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The past two months have seen a flurry of activity as a number of groups have been actively working to respond to the shocking suppression of political dissent and the unjustified use of force at the November Free Trade Area of the Americas Ministerial in Miami. Several organizations have announced lawsuits, calls for justice, and demands for investigations. The Save Our Civil Liberties Campaign (www.saveourcivilliberties.org) has formed to help coordinate efforts among groups to raise public awareness about what happened in Miami and to hold accountable the individuals and organizations who were responsible for those violations. The Campaign is calling for full-scale independent investigations into police misconduct at the Ministerial. The Miami Civil Investigative Panel (CIP) convened a public hearing on January 15 on police abuses at the Ministerial. Activists expressed concern that the Panel lacked the power and integrity to hold police accountable for wrongdoing. In particular, activists demanded the removal of CIP member Peter Roulhac, who publically awarded Chief Timoney "for the amazingly professional work [he] did during the week of the Americas Business Forum and the [FTAA] ministerial." The following day Roulhac resigned from the CIP. According to the Miami Activist Defense (MAD) (www.stopftaa.org/legal), a legal support group for activists arrested at the FTAA protests, although a number of cases have been dropped at least 100 remain. The first trial began on Tuesday, January 20th. The case involved a legal observer who was arrested at the jail solidarity rally on November 21, and was later dropped when the arresting officer failed to show in court. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), the AFL-CIO, and the ACLU have indicated that they will be filing civil suits related to the violations and have been collecting evidence for those suits. Video activists from the FTAA Independent Media Center (IMC) (www.ftaaimc.org) have also been busy working to make the story of Miami known. In addition to compiling video evidence to be used at court cases, the FTAA IMC video working group is editing a documentary about what happened in Miami. That documentary will premiere in Pittsburgh on Saturday, February 21. For news and updates on post-Miami organizing, visit www.saveourcivilliberties.org and www.ftaaimc.org. - David Meieran |