Feb. 18 Trial for Tenant Organizer/ Anti-Corporate Globalization Activist Camilo Viveiros

In Defense of Camilo Viveiros Jr.

Camilo Viveiros, a tenant organizer for the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD
Tenants in southeastern Mass., was arrested along with over 400 other
protesters in Philadelphia in August 2000 during the Republican National
Convention. People had come to demonstrate against police brutality, the
increase in construction of jails rather than schools, in favor of affordable
housing, healthcare and immigrants rights and many other issues. They were
faced, however, with repression, surveillance and brutality by the police in
what civil liberties lawyers say was one of the largest violations of First Amendment rights since the Vietnam War.

In the two years since the Republican Convention protest, of the 400+ arrested,
95% have had their cases either dismissed for lack of evidence or have been
acquitted. As these cases evaporated in court, a series of investigative
reports revealed how far police powers and the judiciary were abused to stifle
democratic dissent. Police deployed such tactics as surveillance, infiltration
of groups, and mass arrests. Key leaders were singled out and detained to keep
them off the streets. Authorities in their vindictiveness, went so far as to confiscate and destroy hundreds of puppets to ensure that the Republican delegates went their way blissfully
unaware of the dissent expressed outside the convention halls.

In a prevalent police cover up tactic, some protesters who were attacked by the
police where actually charged with aggravated assault. Camilo was beaten by the
police and received a concussion, then he was charged with attacking police.

Camilo is caught in the very system he was protesting for its inhumanity and
brutality. He still faces severe charges. We need to work together to make sure
does not stand alone, after he has struggled to stand up for our communities
and social justice.

Camilo's trial is set for February 18th. It is the prosecutor's final attempt
to try to claim "violent" protesters validate the city's misdeeds and wasted
resources. For those who know Camilo and the behavior of Philadelphia's Police
during the RNC the charges against Camilo are clearly fabricated. He remains
charged with first-degree felony claimed by then-police commissioner John
Timoney, a charge that carries the same potential sentence as homicide. If
convicted, Camilo could face 15-40 years in prison!

The former police commissioner of Philadelphia John Timoney has advanced his
career from the role he has played in government repression of activists. He
gained national notoriety by repeating his fictionalized account of fighting
protesters in Philadelphia. He has since been retained to consult for security
for the upcoming Democratic convention in Boston. He was recently appointed the
police commissioner for the City of Miami, under his promise to squelch
upcoming protests at the international convention of the Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA).

In the post September 11 climate of increased government surveillance and
repression, Timoney is even more invested in portraying protesters as dangerous
to increase the need for his services. Much of the pre-September 11 public
awareness of police misconduct and brutality has diminished with the increased
portrayal of police as protectors and heroes. Timoney has powerful ties to
former Pennsylvania Governor Ridge, now the Director of Department of Homeland
Security, and the Bush Administration. With dangerous national trends that are
reducing civil liberties and John Timoney's special role in repression it is
important that we work to keep Camilo free and stop the building up of
repressive government forces that will be used against social justice activists
and people of color.

This is not simply a case of injustice against one individual. Camilo's case
threatens our right to use public protest and nonviolent civil disobedience as
a way to speak up against injustice. The push for Camilo's unjust conviction is
an effort to legitimize the repression of our movements for justice.

We need to support Camilo to fight increased government repression and defend
civil liberties.

STEPS YOU CAN TAKE:
1. Write a letter in support of Camilo. Send two copies of your letter, one
addressed to the "Honorable Judge Hughes", one addressed to "To Whom it May
Concern", to the following address:
Friends of Camilo
P.O. Box 23169
Providence, RI 02903
Email stay...@hotmail.com for more information or assistance.
In your letter, try to address the following points:
[If possible write your letter on organizational letterhead and state your
group's members.]
* Briefly state your concerns regarding the continued prosecution of Camilo.
* Explain why it would be a shame to deprive the community of the valuable
work Camilo does. E.g. Taking him away from his work would be a crisis for the
tenants he works with and would add that much more insecurity to those who are
most oppressed.
* State your awareness of the political nature of the arrest and your
understanding that it is meant to discourage others from exercising their
rights to free speech and using civil disobedience as a strategy for social
change
* If you know Camilo, attest to his character.

2) Contact associates or organizational affiliates and urge them to write
letters as well, particularly those in Philadelphia, to help build pressure
where it is needed most.

3) Publicize information about Camilo's case in your internal publications,
like newsletters, mailings, or web site.

4) Download a flyer from www.friendsofcamilo.org and distribute it.

5) Attend events in your area. (There will also be a rally and solidarity
events in Philadelphia during Camilo's trial) Events are listed on the website.

6) If you are willing to participate in more, e.g.make phone calls, attend the
trial or a press conference, etc., contact us:
In Boston - cami...@yahoo.com
In Philly - Clarissa @ 215.748.1887 or clar...@critpath.org
In Providence - Beth @ 401.270.5223 or soni...@yahoo.com

SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF CAMILO's WORK
Camilo has devoted his life to helping others, especially those in impoverished
communities and the sick and elderly, from volunteer work in high school as a
caregiver, to his most recent 5 years as a tenant organizer in southeastern
Mass.

Those who have met him can testify to his soft-spoken and gentle manner, and he
is much respected, admired, and loved by his fellow organizers and the many
lives he has touched. Camilo has been involved in direct service, advocacy and
community organizing. As a teenager and student he: volunteered on a suicide
hotline; worked in group homes with developmentally disabled adults; worked in
the local rape crisis center; co-founded the Progressive Student Alliance (to
increase financial aid funding and preserve programs to support immigrant and
first-generation students); he worked with the national organization Empty The
Shelters (Fill the Homes), which helped students and youth contribute to the
efforts of welfare rights organizations and unions of the homeless; Camilo has
helped to mobilize a mostly Cambodian neighborhood in Fall River,
Massachusetts, to pressure the city to shut down a toxic incinerator; he went
to Canada to stop the creation of a Hydro Quebec dam on Innu land; co-founded
Homes not Jails in Boston. His dedication to social justice is evident by the
variety of community organizations and the diversity of issues he has worked
on. Camilo has been committed to the use of civil disobedience for years,
believing that the power of the people lay in passionate activists successfully
building the support of ordinary people.