The International Day Against Police Brutality, March 15, 2002:
Inventory of local and international participation

Here is an inventory of activities, which are being organized here, and abroad in the context of the sixth International Day Against Police Brutality. One thing to emphasize: the participation in Quebec and in Canada has never been so large and diverse, which is very encouraging.

Please note that this list is very incomplete since we are waiting for more groups and details concerning certain activities and other information. An up-date of the inventory of participation in the International Day Against Police Brutality will be available as soon as possible. Also note that all the activities mentioned below are planned to take place during the day of March 15 2002, unless otherwise specified.

QUEBEC AND CANADA

In Montreal the International Day Against Police Brutality has given rise to more interest than ever. The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality is organizing a demonstration, which its starting point is Berri Square, at 5:00p.m. For more information on COBP and the International Day Against Police Brutality, take a look at the collective's web site at www.tao.ca/~cobp/index.html

Different activists from different organizations will participate by giving speeches, such as an activist from Kabataang (which means "youth" in the Filipino language) from a group coming from the Filipino community from Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. The Association pour la Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante-ASSÉ (Student Association of Solidarity and Syndicalism) will also takes part of the support for International Day Against Police Brutality and a speech will be made by one of its members. (To know more about the ASSÉ, visit their web site at:  http://www.asse-solidarite.qc.ca/)

Also the hip-hop group Genocyde and the rapper Patrick Joseph will be performing to the participants at the demonstration. Dozens of people will be coming via bus from Drummondville to participate in COBP's demonstration

At the same time as COBP's demo, MAJ - Mouvement Action Justice (Justice Action Movement) will be holding a torch march which will go to the police station Centre-Opérationnel Sud - C-O Sud (South Operational Centre) to denounce the suspicious death of Michael Kibbe, in February 2001, at the exterior of C-O Sud.

Other activities that have taken place in Montreal earlier this month. On March 2, activists from the CLAC - Convergence des Luttes Anticapitalistes (Anti-Capitalist Convergence) and COBP organized a day of workshops against repression under the theme "Operation Solidarity" at the Comité Social Centre-Sud. On March 9, the Montreal section of RASH (Red and Anarchists Skinheads) organized a benefit night for COBP at Café Chaos with Les Esclaves Salariés (ex-Provos), The Last Rocker and Class Assassins.

In Quebec City the local section of NEFAC (North Eastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists) are organizing a show with Protestars, les Détraqués and Stéphane Robitaille, to take place at the Échourie. In Sherbrooke a demonstration is being organized. In the region of Trois-Rivières, at the Cap-au-Café, a show was also organized in support of the International Day Against Police Brutality, last March 9. At the College of Outaouais, there will be a presentation of films about police brutality.

In English Canada, activities are planned in four cities. In Calgary, Alberta, a demonstration against police brutality and harassment is organized by the Calgary Coalition for Social Justice in solidarity with and endorsed by the Alberta Coalition Against Poverty and the Latin American Community Association (LACA). The march will end in front of the Calgary Police Headquarters.

Moreover, we would like to add information available on the web site of LACA, which displeased so much the Calgary police that they threatened to sue them for slander, in particularly concerning the dossier on the case of Juan Melendez, savagely brutalized by the police on August 17, 2000. You can check it out at:  http://www.stormpages.com/laca

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, a popular celebration will be organized, to celebrate the vast diversity of community resources and networks that exist that provide and support sectors of the population that pay the enormous price of realities in the capitalist economy. This event will include free food and animation, putting the accent on what we do instead of limiting ourselves to only to opposing police brutality.

In Toronto, Ontario the Freyheyt Collective from the NEFAC will be distributing leaflets in the working class neighbourhood of Parkdale. The Collective will hand out information on rights in situations of arrest as well as information on the International Day Against Police Brutality from an anarchist perspective on the police.

Finally, in Vancouver, British Columbia, an event on the theme of police harassment and brutality will take place at Black Star Cafe next March 18. Also the BC Latin American Congress will hold a discussion about a case of police violence against two Latino Youngsters in front of their mother. The complainants will attend the meeting. It will be held at 4184 Brant St.

USA

In the United States, two anarchist federations are officially supporting March 15, 2002. The first of these is the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) Federation, which works in support of prisoners, and which has reprinted the call for an International Day against Police Brutality in English and Spanish on the home page of its web site (
www.anarchistblackcross.org

Secondly, there is the North American Federation of Anarcho-Communists (NEFAC), which includes in its ranks member groups and sympathizers in Quebec ( http://flag.blackened.net./nefac). In Boston, NEFAC’s Sabate Anarchist Collective will be presenting a lecture and discussion evening at the Lucy Parsons Center featuring a former organizer of Boston Copwatch and an activist associated with the Criminal Justice Program.

On March 16, 2002, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Southwest Michigan Coalition against Racism and Police Brutality will be staging an event entitled “Forum on Racism and New Anti-Terrorist Policies." The group Massachusetts Police Brutality is also planning to organize something to take place around March 15 (www.massbrutality.org).

In Cincinnati, the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, which includes civil rights, worker and religious groups, and which has called for a boycott of the city, has reprinted on its web site the call for an International Day against Police Brutality ( http://www.cincyboycott.org/index.html). A public meeting will be held on March 16 in the Methodist United Church to discuss the threat of legal proceedings being initiated by the Cincinnati Arts Association.

EUROPE

In Moscow, Russia, the group Action Autonome will organize a demo in support of political prisoner Evgeni Novozhilov, who is held in a mental institution under bogus charges.

In France, two events will be held. In Nantes, a gathering against security police violences will take place at Place du Commerce, March 16th in the afternoon. This event is co-sponsored the Fédération Anarchiste (FA), the Groupe Accueil Service Promotion des Immigré-es (GASPROM), the Libertaires Unitaires Nantes Estuaire (LUNE), and the SCALP (Section Carrément Anti Le Pen).

In the district of Gard, a collective which supports persons brutalized and charged during the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy, in July 2001, is organizing an action. They will circulate information, stimulate debate, and ask questions about what happened in Genoa and of course make themselves known to victims of police violence that they are not alone. Note: the trial for the people charged in Genoa will begin shortly.

Other activities are also scheduled in Bern, Switzerland. In London, England, the support group for prisoners and victims of police violence, Miscarriages of Justice UK (MOJUK) is also joining forces for the International Day Against Police Brutality. (Web site:  http://www.mojuk.org.uk/)

SOUTH AMERICA

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, several artists' collectives and human rights groups will organize different actions against police brutality. In Colombia, a big demonstration and a show, specifically focusing on the repression of indigenous peoples, will be held on March 16th. In Brazil, there will be an event to discuss police brutality, which will include debates and a photo exhibit.

OCEANIA

In New Zealand, a Maori benefit concert for Steven Wallace was held at the University of Victoria in Wellington on March 7th. Steven Wallace was shot four times and killed by constable Abbot on April 30th 2000, the police preventing bystanders from coming to his aid as he was bleeding to death on the sidewalk. The internal police investigation cleared the murdering cop of any wrongdoing and a private complaint filed by Steven's father was rejected by the court on February 22nd 2002. For more information, visit the web site  http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/indig.htm