Amnesty said preliminary investigations suggested police violated the United
Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
among other covenants.
Miami was shut down for the Nov. 17 to
Nov. 21 Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting, at which little
progress was made toward creating the world's biggest free trade zone.
Phalanxes
of riot police, backed by helicopters and armored cars, chased
protesters through the city center after the main opposition rally on
Nov. 20 by firing volleys of rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas.
While
a few protesters threw rocks, the great majority of the 15,000
unionists, environmentalists, retirees, small farmers, anarchists and
civil rights activists who took part in the Nov. 20 march against the
FTAA were peaceful.
Amnesty said many were shot with rubber
bullets while running away from police. Volunteer medics appear to have
been targeted while helping the injured.
Miami Police Chief John Timoney has promised an internal review of police tactics, and has won the firm backing of city officials for
the "restraint" shown by officers in preventing a repeat of the 1999
world trade riots in Seattle.
Critics say a police review is far from adequate.
A fledgling Citizens Investigative Panel, set up after a series of police corruption scandals, also plans hearings.
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