FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2009

Earth Liberation Front Press Office to President Obama: Release United States' Political Prisoners Before Expecting the Same From Cuba

Washington, D.C.: In response to President Obama's comments today calling on Cuba to release political prisoners as a step toward strengthening relations between the United States and Cuba, the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office (NAELFPO) encouraged President Obama to first release political prisoners in the United States before expecting other countries to follow suit. The President's comments came during the closing of the Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad & Tobago.

"It is genuinely hypocritical for the United States to condemn other nations for their treatment and holding of political prisoners, when the United States itself maintains significant numbers of political prisoners locked away in the U.S. criminal justice system," stated NAELFPO press officer Lisa Nesbitt. "The current administration cannot expect to promote justice abroad, while ignoring the many individuals on U.S. soil who are imprisoned because of their political beliefs and activities or the color of their skin."

Nesbitt listed the following examples of political prisoners currently serving sentences in the United States:

• The Cuban Five: Five Cuban men in U.S. prisons, serving four life sentences + 75 years collectively for allegedly "committing espionage conspiracy against the United States." The five had instead been monitoring Miami-based terrorist groups to prevent anti-Castro terrorist attacks on Cuba.

• Patrice Lumumba Ford: A U.S. citizen and son of a former Black Panther Party leader, who after traveling to China in an attempt to reach Afghanistan to volunteer with an aid group, was found guilty of "seditious conspiracy" and "levying war against American and Allied forces." He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

• Marie Mason: An environmental activist sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison for nonviolent property crimes.

• Eric McDavid: An environmental activist sentenced to 19 years in prison for "conspiring" to engage in nonviolent property crimes.

• Mumia Abu Jamal: A former Black Panther Party member, framed for the murder of a police officer in 1981, sentenced to death.

• Leonard Peltier: An American Indian Movement (AIM) activist and citizen of the Anishinabe and Lakota Nations, serving a life sentence after being framed for the murder of two FBI agents in 1975.

• Louis Harper: An African American man sentenced, because of his race, to 50 years in prison in 1990 for selling $20 worth of cocaine.

"These are just a few of the many political prisoners in the United States," Nesbitt continued. "While the United States continues to promote itself as a beacon of freedom and democracy, the illegality of political dissent in the United States continues to be a reality."

The North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office is a legal news agency representing the earth liberation movement. The NAELFPO reports on the covert direct actions taken by the Earth Liberation Front in defense of the planet. Targeting deforestation, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), urban sprawl, automobile and industry pollution, and other threats to the natural environment, the Earth Liberation Front uses nonviolent economic sabotage to compel industries and governments to reshape their environmentally destructive policies.

The NAELFPO can be found on the web at www.elfpressoffice.org

Contact:

North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office
Tel: (202) 521-1482
info-AT-elfpressoffice.org

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