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free mumia abu-jamal!
The resolution below was passed by the International Executive Committee of the Fourth International in 1999
Mumia Abu-Jamal is the first class struggle prisoner to face execution in the United States of America since the Rosenbergs, more than 45 years ago. His conviction in the 1981 slaying of a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania police officer was the result of a frame-up in which the police, prosecutors, and the judge at his trial all played a role. As an award-winning Black journalist Mumia had gained the enmity of Philadelphia's ruling circles for his exposure of their racism, and for his consistent support to the struggles of the poor, the oppressed, and the disposessed. This is work he has pursued even while on Pennsylvania's death row for the last 17 years. It has earned Mumia the title, "Voice of the Voiceless."
Mumia's case focuses a clear spotlight on a number of troubling issues regarding the criminal justice system in the U.S.A. It is one of the few countries in the world which continues the barbaric tradition of the death penalty. Both the death penalty and the criminal justice system more broadly reflect the deep racism which permeates every aspect of life in that country. Four of every ten people on death row in the U.S. are Black, while they constitute only eleven percent of the general population. In the last 30 years the prison population of the United States has expanded six-fold, and it is still rising. The U.S. now has a greater percentage of its population behind bars than South Africa did at the height of Apartheid. And that prison population consists dispoportionately of Blacks and other people of color. In addition to Mumia there are scores of political prisoners in U.S. jails--people who have been imprisoned not primarily for any real or imagined criminal acts, but because they are committed to fighting for an end to oppression in the U.S.A., and to that country's role in the oppression of other peoples throughout the world.
Last October, ignoring overwhelming evidence of misconduct at his original trial and a large body of evidence which has since emerged to cast an even greater doubt about the legitimacy of its verdict, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court turned down Mumia's appeal for a new trial. This creates an emergency situation in his case. Without a favorable intervention by the federal courts (something which is far from certain) Mumia could be executed within a year. In truth, as Mumia, his legal team, and his supporters all state, his fate rests with our collective capacity to make the price of his political murder too high for the ruling powers to pay.
What happens to Mumia Abu-Jamal will have global repercussions. Already his case has generated substantial protests in the U.S. and around the world. Major mobilizations are scheduled to take place on April 24 in Philadelphia and San Francisco, as well as internationally. We call on all members and supporters of the Fourth International, all supporters of liberation throughout the world, and all those who simply believe in elementary justice and human rights, to do everything possible to participate in and support these and all other protests demanding:
Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal!
Mumia Must Receive a New Trial Now!
