The People’s Case Against the City of Philadelphia, Mayor John Street, Police Chief Sylvester Johnson and the Philadelphia Police Officers responsible for the murder of Bryan Jones on 1/1/07, and 20 other Philadelphia residents in 2006.

A Political and Legal Briefing to the African People’s Advocate Omali Yeshitela and the People’s Judges Queen Mother Dorothy Lewis, Carla Harris and Redman Battle

Philadelphia Mayor John Street and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson are being held responsible by the African community in Philadelphia for the reign of terror imposed on the African community.

This terror manifests itself through the police occupation of the African community under Operation Safer Streets; the rising police murder rate which was higher in 2006 than in any other major U.S. city; the horizontal violence within the African community where 406 people (mostly Africans) lost their lives in 2006; the escalating State attacks against African students in the hostile Philadephia public schools; the loss of housing and destruction of long-existing communities, as well as increased homelessness through a City-sponsored program of gentrification and land-grabs that benefits white developers, universities and families.

Mayor Street and Commission Johnson are being held responsible for the reckless actions of the Philadelphia Police Department, who regularly shoot to kill when individuals are posing no threat to them, or are moving in the opposite direction from the police, and frequently murder people with mental disabilities. The police are never arrested or prosecuted for their crimes against African people. The City upholds the police “Code Blue” policy of silence, protecting each other from being held accountable for their crimes.

Therefore the Mayor and Police Commissioner have indeed sent a message to black people across the city stating loud and clear that our rights and feelings of security and well being are not their concern, despite the fact that they are black and were elected primarily by the majority black population in Philadelphia.

By means of policy and practice Mayor Street & Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson have both been complicit and equal participants in the ongoing genocidal war waged on the exploited and oppressed colonized Africans here in North America. We the oppressed, the daily victims and targets of this brutal war will never attain any real or meaningful justice through the American Judicial process.

We understand that the livelihood and prosperity of the domestically colonized African masses here in the U.S. will always be at risk as long as John Street and Sylvester Johnson continue to hold their place in office playing their role within this decadent system of governing. As long as this unjust structure and manner of governing continues to thrive, African people will consequently continue to lose their lives.

Therefore it is imperative that John Street and Sylvester Johnson be removed from their positions and tried for genocide amongst other crimes against humanity.

The Tribunal to be held in Philadelphia on March 17th, 2007, is a court that has been convened by the people for the purpose of expressing the need for self-governing institutions that represent our interests. Another goal of this Tribunal is to make it clear that the U. S. government and the City of Philadelphia are guilty of nothing less than the genocide of the domestically colonized Africans who are subject to its rule and grips of oppression.

This court functions in accordance with International Law and seeks to hold the U.S. government accountable for its past and present day crimes. The evidence to be submitted to the court will be reviewed within the definition of Genocide as defined by the United Nations.

According to Article Two of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Genocide is defined as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, by the means of:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Article Three states:
The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide.

In formulating a verdict, the Philadlephia Tribunal on Reparations to African People is asking the judges to consider the following questions:

1. Is the city government of Philadelphia through the actions of any of its employees, agents, or agencies guilty of the crime of genocide in their treatment of African people? Are the actions of the City of Philadelphia punishable under the Genocide Convention as has been determined by the guilty verdicts rendered at the 1982 World Tribunal on Reparations to African People?

2. Is the City government of Philadelphia guilty of crimes against humanity in its treatment of African people? Did the city government of Philadelphia effectively participate in crimes against humanity in its treatment of African people consistent with the guilty verdict at the 1982 World Tribunal on Reparations to African People in the U.S.?

3. Are Reparations due to the families of Bryan Jones, and all victims of police murder and abuse by the Philadelphia Police Department?

4. Are Reparations due to millions of Africans in Philadelphia for the imposition of poverty, poor health care, inadequate housing, homelessness, abuse against African students and police violence?