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Oscar López Rivera

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Oscar López Rivera
Oscar López Rivera
Born
Oscar López Rivera

(1943-01-06) 6 January 1943 (age 81)
San Sebastián, Puerto Rico
Known forLongest-incarcerated advocate for Puerto Rico's independence
Criminal charge(s)Seditious conspiracy,[1] weapons violations,[2] conspirancy to transport explosives[2]
Criminal penaltyPrison for 70 years
Criminal statusIncarcerated by the U.S. Government
AwardsBronze Star
Co-founder of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now (the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School)
Co-founder of the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
Former community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago.
Co-founder of FREE, a half-way house for convicted drug addicts, and ALAS, an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois.
Notes
Has been incarcerated for 43 years, 5 months and 8 days

Template:Spanish name Oscar López Rivera is a Puerto Rican Nationalist who was convicted and sentenced to 70 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms and ammunition to aid in the commission of a felony, and interstate transportation of stolen vehicles.[2] He was among the 16 Puerto Rican nationalists offered conditional clemency by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1999, but he rejected the offer. His sister, Zenaida López, said he refused the offer because on parole, he would be in "prison outside prison."[2][3] Congressman Pedro Pierluisi, has stated that "the primary reason that López Rivera did not accept the clemency offer extended to him in 1999 was because it had not also been extended to fellow independence prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres (who was subsequently released from prison in July 2010)."[4]

The president's offer was strongly opposed by Republicans and law enforcement agencies.[5] President Clinton defended his clemency decision stating that López Rivera was never convicted of crimes that resulted in deaths or injuries.[6] López Rivera was never convicted of any act of violence.[7][8][9][10][11]

López Rivera is said to be "among the longest held political prisoners in the history of Puerto Rico and in the world."[12] He has been jailed for 43 years, 5 months and 8 days.[13]

On 29 May 2013, on the 32nd anniversary of his continuous incarceration, high-ranking officials, former prison personnel, singers, actors, Major League baseball players, and hundreds of other volunteers participated in mock-up prison cells events throughout Puerto Rico "crying out" for the release of López Rivera from the American prison system.[14] Several U.S. Congressmen have shown their support his release from prison, with a few contacting President Obama asking for his release.[11][15][16][17][18]

Early years and personal life

Oscar López Rivera was born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico,[19][20][21] on 6 January 1943. His family moved to the U.S. when he was nine years old. At the age of 14, he moved to Chicago to live with a sister. At age 18 he was drafted into the army and served in Vietnam and awarded the Bronze Star. When he returned to Illinois from the war in 1967, he found that drugs, unemployment, housing, health care and education in the Puerto Rican community had reached dire levels and set to work in community organizations to improve the quality of life for his people.[22]

He was a well-respected community activist and an independence leader for many years prior to his arrest.[23] Oscar worked in the creation of both the Puerto Rican High School and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was also involved in the struggle for bilingual education in public schools and to force universities to actively recruit Latino students, staff, and faculty. He worked on ending discrimination in public utilities like Illinois Bell, People's Gas, and Commonwealth Edison.[22]

Oscar was one of the founders of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, a half-way house for convicted drug addicts, and ALAS, an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois.[24]

Criminal Convictions

The U.S. Government describes López Rivera as one of the leaders of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), a Puerto Rican Nationalist group linked to more than 100 bombings and five deaths in the 1970s. López Rivera will neither confirm nor deny his affiliation with the FALN and disowns any personal involvement in the bombing deaths.[25]

At his trial 1980–81, López and the other Chicago-based FALN defendants were not tied to specific bombings.

Declaring his status as a prisoner of war, he refused to participate in the proceedings.[25]

While López Rivera does not deny or confirm his affiliation with the FALN, he disowns any personal involvement in the bombing deaths. The authorities have never been able to convict anyone for the most prominent bombing for which the FALN took responsibility , the Fraunces Tavern bombing in 1975.[26]

Human rights violations

There were reports of human rights violations against the FALN prisoners.[22][27] The prisoners were placed in prisons far from their families, some were sexually assaulted by prison personnel, some were denied adequate medical attention, and others were kept in isolated underground prison cells for no reason. Amnesty International and the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Administration of Justice both criticized the conditions. The conditions were found to be in violation of the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.[22] A federal judge also addressed his concerns in the case of Baraldine vs. Meese.

In 1988, he was convicted of conspiracy to escape and given an additional 15 years.[23] After spending twelve years in maximum security prisons in Marion, Illinois and Florence, Colorado, under conditions described as oppressive,[22] in 1998,[28][failed verification] he was transferred to the general prison population at the federal correctional facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he remains today. In 2006, a special committee of the United Nations called for the release of the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners in United States prisons.[29]

Political prisoner

At the time of their arrest López Rivera and the others declared themselves to be combatants in an anti-colonial war against the United States to liberate Puerto Rico from U.S. domination and invoked prisoner of war status.[30] They argued that the U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction to try them as criminals and petitioned for their cases to be handed over to an international court that would determine their status. The U.S. Government, however, did not recognize their request.[22][31]

By the mid 1990s, the average time actually served in prison by those convicted in federal court of violent felonies was just above four years;11 by the late 1990s, for federal convictions of murder/manslaughter the average time served was 10.8 years. Oscar’s imprisonment for more than 32 years in prison gives him the unique and unenviable distinction of being the longest held Puerto Rican political prisoner in the history of the nation’s independence movement.[32]

According to president Bill Clinton, the sentences received by López Rivera and the other Nationalists were judged to be "out of proportion to the nationalists' offenses."[2] U.S. Government statistics showed their sentences were almost 20 times greater than sentences for similar offenses by the American population at large.[22][33]

For many years, numerous national and international organizations criticized López Rivera' incarceration categorizing it as political imprisonment.[10][34] On 7 June 2012, Puerto Rican activist Tito Kayak started a two-leg lone high seas voyage from Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Washington, D.C., to protest the U.S. incarceration of Puerto Rican political prisoner López Rivera.[35][36] López Rivera is said to be "among the longest held political prisoners in the history of Puerto Rico and in the world."[12] He has been jailed for 43 years, 5 months and 8 days.[13]

Cases involving the release of other Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners have been categorized as cases of political prisoners, with some[29][37][38][39] being more vocal than others.[40][41][42]

Supporters of López Rivera have accused the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons of isolating López Rivera on the basis of his political beliefs.[43] Twelve of his 32 years in prison, López Rivera has been held in solitary confinement in maximum security prisons in the United States.[25] According to People's Law Office, in 2011, "the FBI actively intervened to prevent his release on parole, hijacking the hearing by anti-terrorist fear-mongering in order to influence an adverse decision, all the while attempting to humiliate Oscar."[32] López's reconsideration hearing for parole is scheduled for 26 June 2023 when Oscar will be 83 years old.[32]

Recent events

In an "ingenious manifestation of solidarity" to demand the release of López Rivera, "numerous volunteers" participated in a 24-hour demonstration where they remained confined to 6 ft x 9 ft mock-up prison cells intended to represent López Rivera's current cell size in Terre Haute, Indiana. The demonstrations took place on 29 May 2013 at the central squares of Puerto Rico's four largest cities, San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, and Arecibo.[44][45] Some of the volunteers included politicians, like María de Lourdes Santiago, a Puerto Rican senator,[46] musicians, like Tito Auger,[46] and actors, like Ángela Meyer.[46]

Others entering the mock-up cells were pro-Statehood party Ponce mayor María Meléndez, writer Mayra Montero, San Juan pro-Commonwealth party mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, former Puerto Rico governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, and former Major Leagues baseball player Carlos Delgado.[47]

On the same day, hundreds of activists, including pop star Ricky Martin, asked for his release from prison.[48][49] The governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, also joined the call for López Rivera's release, communicating his request by letter to President Barack Obama.[47] His release is also supported by Congressmen Luis Gutiérrez and José E. Serrano, as well as by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. In 2010, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi also requested his release.[50] Recently, in March 2014 the Mexican pop singer Cristian Castro joined the international claim for Oscar López Rivera release.[51]

A group of young students and workers in Spain joined the international claim for the release of Oscar López Rivera. From 28 February 2014 until 1 April 2014 the "Comite 33 días por la excarcelación de Oscar" informed the population resident in Spain about the violation of human rights that the U.S. government has committed against López Rivera. In addition, they collected signatures to ask U.S. President Barack H. Obama to grant him a presidential pardon.[52] On April 1 they summoned to use Twitter to demand for the release of Oscar. Over 25,000 tweets[53] were sent mainly to the accounts of @ BarackObama and @ WhiteHouse.[54] At the beginning of the day #freeOscarLopez was already trending topic in his native Puerto Rico.[55]

The 12 convicted prisoners

On 11 August 1999, President Bill Clinton extended an offer of clemency to 14 of the Puerto Rican political prisoners convicted on 18 February 1981. López Rivera refused the clemency offer.[5] Twelve accepted the offers and were subsequently released.[56] The twelve were:

  • Book Review: Puerto Rican Independentista Oscar López Rivera’s 32 Years of Resistance to Torture. Written by Hans Bennett.
  • "Figuras públicas continúan encarcelándose por Oscar López Rivera" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Dia. 29 May 2013. - Contains the partial, list of prominent figures who were "jailed" for López Rivera.

References

  1. ^ Rep. Gutierrez: "It's Time" to Release Oscar López Rivera.
  2. ^ a b c d e Broder, John M. (8 November 1999). "12 Imprisoned Puerto Ricans Accept Clemency Conditions". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  3. ^ Charles Babington (11 September 1999). "Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed From Prison". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  4. ^ Letter from Congressman Pedro L. Pierluisi to President Barack Obama. Pedro L. Perluisi. U.S. House of Representatives. 21 February 2013. Page 3. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  5. ^ a b Política y Derechos Humanos en el Mundo/ Politics and Human Rights in the World: 12 Puerto Rico Dissidents OK Deal – Puerto Rico prisoners accept clemency. Tlahui-Politic. No. 8, II/1999. TLAHUI. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  6. ^ Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed From Prison. Charles Babington. Washington Post. 11 September 1999. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  7. ^ Arecibo clamó por la libertad de Oscar. Gerardo G. Otero Ríos. Primera Hora. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  8. ^ Free Oscar Lopez Rivera. Camaradas El Barrio. 2014.
  9. ^ Free Oscar Lopez Rivera. National Boricua Human Rights Network. 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Eleven Puerto Rican Nationalists Freed from Prison". Washington: CNN. 19 September 1999.
  11. ^ a b Brooklyn Group Rallies for Release of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner. Jeanine Ramirez. NY1 Warner Cable News. 25 February 2014.
  12. ^ a b “Oscar López Rivera, Entre la Tortura y la Resistencia”, by Luis Nieves Falcón. "Repeating Islands: News and commentary on Caribbean culture, literature, and the arts." 2 December 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  13. ^ a b Puerto Rico: Free Oscar López Rivera! Steven Katsineris. Green Left Weekly. Issue 879. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  14. ^ Claman por la liberación de Oscar López Rivera. Primera Hora. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  15. ^ Grayson Letter Requesting Release of Oscar López-Rivera. Congressman Alan Grayson. 3 January 2004.
  16. ^ Letter to President Obama Regarding Oscar López Rivera. Congressman Pedro Pierluisi. 21 February 2013.
  17. ^ Serrano Sends Letter in Support of the Release of Oscar Lopez Rivera. Congressman Jose E. Serrano. 22 Novemeber 2013.
  18. ^ Rep. Gutierrez: "It's Time" to Release Oscar López Rivera. John Dankosky. NPR News. 14 Novemeber 2013.
  19. ^ Resolution 51: Resolution in Support of the Release of Oscar Lopez Rivera
  20. ^ Oscar López: listo para lo que venga: “Vivo orgulloso de ser puertorriqueño”
  21. ^ OLR Biography
  22. ^ a b c d e f g [1] ProLIBERTAD. ProLIBERTAD Campaign for the Freedom of Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War: Arm the Spirit 30 October 1995
  23. ^ a b James, Joy (2007). Warfare in the American Homeland: Policing and Prison in a Penal Democracy. Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-3923-4, p. 159
  24. ^ Rosales, Francisco (2006). Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History. Arte Publico Press, ISBN 1-55885-347-2, p. 159
  25. ^ a b c http://www.westword.com/1995-07-12/news/end-of-the-line/ Prendergast, Alan. End of the line. Denver Westword, 12 July 1995. Retrieved on 21 November 2008
  26. ^ Terrorism on American Soil: A Concise History of Plots and Perpetrators, by Joseph T. McCann, page 119.
  27. ^ Rivera Vargas, Daniel (29 May 2013) Denuncian "torturas" a las que someten a Oscar López. Primera Hora.
  28. ^ http://www.boricuahumanrights.org
  29. ^ a b United Nations General Assembly. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self-determination Process: Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro-Independence Leader’s Killing, Human Rights Abuses; Calls for Clean-up, Decontamination of Vieques. June 12, 2006. (GA/COL/3138/Rev.1*). Department of Public Information, News and Media Division, New York. Special Committee on Decolonization, 8th & 9th Meetings. (Issued on 13 June 2006.)
  30. ^ Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and the positions of the United Church of Christ, the United Nations, and other bodies calling for their release. United Church of Christ. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  31. ^ Torres, Andrés and Velázquez, José Emiliano (1998). The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Temple University Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-56639-618-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ a b c The Case of Oscar Lopez Rivera | People's Law Office. Peopleslawoffice.com. 31 December 2012.
  33. ^ Torres, Andrés and Velázquez, José Emiliano (1998). The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Temple University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-56639-618-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ Peoples Law Office. ''Puerto Rico.''. Peopleslawoffice.com (10 September 2009). Retrieved on 15 March 2014.
  35. ^ Tito Kayak vuelve a enfrentar problemas en el mar. Noticel. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  36. ^ Travesia a remo por la libertad y la paz: Desde Ciudad Bolivar hasta Puerto Rico en solaridad con el preso politico mas antiguo: Oscar López Rivera. CCS. (via Cyber News) Bolivar, Venezuela. Issue 1002. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012. Originally by Brenda Peña López of El Nuevo Dia, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
  37. ^ Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, City University of New York. Guide to the Ruth M. Reynolds Papers: Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. August 1991 and December 2003. Updated 2005. Reviews Puerto Rico – U.S. relations, including cases of Puerto Rican political prisoners.
  38. ^ Vito Marcantonio, U.S. Congressman. In his August 5, 1939, speech before Congress titled Five Years of Tyranny. (Recorded in the Congressional Record. August 14, 1939.) In the words of Congressman Marcantonio, "There is no place in America for political prisoners.... When we ask ourselves, 'Can it happen here?' the Puerto Rican people can answer, 'It has happened in Puerto Rico.' as he spoke about the treatment of Puerto Rican Nationalist and U.S. prisoner Pedro Albizu Campos. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  39. ^ "Puerto Rican community celebrates release of political prisoner" Chicago Sun-Times. Report states, "Chicago's Puerto Rican community celebrates the release of political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres...."
  40. ^ "Puerto Rican Nationalist Sentenced to 7 Years for 1983 Wells Fargo Robbery in Conn." Fox News Network. 26 May 2010
  41. ^ "Carlos Alberto Torres, Puerto Rican Nationalist Imprisoned In Illinois For 30 Years, Returns Home To Puerto Rico" The Huffington Post 28 July 2010
  42. ^ Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican Nationalist, Dies at 90" by Douglas Martin. The New York Times 3 August 2010
  43. ^ "The Circle Game" Prendergast, Alan. The Denver Westworld. Retrieved 11 December 2008
  44. ^ Crean cárcel para libertad de Oscar López. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 31. Issue 1537. Page 12. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  45. ^ Oscar López Rivera une a Pedro Julio Serrano y César Vázquez. El Nuevo Dia. 29 May 2013. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. 29 May 2013.
  46. ^ a b c Tito Auger ameniza manifestación a favor de Oscar López en Caguas. Primera Hora. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  47. ^ a b Gobernador se une petición de excarcelación de Oscar López Rivera. Primera Hora. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  48. ^ Puerto Ricans Urge Release of Nationalist Prisoner. Danica Coto. Associated Press. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 30 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  49. ^ René Pérez se encierra por Oscar López: Se unió a los reclamos por la liberación del prisionero político puertorriqueño que lleva 32 años encarcelado en los Estados Unidos. Gerardo Cordero. Primera Hora. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  50. ^ Figuras públicas continúan encarcelándose por Oscar López Rivera: Abogan por la liberación del preso político durante manifestación de 24 horas. El Nuevo Dia. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  51. ^ Cristian Castro se une al pedido de excarcelación de Oscar López | El Vocero de Puerto Rico. Elvocero.com. 12 March 2014.
  52. ^ Boricuas en la Madre Patria inician jornada por la liberación de Oscar. CyberNews. Noticel. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  53. ^ http://www.pinterest.com/pin/113715959316048880/
  54. ^ http://www.noticel.com/noticia/158157/jornada-tuitera-para-exigir-a-obama-la-excarcelacion-de-oscar-lopez.html
  55. ^ http://www.telemundoatlanta.com/1829_nacional/2480721_campana-por-la-liberacion-de-oscar-lopez-es-trending-topic-en-puerto-rico.html
  56. ^ PrisonActivist.org Prison Activist Resource Center. Oakland, California. Retrieved 8 December 2010.[dead link]
  57. ^ Hundreds Greet Nationalist Freed After 19 Years In Prison. Laura Rivera Melendez, Associated Press. 25 January 2004. Puerto Rico Herald. Retrieved 27 December 2011.

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