News & Events

Sat Dec 16 20:24:58 2000 -- HEMP CAR TRANSAMERICA

Hemp Car Crew

Hemp car is an alternative-fuel project car that utilizes hemp oil for
fuel. Industrial hemp would be an economical fuel if hemp were legal to
cultivate in the United States. Industrial hemp has no psychoactive
properties and is not a drug. Hemp Car will demonstrate the concept of
hemp fuels on a national level and promote the reformation of current
law. The car will tour America, with stops in Canada, frequenting
alternative-energy, environmental, and hemp-legalization events such as
SolFest and the Seattle Hemp Fest. We will kick off the tour on July 4,
2001 at the Washington D.C. Rally to End Marijuana Prohibition. The car
is expected to generate publicity, emphasizing the utility of industrial
hemp to modern society. We intend to provide the public with information
about biofuels, hemp, their uses, and current American laws. We wish to
establish a world distance record for a vehicle utilizing hemp for fuel.
A network of hemp activists will provide us with the hemp oil at planned
intervals throughout the country. For more information please visit our
website. https://www.hempcar.org

Sat Dec 16 07:37:33 2000 -- México en la Lucha III. Chiapas cambia-Mexico in the Fight III. Chiapas changes

Oaxaca, Oax., Mexico, December 16, 2000
George.Salzman@umb.edu

The new governor of the state of Chiapas, who assumed office on Friday, Dec. 8, immediately began the process for freeing all Zapatista prisoners. La Jornada's top news report, on Sunday, Dec 10, describes what the State Attorney General will find when he begins, on Monday, Dec 11, to review the files. The original report, 1.) in Spanish, is first, followed by 2.) my translation into English. (My preferred title concluded: Mexico in the Struggle III. Chiapas changes. But it was too long.)

(For the English version, scroll down through the Spanish text)

1.) Revelan irregularidades en los procesos a indígenas zapatistas

La Jornada, domingo 10 de diciembre de 2000

** Complicidad de ex gobernadores y Poder Judicial para legitimar encarcelamientos

** El procurador Mariano Herrán analiza los expedientes de casi un centenar de bases de apoyo presos

** Les aplicaban el "principio de inmediatez procesal", dice ombudsman

Juan Balboa, corresponsal, y Andrea Becerril, enviada, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chis., 9 de diciembre
** Cuando el gobierno de Pablo Salazar inicie, a partir de este lunes, la revisión de los expedientes de cerca de cien indígenas zapatistas, presos en diversas cárceles de la entidad, se pondrá al descubierto la complicidad que se dio en los últimos seis años entre los poderes Ejecutivo y Judicial de Chiapas, para legitimar el encarcelamiento ilegal y la violación de derechos humanos de simpatizantes y bases de apoyo del EZLN.

En la documentación, que ya analiza el procurador de Justicia del estado, Mariano Herrán Salvatti, resulta evidente que casi un centenar de indígenas, una buena parte de las etnias chol y tzeltal, fueron privados de la libertad a través de procedimientos amañados, torturados para obligarlos a inculparse por delitos que no cometieron y por los que ya fueron condenados, algunos incluso hasta con 25 años de prisión.

"Es obvio, en todos los casos, que los jueces consideran a los indígenas zapatistas opositores políticos" y que, con base en ello, sus procesos se dieron sin el análisis objetivo de las averiguaciones previas, legitimando con ellos detenciones arbitrarias, confesiones bajo tortura y obsequiando órdenes de aprehensión con rapidez inusitada", advierte el abogado defensor de los presos, Miguel Angel de los Santos.

Advirtió también que es por ello que la liberación de todos los presos políticos indígenas ha sido siempre una de las condiciones que el Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) ha puesto para retornar al diálogo con el gobierno federal.

De los Santos destacó que la situación que han debido enfrentar los cerca de cien indígenas que aún permanecen presos muestra por qué es también fundamental que se cumplan los acuerdos de San Andrés, toda vez que en los mismos, entre otros puntos, se reconoce a los pueblos indios sus formas de administrar justicia.

"Con ello se evitaría que los indígenas sean juzgados bajo mecanismos que les son culturalmente ajenos. El reconocimiento a esos derechos de las etnias en México, resulta, sin duda alguna, una aportación fundamental para establecer las bases de una paz duradera, fruto de la justicia".

El defensor precisó luego que la mayoría de los casos son de indígenas a quienes se acusó de participar en los hechos violentos que se dieron en la zona norte. Otra parte menor son los detenidos a raíz del desmantelamiento de municipios autónomos.

En el primer caso, al incrementarse la escalada de violencia en la región del conflicto armado conocida como zona norte, se inició también la presentación de acusaciones penales contra las bases de apoyo del EZLN y de personas identificadas con organizaciones políticas de oposición.

Al menos la mitad de los presos agrupados en La Voz de Cerro Hueco provienen de esa zona norte y se trata de indígenas de etnia chol, recluidos precisamente en el penal de Tuxtla Gutiérrez -del que toman el nombre para su organización- y en la cárcel distrital de Yajalón.

Detalló después que el esquema bajo el que fueron acusados es siempre el mismo: un militante del PRI presenta denuncia ante el Ministerio Público de un supuesto delito y de inmediato éste solicita orden de aprehensión, que el juez otorga con la misma celeridad, sin analizar la averiguación previa, y el indígena es detenido a través incluso de grandes operativos policiacos.

Es decir, el MP no realiza ninguna investigación para demostrar la probable responsabilidad del inculpado. Le bastan los señalamientos imputativos de delitos como privación ilegal de la libertad en la modalidad de secuestro, homicidio, asalto y lesiones graves, entre otros.

Por ello, las versiones de los hechos que se imputan a los zapatistas son "inverosímiles hasta el absurdo", pero los agentes del MP las aceptaron.

Un ejemplo de ello es el caso de Cristóbal Gutiérrez Gómez, base de apoyo del EZLN a quien se acusa del homicidio de César Santiz Pérez, muerto en una emboscada en la comunidad de Chimix, en el municipio de Chenalhó, el 10 de octubre de 1997. Lesionados y testigos describieron que sus atacantes salieron del monte, vestidos de negro, con pasamontañas y armas largas de fuego.

El zapatista Cristóbal Gutiérrez, sin embargo, fue detenido y procesado porque uno de los testigos dice haberlo reconocido entre el grupo de agresores "por la forma de su cuerpo".

A los indígenas zapatistas se les condenó con base en la aplicación recurrente del principio de inmediatez procesal, según el cual, aunque quienes se dicen ofendidos aclaren que no emitieron denuncia alguna y que no reconozcan las firmas que obran en sus supuestas declaraciones, se les concede valor de prueba plena, porque las primeras declaraciones son preferentes a las posteriores.

De los Santos destacó que con base en ese principio de inmediatez procesal, se tomaron como válidas las declaraciones bajo tortura o sin traductor.

Así le ocurrió a Adolfo López Vázquez, un indio chol procesado por delito de homicidio y próximo a recibir sentencia, aunque desde su primera declaración no contó con traductor. El juez que lleva la causa -detalla el defensor- consideró que no requería de éste. "Mi criada también es chol y habla muy bien el español", dijo, aunque un peritaje en materia lingüística del Instituto Nacional Indigenista demostró que no pudo haber narrado las tres páginas tamaño oficio en que consta su declaración autoinculpatoria.

Igualmente, y pese a que no existen pruebas de su presunta responsabilidad, Diego Pérez de la Cruz, de la comunidad Francisco Villa, del municipio de Sabanilla, está preso desde 1997 y condenado a 15 años de prisión, por la muerte de un policía, cargo que se le obligó a aceptar luego de brutales torturas.

Es la misma historia de casi una centena de indígenas zapatistas, que han pasado por largos procesos penales y "pese a que su defensa ha echado abajo todas y cada una de las acusaciones en su contra", siguen en la cárcel: 37 permanecen en Cerro Hueco, 20 en el penal de Yajalón, uno en el de Comitán, otro en el de Carranza, 23 en el de San Cristóbal, dos en Villa de las Flores, once en Tapachula, dos en Ocosingo y dos más recluidos en Tacotalpa, Tabasco.

Sus expedientes están en manos del procurador de la entidad, quien tiene la instrucción del gobernador Pablo Salazar de establecer este lunes una comisión que revise todos los casos de los presos zapatistas, con miras a su liberación inmediata.

2.) Irregularities shown in prosecutions of indigenous Zapatistas

La Jornada, Sunday, December 10, 2000

** Complicity of ex-governors and Judicial Power in order to legitimate imprisonments

** Attorney General Mariano Herrán is analyzing almost a hundred files to have a basis for helping prisoners

** The ombudsman says the "principle of immediate processing [imprisonment]" was applied to prisoners

Dispatched by Juan Balboa, reporter, and Andrea Becerril, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chis., December 9
** When Pablo Salazar's government begins this Monday to review the files of about a hundred indigenous Zapatistas, prisoners in various state jails, it will lead to the discovery of complicity that existed during the last six years between the executive and judicial powers of Chiapas, in order to legitimate illegal imprisonment and violation of the human rights of sympathizers and rank and file supporters of the EZLN.

In the documentation that the state Attorney General, Mariano Herrán Salvatti, already analyzed it is becoming evident that almost a hundred indigenous people, a good part of them of Chol and Tzeltal ethnicity, were deprived of liberty by means of falsified proceedings, tortured in order to force them to confess to crimes they hadn't committed and for which they were condemned, some of them for up to 25 years in prison.

"It's obvious, in all the cases, that the judges considered the indigenous Zapatistas political opponents" and, based on that, their processes were without objective analysis of prior disputes, legitimating arbitrary detentions with those processes, confessions under torture and presenting orders for arrest with uncommon speed," said the prisoners' defense lawyer, Miguel Angel de los Santos.

He further noted, it is because of that that the liberation of all indigenous political prisoners has always been one of the conditions that the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has set for returning to the dialogue with the federal government.

De los Santos emphasized that the situation that had to be faced of about a hundred indigenous people still remaining prisoners shows why it is also fundamental that the San Andrés Accords be fulfilled, since in them, among other points, the Indian peoples' own forms of administering justice are recognized.

"With those accords, the judgement of indigenous peoples in ways that are culturally foreign to them would be avoided. Recognition of those ethnic rights in Mexico will result, without any doubt, in a fundamental contribution for establishing the basis for a lasting peace with justice."

The defense counsel then specified that the majority of these cases are of indigenous people accused of participating in violent acts that happened in the northern zone. Another, lesser part are those arrested as a result of the dismanteling of autonomous municipalities.

First of all, as the scale of violence increased in the region of armed conflict known as the northern zone, they also began to introduce criminal accusations against the rank and file supporters of the EZLN and against people identified with political opposition organizations.

At least half of the prisoners in the group 'The Voice of Cerro Hueco' come from that northern zone and are considered to be indigenous of Chol ethnicity, locked up right there in the Tuxtla Gutiérrez prison -from which they take the name for their group -and in the district jail of Yajalón.

He detailed that the scheme by which they were accused is always the same: a PRI militant presents an accusation of a supposed crime to the Attorney General and immediately applies for an arrest order, which the judge grants with the same speed, without analyzing previous disputes, and the indigenous person is arrested by means including large police operations.

In other words, the Attoney General doesn't undertake any investigation to show probable responsibility of the accused. The accusatory citations of crimes such as illegal denial of liberty in the form of kidnapping, homicide, attack and serious injury, among others, are sufficient.

Because of that, the versions of the acts imputed to the Zapatistas range "from improbable to absurd," but the officers of the Attorney General accepted them.

An example of that is the case of Cristóbal Gutiérrez Gómez, a rank and file EZLN supporter who is accused of the homicide of César Santiz Pérez, dead in an ambush in the community of Chimix, in the municipality of Chenalhó, 10th of October, 1997. Injured men and witnesses described their attackers as coming from the mountain, dressed in black, with masks and heavy firearms.

The Zapatista Cristóbal Gutiérrez, however, was arrested and prosecuted because one of the witnesses said he had recognized him among the group of attackers "by the shape of his body."

The indigenous Zapatistas were condemned, based on recurrent application of the 'principle of immediate processing', even those against whom the so-called victims claimed they hadn't made accusations, and said they didn't recognize the signatures that made their supposed statements effective. Those supposed statements are given validity as full proof, because first statements are preferred to later ones.

De los Santos emphasized that based on that principle of immediate processing, they accepted declarations made under torture or without a translator as valid.

That's what happened to Adolfo López Vásquez, a Chol Indian prosecuted for the crime of homicide and then getting sentenced, even though since his first declaration he could not count on a translator. The judge who handled the case -detailed the defendor- considered that this was not required. "My maid is also Chol and speaks Spanish very well", he said, although an expert in linguistic matters of the National Indigenous Institue showed that he could not have narrated the three legal-size pages that record his confession statement.

Equally, and in spite of the fact that no proof exists of his presumed responsibility, Diego Pérez de la Cruz, of the community Francisco Villa, municipality of Sabanilla, has been imprisoned since 1997 and was condemned to 15 years in prison for killing a policeman, a charge that he was forced to accept after brutal torture.

It's the same story with almost a hundred indigenous Zapatistas, who went through major criminal prosecutions and "although their defense refuted each and every one of the accusations against them", went to jail: 37 remaining in Cerro Hueco, 20 in the jail at Yajalón, one in that of Comitán, another in that of Carranza, 23 in that of San Cristóbal, two in Villa de las Flores, eleven in Tapachula, two in Ocosingo and two more jailed in Tacotalpa, Tabasco.

Their files are in the hands of the state Attorney General, Mariano Herrán Salvatti, who Governor Pablo Salazar instructed to set up a commission this Monday that will review all the cases of Zapatista prisoners, with a view towards freeing them immediately.

Fri Dec 15 01:09:50 2000 -- Failure to Communicate

CINCINNATI, OH
Darlene D'Agostino -relayed by John Zeh, Cincinnati OVIMC

Failure to Communicate
Police and protesters trade charges about TABD demos

By Darlene D'Agostino
https://www.citybeat.com/current/news.shtml

Coalition for a Humane Economy (CHE) deliberately misled police about protests against the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) last month, according to the Cincinnati Police Division.

On the contrary, protests remained peaceful -- despite a deliberate attempt by police to provoke violence -- according to CHE organizers.

Put hundreds of demonstrators and hundreds of police officers on the streets at the same time, and one thing you're certain to get is differing perceptions of what happens. But the differences between police and protesters' accounts seem to go beyond mere perceptions. A month after the protests, the two sides accuse each other of conduct that could have led to disaster.

That, of course, didn't happen. When the TABD left town, police reported only three broken windows, some spray-painted graffiti and no serious injuries. Of the 52 protesters arrested, none face felony charges. As globalization protests go, what happened in Cincinnati was mild.

But unresolved questions remain about the organization of the protests and the response by police. Mayor Charlie Luken was quick to praise officers for showing restraint, while CHE faults them for intimidating peaceful citizens.

Both police and CHE spent months preparing for demonstrations against TABD. But why did the two sides not communicate more effectively with one another?

Do you shoot rubber bullets?

TABD is a group of about 130 chief executive officers of the largest European and U.S. corporations; the group meets every two years to discuss trade barriers. To CHE and other groups, TABD is one of the international organizations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), whose pro-business agenda threatens workers' rights and consumer safeguards.

Capt. Vincent Demasi, commander of District 1, says the police division studied how police handled anti-globalization protests in Los Angeles, Washington, D. C., Philadelphia and Seattle. In Seattle, hundreds of people were arrested and millions of dollars in property were damaged during 1999 protests against the WTO.

In the weeks before the TABD conference, Demasi says, he specifically told CHE the group should distance itself from anarchists and black-bloc protesters. CHE did not heed the warning, Demasi says.

But CHE chairman Steve Schumacher says Demasi is wrong: The group never received such a warning from police. Moreover, CHE spokesman Sister Alice Gerdeman repeatedly called for nonviolence.

"CHE is not responsible for the acts of individuals," Schumacher says. "We planned a series of activities and said all along that they would be peaceful. That's, in fact, what we did."

The protests against TABD Nov. 16-18 would have been less messy had CHE been more open, Demasi says.

"I think they had a better understanding of the potential," Demasi says. "I think they had a better understanding of the individuals that were coming than they gave us information."

CHE began meeting with police in early October to iron out details needed for rally and parade permits. Demasi says Mike Dolan, a representative of Global Trade Watch -- an arm of consumer-watchdog group Public Citizen -- warned the division of violence if the police did not take a proactive role.

Dolan could not be reached for comment. But Schumacher disputes Demasi's characterization of Dolan's remarks. Dolan was present because Global Trade Watch wanted to take part in the events and everyone wanted clear communication between the groups and the police, according to Schumacher.

"It was clear from the beginning that there would be civil disobedience," Schumacher says. "We wanted to forestall any overreaction by police or anybody else."

Some of CHE's questions about police tactics rattled Demasi.

"The CHE-2000 group said ... that they want to have a peaceful protest," Demasi says. "But at the same time, they are asking what I consider to be very disconcerting questions, such as, 'What type of gas do you use? Do you shoot rubber bullets? How much riot gear have you purchased? Will you use a taser on protesters?' "

Based on those questions, Demasi says he felt CHE was modeling the TABD protests after the WTO protests in Seattle.

An Oct. 29 article in The Cincinnati Enquirer heightened Demasi's concern, he says, because it reported CHE was training legal observers and street medics for the protests.

But what the police division never seemed to comprehend was CHE was only one component of protests that involved several diverse groups, each with different goals and tactics. Cincinnati Direct Action Collective (CDAC), for example, was responsible for street medics and legal observers, Schumacher says.

On Nov. 3 Gerdeman and Susan Knight, spokesmen for CHE, met with Luken to assure him of CHE's non-violent beliefs and their expectation that protests would generally be non-violent.

The meeting broached the subject of anarchists and black-bloc protesters, Gerdeman says. CHE had concerns but felt comfortable -- based on evidence of past demonstrations, including Seattle -- that no one was going to get hurt.

"(Luken) was much more concerned than we were," Gerdeman says.

But based on that meeting and other conversations he had with CHE, Demasi says he believes CHE feared the anarchists as much as he and Luken did.

Demasi suggests CHE had a duty to identify troublemakers to police.

"(CHE) feared them to such an extent that they refused to distance themselves or at least tell us who was causing the problems in the crowd as it were, or to point these folks out to us so that we could remove them from the protest areas, which would ensure a more peaceful protest," Demasi says.

But Schumacher says CHE's only responsibility was for CHE members -- not outsiders.

Preparation requires fair warning

Just as CHE and police disagree on events leading up to the protests, they disagree about what happened on the streets.

In the weeks before TABD, Cincinnati Police, including Demasi, refused to publicly discuss details but repeatedly said the division was prepared for any contingency.

Now, however, Demasi says police were not prepared for unplanned events.

During the three days of protests, four confrontations (see "Black and Blue," cover story, issue of Nov. 22-29) occurred between police and protesters. The confrontations happened, and then escalated, for two reasons, according to Demasi. First, the events were not planned. Second, the division was not prepared to handle them.

Three of the four confrontations and three of the "unplanned" events were not CHE events. Nonetheless, CHE and others contend police antagonized protesters.

"I think that there was an effort by Cincinnati Police to provoke reactions by protesters and that the searches and arrests made were designed and repeated to get a lashing-out reaction," Schumacher says. "The protesters refused to do that and should be commended for a peaceful and measured response. We did exactly the actions as we said we were going to do."

Although Demasi blanched at discussing non-lethal weapons with CHE, he says he emphasized to CHE it was "critically important" for the division to be aware of protesters' plans. That way, he says, the division could ensure their safety and constitutional rights while maintaining downtown traffic and business cycles.

"I also emphasized to them that our goal was not to make arrests," Demasi says. "Our goal was to allow protesters to come and be heard and then go about as long as they stay within the realm of peaceful, non-disruptive, non-violent protest."

Police and CHE, Demasi says, agreed to the following: a noon media kick-off Nov. 16 on Fountain Square; a parade Nov. 17 from Sawyer Point to Fountain Square; a candlelight vigil on the sidewalk in front of Union Terminal from 5 to 8 p.m. that day; and a noon rally Nov. 18 on Fountain Square. After the final Fountain Square rally, protesters would use the sidewalk to march to Kroger Corp. headquarters, 1014 Vine St., for a series of protests to begin at 4 p.m.

On other points, police and CHE disagree. For example, Schumacher says CHE requested the Nov. 17 parade end at Fountain Square instead of its original destination, the Omni Netherland Plaza Hotel, site of the TABD conference. CHE believed it would minimize tensions by not rallying in front of the hotel.

But Demasi says police changed the venue.

CHE did agree, at police request, to change the launching point for the parade from Washington Park to Sawyer Point.

Moving from crowd management to crowd control
The turning point in the protests came on the first day, Demasi says, because of an unplanned -- and non-CHE -- picket at the Kroger Building. Police had to scramble to form traffic control, protesters took up the entire sidewalk on the east side of Vine Street and people inside the building panicked as they saw hundreds of protesters circling, some banging on the lobby window, according to Demasi.

The theme of the protests became anti-police, Demasi says. Tension mounted, and so did police presence.

In preparation for the protests, police had formed two levels of force -- crowd management, or Level One, commanded by Demasi; and crowd control, or Level Two, commanded by Lt. Col. Richard Janke. Crowd management peaceably oversees large groups of people associated with any public event, Demasi says. Level One officers wore regular uniforms with soft hats and no protective gear. Level Two officers -- who, according to Demasi, were first brought in for the Kroger picket -- are prepared to interject themselves into situations of "open hostility." They wear protective gear, such as helmets, knee and arm pads, and intervene to maintain peace.

The Kroger picket ended without arrests. A second unplanned protest occurred at City Hall, continuing the anti-police message, Demasi says. CHE did not sponsor this event either; in fact, the CDAC's Web site had promoted "legal picket" at City Hall.

The evening of Nov. 16, during a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert, approximately 50 to 60 protesters arrived for another non-CHE event, Demasi says. Again, the protest took on an anti-police tone, he says. Level Two officers remained on stand-by.

By Nov. 17, the division was not underestimating the potential for violence, Demasi says -- even though no violence and no property damage had been reported the first day.

Demasi says marchers on Nov. 17 were permitted to rally at Sawyer Point with a negligible police presence. But as the march headed toward the heart of downtown, officers noticed several people with slingshots, spray paint and chalk, Demasi says. But no one was arrested during the parade and no weapons found. In fact, even while making 52 arrests and searching dozens of protesters, officers never found any weapons during the three days of demonstrations.

At Fountain Square, some protesters had signs on sticks, which is against a city ordinance, Demasi says. During the parade, a bank window was broken.

When the rally ended, the crowd took to the streets, Demasi says, demanding to be allowed to parade back to Sawyer Point. Schumacher stresses CHE was not affiliated with this action.

"Once again we provide that there were no provisions for this," Demasi says. " ... But if they (would have given) us a few minutes to secure some traffic posts, we (would have attempted) to march them back down to Sawyer Point."

As the crowd continued, barricades were broken and, Demasi says, more windows were broken. Officers were not prepared for the frequent direction changes and traffic disruptions caused by roving protesters.

The protesters split. Officers detained one group at Fourth and Elm streets, another stopped on Third Street. Officers had to use chemical irritant on the most southern block of Elm, Demasi says. After a few minutes, officers allowed protesters to disperse from Fourth and Elm and herded the remaining Third Street protesters to Sawyer Point to disperse in groups of four.

But officers forbade a group of about 20 protesters on Third Street from going to Sawyer Point. Officers on horseback forced the group, including a reporter, to march to a point where no exit was possible except the Suspension Bridge -- and Kentucky. When protesters said they wanted to go to Sawyer Point, officers threatened arrest. When the reporter tried to leave the group and return to the CityBeat office, he was threatened with arrest.

That evening, protesters held a picket on the sidewalk in front of Union Terminal. At one point, a group branched off and headed toward a tunnel under the parking lot. Demasi says Schumacher announced that CHE representatives should pull out if they did not want to get arrested.

Once in the tunnel, Demasi says, the police escorted the protesters back to the front of Union Terminal.

Because of property damage, demonstrators knocking over barricades and the discovery -- Demasi says -- of spray cans, ball bearings and Christmas ornaments filled with paint, a criminal investigation began. Before the legal rally on Fountain Square Nov. 18, officers erected a barricade around the square's perimeter and searched protesters who wanted to attend.

After the rally, a miscommunication between CHE and the police occurred. Demasi says CHE initially told him that, after the noon rally, the group wanted to go to the Kroger Building. But on the day of the rally, he says, he was told the group did not want to go to Kroger.

Schumacher says CHE's plan always included a sidewalk picket line to deliver papier-mâché pigs to Kroger, Procter & Gamble and the site of the former Milner Hotel, among other places. Indeed, that day police spokesman Lt. Ray Ruberg told CityBeat that CHE had permits to demonstrate at Fountain Square and at Kroger but did not have a permit to parade in between the two.

When the group reached the Kroger Building, officers sealed them into the block of Court Street bordered by Vine and Walnut streets.

"After having to negotiate repeatedly, the line ended at Chiquita," Schumacher says. "It should always be within a citizen's right to have a peaceful picket line on a sidewalk anywhere. Apparently it was difficult to do that on Saturday, but we were finally able to do it."

CHE events ended when the last pig was placed at the Chiquita Center. Demasi says the division assumed the events were over and began to go back to business as usual.

But two motorcycle patrolmen noticed a large gathering of people around 4 p.m. As the crowd began to move north on Sycamore toward the Hamilton County Justice Center, Demasi says, the group took up the entire sidewalk and some spilled into the street. They circled the Justice Center.

"This created another situation for us, that again, we were not prepared to handle," Demasi says. "The Justice Center was very concerned because of the similar incidents that occurred in Seattle. If the crowd would have sat and blocked the entrance of the Justice Center, that would have far reaching effects, not only for the city of Cincinnati but for the county. In addition, they were concerned that a crowd of that size on the outside of the Justice Center could create disturbances within, riots within, fights within as prisoners on the inside viewed this."

The group was stopped on Eighth Street between Broadway and Sycamore streets. Some tried to leave via an alley, but officers blocked them, Demasi says.

"We asked what they were trying to do, where they were trying to go," he says. They were unresponsive.

Demasi says the division used the same dispersement tactics all three days, allowing protesters to leave in groups of four. But on the afternoon of Nov. 17, after the rally; in the tunnel at Union Terminal that night; in front of the Kroger Building Nov. 18; and later that day at Eighth and Sycamore -- protesters repeatedly asked police where they should go and found officers were either unresponsive or gave conflicting instructions.

The Eighth and Sycamore confrontation ended with officers spraying chemical irritant and making an arrest, Demasi says. He also admits there was some over-spray. In the minutes afterward, Demasi says, officers had to twice approach reassembling groups to ask what they were doing and where were they going.

Had the police known about the police-brutality march -- a non-CHE event -- Demasi says the division would not have allowed the group to circle the Justice Center but would have allowed a segment to make a presence.

'A gross disregard for the citizens'
Both CHE and the police division maintain that, even when events turned somewhat ugly, they stayed their paths and kept their goals consistent. CHE continued with its marches and peaceful protests. The police division continued protecting the public.

But both sides have strong criticism of the other's behavior.

"I would indicate to you that I believe the CHE-2000 group purposely misled me," Demasi says. "I believe that the arrests could have been avoided had they done what they purported that they were doing, which was share the information that was available to us...

"I don't hold CHE responsible for individual's actions per se, but I think they aided and abetted and I think that their actions were irresponsible and showed a gross disregard for the citizens of this community and for the business people in the downtown."

CHE believes the city is somewhat hypocritical in its view of civil disobedience, Schumacher says.

"I think the city supports projects like the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which celebrates historical civil disobedience," he says. "But when that civil disobedience is contemporary and controversial, it seems to be difficult for the city to support. But the principles are similar.

"Civil disobedience in traditions and practice, for literally decades, has been and is peaceful. It is designed to dramatize the issue, and its aim is never to inflict harm on people. Every year we have a march and rally to remember Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights. Every year I'm there because I support that tradition and goals of civil rights. Similar goals are here, and people are trying to fight exploitation." ©

Comments? JohnZeh@aol.com

Tue Dec 12 21:51:42 2000 -- Sorry- my MAC was sick- here's n18 photos- really!

Mystery Punk Rocker #52

Thanks my MAC deciding it dislikes saving JPEGs,
I had some problems relaying my pictures. FINALLY, I have them collected on a web site, to which I intend to maintain with news, and information on a plethora of topics pertainent to bringing on the cessation of globalization's strangling our democracy. Here's the site: http:www.geocities.com/adadetla/fightglobalactlocal.html. Thanks for you patience!

Mon Dec 11 14:15:34 2000 -- Chinese Military and Petrol Corp Arming Sudanese Civil War?

12/11/2000
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Reports that 2 million have been murdered mainly Christian and Animist

Mon Dec 11 14:13:53 2000 -- Houston's Down Home Brand of Censorship at KTRU Radio

12/11/2000
Paul G. Hays who studied in Yellow Springs for Credit

Visit Savektru.org

Mon Dec 11 14:12:07 2000 -- Public Health Activists Busy in Atlanta Meetings, Protests and Pray-Ins.

12/11/2000
Paul G. Hays who studied in Yellow Springs

Public Health Care is in the process of a struggle in the Atlanta Georgia and georgia areas. becuase this 16 story Hospital serves so many counties, yet receives so little funding it is in a 20 Million dollar deficit.
Visit: www.aol.com/paulsoyboy1/myhomepage/index.html

Thu Dec 7 20:01:02 2000 -- n18 photos

Thu Dec 7 19:59:03 2000 -- n18 photos cont.

Thu Dec 7 19:57:45 2000 -- n18-guns raised on crowd

My camera not fully advancing film from prior shot missed image of cop actually having gun raised in firing position.