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For Immediate Release: November 24th, 2003
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USWA Calls for Congressional Investigation into Police-State Assaults in Miami
Union condemns use of federal Iraq reconstruction funds to subsidize "homeland repression" at FTAA meetings
PITTSBURGH -- The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) is calling for a Congressional
investigation into "a massive police state," created in part with
federal funds, to intimidate union members and others critical of the
proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and limit their rights
during FTAA meetings in Miami last week.
"Last week, the
fundamental rights of thousands of Americans were blatantly violated,
sometimes violently, by the Miami police, who systematically repressed
our Constitutional right to free assembly with massive force, riot gear
and armaments," said Leo W. Gerard, USWA international president, in a
letter to Congressional leaders.
"It is condemnable enough that a
massive police state was created to prevent American citizens from
directly petitioning FTAA negotiators for redress of their grievances,"
Gerard said in the letter.
"It is doubly condemnable," he added,
"that $9 million of federal funds designated for the reconstruction of
Iraq were used toward this despicable purpose. How can we hope to build
democracy in Iraq while using massive force to dismantle it here at
home?"
Citing "countless instances of humiliating repression in
which the Miami police force disgraced itself," Gerard said that Miami
police chief John Timoney should be fired, all charges against peaceful
demonstrators should be dropped, and a Congressional investigation into
the Miami police department's systematic repression should immediately
be launched.
"To do less would be to endorse homeland repression in the guise of homeland security," Gerardbs letter concluded.
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The full text of the letter is available on the USWA website:
http://www.uswa.org/ |
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