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>>> Civil Liberties Under Threat <<<
by
Brian Glick
Part One
INTRODUCTION
Activists across the country report increasing government harassment
and disruption of their work:
-In the Southwest, paid informers infiltrate the church services, Bible
classes and support networks of clergy and lay workers giving
sanctuary to refugees from El Salvador and Guatamala.
-In Alabama, elderly Black people attempting for the first time
to exercise their right to vote are interrogated by FBI agents and
hauled before federal grand juries hundreds of miles from their
homes.
-In New England, a former CIA case officer cites examples from
his own past work to warn college students of efforts by
undercover operatives to misdirect and discredit protests against
South African and US racism.
-In the San Francisco Bay Area, activists planning anti-nuclear
civil disobedience learn that their meetings have been infiltrated by
the US Navy.
-In Detroit, Seattle, and Philadelphia, in Cambridge, MA,
Berkeley,CA., Phoenix, AR., and Washington, DC., churches and
organizations opposing US policies in Central America report
obviously political break-ins in which important papers are stolen
or damaged, while money and valuables are left untouched. License
plates on a car spotted fleeing one such office have been traced
to the US National Security Agency.
-In Puerto Rico, Texas and Massachusetts, labor leaders,
community organizers, writers and editors who advocate Puerto
Rican independence are branded by the FBI as "terrorists,"
brutally rounded-up in the middle of the night, held incommunicado
for days and then jailed under new preventive detention laws.
-The FBI puts the same "terrorist" label on opponents of US
intervention in El Salvador, but refuses to investigate the
possibility of a political conspiracy behind nation-wide bombings
of abortion clinics.
-Throughout the country, people attempting to see Nicaragua for
themselves find their trips disrupted, their private papers
confiscated, and their homes and offices plagued by FBI agents
who demand detailed personal and political information.
These kinds of government tactics violate our fundamental
constitutional rights. They make it enormously difficult to
sustain grass-roots organizing. They create an atmosphere of fear
and distrust which undermines any effort to challenge official
policy.
Similar measures were used in the 1960s as part of a secret
FBI program known as "COINTELPRO." COINTELPRO was later exposed
and officially ended. But the evidence shows that it actually
persisted and that clandestine operations to discredit and
disrupt opposition movements have become an institutional feature
of national and local government in the US. This pamphlet is
designed to help current and future activists learn from the
history of COINTELPRO, so that our movements can better withstand
such attack.
The first section gives a brief overview of what we know the FBI
did in the 60s. It explains why we can expect similar government
intervention in the 80s and beyond, and offers general guidelines
for effective response.
The main body of the pamphlet describes the specific methods which
have previously been used to undermine domestic dissent and
suggests steps we can take to limit or deflect their impact.
A final chapter explores ways to mobilize broad public protest
against this kind of repression.
It also draws on the post-60s confessions of disaffected
government agents, and on the testimony of public officials before
Congress and the courts. Though the information from these sources
is incomplete, and much of what was done remains secret, we
now know enough to draw useful lessons for future organizing.
The suggestions included in the pamphlet are based on the
author's 20 years experience as an activist and lawyer, and on
talks with long-time organizers in a broad range of movements.
They are meant to provide starting points for discussion, so we
can get ready before the pressure intensifies. Most are a matter
of common sense once the methodology of covert action is
understood. Please take these issues seriously. Discuss the
recommendations with other activists. Adapt them to the conditions
you face. Point out problems and suggest other approaches.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE BEGIN NOW TO PROTECT OUR MOVEMENTS AND
OURSELVES.
A HISTORY TO LEARN FROM
WHAT WAS COINTELPRO?
"COINTELPRO" was the FBI's secret program to undermine the popular
upsurge which swept the country during the 1960s. Though the name
stands for "Counterintelligence Program," the targets were not
enemy spies. The FBI set out to eliminate "radical" political
opposition inside the US. When traditional modes of repression
(exposure, blatant harassment, and prosecution for political
crimes) failed to counter the growing insurgency, and even helped
to fuel it, the Bureau took the law into its own hands and
secretly used fraud and force to sabotage constitutionally-
protected political activity.Its methods ranged far beyond
surveillance, and amounted to a domestic version of the covert
action for which the CIA has become infamous throughout the world.
HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT IT?
COINTELPRO was discovered in March, 1971, when some secret files
were removed from an FBI office and released to news media.
Freedom of Information requests, lawsuits, and former agents'
pub