PROTESTS   (CONT)

had infiltrated a peace group, Peace Fresno, to collect information on members of the group. Peace Fresno has no history of violent protests that would endanger national security.

And on July 13, the Department of Justice charged the environmental organization Greenpeace with conspiracy to board a cargo vessel without the ship's permission and without other lawful authority before the vessel arrived at its destination. The second count under this prosecution charges Greenpeace with boarding the vessel before arrival. The maximum penalty for each count is a $10,000 fine, as well as a probation period that could reach 11 years. The cargo vessel was approximately three miles from the port of Miami.

Greenpeace activists have peacefully boarded ships throughout the world to protest illegal cargo or illegal fishing methods. They board, protest, then disembark to their own inflatable speedboats.

The protest that sparked this federal prosecution occurred back in April 2002. Two activists from Greenpeace climbed aboard a cargo ship to unfurl a banner protesting the ship's illegal cargo of mahogany wood from the Amazon. The banner simply read: "President Bush: Stop Illegal Logging." The activists were detained before they could unfurl the banner. It was an effort to prompt United States authorities to seize the ship's cargo.

However, the mahogany was never seized and the ship's captain was not detained for carrying illegal cargo. Instead, Greenpeace became the target of federal prosecutors.

The pattern is clear: The Bush administration wants to suppress civil disobedience and peaceful protest. The federal government has never criminally prosecuted an entire organization for the free speech activities of its supporters. It's an attack on the very core of the First Amendment.

One of the founding documents of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, is a forceful protest against the actions of King George III and the British government. Protest actions such as the Boston Tea Party, the civil rights movement and antiwar demonstrations have shown that active citizens have the ability to promote and secure democratic ideals.

Published on Thursday, November 6, 2003 by the International Herald Tribune

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