[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Mutual Aid Pact Draft Proposal/MEETING MONDAY

[Al Kagan]

Here is the revised version of the pledge we talked about last Sunday.

>Delivered-To: akagan at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
>Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2002 10:59:36 -0800
>From: "Geov L. Parrish" <geovlp at earthlink.net>
>X-Accept-Language: en
>To: bf283 at scn.org, vanessa at riseup.net, wwfor at connectexpress.com,
>	organizer at peacejustice.com, veselka at earthlink.net,
>	ggreene at eskimo.com, cmtc at igc.org, bb218 at scn.org, vivs at igc.org,
>	zenquake at ix.netcom.com, etews at hotmail.com, b_sacks at hotmail.com,
>	mfleck at wpsr.org, wpsr at igc.org, wrl at igc.org, nowar at warresisters.org,
>	getmelissa at circlesys.com, sheri at indymedia.org,
>	buskin at u.washington.edu, kathy985 at pacific.net, DoreneFC at aol.com,
>	readwhid at whidbey.com, akagan at uiuc.edu, ssegall at afsc.org
>Subject: Mutual Aid Pact Draft Proposal/MEETING MONDAY
>Status:  
>
>1-4-2002
>
>Friends,
>
>The network of Seattle-area activist groups that has been meeting
>to share post-911 plans and campaigns will be meeting on Monday
>afternoon, January 7, at 4:00 at the Central Area Motivation
>Program (722 18th Ave., one block north of Cherry St.). One of
>the items on the agenda will be consideration of the concept of a
>"Mutual Aid Pact," an idea we have already discussed with many of
>you.
>
>The following is the proposal that we'll present for discussion,
>and perhaps adoption, as one of the agenda items at Monday's
>meeting. We hope that you or a representative of your group can
>come to this meeting and help decide the fate and future of this
>proposal. Alternatively, please send feedback beforehand to
>geovlp at earthlink.net.
>
>Some of you may have already gotten this newer version in the
>last day or two elsewhere; my apologies for any duplications.
>Many of you on this list have offered comments already, for which
>we thank you -- it's helped us craft what we think is a pretty
>strong idea, and one that may also be applicable to other cities
>or parts of the country. The details need fine tuning, but it's
>clear that there is a great deal of support for this idea. Please
>take a moment to look this over, or come to Monday's meeting, and
>help us make this a better project. Thanks, in advance, for your
>consideration and comments.
>
>
>In solidarity,
>
>
>Geov Parrish, Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
>Vanessa Lee, American Friends Service Committee
>Erica Kay, Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
>
>====
>
>DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
>
>1-3-02
>
>Proposal For A Community-Based 2002 MUTUAL AID PACT (MAP)
>
>
>INTRODUCTION:
>
>In response to the federal government's raid several weeks ago on
>Somali businesses in the Rainier Valley, a number of community
>groups stepped up to offer both political and financial support
>to the businesses and the Somali community. An enormous amount of
>money was raised; the raids became part of the political agenda
>of a number of groups and political events; and these expressions
>of solidarity were essential in helping the Somali community
>transform what could have been a disempowering loss of civil
>rights and dignity into a powerful expression of community and a
>demand for respect and due process.
>
>
>THE MUTUAL AID PACT
>
>Because of the community's response to these raids -- in Seattle
>and elsewhere -- the federal government, in targetting private
>assets for seizure, must also now calculate the political impact
>when they decide whether to take such actions. We propose to take
>community support for targets of anti-terrorist law enforcement
>harassment, and its preventative potential, a crucial further
>step: having individuals, community, political, cultural, and
>religious groups, businesses, and any other supporters in the
>Seattle area to commit *in advance* to offer financial,
>political, or other appropriate types of nonviolent support to
>any future targets of such actions.
>
>Individuals and organizations can join this pact by agreeing to
>the following pledge:
>
>"We, the undersigned, commit to offering financial, political, or
>other appropriate types of nonviolent support, as requested by
>the recipients, to any individual, business, community group,
>religious group or institution, political group, or other entity
>that is targetted for detainment or arrest, freezing or seizure
>of assets or inventory, closing of business or office, threats or
>harassment, or other action taken by law enforcement officals
>without due process as part of anti-terrorist investigations.
>
>"This support is pledged without regard for the prospective
>targets' religion, ethnicity, race, or political beliefs."
>
>
>HOW IT WILL WORK
>
>
>By signing this pact, signers agree to provide support for
>targets of unfair anti-terrorist law enforcement acts. The
>campaign will last until the end of 2002; depending on
>circumstances, it may continue after that, with signers asked to
>renew their pledge, but the initial commitment is only until the
>end of the year.
>
>Signers to pledge cards (individual or group) will have an
>opportunity, on the form, to indicate types of support they are
>able and willing to give: financial, emergency notification,
>protests, legal help, translation services, and so on.
>
>Once a sufficient number of signers are gathered, the pact and
>its signers thus far will begin to be publicized, through
>advertisements, e-mail, public presentations, media, and other
>means. The outreach and publicity will be used to gather further
>signers to the pact. Organizers will also publicize the
>availability of specialized support services to vulnerable
>communities.
>
>If an incident occurs which requires mobilizing the pact, signers
>will be notified and asked to participate in whatever types of
>support the targets have requested. Not all signers need to
>participate each time the pact is activated, but signing the
>pledge will be a serious, accountable commitment, and signers
>will be expected to make a serious effort to help when feasible.
>Pact organizers will also work between and during mobilizations
>to maintain contact with signers and with vulnerable communities,
>to build our capacity to respond to emergencies through
>trainings, skill sharing, and development of the pact's
>structure. Signing groups will also be encouraged to develop
>their own emergency notification and response networks.
>
>This pact would be organized with the following primary goals:
>
>1) Provide support to individuals or groups when they are
>unfairly targetted by law enforcement officials;
>
>2) Publicize the existence of strong community support in
>advance, so as to raise the apparent cost to government officials
>of taking these sorts of actions; and
>
>3) Build bridges among different communities, ethnic, religious,
>cultural, and political groups, and other constituencies in
>Seattle that have not traditionally worked well together.
>
>
>OUTREACH
>
>Upon adoption, we would immediately begin soliciting individual
>and group signers. Volunteers would circulate e-mails, make phone
>calls, speak publicly and to meetings of groups and decision-
>makers, and seek publicity through stories in alternative and
>mainstream media. We will maintain an independent web site. By
>late January, we hope to be able to publicize an initial list of
>diverse signers.
>
>
>ADMINISTRATION
>
>Initially, the American Friends Service Committee has agreed to
>house some elements of the pact; AFSC staff person Vanessa Lee,
>in conjunction with other volunteers, will help coordinate the
>pact, including keeping records of signers and managing outreach,
>volunteer, and emergency response efforts. We will set up a phone
>number and mailing address specific to the pact. AFSC may only be
>able to take on this role through May 2002; additional
>coordinating volunteers and office resources will need to be
>located by then.
>
>All information gathered for the purposes of this pact will be
>kept confidentially and securely, and used only for the purposes
>of maintaining and implementing this pact. Signers will be
>identified publicly only with their permission.
>
>
>HOW SUPPORT WILL BE OFFERED
>
>
>If we find out that an incident has occurred which requires
>activation of the pact, either through contact with the pact or
>if we contact the affected people, we will ascertain what types
>of support the victims need. At that point, we will put the
>necessary information on our web site, notify signers through e-
>mail and phone banking, and directly contact individuals and
>groups with specific skills or resources as appropriate. Signing
>organizations will also be asked to active their response
>networks.
>
>
>HOW THE PACT WILL BE STRUCTURED
>
>
>The Mutual Aid Pact will operate as a decentralized network, in
>which all signers, indivudual or group, have the final decision
>as to whether to participate in a given support campaign.
>However, some centralized decisions will need to be made. These
>include:
>
>* Budgetary matters and housekeeping/administrative issues;
>* Whether particular incidents meet the conditions for activating
>the pledge (i.e., "detainment or arrest, freezing or seizure of
>assets or inventory, closing of business or office, or other
>action taken by law enforcement officals without due process as
>part of anti-terrorist investigations.");
>* Whether requested forms of support are appropriate for the pact
>(e.g., nonviolent in nature);
>* How to publicize the existence of the pact and its signers;
>* Modification of the pact's structure; and
>* Response to unforeseen emergencies and circumstances.
>
>For this purpose, a representative council will meet regularly.
>Membership will be open to one representative from any group
>which has signed the pledge. Any individual who has signed he
>pledge may participate if they are also representing others.
>Unaffiliated individuals will be connected in teams, so that all
>signers may have a representative on the council and a way to ask
>questions and get information quickly and easily. 
>
>Proposals for the representative council will strive to
>incorporate the ideas and concerns of all members; decisions will
>be adopted by 2/3 majority vote.
>
>Within the representative council, a small, rotating group will
>be appointed to serve as an emergency council, to respond (over
>the phone or by e-mail if necessary) when immediate decisions are
>required.
>
>Representative council members and groups will work to ensure
>that the representative includes a diversity of gender, race and
>ethnicity, class, and religion.
>
>
>CONCLUSION
>
>
>This doubtless seems like a lot of detail; our effort, in
>compiling this proposal, was to create a mechanism that would be
>simple, effective, and flexible in its ability to respond to
>unforeseen situations. The next step is to solicit additional
>feedback from our communities and incorporate these concerns. Our
>goal is to be up and running as soon as possible, for obvious
>reasons, but we also want this to work as well as possible -- for
>the sake of any and all of us. Thanks, once again, for your help!
>

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu