Press Conference: 11:00 AM, Thursday, June 19
Mayor’s Office, City of Chicago, 5th Floor, City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St.

Community Forum: 7:00 PM, Thursday, June 19
Broadway United Methodist Church, 3344 N. Broadway, Chicago (wheelchair accessible).
Flyer 1: chicago.indymedia.org/media/all/display/29755/index.php
Flyer 2: chicago.indymedia.org/media/all/display/29754/index.php

CHICAGO – As Chicago bids against Rio, Tokyo and Madrid to become host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Amnesty International is set to mobilize 2.5 million activists worldwide June 19 to demand that city leaders meet international human rights standards by holding violent police officers accountable for the abuse of civilians and fixing a seriously flawed approach to police brutality. Amnesty International USA organizers, joined by survivors of police abuse, community organizations and police accountability advocates, will speak out at a press conference at City Hall to urge Mayor Richard Daley to investigate and hold violent officers accountable for recent alleged incidents of police abuse against gays and lesbians and to take meaningful steps to improve police accountability.

The press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. outside the mayor’s office on the 5th floor of City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. in downtown Chicago.

“Chicago is competing with Rio, Tokyo and Madrid to host the Olympics, but persistent cases of police abuse tarnish its international image and an otherwise progressive stance on gay and lesbian rights,” said Ariel Herrera, director of Amnesty International USA’s human rights program on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. “It is outrageous that Chicago is continually failing to investigate these crimes and that officers are abusing civilians with impunity. While making their case to host the Olympics, city leaders need to demonstrate that police will respect the human rights of residents and visitors alike, including members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.”

Following the press conference, Amnesty International and 15 sponsoring local organizations will gather Thursday evening at 7 p.m. for a community forum to discuss police abuse and jumpstart a new coalition to step up the pressure on city officials to take meaningful action to stop police impunity. (Broadway United Methodist Church, 3344 North Broadway)

Amnesty International is mobilizing its 2.5 million members worldwide to demand that Chicago enact police accountability measures that meet international human rights standards. Activists are organizing global petition drives, a letter-writing campaign to Mayor Daley,and email postings to the city tourism website.

The human rights organization wants Chicago to enact vigorous and independent investigations of complaints of police abuse; transparent investigations that guarantee the public’s right to know about the outcome of complaints; and an end to impunity for abusive officers, including the criminal prosecution of officers found guilty.
One of the scheduled speakers at the press conference will be Debra Sciortino, who reportedly was beaten by an off-duty Chicago police officer at the start of the 2007 Pride Parade, along with two other lesbians, Kelly Fuery and Nicole Tomaskovic. The women said other officers who arrived at the scene allegedly ignored their complaints of abuse and instead falsely charged them with battery. Their civil rights case is currently in federal court.

Amnesty International is concerned that these recent cases fit the pattern of abuse documented in its groundbreaking 2005 report, “Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People in the U.S.” The human rights organization found that even for serious cases of police abuse involving grave physical violence, officers are seldom held accountable.

Police brutality has long been a concern in Chicago and recent scandals -- including the exposure of police torture of African American suspects under former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and the indictments of six Special Operations Section officers on charges of corruption and brutality -- have only intensified public outrage. In another high-profile case, a federal jury awarded Coprez Coffie $4 million in a lawsuit against Chicago police. Coffie alleged that officers used a screwdriver to sodomize him during a drug arrest. No criminal charges were brought against the police.

Among the speakers at Thursday evening’s public forum will be police torture survivor Darryl Cannon, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years for a crime he denies having committed.

Sponsors of the June 19 actions include the following organizations:
American Civil Liberties Union-Illinois
Applied Research Center
Illinois Coalition for the Abolition of the Death Penalty
Justice Coalition of Greater Chicago
Citizen’s Alert
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Amigas Latinas
African American Police League
8th Day Center for Justice
Gay Liberation Network
National Association Against Racist and Political Repression
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Chicago Justice Project
Tamms Year Ten Campaign
University of Chicago Human Rights Program
Equality IL

Contact: Robert Schultz, Field Organizer, Amnesty International USA Midwest Regional Office, 312-435-6396, rschultz (at) aiusa.org;

For more information, please visit www.amnestyusa.org/accountability4CPD
To read AIUSA’s “Stonewalled” report, please go to: www.amnestyusa.org/outfront/stonewalled/report.pdf