Welcome delegations from Puerto Rico, including #SeAcabaronLasPromesas activists, Ismael Guadalupe from Vieques, Eva Ayala from EDUCAMOS – more details below

This weekend, the historic Emergency International Peoples Tribunal on U.S. Colonial Crimes in Puerto Rico will convene in New York City. We will begin at 9am on Saturday.

Put the U.S. on Trial for Colonial Crimes
in Puerto Rico!
International People’s Tribunal
Saturday, October 27
Begins at 9am – concludes around 5pm

Holyrood Church/Iglesia Santa Cruz
715 W 179th Street
New York, NY 10033
In NYC: Take the A Train to 181st Street
Nearest accessible station 175th Street

Livestream: Will broadcast on the Puerto Rico Tribunal Facebook page at 9am, October 27

This email contains all the information you need to know about the Tribunal – please read it in full and contact us should you have any questions that are not answered here!

LOCATION INFORMATION

We will gather on Saturday, October 27 at Holyrood Church/Iglesia Santa Cruz, located at 715 W 179th Street in New York City. In NYC, take the A train to 181st Street. For an accessible station with an elevator, take the A train to 175th Street.

ACCESSIBILITY

Holyrood Church is a fully accessible venue. When you arrive, please be sure to sign in first at the registration table, where you will also receive instructions about where to go for the day’s proceedings. If you need interpretation, there will be tables when you arrive to receive the appropriate equipment.

ORGANIZATIONAL TABLING

If you are with an organization that wishes to set up a table for literature and other materials, please submit a $25 donation ahead of time here, and be sure to indicate in the comments that the donation is for tabling space and for which organization you are submitting it. We will also be collecting the $25 tabling donation on site ahead of time if you are not able to send it in before Saturday

PROGRAM

• • 9a –  Registration opens, light refreshments
  • 9:30a – Program begins
  • 10:45a – Presentation of evidence and charges against the U.S. from Puerto Rican social movements
  • 12p – Lunch (served on site)
  • 1p – Presentation of evidence and charges against the U.S. from Puerto Rican social movements
  • 5p – Dinner (served on site)
  • 6p – Verdict
  • 7p – Conclusion

DELEGATIONS FROM PUERTO RICO

• Eva Ayala, a teacher from the union EDUCAMOS, is speaking on the fight for public education.
• Mariana Nogales, the lawyer for Nina Droz, will speak on her case. Droz is a young person arrested on May Day 2017, accused of attempting to set fire to the concrete Banco Popular building with a match. It’s a ridiculous charge, but she is in a U.S. federal prison as an example to intimidate the resistance in Puerto Rico.
  Also testifying about repression are#SeAcabaronLasPromesas activists in the forefront of opposing the Fiscal Control Board.
  The government has made it a crime to resist, to fight back against imperialism and colonialism. Nina Droz’s case is an example of the many Puerto Rican political prisoners jailed or killed for struggling for independence. The United States fought for independence, but this has been denied to us in Puerto Rico.
• Representatives from several cities in the south of the island, like Guayama and Peñuelas, will testify on coal ash and the role of AES in environmental contamination now impacting 14 municipalities throughout the region. Salvador Tió will testify about the pollution of bioengineering companies, like notorious Monsanto.
• Ismael Guadalupe, a leader of the Vieques struggle, will testify on the consequences of the U.S. bombing of Vieques and illnesses that resulted. Carlos Zenón, whose family was the first to be evicted to build the U.S. military base in Vieques, will testify by video.
• Researcher Ana María Garcia, producer of a very well-known documentary on the forced sterilization of Puerto Rican women, “La Operación,” will also testify by video.
• Delegations will also be in attendance from acrossNew York City, Boston, Philadelphia, North Carolina, Buffalo, Chicago, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and more.

Jurors

• Rev. Luis Barrios – Lead Juror;  a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and pastor of Holyrood Church/Iglesia Santa Cruz, which is the Tribunal venue and provides a sanctuary and organizing center for many New York communities
• Luz de las Nieves Ayress Moreno – a Chilean woman political exile who was tortured by the Pinochet dictatorship, the U.S. installed Chilean dictator, and later testified in the prosecution against him
• Susan Abulhawa – a Palestinian novelist and humanitarian. Author of ‘Mornings in Jenin,’ she is one of the most commercially successful Arab authors of all time. Abulhawa was born to Palestinian refugees of the 1967 war when Israel captured what remained of Palestine, including her birthright city Jerusalem
• Jaribu Hill – an international human rights spokesperson, attorney, veteran community organizer and cultural artist. She is the Founder of the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights and the Southern Human Rights Organizers’ Conference (SHROC) and a former Director of Center for Constitutional Rights – CCR South
• Gerardo Cajamarca Alarcón – a Colombian union organizer now in exile after death threats
• Deirdre Griswold – editor of Workers World newspaper, author of “Indonesia: The Second Greatest Crime of the Century,” chair of the 1966 Public Inquest on the Indonesian massacres, and an organizer of the 1967 Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunal on the U.S. role in Vietnam
• Hyun Lee – a writer for ZoominKorea, an online resource for critical news and analysis on peace and democracy in Korea. She is an anti-war activist and organizer who has traveled to both North and South Korea
• Mahtowin Munro – co-leader of United American Indians of New England (UAINE) and lead organizer for statewide efforts in Massachusetts to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day. Mahtowin is also the co-president of the ACLUM bargaining unit of UAW Local 2320 NOLSW
• Angélica Lara – a cofounder of Ayotzinapa Student Front/ Frente Estudiantil Ayotzinapa NYC that was instrumental in organizing the 2015 Caravana 43 in support of the students disappeared by the Mexican state in 2014. She continues to organize and work on many community issues such as housing and womyn’s rights
• Chrisley Carpio – a national leader of the new Students for a Democratic Society (National). She has mobilized students against Trump’s attacks on immigrants, the repeal of DACA, the Muslim ban, the inductions of Kavanaugh and Betsy DeVos, and against U.S. wars
• Pam Africa – Minister of Confrontation for the The MOVE Organization in Philadelphia. She is a leader the fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and other political prisoners
• Andre Francois – president of the Boston School Bus Drivers Union – United Steelworkers Local 8751, and a leader in the local Haitian community
• Noriko Oyama – fighter for peace, demilitarization, and justice for Okinawa. Founder of Okinawa Peace Appeal
• Bernadette Ellorin – a national leader of the Filipino organization BAYAN USA, which is battling U.S. domination in the Philippines
• Ajamu Baraka – from Black Alliance for Peace and an internationally recognized leader of the U.S. human rights movement who has worked to apply the international human rights framework to social justice advocacy in the U.S.

LIVESTREAM VIEWING EVENTS

Atlanta

Time: 9am
Location: Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History
101 Auburn Ave NE (corner of Auburn and Courtland) Atlanta 30303

Austin, TX

Imperialism, Colonialism, and Latin America

Time: 7pm

Location: MonkeyWrench Books
110 E North Loop Blvd, Austin, TX 78751

Los Angeles

SoCal Tribunal Live Screening Event 

Time: 6am – 2:30pm

Location: Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice

5278 West Pico Blvd / Los Angeles, CA 90019

*Free breakfast served!

San Diego

San Diego Tribunal Live Viewing

Time: 6am – 3pm

Location: 6443 Imperial Ave. San Diego, CA 92114