RE: [Peace-discuss] Chicago's Olympic Dreams Undeserved

Thu Aug 21 13:11:20 CDT 2008

Of course, you do realize that if this justification for not selecting
Chicago held as a reason why it could and should not be held in Chicago, it
would eliminate more than half the countries in the world, if not all the
countries in the world, from hosting the Olympics.  Then again that might be
a good idea!

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Brian Dolinar
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:25 AM
To: Peace-discuss List
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Chicago's Olympic Dreams Undeserved

FYI. BD

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Views > July 15, 2008

Chicago's Olympic Dreams Undeserved

By Salim Muwakkil <http://www.inthesetimes.com/about/author/13> 

Despite widespread awareness of torture provoked by excesses in the war on
terror, little is said about the history of homegrown torture

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Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has set his sights on winning the gold for
his city.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently chose the Windy City as
one of four international finalists in the race to host the coveted 2016
summer games.

But a group of local activists argues that a history of racist police
torture has made Chicago inappropriate as an Olympic site and is mobilizing
to convince the IOC to reject the city's bid.

"How can a city that has been condemned by the United Nations for allowing
its police to engage in systematic torture of black men be worthy of hosting
the Olympic games?" asks Patricia Hill, a primary organizer of Black People
Against Police Torture, the group at the forefront of opposition to the
Chicago Olympics. 

Hill, who is also executive director of the city's African American Police
League, says that several allied groups have joined in opposition to
Chicago's Olympic bid - including the local chapter of Amnesty International
USA.

For nearly 20 years, a former Chicago police commander named Jon Burge and
detectives under his command routinely tortured more than 100 black males,
claiming they were criminal suspects. Several independent investigations and
court decisions confirmed these systematic crimes, which occurred from 1972
to 1991. 

The latest evidence was a 292-page report issued two years ago by
court-appointed special prosecutor Edward Egan that concluded Burge and his
men used many torture techniques, including electro-shocking genitals,
suffocating people with plastic bags and burning skin on a hot radiator. But
the statute of limitations prevented prosecution. Thus, none of the cops
involved has yet to pay any legal cost.

Groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International condemned these
crimes, which violate domestic laws, the victims' constitutional rights, as
well as international treaties banning torture. In May 2006, the U.N.
Committee Against Torture sharply rebuked the United States for failing to
hold the offending police officers accountable. 

Despite widespread awareness of torture provoked by American excesses in the
so-called war on terror, relatively little has been said about this heinous
history of homegrown torture. Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan raised the
profile of the case in 2003 when he granted pardons to four death row
inmates after concluding their confessions were tortured from them. However,
about 26 prisoners are still incarcerated because of confessions forced by
Burge's corps of torturers. Protesters are also demanding new evidentiary
hearings and perhaps reparations for the victims.

Are Americans less concerned about police torture because it involved mostly
black men, whose perceived image as criminals allows us to tolerate their
abuse? For many, even the most egregious police abuse of black men is viewed
as a necessary evil.

Black People Against Police Torture hopes to demonstrate that the cost for
brutalizing black men has increased. "Daley took something away from us,
when he refused to act on charges of police torture in 1982 when he was
state's attorney," Hill notes. "And now we want to take something away from
him."

Hill's group decided to oppose the city's Olympic bid after the 2006 report
concluded that nothing could be done to prosecute the perpetrators of police
torture. "After spending four years, conducting more than 700 interviews and
spending at least $6 million, the report came up with nothing," says
Lawrence Kennon, a Chicago attorney who has been involved in the case since
its inception and is a member of Hill's group. "It was an insult to the
people of Chicago."

The tactic has apparently triggered additional action. According to the
Chicago Sun-Times, in June, a federal grand jury subpoenaed retired
detectives who worked with Burge. The office of U.S. Attorney Patrick
Fitzgerald is reportedly conducting the probe and focusing on the sworn
statements Burge and other detectives made during depositions in 2003. Those
statements are not restricted by the statute of limitations and if they can
be proven false, Burge and his henchmen could face prosecution under
obstruction of justice charges. But Hill says the anti-Olympics protests
will continue even if the feds prosecute Burge and his men. 

"Daley and his cronies have yet to learn the lesson that you cannot
brutalize black men with impunity," she says. "Look at the current rash of
police shootings and brutality in our communities. If we have to deny Daley
the object of his desire to teach that lesson, so be it."

-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com

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