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A Conversation with Death Row Prisoner Stanley Tookie Williams
from his San Quentin Cell
Video Broadcast of Kidnapped Members of Christian Peacemaker
Teams that Helped Expose Abu Ghraib Prisoner Abuse Scandal
10 Years After the Arrest of U.S. Citizen Lori Berenson in
Peru, her Father Mark Berenson Reads a Statement She Released
from Prison
A Conversation with Death Row Prisoner Stanley Tookie
Williams from his San Quentin Cell
In a half-hour interview, death row prisoner Stanley Tookie
Williams speaks from his cell in San Quentin about his case,
his life and his redemption. He helped start the Crips street
gang - his greatest regret - but behind bars he has become
a leading advocate for the end of gang violence. He has written
nine books and has been nominated several times for the Nobel
Peace Prize. He is scheduled to die on Dec. 13 unless Governor
Schwarzenegger grants him clemency. Actions are planned across
the world today in what has been described as International
Save Tookie Day. [includes rush
transcript]
We look at the case of death row prisoner Stanley Tookie
Williams. In just under two weeks, on December 13, the 51-year-old
Williams is scheduled to be executed by the state of California.
Williams is a convicted murderer and the co-founder of one
of the country's most notorious street gangs, the Crips. But
since his incarceration he has also become a Nobel Peace Prize
nominated children's author and a vocal advocate against gang
violence.
Stanley Tookie Williams' life now largely rests in the hands
of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who has the power
to commute the death sentence. On December 8th the governor
will meet with Williams" defense team to hear its case
for executive clemency. An international campaign to save
his life has also been growing. Actions are planned across
the world today in what has been described as International
Save Tookie Day. In Los Angeles hip hop star Snoop Dogg and
actor Jamie Foxx will join others in reading excerpts from
Williams' books. Foxx starred in a film about Tookie's life
titled Redemption. To date over 32,000 people have signed
online petitions calling for Schwarzenegger to commute the
death sentence.
The story of Tookie Williams begins in the streets of Los
Angeles in the early 1970s. At the age of 17 he started the
Crips street gang with his friend Raymond Washington. The
gang would expand across the country and even overseas. In
1979 Williams was arrested in connection with four murders.
He was convicted of shooting dead a 7-Eleven clerk named
Albert Owens and of robbing and killing a Taiwanese motel
owner along with his wife and daughter. He was sentenced in
1981 to four death sentences.
Tookie Williams has always maintained his innocence and claims
he received an unfair trial, in part, because he was convicted
by an all-white jury. In 1993, Williams life took a dramatic
turn when he agreed to record a videotaped message from death
row supporting a truce between the Crips and the Bloods. The
videotape was shown during a peace summit meeting attended
by over 400 gang members.
- Stanley Tookie Williams, speaking in 1993.
After Tookie Williams addressed the Hands Across Watts gang
peace summit in 1993, he became more involved in helping to
keep young people out of gangs. With the help of his main
advocate, Barbara Becnel, Williams soon began writing children"s
books and speaking with young people about the gang life.
He also helped orchestrate truces between gangs.
While his court appeals have largely been exhausted, judges
have publicly admitted there is a strong case for clemency.
In 2002, a three-judge panel on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals upheld his death sentence but in a rare move urged
then-Governor Gray Davis to consider commuting the death sentence.
The judges praised Tookie Williams for his "laudable
efforts opposing gang violence" and his "good works
and accomplishments since incarceration."
On Tuesday I had a chance to interview Stanley Tookie Williams
from death row in San Quentin. He called us collect on a phone
monitored by prison officials.
- Stanley Tookie Williams, speaking from San Quentin death
row.
More information: SaveTookie.org
Video Broadcast of Kidnapped Members of Christian
Peacemaker Teams that Helped Expose Abu Ghraib Prisoner Abuse
Scandal
The Christian Peacemaker Teams has confirmed that four peace
activists working with the group were kidnapped in Baghdad
on Saturday. A videotape showing the four men was broadcast
on al Jazeera. CPT is a non-missionary organization that has
been documenting the abuse of Iraqi detainees. We speak with
Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh about CPT's
work in helping expose the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal and we
go to Baghdad to speak with a member of the organization.
[includes rush
transcript]
The Christian Peacemaker Teams has confirmed that four peace
activists working with the humanitarian group were kidnapped
in Baghdad on Saturday. The aid workers have been identified
as 54-year-old Tom Fox of Clearbrook Virginia, 41-year-old
James Loney of Toronto, 32-year-old Harmeet Singh Sooden of
Canada and 74-year-old Norman Kember of Britain.
On Tuesday the Arab television network al Jazeera broadcast
a videotape of the four men sitting cross-legged against a
wall with their hands behind their backs. The video bears
the insignia of a group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness
Brigade. In the tape, the men identified themselves on camera.
- Videotape of kidnapped peace activists in Iraq.
In a statement that accompanied the video, the four men were
accused of being undercover spies working as Christian peace
activists.
The Christian Peacemaker Teams said in a statement "We
are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the
result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. government due
to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation
and oppression of its people."
The Christian Peacemaker Teams is a non-missionary organization
that has been documenting the abuse of Iraqi detainees and
working with the families of prisoners. They were the first
people to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at
the hands of U.S. forces, long before the media revealed what
was happening at Abu Ghraib. In fact, investigative reporter
Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker who helped expose the Abu
Ghraib scandal in 2004 cited the organization in his articles.
We reached Seymour Hersh last night and asked him about the
Christian Peacemaker Teams.
- Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist
for the New Yorker.
- Read Hersh's article "Chain
of Command" where he cites CPT.
We go to Baghdad to speak with a member of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams.
10 Years After the Arrest of U.S. Citizen Lori Berenson
in Peru, her Father Mark Berenson Reads a Statement She Released
from Prison
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the arrest of U.S. citizen
Lori Berenson in Peru. She was convicted in 1995 in Peru by
hooded military judges of collaborating with the rebel group
MRTA. After 10 years in prison, her father, Mark Berenson,
reads a statement Lori released from her cell. She is scheduled
to be released in 2015. [includes rush
transcript]
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the arrest of U.S. citizen
Lori Berenson in Peru.
On November 30th, 1995, she was arrested on a public bus
in downtown Lima and accused of collaborating with the rebel
group MRTA.
With a gun held to her head, a hooded military tribunal sentenced
the longtime activist to life in prison for "treason
against the fatherland." Four-and-a half years later,
due to international pressure, her sentence was vacated and
she was retried by a civilian court which reduced her sentence
to 20 years. Lori Berenson has consistently maintained her
innocence.
In 2002, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights declared
that neither of her trials complied with international standards
and violated her rights to due process.
Because Perú refused to comply with the Commission's
recommendations, the Commission brought Lori Berenson's case
before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In 2004,
the court - which was seen as one of her last avenues of appeal
- upheld her imprisonment. A Peruvian judge on the court boasted
how he had convinced his fellow justices to overturn the commission's
ruling
On the 10th anniversary of her arrest, Lori Berenson released
a statement from prison. Her father, Mark Berenson, joined
us in the studio yesterday to read the words of his jailed
daughter Lori.
Lori Berenson has been jailed in Peru for 10 years. She has
10 to go. She is scheduled for release in 2015.
More information: FreeLori.org
Democracy Now!'s exclusive interview with Lori Berenson:
Part
1 || Part
2 || Part
3
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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