Social Justice E-Zine #20

[goforth@xxxxxxxxxxx]

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"The State's principal argument that Amendment 2 puts gays and
lesbians in the same position as all other persons by denying
them special rights is rejected as implausible...Even
if, as the state contends, homosexuals can find protection (from
discrimination) in laws and policies of general application,
Amendment 2 goes well beyond merely depriving them of special
rights.  It imposes a broad disability upon those persons alone,
forbidding them, but no others, to seek specific legal protection
>from injuries caused by discrimination...(Under Amendment 2)
homosexuals are forbidden the safeguards that others enjoy or may
seek without constraint...(Amendment 2's) sheer breadth is so
discontinuous with the reasons offered for it that the amendment
seems inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class that
it affects; it lacks a rational relationship to legitimate state
interests...It is a classification of persons undertaken for its
own sake, something the Equal Protection Clause does not
permit...Class legislation is obnoxious to the prohibitions of
the Fourteenth Amendment...We must conclude that Amendment 2
classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end
but to make them unequal to everyone else.  This Colorado cannot
do.  A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its
laws.  Amendment 2 violates the Equal Protection Clause (of the
United States Constitution), and the law (is vacated as
unconstitutional.)"
--Justice Kennedy writing for the Supreme Court of the United
States in the case of Romer v. Evans.  This decision struck down
the State of Colorado's Constitutional amendment that
legalized discrimination against homosexuals.


                       SOCIAL JUSTICE #20
                          May 27, 1996
                          Ray Goforth
                          Kim Goforth

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IN THIS ISSUE:

1) OPENING NOTES ON THE ZINE
2) AN INTERVIEW WITH MORRIS DEES
3) CROATIA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS PROSECUTION OF FERAL
   TRIBUNE JOURNALISTS IN CROATIA
4) 53 BLACK CHURCHES FIREBOMBED IN USA

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   Welcome to the latest issue of SOCIAL JUSTICE E-ZINE.  The
name Social Justice encompasses the struggles of people
everywhere who work for gender equality, democratic government,
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Human Rights in China:  http://www.tripod.com/~hric/hric.html

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An Interview With
MORRIS DEES

Co-Author of the New Book
GATHERING STORM: America's Militia Threat
(HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-017403-X)


INTRODUCTION:

Morris Dees is Chief Trial Counsel for the Southern Poverty Law
Center and its Militia Task Force. He is the author of "A Season
for Justice" and "Hate on Trial" with Steven Fiffer. His work has
been the subject of an NBC-TV Movie of the Week and a Bill Moyers
PBS-TV special. His new book, GATHERING STORM is an expose of the
American militia movement. Few people are more qualified to write
about the militia network and its close cousin, the Christian
patriots, than Dees.

Six months before the Oklahoma City bombing, Morris Dees wrote
Attorney general Janet Reno to alert her to the danger posed by
the growing number of radical militia groups. He warned the
Attorney General that the "mixture of armed groups and those who
hate is a recipe for disaster." In GATHERING STORM, Dees tells
why he decided to alert the Attorney General and why the danger
of serious domestic terrorism still exists.

In 1981, Dees secured a federal court order forcing the 2,500-man
Texas Emergency Reserve paramilitary army to disband. His victory
against this private army put him at the top of the racist
right's hit list, causing his offices to be burned and his life
threatened. He fought back with a stunning 1986 federal court
victory in North Carolina. The leader of the 1,000-man White
Patriot Party's militia was imprisoned and the group's purchase
of stolen military weapons was exposed.

Dees' book relates the inside stories of the very dangerous
militia movement, now totaling over 809 Patriot organizations.
One story is that of Timothy McVeigh, described by Dees as "the
almost perfect soldier." Dees exposes the methods and motivations
of those who may have manipulated this accused terrorist. Using
little known facts about McVeigh's life and movements through the
fringes of the militia and Christian patriot world, Dees suggests
a trial strategy this accused bomber might be wise to consider.

Dees points out that the Oklahoma City tragedy was not an
isolated event.  He connects together a series of violent acts
and plans promoted by militia groups and small secret "patriot"
cells since the early 1980s. Many, he says, have ties to sources
of political power in state houses and in Washington. The authors
provide names, places and details that could prove embarrassing
to some.

In this interview, Morris Dees discusses the Oklahoma bombing,
Timothy McVeigh, and the role of talk radio and the Internet in
the growth of militia groups in the United States. Dees presents
a compelling case that, unless we act decisively and quickly,
more innocent people will die as domestic terrorism spreads.
__________________________________________________

THE INTERVIEW:

Q: Why did you choose GATHERING STORM as the title for this book?

A: The original title was "Rebellion In The Heartland" but the
militia movement is not restricted to the plains states or any
one section of the country, it's happening all over America. I
used the term "Gathering Storm" to suggest that the problems
we're just now starting to face from members and supporters of
the fast growing militia movement could get much worse in
the future if we don't take a firm stand--individually and
collectively--against adherents of the patriot/paramilitary
philosophy.

Q: There have been other books, newspaper and magazine articles
written about the militia movement as well as extensive stories
on television and radio. What's new in this book?

A: This is a first person account dealing with my work fighting
racist groups and private paramilitary armies since 1980. It is
not simply a summary of newspaper and magazine clippings or
previously aired TV news stories. Most of the facts presented in
GATHERING STORM come from investigative reports by our Militia
Task Force--which were based on information gathered in covert
operations. I used militia members' own words to tell their own
story.

Q: What's the most alarming thing you discovered during your
investigation of the patriot/militia movement?

A: We were alarmed at how small the movement's central leadership
cadre is and the extent of their hard-core Neo Nazi beliefs. We
were alarmed at how long the same bunch of people has been
manipulating white supremacy and paramilitary organizations in
this country. And we were also alarmed to find evidence
suggesting that diverse groups such as the tri-state militia
(which serves as an umbrella organization for twenty separate
state militias), the Montana Militia, and other organizations
have launched a coordinated effort to gather their own
intelligence on people who might oppose their views. Each of
these militia groups, I might add, has consistently and publicly
claimed they have no ties to white supremacists.

Q: What do you think will most surprise readers of the book?

A: I think readers will be surprised when they read what we have
to say about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing. Many
people have accepted the idea, as detailed in a New York Times
editorial shortly after the bombing, that the incident was the
work of one disgruntled individual.  In fact the long history of
connections between McVeigh, the patriot/militia movement, and
some of its major players, make it very unlikely that McVeigh, if
found guilty, was acting alone in Oklahoma City. And even if he
wasn't acting under direct instructions from white supremacist or
racist militia leaders, he may have been carrying out a
blueprint for terrorist acts against the federal government that
some of them have been promoting for many years.

Q: You sent a letter to attorney general Janet Reno six months
before the Oklahoma City bombing incident. What was in the letter
and what sort of reaction did it receive?

A: I told her we had substantial evidence that white supremacists
were infiltrating the leadership of militia groups and that the
volatile mixture of armed groups and hatemongers was a recipe for
disaster. I forwarded biographical sketches of white supremacist
leaders and others involved in the militia movement including
Louis Beam of the Aryan Nations, James Wickstrom, of Posse
Comitatus, and James "Bo" Gritz, who had been loosely
associated with David Duke and other white racists. I also told
her we had learned that active duty military personnel and
National Guardsmen may have been assisting some of the
newly-formed militias. We received a phone call from Reno's
office thanking us for the information which they said they
would forward to field offices all over the country. However, as
far as the general public and the news media was concerned
interest was limited.  Attention at the time was focused squarely
on the "Contract with America" and the impending Republican sweep
of Congress.

Q: What sort of information have you uncovered about McVeigh?

A: We found a letter to the editor that McVeigh wrote in 1992
that could have been written by thousands of similarly-minded
"Patriots" from around that country. It gives readers an idea of
just how disgruntled he was and why he fit the profile of a prime
recruit for the patriot/militia movement.  It's also known that
Florida militia members claimed a man resembling McVeigh traveled
with Michigan's Mark Koernke on an organizing tour.
Koernke, one of the movement's most militant spokesmen, has
denied knowing McVeigh.  We've noted telephone records indicating
that McVeigh made calls to the private unlisted number of William
Pierce, leader of the virulently racist National Alliance and
author of "The Turner Diaries" (which served as a blueprint for
the Oklahoma City bombing). And we reported that McVeigh
reprinted copies of paramilitary and militia publications at the
K-Max copy center in Kingman, Arizona. He would not have needed
extra copies unless, maybe, he was supplying them to his
confederates. We also managed to track McVeigh, via a traffic
ticket issued some time before the Oklahoma City bombing, to an
access road leading to Elohim City, a far-right Christian
Identity compound on the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. What we've
essentially done is put together a pretty good case to indicate
that McVeigh was part of a self-starter leaderless resistance
cell--like those promoted by Louis Beam and other militia leaders
who have ties to white supremacy groups.

Q: What is leaderless resistance?

A: It's a concept promoted by militia organizations all over the
country.  It tells people "if you want to be a freedom fighter,
all you have to do is act. You can form your own group of
neighbors, or family members, co-workers, or friends at your gun
club." The idea behind the theory is that if someone in the
"leaderless-resistance cell" gets caught, the cell itself might
collapse but the wider militia organization remains untouched.
And of course the Internet is full of information anyone can use
to set up and run a leaderless resistance cell, including books
and manuals on snipers, sabotage, explosives, tactics, resistance
movements, and other related topics.

Q: Can bomb-building information on the Internet, or "patriot"
books like "The Turner Diaries"--which advocates violent
revolution and the killing of Jews--and manuals that teach sniper
tactics or strategies for committing sabotage be banned because
they encourage violence?

A: The First Amendment protects the sale and display of this type
of material unless it promotes the commitment of a specific act
of violence at a specific time against a specific target. Even
then, some overt act must be taken by the publisher to involve
others in carrying out the crime.  Promoting violence in the
abstract, though reprehensible, is protected speech.

Q: Why are leaderless resistance cells so dangerous?

A: You're not going to find a uniformed group of militia members
in Ohio or Alabama planning an act of domestic terrorism in a
meeting that's open to anybody. The real danger comes from
individuals in those organizations, or related to them in some
way, who decide it's time to take it upon themselves to carry out
terrorist acts. In December, several members of the Oklahoma
Constitutional Militia were arrested in a plot to bomb my office
as well as the Houston branch of the Anti-Defamation League. Also
this past December, federal agents in Arkansas arrested Thomas
Lavy in a remote cabin where he was apparently attempting to make
Ricin, one of the most deadly poisons known to man. Lavy, who had
been caught once before trying to bring Ricin into the country,
allegedly had ties to "survivalist" groups. There was also a hunt
club in West Virginia that was caught planning to rob a
national guard armory to get more explosives, and a group that
was caught trying to blow up a black church in East Los Angeles.
In each case, the people involved were connected in some way with
militia organizations or militia ideals.

Q: Is every militia hate oriented?

A: No. There are certainly people in patriot/militia
organizations who have no racist agenda and are simply frustrated
with the federal government. On the other hand, of the 441
militia units and the 368 allied patriot groups--militia support
groups that promote the formation of militias and provide them
with information, materials, and other types of assistance--137
have ties to racist organization like the Aryan Nations and
the Ku Klux Klan.

Q: What can individual states do to clamp down on militia
organizations?

A: There are 22 states with laws which strictly forbid militia
groups that engage in training as a military unit, and an equal
number of states with laws that forbid paramilitary training for
the purpose of causing civil disorder. Unfortunately those laws
have only been enforced twice. In Texas, we joined with the Texas
Attorney General in a civil suit and succeeded in getting a court
order that put Louis Beam's Texas Emergency Reserve out of
business. In North Carolina we joined with the U.S. Attorney and
did the same thing. There's no reason why attorneys general
around the country can't use these laws to shut militias down.

Q: If these groups are so dangerous why doesn't the government go
after them more aggressively?

A: Because of a misunderstanding of what these groups really are.
Many in the law enforcement community say "we know about theses
guys, they're not a threat, we'll let them go and run around in
the woods with their guns, they're simply a bunch of good old
boys." But no country in the world outside of the United States
allows private armies to form and train.  Unfortunately people
don't understand the true agenda of the leaders or organizers of
many of these groups. Nor do they fully understand the tie-in
between the Timothy McVeighs of this world and the
patriot/militia movement.

Q: Why did the Estes Park meeting become a milestone event for
the extreme right?

A: The Estes Park meeting, also known as the Rocky Mountain
Retreat, was the first time that leaders of disparate groups came
together under one roof to organize a united front. Prior to
Estes Park, anti-abortionists, Aryan Nations organizations, home
school advocates, proponents of Wise-Use land reforms, and other
groups had acted individually. These separate groups, which had
previously criticized each other for being too racist, or
not religious enough, decided to unify behind their hatred of the
federal government.

Q: You criticize the inflammatory anti-government rhetoric of
talk radio.  Why do you consider such radio programs dangerous?

A: By itself the far right patriot/militia movement is dangerous.
But when individuals in the movement receive encouragement from
talk radio programs they end up with a public voice. It makes
them feel what they believe in is acceptable, and it also helps
bring in new recruits. I like to use the analogy of an orchestra
when describing the layers of rhetoric fueling the militia
movement. Playing background music in this "orchestra" are the
daily talk show hosts who hammer away at the federal government
while promoting negative stereotypes of anyone--liberals,
feminists, gays--who does not agree with them. Then there are the
"Wise Use" advocates (who claim they should be able to do
whatever they want on federal lands) also hammering away at the
government. There's a section in this "orchestra" made up of
conspiracy theorists, a section of anti-abortion activists, a
section of conservative politicians like Buchanan, Helen
Chenowitz, Robert K. Doornan, Newt Gingrich and others who pile
on additional criticism and abuse. What this whole "orchestra"
ends up playing is a multi-layered mix of anti-government
rhetoric. People who are thinking of joining a militia
hear this stuff from so many different sources and say "we're not
alone. If they're all saying it, it has to be true."

Q: What was the impact of the Oklahoma City bombing on the
militia movement?

A: The Oklahoma City bombing caused a lot of people connected
with militia groups to back away. Those that weren't really
committed saw the negative publicity militias were getting, saw
the pictures of children's bodies being removed from the rubble,
and realized they didn't want to be involved with organizations
even remotely advocating that type of terrorist act. As
a result many of the most ardent militia supporters have gone
underground in much the same way that the Ku Klux Klan went
underground at various stages of its existence. In the long run,
however, Oklahoma City will help the militia cause. It shows that
this kind of terrorism can be carried out.

Q: Why were you disappointed with the one-day militia hearings
before the committee on Terrorism, Technology and Government
chaired by Arlen Specter?

A: I don't think the senate, the justice department or government
leaders understand the seriousness of the militia movement or the
danger of domestic terrorism that this country faces today. They
tend to see the militia leaders as buffoons. That's why they
subpoenaed those five clowns as representatives of domestic
militia groups instead of racists like Pete Peters or Louis
Beam--who have direct ties with militia organizations. Then
they failed to adequately question them. For example there was
the militia leader who said militias are useful because they calm
people down. If I was asking the questions that day I would have
pulled out one of their militia handbooks, which teaches people
how to build bombs, and asked "how is building a bomb supposed to
calm people down."

Q: What can law enforcement do?

A: The Federal Bureau of Investigation needs to do a better job
of monitoring individuals and organizations that publicly state,
or indirectly suggest, that they intend to use violence to carry
out their goals.  Unfortunately the Bureau seems to be sitting on
its hands. They claim they're prevented from taking more direct
action because of guidelines laid down by the U.S. Attorney
General in the aftermath of widespread domestic surveillance
abuses in the 1960s. However, there's plenty of room for FBI
action without actually infiltrating such groups or overstepping
the guidelines. I also think law enforcement needs to set up an
intensive fact gathering system, just like the one used on the
Mafia or any other organized crime group. Such a system would
incorporate information discovered by members of local law
enforcement, not just the FBI or the ATF. For example, if a
Sheriff in Boundary County, Idaho, came across evidence that
someone had been practicing the detonation of fertilizer type
bombs, that information could be passed along and put to use. It
might even serve as an early warning system of sorts.

Q: Some people have suggested that cracking down on militias will
just spur them to commit more violent acts. What's your reaction?

A: That's like saying "let's let them blow up one or two
buildings because if we crack down on them they'll blow up ten or
twenty." I think we need to go after these organizations. If you
prosecute them vigorously many potential members--particularly
those who are sitting on the fence--will be scared away.

Q: During the American revolution George Washington essentially
formed a citizen's militia. What's wrong with citizens doing the
same thing today?

A: When our country was being established we were opposing a
dictatorial king who did not allow people the right to vote. We
fought for the right to representation and then decided to
replace bullets with ballots. People have a right to revolt, but
the democratic system we've developed is designed so that revolt
takes place in the voting booth. It's true that the federal
government, according to the Constitution, cannot restrict the
right to have militias--but those militias must be regulated by
the states.  The second amendment does not allow the
establishment of private armies.

Q: What do you want readers to get out of this book?

A: I want readers to think seriously about the trend towards
domestic terrorism in the country. I also want them to put
pressure on law enforcement and public officials to take
responsible actions against these groups before more people get
hurt. Hopefully we can reach people who are considering joining
but don't really understand the true agenda of the leaders of
these organizations. We want readers to understand that very
dangerous people are manipulating the patriot/militia movement
today.  Economic times are tough for an increasing number of
citizens. But people need to understand that the solution to our
economic problems cannot be found by joining militia groups or
getting involved in domestic terrorism.
__________________________________________________

Some Startling Facts From
GATHERING STORM
America's Militia Threat

* 809 Patriot organizations operate today in all 50 states. Over
half of these groups (441) are militias.

* Patriot groups with racist ties are active in 36 states.

* Seventeen percent (138) of all known Patriot organizations have
racist ties. Of those groups with racist ties, 47 are
militias-type organizations.

* 31 paramilitary training camps linked to the Patriot movement
operate today in 22 states.

* Over a ton of explosives - almost half in ANFO, the deadly fuel
oil and fertilizer mix used in the Oklahoma City bombing - have
been stolen from various locations around the country in the past
year . Authorities suspect a large quantity of the explosives has
made its way into the Patriot movement.

* Through the Internet, Patriots reach wider audiences than any
revolutionaries in history.

* Encryption software enables Patriot extremists to freely
exchange strategies and intelligence over the Internet with less
fear of exposure.

* More that 70 World Wide Web sites and at least 50 Internet
newsgroups cater to antigovernment extremists, survivalists,
Identity followers, white supremacists, militias and
would-be-terrorists.

* A network of nearly 300 Patriot-related computer bulletin
boards carry information, rumors and tactics through at least 36
states and several foreign countries.

* The antigovernment business can be highly profitable--one
Patriot entrepreneur took in over $4 million in 1994.

* The broad patriot/militias movement is estimated to be five
million people strong.
__________________________________________________

ENDORSEMENTS:

"This chilling story of America's private armies is not fiction.
The danger of violent domestic conflict is all too real, as
Morris Dees warns in this riveting wake-up call. Essential
reading for every American who believes the ballot box, not the
cartridge box, is the way real patriots change government."
--Jimmy Carter

"This startling book casts a bright light on the dark underside
of American life-- a fireball in the night for all Americans."
--Arthur Schlessinger, Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning historian

"GATHERING STORM is a wake-up call to those who believe the
Oklahoma City bombing was an isolated incident. Its chilling
pages reveal the dark society who would turn the American dream
into an American nightmare."--Leon Uris

"Morris Dees has put his life on the line again and again...no
soldier has ever been braver, more honorable, and more
patriotic." --Kurt Vonnegut

" This brave and well-written book reveals an underground of
boiling hatred and racism that threatens to destroy a free and
tolerant America. Morris Dees tells a good story. I couldn't put
it down." --Gerry Spence
__________________________________________________

ABOUT THE BOOK:

GATHERING STORM
America's Militia Threat
by Morris Dees with James Corcoran
(HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 0-06-017403-X, $24.00)

GATHERING STORM is available wherever fine books are sold,
including most online bookstores. For more information about this
or other HarperCollins books, please visit the HarperCollins web
site at http://www.harpercollins.com.

This interview is copyright HarperCollins Publishers. All Rights
Reserved.  Please request permission from the publisher before
duplicating or redistributing this file. Thanks!

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This News Service is posted by the International Secretariat of
Amnesty International,
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
(Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157)
AINS@xxxxxxxxxx

MAY 20, 1996

CROATIA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS PROSECUTION OF FERAL
TRIBUNE JOURNALISTS IN CROATIA

Amnesty International is deeply concerned by the recent
prosecution of  Feral Tribune editor-in-chief, Viktor
Ivancic, and journalist, Marinko Culic, for allegedly
slandering and/or insulting the President in the 29 April
issue of the paper. The journalists could be imprisoned for
up to one year and six months respectively, in which case the
organization would consider them to be prisoners of
conscience.

      The human rights organization today called on the
Croatian President, Franjo Tudjman, to withdraw his consent
to the prosecution, which alleges that the journalists
defamed him, and to refer the relevant articles of the
criminal code to the Constitutional Court as first steps to
ensuring the protection of freedom of expression in Croatia.

      "The special legal protection against criticism enjoyed
by the President and other officials is completely at odds
with the international standards which Croatia has committed
itself to or wishes to adopt," Amnesty International said
today. "The charges against the Feral Tribune journalists
should be dropped and the law should be amended."

Amnesty International finds their prosecution particularly
disturbing in the light of the organization's other concerns
about reports of physical threats and attacks on independent
journalists, such as those on Goran Flauder last year and Edita
Vlahovic in January. As well as there is widespread concern about
other restrictions on the independent media such as the tax and
administrative measures used against the publications Novi List
and Panorama in recent weeks. It notes that in the past the
authorities have targeted Feral Tribune by arbitrarily mobilizing
Viktor Ivancic into the army and placing special taxes on its
sales.

Recent changes to the criminal code have reinforced the
special protection which the President and certain other
state officials receive in law by requiring the State
Prosecutor to initiate prosecutions for damaging their honour
or reputation, with the consent of the official concerned.

"Public officials who think they have been defamed can
resort to the same civil actions which are available to any
private citizen regardless of their status. This should be
sufficient," Amnesty International said.

"The European Court of Human Rights, whose rulings
Croatia will be bound by if it enters the Council of Europe,
has made it clear that in a democratic society the press play
a special role in being able to criticize public officials,"
the organization said .

BACKGROUND

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) which Croatia has ratified and is
bound by, as well as Article 10 of the European Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
(ECHR), which Croatia will be bound to sign upon its proposed
accession to the Council of Europe, both guarantee the right
to freedom of expression. The interpretations of both,
particularly that of the ECHR by the European Court of Human
Rights, make it clear that while states can impose certain
restrictions on freedom of expression for reasons such as
national security and other reasons which include respect for
the rights and reputations of others. These can only be
applied in strictly limited circumstances. Suppressing robust
criticism of government officials by the media is generally
not permitted.

Articles 71 ("slander") and 72 ("insult") of the
Croatian Criminal Law make it possible for any citizen,
regardless of his or her status or position, to initiate a
private law suit to protect his or her reputation. However
Article 77, which includes an obligation on the State
Prosecutor to prosecute critics of the President, Prime
Minister, Speaker of Parliament and other officials, clearly
places them at great advantage over private citizens and is
at odds with the aims of the ICCPR and the European
Convention on human Rights.

The indictment of the Feral Tribune journalists was
issued on 7 May. It accuses Marinko Culic of defaming
President Tudjman, in the 29 April edition, in an article
about the President's reported desire to convert the
Jasenovac memorial to Serbian and Jewish victims of the
Second World War quisling Ustasa regime to one for all
Croatian victims of the war, including Ustasa supporters who
were victims of the Communist regime which took control at
the end of the war. In the article, in which he also
commented on the President's desire to rebury President Tito
and the Ustasa leader Ante Pavelic in Croatia, the President
was allegedly accused of adopting the methods of the Spanish
dictator General Franco. Editor-in-chief Viktor Ivancic  is
accused of defaming the President in a photo-montage in the
satirical section of the same issue which showed the
President receiving a trophy from Ante Pavelic.

Other recent examples of pressure on independent
journalists and the independent media include a 2.5 million
US dollar bill for import duty imposed on the daily Novi List
and the closure of the weekly Panorama, allegedly because
official approval had not been received for health and safety
standards in the print room. Local and international
commentators have pointed out that both these measures
appeared to be arbitrary and politically motivated. Related
to the freedom of speech issue in Croatia may have been a
recent attack in the state-controlled daily Vjesnik on the
President of the Croatian Helsinki Committee, Ivan Zvonimir
Cicak, in which he was accused of having been an agent of the
Yugoslav security services since the 1960s. He has contested
the allegations and announced a private prosecution against
the Vjesnik editor under Article 71 of the criminal code.

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53 BLACK CHURCHES FIREBOMBED IN USA
by R. Perez

On May 8, 1996, the Center for Constitutional Rights hosted a
briefing on the Black church firebombings.  I attended,
representing the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights.

These attacks, which have received virtually no national media
coverage, are increasing in frequency, with 26 occurring since
1995 alone.  In some of the same areas where the attacks have
occurred, there have also been beatings of young Black men.  The
federal government and local police forces continue to discount
the possibility that these attacks could be racially-motivated or
related.

Ron Daniels, Executive Director of the CCR, put the bombings into
the context of the current climate in the U.S., a climate "that
allows for this type of thing to happen." Daniels reminded
participan ts that national politics is riding on racial code
words and a simultaneous denial that racism still exists in
America.

Rev. Mac Charles Jones, Associate for Racial Justice, National
Council of Churches, laid out the multi-pronged strategy his
group
has initiated.  First, he pointed out that the  attacks must be
called what they are:  "domestic terrorism, racism operative at
its ugliest level."  Every arrest related to the bombings has
involved white males, 16 to 45 years old, including members of
the
KKK and Ary an Nations.   Nevertheless, local and national
authorities refuse to acknowledge the racial nature of the
attacks.  In only one case (Alabama) was racial motivation
acknowledged.  In that city, there
was a Black judge and Black prosecutor dealing with the case.
The day of the sentencing, the judge's home was shotgunned.

Ten of the bombings occurred in Tennessee.  In one investigation,
according to Rev. Jones, two of the investigating officers had
been part of the Good O'Boys Roundup, an annual gathering of
state
and
 local law officers that featured heavy drinking and racist
activities (i.e., the sale of licenses to "hunt" black people and
masks in the likeness of Martin Luther King Jr. with a bullet
hole
in the
 face.)  USA Today (April 3, 1996) reported that The Good O' Boys
Roundup was "organized by Raymond Rightmyer, who was the Bureau
of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent in charge of the Knoxville,
Tenn. office...In 1995, a Black ATF agent and a Black police
officer attended the event, leading to a confrontation with white
officers who told them to leave."

Second, the National Council of Churches is working to ensure
that
the communities under attack do not remain isolated.  "Each
community must feel the power and strength of national support,"
he said.

Third, "we want to provide legal advice and support."

Fourth, "we are concerned that the government itself helps to
create the moral tone and the climate...we want clear statements
that this will not be permitted in this country."  On June 9 and
10, Rev
. Jones reported that representatives from 20 of the churches
will
be meeting with representatives from the Justice Dept.

Fifth, is the issue of money.  This kind of organizing effort
costs
-- IN ADDITION to the costs of rebuilding the churches.  A
special
fund has been created for advocacy and the rebuilding of the
churches themselves.

Randy Scott-MacLaughlin, Vice President and volunteer attorney at
the CCR, spoke about the legal strategies being explored.  In at
least 4 cases, he noted, there are clear connections between
individ uals involved in the bombings and organized hate groups.
The CCR is committed to recruiting and training lawyers in
litigation strategies that include conspiracy lawsuits against
hate groups.

Concerned people can help by donating money, volunteering for the
rebuilding brigades that are being organized, and getting the
message out so that people understand the seriousness of what is
going on.

For more information, to volunteer, or to commit your
organization, contact the Center for Constitutional Rights at 666
Broadway, 7th floor, New York, NY  10012, 212 614-6468.

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For those who have inquired:  We (Ray and Kim Goforth) spent
several years doing progressive political organizing work in
southern California.  We moved to Seattle, Washington, USA in
1988 where we took positions with different social service
agencies. In 1995, we both completed undergraduate degrees in
political-economy.  We are currently law students.  Kim's
area of interest is women's and children's advocacy.  Ray's is
sustainable development and human rights.

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