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A civilian panel, facing mistrust among activists,
promised an unbiased investigation as it opened a probe of police
brutality and infringements of civil rights during protests last year
outside a regional free trade meeting in Miami.
The Civilian Investigative Panel of
the City of Miami held its first hearing on Thursday night, and heard
from activists who said police arrested without cause, fired rubber
bullets indiscriminately and kept people in handcuffs for 12 hours
during the Nov. 17-21 Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting.
But many activists said they would
not cooperate because of mistrust, and demanded a panel member resign
because he had praised Police Chief John Timoney for saving Miami from
the riots that marred the 1999 Seattle world trade talks.
"The AFL-CIO, the entire labor
movement and I am personally committed to making sure this brutality
never happens again," said Fred Frost, head of the South Florida
AFL-CIO, a trade union federation with 13 million members nationwide.
"I hope this panel restores my faith and my civil rights."
More than 200 people were arrested during the FTAA meeting, at which trade ministers from the Americas failed to make much progress in creating what would be the world's biggest trade zone.
The bulk of the arrests came on Nov.
20, when a mass rally organized by trade unions, environmentalists,
civil rights activists and others turned into street skirmishes.
Ranks of riot police fired volleys of rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray to drive away largely peaceful marchers.
Police say they reacted, with restraint, when "anarchists" began to throw stones and other missiles.
Protester Nikki Hartman told the investigative panel she was shot several times, and wounded in the head.
"I can't tell you who shot me. I
can't tell you because they weren't identified. And I can't tell you
because my back was turned," Hartman said.
Others told of elderly Holocaust
survivors thrown to the ground and kneed in the back before being
handcuffed. They had been trying to find their way back to buses that
police had initially agreed to allow into town but then barred.
The AFL-CIO and the American Civil Liberties Union told the panel they would be filing lawsuits against Miami.
The panel's next session is scheduled for Feb. 5, when it will hear from police.
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