The Mutilation of Bodily and Political Integrity - Police Brutality in NY State
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In the spring of this year, several students of Binghamton University were brutalized by police when peacefully commemorating the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Nine students were arrested, eight of which are currently prosecuted, facing charges with a maximum punishment of 2 years in jail. This incrimination of anti-war protesters means a mutilation of the right to freedom of political expression.
In the spring of this year, several students of Binghamton University were brutalized by police when peacefully commemorating the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Nine students were arrested, eight of which are currently prosecuted, facing charges with a maximum punishment of 2 years in jail. This incrimination of anti-war protesters means a mutilation of the right to freedom of political expression.
On March 18th, 2008, a group of anti-war protesters from Binghamton University (SUNY) and the surrounding community was marching on Vestal Parkway in Broome County, NY, to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. As the demonstrators were leaving the streets, police decided to assault the march. The police used excessive and unwarranted force, including indiscriminate use of pepper spray and violently throwing demonstrators to the ground. Nine people (all students at Binghamton University) were arrested, eight of which are currently prosecuted.
The events on Vestal Parkway mean not only a violation of the sanctity of the protesters’ bodies, but ultimately a mutilation of each citizen’s right to freedom of political expression. The incrimination of the 9 anti-war protesters must moreover be understood as a legal borderline case: as the U.S. government is waging an illegal war overseas, the legal framework within which U.S. judiciary and executive practices operate ‘at home’ becomes itself questionable.
The latest U.S. war against Iraq is unequivocally illegitimate under international law. The invasion of Iraq violates the United Nations Charter, which is a treaty signed by the U.S. government and as such part of the supreme law of the United States. As part of the U.S. Constitution (Art. 6, clause 2) the UN Charter had become “law of the land,†which the government of the United States is obligated to uphold.
The violation of the UN Charter serves the self-understanding of the U.S. as empire. Claiming the right to world domination, the U.S. government fabricates doctrines of a ‘preemptive war’ and the need to defend its ‘national security.’ For the sake of assuring its geo-political and economic interests, a sovereign nation is thus knowingly violating international law, willingly performing state terrorism, and coolly consenting to the slaughter of millions of people.
As the government of the United States considers itself to be standing outside the law, can this government really tell us what is right and what is wrong? The U.S. government has created a ‘state of exception’ where law has become the framework that assists in the insult of the bodily and political integrity of its citizens, while civil rights are gradually being taken away.
DEFEND THE BINGHAMTON 9:
After a first pre-trial conference between the nine arrested Binghamton University students (the ‘Binghamton 9’), their lawyers, and the district attorney, only one of the defendants' case is settled after the defendant plead guilty (to a charge of 'disorderly conduct' – a violation in NY State). The other eight are now facing future pre-trial conferences and possibly even a court hearing and succeeding trial. To help cover the legal costs arising from these proceedings, you can now donate to their defense at: http://www.solidarityanddissent.blogspot.com/
Also, if you were present at the protest you can file a complaint of "unreasonable force.†If you were not present at the rally you can offer support by demanding that a thorough investigation of police misconduct take place.
Contact information:
Gerald F. Mollen, District Attorney
Seventh Floor, Press Building
19 Chenango Street
Binghamton, NY 13901
e-mail: gmollen@co.broome.ny.us
Phone: 778-2423 or 800-836-0868
