Category: Uncategorized

By Nick Braune

July 8, Brownsville Herald: “A federal grand jury has returned a two-part indictment against Rama Carty Tuesday, charging him with assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating or interfering with Lt. Eric Saldivar and detention officer Hector Buentello, Jr. in the performance of their official duties, the court record shows.” The article says Carty may face 16 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for his alleged violence last month at the Port Isabel Detention Center in southern Texas.

The next day, in response to the Herald article, I proudly joined a quickly-called morning picket line in McAllen outside the Federal Building, where Homeland Security has its offices; on the sidewalk about 14 of us chanted for justice and demanded that Carty be freed and that the frame-up charges be dropped.

The background is fairly simple. Rama Carty, 39, had been held in the Port Isabel Detention Center for about a year. After reading coverage of an Amnesty International report in the spring about the lack of due process in immigration detention centers, the poor conditions, and the disorganization of the system, Carty was invigorated and tried to get Amnesty to visit and take testimony at PIDC. He soon became somewhat of a spokesperson among the detainees and a key figure in a hunger strike trying to draw attention to the problems involved.

Not shy, he was soon in touch with some Rio Grande Valley activists around the Southwest Workers Unicn (SWU) who helped publicize problems at PIDC, and he was interviewed on Democracy Now and by Texas Monthly.

Amnesty International leader Sarnata Reynolds announced that she was going to personally visit Texas to speak to detainees at PIDC, making it clear that she believed a hunger strike had taken place – PDIC kept denying that it happened. Then on June 3, Amnesty visited, and Reynolds sent out a letter to supporters that very evening that she had met inmates, including Carty, and that she believes there are significant problems at PDIC, referencing Amnesty’s spring report.

(Amnesty reports are carefully prepared, taking the time to provide documentation, and they have considerable public weight because they are prepared well. Although over the years I have often wished Amnesty would take up different issues than it does, I do realize how limited their resources and personnel are and the large numbers of people internationally vying for Amnesty’s immediate attention on particular issues. Incidentally, I have been particularly pleased this decade with their 2005 report criticizing the egregious U.S. policy of imprisoning people for “life with no parole” for crimes they committed as children and was very pleased over this last month with their report strongly criticizing Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza last winter.)

The very day after Carty was interviewed, awfully early in the morning, Carty was roused from his sleep to be transferred to a Louisiana center, and from there to be shipped back to Haiti. It is obvious that the PDIC wanted to get rid of this nuisance who had been making waves for several months.

Apparently, according to one report I heard about, two of the guards who were assigned to process him became angry when he “went limp” in standard civil disobedience style, and they proceeded to rough Carty up as they moved him out. There was a report by inmates that there was blood on the floor. The SWU local members heard of the event from detainees who called them, and they began rousing their members and friends to make phone calls protesting this.

Amnesty, which was scheduled to speak to more inmates that day — it was a two-day visit – protested to the PDIC officials and demanded to talk to the guards who took Carty away that morning. The PDIC authorities were not cooperative and insisted that nothing was amiss, that the transfer of Carty had been planned for over a week and was not in response to their visit.

After the Brownsville Herald this week said that Carty was being charged with assault, resisting, etc., the Port Isabel prisoners and Rama’s supporters outside were of course shocked and angry. One prisoner communicated to the network outside. His comments: “I spent most of my days with Rama Carty in the library; not once had he ever gotten into a physical or verbal fight with anyone; his demeanor [was] refreshing. I can clearly say that the charges are trumped up.” There were also prisoners who witnessed the officers taking him out, and they verify Carty’s version of the story, although they were not allowed to get their version into the grand jury room.

One thing that may be behind the assault charges is that DHS had hoped to ship the hot potato Carty off to Haiti after they got him to Louisiana. But Haiti officials said they did not want him; he knows no one there and he is actually not from Haiti. True, his parents are Haitian, but he was born in the Congo and lived in Africa only his first year, moving to spend the rest of his life in the States.

Because Carty had been held in detention all these recent months supposedly to process him out of the country, when DHS found out he could not be deported to Haiti, they should have released him. Not having papers is a civil not a criminal offence, after all. Unable to send him to Haiti, however, DHS is apparently now arranging to send Carty to prison.

By Greg Moses

The office of Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Lufkin) has confirmed that the Congressman drove four hours Friday evening to visit with Albanian asylum seeker Rrustem Neza who is being held by immigration authorities at a federal detention facility in Jena, Louisiana.

Meanwhile, Rrustem Neza has told his brother Xhemal via telephone that he has been released from “the hole” or solitary confinement and returned to the general population at the LaSalle Detention Facility in LaSalle Parish.

Rrustem had previously reported that he was kept in “the hole” from Aug. 5 until Thursday evening, Aug. 20. Xhemal’s third attempt to visit his brother at LaSalle was successful on Thursday evening after Rep. Gohmert personally intervened.

Rep. Gohmert called Xhemal at 2:15 Thursday afternoon to tell him that a visit would be possible that same evening. Xhemal and another brother drove four and a half hours from their Lufkin home to Jena to meet with their brother for an hour and ten minutes.

Xhemal returned from the visit deeply upset over Rrustem’s apparent condition and drove from Lufkin to Dallas Friday morning to swear an affidavit of his impressions. He also called Rep. Gohmert’s office Friday morning to express concern over Rrustem’s condition.

On Friday afternoon, Rep. Gohmert and an aide drove from Lufkin to Jena to visit with Rrustem, arriving at about 7p.m. according to the Congressman’s staff.

The tone of Xhemal’s voice changed considerably in telephone conversations with the Texas Civil Rights Review after hearing about Rep. Gohmert’s personal visit to his brother.

“Mr. Gohmert has saved my brother’s life,” said a relieved Xhemal Neza speaking by cell phone from the family’s restaurant, Joe’s Italian Grill in Lufkin.

Rrustem and Xhemal Neza applied for asylum after they fled from Albania in the wake of a series of political assassinations. Xhemal’s application was approved, but Rrustem’s was denied.

The Neza family has drawn support from their East Texas neighbors who call “a thousand times a day” says Xhemal.

In addition to the support of neighbors and Rep. Gohmert, the Neza family has also drawn editorial support from the Lufkin Daily News which editorialized once again in favor of asylum.

“Keep screaming, Louie,” said the Wednesday editorial. “We believe Neza deserves to continue living and working in East Texas, and we hope ICE will hold off until the Department of Justice and/or 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will take the time to hear his appeal.”

“All we ask is to look at the facts,” said Xhemal before returning to work on Saturday. “My brother is a good man with a lovely wife and two lovely boys.”

By Nick Braune

Although there has been a flood of articles commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School tragedy, lamenting the violence of youth, maybe a little different perspective might be permissible too.

I was living in South Dakota at the time, where I was a minor presence in the legislature as a lobbyist on peace and justice issues. I watched the legislature closely for three years, and I watched them solemnly “upping” (toughening) the sentences for this and that offense, always “sending a message” that evil actions would not be tolerated. The Clinton years were very punitive: they killed a half million Iraqis through sanctions and made our prisons swell like sores.

It was a particularly harsh decade for children. Hillary and Bill, who believed it takes a village to raise children, were advocating school uniforms early in the 1990s but basically settled for prison uniforms. The “trying youth as adults” fad was intense throughout the decade. I wrote a one-act play — it was performed in a few places — about a kid in South Dakota who received a “life in prison with no parole” sentence for a crime he did as a 14-year-old.

It’s a true story. The boy, Paul Jensen, trying to impress an adventuresome 18-year-old who was sleeping with Paul’s mother, became totally confused about what it meant to be grown-up, shot a cab driver on orders from the 18-year-old father figure, and is in prison today, where, I suppose, he will stay forever. The prosecutors and the press called him a “predator,” and the trial was a slam dunk. He did wrong, and everyone wanted to “send a message” to other youth not to do wrong.

There are only five countries in the world which give the sentence “life in prison with no parole” to children. According to a Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International joint report in 2005, Barbados allows that sentence, but the report did not state how many were in prison there with the sentence. Tanzania had one person in prison under that sentence. South Africa had four. Israel had seven, and the United States had 2,200 people in prison for life with no parole who had committed the crime before turning 18. (This sentence, which Alexander Cockburn calls the “living death” sentence, incidentally violates the international conventions on the rights of children, which the U.S. has refused to sign.)

Also in those Clinton years we saw a cancerous growth of “boot camps” being set up around the country, “tough love” centers, where the children were humiliated, screamed at, and tortured to make them better. When I lived in South Dakota, a 14-year-old girl, Gina Score, who had shoplifted some petty items, was trapped in a boot camp (to modify her behaior) and was killed. An interesting book on boot camps, although it only scratches the surface, is American Gulag: Secret P.O.W. Camps for Teens, by Alexia Parks.

In my opinion, Columbine is the symbol not of youth violence but rather of a very cruel decade toward children: Paul Jensen in prison for life without parole, shoplifter Gina Score in a grave, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children dead because of sanctions, the children burned to death by the Clintons in Waco, children sentenced to execution, children dead in Columbine. If any readers would like to examine two interesting sociology books studying our negative and exaggerated attitudes toward youth in the 1990s, I suggest Mike Males’ wonderful studies, Framing Youth and Scapegoat Generation — I love those book titles. (Available from Common Courage Press.)

* * * * * * * * *

The following related piece, “The Criminal Justice System and Kids: One Dad’s Story,” appeared in my column in the Mid-Valley Town Crier, April 12, 2009 — N.B.

While chit-chatting with everyone this week about April being the tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, I learned that Randy Jarvis (a Sociology and Criminal Justice faculty member at South Texas College) has a perspective much like mine — but with a special personal side. I asked for an interview.

Braune: As you know, I am miffed that America began locking up more and more youth starting in the 1990s, and I think the fad about “trying youth as adults” has been disastrous. The media began labeling children as “dangerous,” as “predators,” as “lacking in consciences,” and then after Columbine, we began turning high schools into little jails. Youth could not be trusted. If I understand correctly, your son was hit by a false accusation right after Columbine. Please, fill us in.

Jarvis: Two days after the Columbine incident, my son (at Burlington High School in Iowa) had some lead shot in his book bag. I had purchased a smelting pot for making fishing weights, and he was transporting the shot to his grandmother’s house where the smelter was located. Another student in his class saw the lead shot and asked what it was, and my son told him. The other student made a comment to my son that this could be used to make a bomb and my son replied “I guess you could.” The student immediately told a teacher about “bomb-making materials” in the book bag.

The school police officer was immediately notified [there is more about school police later] and my son was arrested, charged as an adult, and taken to jail.

Braune: The press and prosecutors went bananas?

Jarvis: Oh yes, the news media, hyped by Columbine, plastered his school picture in the newspaper and on all four local channels and the next morning were present at my son’s arraignment. I had money ready to bail him out. But this was not to happen — the local prosecutor grandstanded, claiming my son was a danger to society and should be held without bond. The judge, reacting to the cameras, agreed and increased the bond to one million dollars.

I retained a good attorney who immediately asked for a psychological evaluation to determine if my son was a danger, giving us some time for the hype to calm down, so he was sent to a state mental institution for evaluation. After a month, the psychiatrist determined that my son was no danger to anyone and should be returned to the judicial system.

Because we got a different judge from a month earlier, I thought the nightmare was over. But this was not the case. In the court hearing, the school police officer showed up with a document, electronically signed by the vice-principal, showing that my son had been expelled from school. According to this document, a copy had been sent to his mother, the guidance counselor, the principal, the police officer, and me. But the document was dated the same day as our court appearance.

Then the chief jailer/police officer was placed on the stand, who even claimed that my son was convicted of drug crimes in Henderson County, Illinois, clear evidence that my son was a danger to the community. Our attorney asked for a recess until that afternoon to substantiate the claims. I rushed to Henderson County Court House and obtained an affidavit showing my son had never had any criminal history in the County. Our attorney went to the school and ascertained that the school did not even know about the expulsion notice and in fact the only copy that existed was the one presented in court.

Braune: Had the school police officer lied?

Jarvis: Apparently, it was discovered that he produced the document on the Vice-Principal’s computer early that morning without their knowledge. After we proved this, the judge admonished the two officers and the Assistant District Attorney and sent my son to the Juvenile Court where he belonged in the first place, releasing him to his mother and me. Soon my son was acquitted of the charges, but his reputation was damaged — with his name plastered all over the news beca
us
e he had been charged as an adult.

Braune: After the dust settled, did you receive an apology from the police, the school, the prosecutors, press, etc?

Jarvis: No one apologized for anything. After civil litigation the school finally privately apologized, but only because they wanted the litigation to end and refused to apologize publically.

Braune: I think your kid was lucky to have you in his corner.

Jarvis: He was very fortunate that I could get the ten thousand dollars needed for the attorney’s fee. Otherwise, my son would probably have received a court appointed attorney and probably would have been convicted as an adult, sentenced to ten to twenty years.

The international press is carrying the story of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., but they usually fail to give his full title: Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

According to the AFP report: “Gates was seen by a passing woman to be attempting entry to the front door of his house — which was damaged — along with another black man, according to the police report from July 16.”

When police questioned Gates at his own home, he reportedly told them “this is what happens to black men in America.” He was arrested at his own home for allegedly being “loud and tumultuous” in his denunciations.

Has a person no right to protest?

The story of Gates’ arrest follows news about one imprisoned immigrant in South Texas who was indicted after being roughed up by authorities (see Nick Braune’s story below.)

We draw a comparison between what was done to Gates and Rama Carty. In both cases free expression was countered by official misuse of power. These two cases become the latest symptoms of a systemic disease.

As we watch for developments in both cases we also keep our watchwords close at hand. Today we take our watchwords from “Living Morally: A Psychology of Moral Character,” by Laurence Thomas.

“the desire not to be wronged by others is the most minimal attitude of positive regard that a self-respecting individual can have toward herself or himself.”

These two cases of official retaliation against Gates and Carty are obstructions to the right to be a self-respecting individual in America today. –gm

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Here is an excerpt from Gates’ attorney as posted at The Root:

When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Professor Gates then asked the police officer if he would give him his name and his badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request,” and then placed Professor Gates under arrest. He was handcuffed on his own front porch.

See Also: Statement from Gates’ Attorney and link to police report at The Root.

Editor’s Note: Some good friends of the Texas Civil Rights Review have turned their focus to USA ratification of the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child (CRC). The following media advisory has been circulated to traditional press reps, but the group would also like to encourage coverage in the blogosphere.–gm

Why hasn’t the US ratified UN Convention for the Rights of the Child (CRC)?

Media Advisory

AUSTIN TX–November 20 marks the 20th anniversary of the most universally ratified of all UN human rights treaties with 193 members. Two UN member nations have abstained from ratification to date: the United States and the failed state of Somalia. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice has recently broached the subject of U.S. ratification, and Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) has introduced H.R. 416 which presses several human-rights issues, among them Senate ratification of Rights of the Child. It is time to correct this failure.

Rights of the Child USA is a coalition of organizations representing the interests of religious, education, health care, humanitarian, labor, legal, and social service communities nationwide with a focus on this single goal. Their activities will be reported at www.rightsofthechild.com.

But the story we highlight today is the reality behind our national failure to join the world community of good will in this action. It is this story that we ask you, the press, to highlight over the coming weeks. It encompasses complex issues, each deserving critical attention to help the American people understand their responsibility to act.

A few political organizations have succeeded in portraying the CRC as a threat to our families and our national sovereignty. Two decades of a Republican Congress, inspired by the largesse of such organizations as the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for America, Eagle Forum, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and the National Center for Home Education, have effectively prevented the U.S. from joining — indeed, leading — the rest of the world in this essential initiative.

CRC simply provides guidelines to establish the basic respect a child deserves from all adults, whether relatives, teachers, or strangers. It has no power to require parents to alter their own beliefs; rather it seeks to create a climate in which any child can achieve his/her potential through a loving society. Because the treaty has been operational in most nations since 1990, a wealth of information is available to show its effect on participants (see links below).

We invite you, the Fourth Estate, to make November 2009 a special month for the child. Below are some questions we ask you to explore, with research links. We thank you for honoring your essential role by addressing the understandable fears of some Americans, thus lighting our path toward this important decision and helping us to reimagine our country’s priorities about childhood.

Questions:

What is the history and background of the Convention of the Rights of the Child?

FAQ from UN

AP article with comprehensive background info

UNICEF on CRC

How has CRC impacted countries that have adopted it?

Australia: A nation tending toward conservative leadership shows itself quite comfortable with the positive results from and lack of coercion exacted by CRC.

Child Rights Club in Zambia [pdf format]

And even in Hanoi!

How do children fare in the U.S.?

American Humane Assn: Annotated statistical summary of child life in America (2006).

Deportation by the U.S. government of some 90,000 unaccompanied Mexican children, dumped on border.

Pennsylvania judges charged with accepting $2.8 in kickbacks to send youths to private detention centers. AP October 30, 2009

Texas: 1201 deaths from child abuse 2001-07, other stats

How are our children doing compared with those of other countries?

Among the 30 member countries of the U.N. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we’ve been rated 23rd in material well being, 24th in health and safety, and 25th in education [pdf format].

U.S. ranks number one for teen-age births?[pdf format]

How do the family values of anti-ROC organizations resonate with public policy?

Texas Freedom Network

For further research

US govt: America’s Children at a Glance

U. WS. DHHS Administration for Children and Families

Child Welfare Information Gateway

Children’s Defense Fund

The Campaign for U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Amnesty International on CRC

CONTACT: Rights of the Child USA, Jay Johnson Castro, 830 734 8636, jay at villadelrio dot com