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128 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
Downloaded from AMNET 312-436-3062 Chicago's Civil Liberties BBS
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>>> Civil Liberties Under Threat <<<
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by
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Brian Glick
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Part One
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INTRODUCTION
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Activists across the country report increasing government harassment
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and disruption of their work:
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-In the Southwest, paid informers infiltrate the church services, Bible
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classes and support networks of clergy and lay workers giving
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sanctuary to refugees from El Salvador and Guatamala.
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-In Alabama, elderly Black people attempting for the first time
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to exercise their right to vote are interrogated by FBI agents and
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hauled before federal grand juries hundreds of miles from their
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homes.
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-In New England, a former CIA case officer cites examples from
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his own past work to warn college students of efforts by
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undercover operatives to misdirect and discredit protests against
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South African and US racism.
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-In the San Francisco Bay Area, activists planning anti-nuclear
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civil disobedience learn that their meetings have been infiltrated by
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the US Navy.
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-In Detroit, Seattle, and Philadelphia, in Cambridge, MA,
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Berkeley,CA., Phoenix, AR., and Washington, DC., churches and
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organizations opposing US policies in Central America report
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obviously political break-ins in which important papers are stolen
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or damaged, while money and valuables are left untouched. License
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plates on a car spotted fleeing one such office have been traced
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to the US National Security Agency.
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-In Puerto Rico, Texas and Massachusetts, labor leaders,
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community organizers, writers and editors who advocate Puerto
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Rican independence are branded by the FBI as "terrorists,"
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brutally rounded-up in the middle of the night, held incommunicado
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for days and then jailed under new preventive detention laws.
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-The FBI puts the same "terrorist" label on opponents of US
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intervention in El Salvador, but refuses to investigate the
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possibility of a political conspiracy behind nation-wide bombings
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of abortion clinics.
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-Throughout the country, people attempting to see Nicaragua for
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themselves find their trips disrupted, their private papers
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confiscated, and their homes and offices plagued by FBI agents
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who demand detailed personal and political information.
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These kinds of government tactics violate our fundamental
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constitutional rights. They make it enormously difficult to
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sustain grass-roots organizing. They create an atmosphere of fear
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and distrust which undermines any effort to challenge official
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policy.
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Similar measures were used in the 1960s as part of a secret
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FBI program known as "COINTELPRO." COINTELPRO was later exposed
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and officially ended. But the evidence shows that it actually
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persisted and that clandestine operations to discredit and
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disrupt opposition movements have become an institutional feature
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of national and local government in the US. This pamphlet is
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designed to help current and future activists learn from the
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history of COINTELPRO, so that our movements can better withstand
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such attack.
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The first section gives a brief overview of what we know the FBI
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did in the 60s. It explains why we can expect similar government
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intervention in the 80s and beyond, and offers general guidelines
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for effective response.
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The main body of the pamphlet describes the specific methods which
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have previously been used to undermine domestic dissent and
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suggests steps we can take to limit or deflect their impact.
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A final chapter explores ways to mobilize broad public protest
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against this kind of repression.
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It also draws on the post-60s confessions of disaffected
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government agents, and on the testimony of public officials before
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Congress and the courts. Though the information from these sources
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is incomplete, and much of what was done remains secret, we
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now know enough to draw useful lessons for future organizing.
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The suggestions included in the pamphlet are based on the
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author's 20 years experience as an activist and lawyer, and on
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talks with long-time organizers in a broad range of movements.
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They are meant to provide starting points for discussion, so we
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can get ready before the pressure intensifies. Most are a matter
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of common sense once the methodology of covert action is
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understood. Please take these issues seriously. Discuss the
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recommendations with other activists. Adapt them to the conditions
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you face. Point out problems and suggest other approaches.
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IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE BEGIN NOW TO PROTECT OUR MOVEMENTS AND
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OURSELVES.
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A HISTORY TO LEARN FROM
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WHAT WAS COINTELPRO?
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"COINTELPRO" was the FBI's secret program to undermine the popular
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upsurge which swept the country during the 1960s. Though the name
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stands for "Counterintelligence Program," the targets were not
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enemy spies. The FBI set out to eliminate "radical" political
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opposition inside the US. When traditional modes of repression
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(exposure, blatant harassment, and prosecution for political
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crimes) failed to counter the growing insurgency, and even helped
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to fuel it, the Bureau took the law into its own hands and
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secretly used fraud and force to sabotage constitutionally-
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protected political activity.Its methods ranged far beyond
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surveillance, and amounted to a domestic version of the covert
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action for which the CIA has become infamous throughout the world.
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HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT IT?
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COINTELPRO was discovered in March, 1971, when some secret files
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were removed from an FBI office and released to news media.
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Freedom of Information requests, lawsuits, and former agents'
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pub |