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Re: United Methodist Daily News note 3300

From owner-umethnews@ecunet.org
Date 02 Jan 1997 11:37:30

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3354 notes).

Note 3354 by UMNS on Jan. 2, 1997 at 09:33 Eastern (4366 characters).

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<H3>Delegation urges Clinton to release
political prisoners from Puerto Rico</H3><P>

CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker (Release #642) (615) 742-5470   Dec. 23, 1996

<P>
by Shanta M. Bryant*<P>

     WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- At a vigil outside the White House
immediately following a meeting with President Bill Clinton,
Puerto Rico's United Methodist bishop said on Dec. 20 that he is
cautiously optimistic that the president will grant amnesty to 15
Puerto Rican political prisoners, who have been languishing in
U.S. jails since the 1980s.<P>
     Bishop Victor Bonilla, who was a member of an 18-member
delegation, comprising mostly Puerto Ricans from the religious,
political and educational communities and the prisoners' family
members, asked Clinton to release the "prisoners of conscience"
for the holiday season.<P>
     "We told Clinton that the Puerto Rican issue is a justice
issue and to have mercy for people who have committed no crime
other than fighting for the liberation of Puerto Rico," Bonilla
said.<P>
     The delegation presented 75,000 petitions to the White House
staff on behalf of 10 men and five women who have been held in
federal prisons in nine states. The average jail sentence of the
prisoners is 64 years, which is approximately six times longer
than the average time served by convicted murderers.<P>
     The political prisoners were convicted in U.S. courts of
conspiracy charges that ranged from speaking out against U.S.
colonialism in Puerto Rico to involvement in armed acts, including
the bombings of government, corporate and military sites, which
did not result in the loss of human lives.<P>
     The U.S. Department of Justice will have to review the cases
prior to the president's decision to release the prisoners. "We
feel that we are blessed that Clinton has been sensitive to the
Puerto Rican issue -- more than any other president," said
Bonilla.<P>
     Luis Nieves Falcon, coordinator of the campaign for political
prisoners' release and a member of the White House delegation,
said the campaign previously had tried to contact U.S. presidents,
but did not receive any response. "At least now the channels of
communication will be kept open and we gave all the necessary
information for [Clinton] to take an objective position."<P>
     The 1996 United Methodist General Conference called for the
General Conference secretary to write President Clinton asking him
to pardon the political prisoners, "because they have more than
sufficiently served their sentence.".<P>
     Bishop Bonilla, United Methodist Bishops Charlene Kammerer,
Charlotte Area, Melvin G. Talbert, San Francisco Area, and William
Boyd Grove, the denomination's ecumenical officer, signed a mid-
December "open letter" with religious leaders from various
denominations, calling for Clinton to grant an executive pardon to
the political prisoners. Human rights leaders worldwide, including
Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Capetown, South Africa, and 11
other Nobel laureates also appealed to Clinton in another open
letter published in the Dec. 20 Washington Post.<P>
     "The political prisoners, because of their political
dissension, have been persecuted like Jesus, who was also a
political prisoner," said the Rev. Juan Vera, a Methodist district
superintendent in Puerto Rico, who also met with Clinton.<P>
     The Rev. Jose Torres, a family member of two political
prisoners, felt that it was an injustice for his wife and son, who
were both charged with conspiracy, to be tried and convicted in
the United States because of the biased legal interpretation of
U.S. courts toward the Puerto Rican independence movement.  "We
are not from the U.S. This is not our country," said Torres, a
United Congregational church pastor.<P>
     Alehandrina Torres, his wife, has been imprisoned for 13
years, and expected to be released in 2004. The son, Carlos
Alberto Torres, who has served almost 17 years, was sentenced to
78 years. "I have great hope that they will come home soon -- at
least in 1998, " Torres said, "but if they came home during
Christmas that would be a good present for me."<P>
                            <CENTER>  #  #  #</CENTER>

     * Bryant is the program director for communications and an
associate editor of Christian Social Action for the United
Methodist Board of Church and Society.
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