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-- Robert J. S. Ross Professor and Chair of Sociology Clark University 950 Main Street Worcester, Massachusetts 01610 508 793 7243 fax: 508 793 8816 Rross@clarku.edu--------------4B6A2C54D8 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline
Return-path: <DROCHELEAU@clarku.edu> Received: from CLARKU.EDU by CLARKU.EDU (PMDF V5.1-8 #17161) id <01IIBB5I3J9A9X6BIZ@CLARKU.EDU>; Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:49:45 EST Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:49:43 -0500 (EST) From: drocheleau@clarku.edu Subject: Fw: South African child faces death row in Mississippi (fwd) To: dhandy <dhandy@clarku.edu>, jemel <jemel@clarku.edu>, rross <rross@clarku.edu>, rpeet <rpeet@clarku.edu>, cenloe <cenloe@clarku.edu> Message-id: <Pine.PMDF.3.95.970430104835.599917787C-100000@CLARKU.EDU> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Hi, please pass this on and act upon it if you haven't already done so. Many thanks, Dianne
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 09:48:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Luis Malaret <luis@nesc.org> To: Dianne Rocheleau <DRocheleau@clarku.edu> Subject: Fw: South African child faces death row in Mississippi (fwd)
FYI LL
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 17:37:02 Eastern Daylight Time From: Richard Schmitt <rschmitt@famtree.com> To: luis@nesc.org Subject: Fw: South African child faces death row in Mississippi
>>From owner-jmusselm_rpa@miagra.ucs.indiana.edu Mon Apr 28 14:59:28 1997 >From: "Tom Digby" <noguilt@CONKNET.COM> >To: "RPA List" <jmusselm_rpa@indiana.edu> >Subject: Fw: South African child faces death row in Mississippi >Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 14:44:35 -0400 >X-MSMail-Priority: Normal >Sender: owner-jmusselm_rpa@indiana.edu > > >> >> Subject: 10th Grade South African Child Faces Death Row in Mississippi >> >> >> >> NCADP "STOP KILLING KIDS!" ALERT: >> >> INTERNATIONAL ACTION NEEDED TO KEEP S. AFRICAN BOY OFF OF DEATH ROW >> >> PLEASE ACT NOW! >> >> PLEASE FORWARD! >> >> CASE BRIEF: >> >> After surviving some of Apartheid's most turbulent years, a South >> African child faces the death penalty in Mississippi for a crime in >> which he was little more than a bystander. >> >> Azikiwe Kambule came to the United States two years ago with his >> mother. Azi had no trouble adjusting academically; he received >> excellent grades, was placed in honors classes and joined the school >> choir. Yet, Azi found himself under immense social pressure--he didn't >> look, speak or dress like other children in his neighborhood. >> >> Azi wanted to "fit in" with his peers, and not be the subject of their >> ridicule. He met and started spending time with youth who were older >> and very street-wise. When Azi's grades began to drop, his parents >> began to worry that his new friends were the wrong crowd. >> >> Fearing the worst, they decided to scrape together the funds to send >> Azi to a boarding school. Tragically, it was already too late. >> >> One evening, Azi found himself in the middle of a car-jacking in which >> a young African-American woman was killed. Azi himself was so far away >> from the crime scene that he did not hear the gunshots. When arrested, >> he was the only one to cooperate with the police. He fully explained >> the terrible series of events and tried repeatedly to help the >> authorities in their investigation. >> >> Despite having no criminal record, no history of violence, being >> merely a bystander and providing his full cooperation, Azi has been >> charged as an accomplice to capital murder. Mississippi is seeking the >> death penalty against Azi, a child in the tenth grade. >> >> The situation in which Azi finds himself speaks volumes about the use >> of the death penalty against children. During this decade, only five >> nations in the world are known to have executed persons for crimes >> they committed when under 18-years-old. Those countries are Iran, >> Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia . . . and the United States. Of these >> five, America has executed the most. >> >> A condemned child in the United States also tends to be of darker hue >> -- 66% of those persons sentenced to death as children have been from >> racial minorities. >> >> And nowhere is the international rule of law more clear than the >> prohibition on the use of the death penalty against children. The >> International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the United >> States has ratified, clearly states that the "sentence of death shall >> not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below the age of >> eighteen." >> >> Indeed, every major human rights treaty in the world has the same >> express wording. >> >> Azi sits today in a Mississippi jail cell, with his life hanging in >> the balance. The District Attorney wishes to seal Azi's fate, and is >> quoted in the local newspaper as saying that because the "jurors in >> [predominantly black] Hinds County have a reputation for refusing to >> vote for the death penalty," he moved Azi's trial to a predominantly >> white county where the outcome would be more certain, if not >> predictable. >> >> Azi is a child who has suffered from human rights abuses throughout >> his brief life -- first in South Africa, and now in the United States. >> Yet, the errors in his childhood should not prove fatal. He deserves >> our passion--not poison. Please join the National Coalition to Abolish >> the Death Penalty in our efforts to save Azi's life. >> >> 4 THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO HELP SAVE AZI: >> >> 1) FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND PRESS CONTACTS~ >> 2) WRITE THE D.A.: >>>---Azi is a South African child who has no >> history of violence or prior run-ins with the law; was so far away >> from the murder that he did not even hear the gun shots; and has fully >> cooperated with the police. There is no reason why DA Kitchens should >> be seeking to kill him or put him behind bars for the rest of his >> life! >> >> -----JAMES KITCHENS, ESQ. / MADISON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY/P.O. BOX >> 121/ CANTON, MS 39046/ (601) 859-8880-fax /(601) 859-7838-phone. >> >> 3)MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD: >> Please contact the following news organizations: >> --Clarion-Ledger Newspaper >> letters@jackson.gannett.com >> >> --WLBT T.V. News >> WLBT@teclink.com >> >> --Jackson Advocate Newspaper (Black owned & operated) >> 300 N.Farish Street >> Jackson,MS 39202 >> 1(601) 948-4125--fax >> >> IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION OR ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING TO >> RAISE MONEY FOR AZI'S DEFENSE PLEASE CONTACT THE NCADP AT >> >> "NCADP1@aol.com" or >> 1-800-347-2411, ext.5 >> >> NOTE: The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) was >> founded in 1976. Our affiliates include several large civil rights, >> religious and political organizations, and over 100 state and local >> anti-death penalty groups. We are located at 918 F.Street, NW >> Washington, DC 20024. Our phone number is 1(202) 347-2411. >> Our e-mail address in "NCADP1@AOL.COM." >> >> **********From the Desk of Paula D. Marshall*********** >> >> University of Iowa, College of Law >> Be the job large or small, do it right or not at all. >> >> Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.,~ >> Lambda Xi Chapter, University of California, Davis >> >> Friendship Is Essential To The Soul >> %UEND > > ************************************************************************ Richard Schmitt 65 Tory Fort Lane Department of Philosophy Worcester, MA 01602 Brown Unviversity 508-757-0814 Providence, RI 02918 Fax: 753-7846 401-863-2718 *************************************************************************
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