U.S. HANDS OFF CUBA!

August 12, 2006

Join the campaign to say, "Hands Off Cuba!"

U.S. HANDS OFF CUBA!

Please join our campaign to demand U.S. Hands Off Cuba, by signing on to the online message to the Bush Administration on the current declarations make by President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in response to recent developments in Cuba and and sending emails to President Bush, your senators, your congressperson, key congressional leaders and the media telling them you want the U.S. to end its warmongering campaign against Cuba NOW! A copy of the letter and the list of signers will be forwarded to the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con Los Pueblos in Cuba.

Complete the following easy steps:

* Step 1: Go to http://www.iacenter.org/cubacampaign.shtml and enter your contact/signature information
* Step 2: Edit/tailor our sample letter to send
* Step 3: Preview the mail that will be sent and approve the recipients, and
* Step 4: Send the message!

Sample Text

MESSAGE TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ON THE CURRENT DECLARATIONS MADE BY PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH AND SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZA RICE IN RESPONSE TO RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN CUBA

* U.S. HANDS OFF OF CUBA
* RESPECT CUBA'S SOVEREIGNTY
* NO PRETEXT FOR U.S. INTERVENTION
* FREE THE CUBAN 5

When the President of Cuba Fidel Castro had to undergo surgery recently, the U.S. government immediately issued ominous declarations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House Spokesperson Thomas Snow began to talk about “transition” and the need for “democracy” and not another “dictator” in Cuba, all code words meant to lay the basis for a dangerous intervention.

In Florida, the beat of intervention increased as millions of dollars robbed from badly needed social services were instead pumped into T.V. and Radio Marti in order to incite chaos in Cuba. These attempts to provoke instability failed just as they have failed for almost 50 years.

Around the world, thousands of voices including from Nobel Peace Prize winners, leaders of governments, authors, union leaders and others from around the world signed on to a call against U.S. intervention, recognizing the danger for Cuba. (Visit www.porcuba.org to sign on to this international letter.

The voices of solidarity and against intervention must be strong from the U.S.

We, the undersigned who represent community and student organizations, trade unionists, civil rights and peace activists, seniors and every day people in the United States, want the people of Cuba and its leadership to know that President Bush does not speak for us.

We therefore declare the following:

• We call on the Bush administration to end the hostilities against Cuba including the end of the blockade.
• We demand that Washington respect the right of the Cuban people to determine their own destiny, free of any form of intervention.
• We proclaim our support for the Cuban Five political prisoners, who continue to remain unjustly locked up in U.S. prisons for opposing terrorism and defending their people. These brave Cubans have not been allowed to see their families or exercise the most elementary of democratic rights.
• We demand the immediate release of the Cuban Five and remind the powers that be that justice delayed is justice denied.
• We also wish to send our sincere and deepest wishes to President Fidel Castro for good health and strength and for a speedy recovery.
• We want to express our warmest birthday greeting to President Fidel on the occasion of his 80th Birthday, August 13th.

OUR HEART FELT WISHES FOR THE HEALTH AND STRENGTH OF PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO.

Sincerely,
(Your signature will be appended here based on the contact information you enter )

Sign this statement online and send it to Pres. Bush, members of Congress, and the media.

STOP the U.S./Israeli War Against Lebanon and Palestine

Organizers Meeting

STOP the U.S./Israeli War Against Lebanon and Palestine

Tuesday,
August 1
7:00 pm
IAC
in our new office at
55 West 17th St, 5th Floor
(between 5th & 6th Ave)

As the U.S./Israeli bombs and destruction continues and the crisis continues to grow for Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq we need to come together to plan a major united action this Saturday - August 5. This past Sunday saw yet another brutal war crime, as U.S.-made bombs, dropped by the IDF, killed 54 refugees in Qana, Lebanon, including 37 children.

A World response is developing. There will be emergency demonstrations across the U.S. and around the world on Saturday, August 5th. In NYC we will gather at TIMES SQUARE at 4pm, followed by a march to the offices of G.E., a leading military contractor.

So on TUESDAY at 7:pm please attend an Organizers Meeting to be part of the plans. We need the broadest possible unity.

The Meeting will be at the NEW IAC Office - 55 West 17th St, 5th Floor (between 5th & 6th Ave)

For more information, call 212.633.6646

Legal Update and Latest Brief on Mumia from Attorney Robert Bryan

Legal Update and Latest Brief on Mumia from Attorney Robert Bryan

Dear Friends:

On July 20, 2006 we filed the Brief of Appellee and Cross Appellant, Mumia Abu-Jamal, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia. (Abu-Jamal v. Horn, U.S. Ct. of Appeals Nos. 01-9014, 02-9001.) This brief is of great significance concerning my client's right to a fair trial, due process of law, not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and equal protection of the law, guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The issues the court is hearing are:

Claim 14 Whether Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied the right to due process of law and a fair trial because of the prosecutor's “appeal-after-appeal” argument which encouraged the jury to disregard the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt, and err on the side of guilt.

Claim 16 Whether the prosecution's exclusion of African Americans from sitting on the jury violated Mr. Abu-Jamal's rights to due process and equal protection of the law , and contravened Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986).

Claim 25 Whether the verdict form and jury instructions that resulted in the death penalty deprived Mr. Abu-Jamal of the right to due process of law, equal protection of the law, and not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and violated Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. 367 (1988), since the judge precluded the jurors from considering any mitigating evidence unless they all agreed on the existence of a particular circumstance.

Claim 29 Whether Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied due process and equal protection of the law during post-conviction hearings as the result of the bias and racism of Judge Albert F. Sabo which included the comment that he was “going to help'em fry the nigger."

The National Lawyers Guild, and, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., will be filing separate amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in the near future. This should strengthen our quest to see justice done.

It is a is a remarkable accomplishment that the court is hearing issues that go to the very essence of Mr. Abu-Jamal's right to a fair trial. This is the first time that any court has made a ruling that could lead to a new trial and freedom. Nevertheless, he remains on Pennsylvania's death row and in great danger.

Mr. Abu-Jamal, the "voice of the voiceless," is a powerful symbol in the international campaign against the death penalty and for human rights. The goal of Professor Judith L. Ritter, associate counsel, and I is to see that the many wrongs which have occurred in this case are righted and that this brave man is freed.

Your support and concern is appreciated

With best wishes,

Robert R. Bryan

PS To download the brief, which is 124 pages, go to www.iacenter.org or www.millions4mumia.org