[progchat_action] Amnesty International Calls for Probe of

Published on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 by Reuters Amnesty
International Calls for Probe of Miami Protest Policing

MIAMI - Rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday called for
a full investigation into allegations police in Miami used excessive
force during protests against a regional free trade meeting last
week.

Amnesty urged a fully independent investigation to look, among other
things, into reports that some of the 250 or so people detained
were abused and ill-treated in jail.

"The level of force used by police does not appear to have been at
all justified," the group said in a statement.

The center of the subtropical U.S. city was closed down by squads
of riot police during the Nov. 17-21 Free Trade Area of the Americas
meeting, at which hemispheric trade ministers negotiated but failed
to set up what would be the world's largest free trade zone.

Armored vehicles patrolled the streets, police helicopters hovered
overhead and, during street clashes on Nov. 20, police fired volleys
of rubber bullets and pepper spray at protesters in the city center.

A few dozen of the estimated 15,000 demonstrators threw rocks or a
white paint-like liquid at police.

Activists, who say the FTAA and other trade accords will eradicate
jobs, destroy the environment and erode human rights, are threatening
to sue over civil rights abuses and are calling for the head of
Miami police chief John Timoney.

They say at least 10 detainees were beaten in jail and they had
received four reports of sexual assault while in custody.

"Timoney and (Miami Mayor Manny) Diaz suspended the constitution
to achieve their version of 'homeland defense,'" said Brenna Bell,
a lawyer with a group called Miami Activist Defense.

She was referring to a comment by Diaz that the massive Miami police
operation to avoid a repeat of the riots that marred a 1999 World
Trade Organization meeting was a model for post-Sept. 11, 2001,
U.S. defense against domestic attack.

John Sweeney, president of the U.S. labor federation AFL-CIO, which
represents around 13 million trade union members, said on Wednesday
the organization was deeply disturbed by the crushing of dissent
in Miami.

"It is clear that the protesters' basic right to have their voices
heard was severely restricted, and that all Americans' civil liberties
took a one-two punch in Miami," he said.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd

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