USA Free Mumia Abu-Jamal 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 disprosupporters 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!
This resolution was recently addopted by the International Executive Committee of the Fourth International.
For more information on the case, see the special report in the February issue of International Viewpoint. * • International Concerned Family and Friends to Free Mumia Abu Jamal +1 215 476 8812 • The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu Jamal +1 415 821 0459 or Fax 415 821 0166.
International Viewpoint #311 May 1999 19