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THIS SECTION'S UNDERPAGES: Article from "Justice Denied" Committee's Minutes 2001 (In Italian) Death Penalty Gallery

What's that?
The Committee For The Defence Of Karl Louis Guillen is a Humanist Association fighting for the abolition of the
death penalty, and for the respect of the human rights in the world. Currently our attention is particularly centered on the death penalty in the US, and on its judicial system's serious state of injustice. The case we're currently looking after Karl Guillen's, yet this doesn't distract us from the world situation. Karl's case serves us as a springboard that will help resolve other cases like his, and everywhere in the world.

What's our aim?
We aim to inform people clearly and firmly, to shake the public's conscience about what actually is a death penalty; a real state murder, a wild and sadistically ritual response to the violence of a crime The death penalty is based upon a justice that's quite far from being "right" and respectful to ALL human beings. We also aim to show, looking after Karl Guillen's case in particular, that we can solve specific situations with firm actions of human solidarity involving people, organizing them together, and leading them towards a concrete solution of the problems. We think essential that general action and specific work on cases go together.

Who takes part?
The Committee, founded by some members of the Humanist Movement, is open to all those who share our aims, and collaborate with other groups and associations in the common fight against the death penalty. We're also a member of the Coalizione Italiana Contro la Pena di Morte - Italian Coalition Against The Death Penalty. The Committee promotes the creations of other local sections, and leads to make other humanist groups whenever possible, because just a common united strength will be better equiped to resolve these issues. We see a lot of good willing people moving just when an inmate is about to be executed, on the media's emotional wave; instead we ask these people to get organized with us, and pursue a permanent action AGAINST the death penalty and FOR the human rights.

Who's Karl Guillen?
He's one of many innocent inmates locked down in US prisons, often bound to be executed, simply because they cannot pay a proper defense attorney. Karl himself was very close to death penalty when he discovered his love and his talent for art and literature. He began writing, painting and drawing, thus hoping to earn some money and pay an attorney. But he began writing also for us "outside", so we could know how pitiless and corrupted the American judicial system is. His first novel, now published in the USA by Xlibris and called "The Grinder", is the very first book which managed to dodge the prison's censors since 1975, apart from some collection of poems and letters. The manuscript was brought to Italy and, thanks to its excellent quality, was published by the Humanist Editor Multimage under the title of "Il Tritacarne". Multimage has just published also "Five Things", a full collection of poems by Karl. These books are part of a solidarity campaign, in fact all the money earned from their sales goes into a fund made to help Karl pay an attorney to show his innocence, or at least to get him a sentence reduction, and a move from the current SMU II, where the indefinite solitary confinement and the mistreatments he, and the other inmates, suffer are mining their physical and mental health (see his article
"A Solitary Solution?" in the page, Karl writes). Thanks partly also to the Committee's action, Karl no longer risks being executed now; it's a fact that to take "earlier" action brings concrete results, and this experience will allow us to help all those wrongly convicted, and fighting behind the bars like him. But the problem of earning enough money for appeals and sentence reviews remains, at least $100 thousand dollars! How to gain such an amount? Mainly by selling his already available books, and other books being published that Karl has written, and is still writing, then by selling his paintings and drawings, and with initiatives like gigs, performances, and events, organized also by other groups, letting as many people as possible know his case, widening the Committee's support network. To approach the people, to inform and make them aware of Karl's cause and others' like him, and that always, not just when the media discovers a "case", remains our basic aim.

Activities: any Committee's local section, group, association, or single person can organize, or take part in the following activities (with the support of the national coordination group, of course):

• Book sale: if you're interested, the Committee will send you some copy, so you can try to sell them. If you manage you'll pay, otherwise you just send us back the books (payments by postal account, cash, cheque, or IMO).
  
  
• Presentation of the already published books, and other writings being published; you can do it in a bookshop, in a hall, at a summer festival and such. The Committee guarantees the forwarding of the books, and whatever will be necessary, anywhere, in US too of course. We also guarantee our presence when the presentation takes place in Italy.
  
  
• Benefit events: you can organize gigs or other events whose earnings will be used to help Karl.
  
  
• Appearance in other events and debates: we can take part, when appropriate, in every kind of event or debate supporting the cause with a stand supplied with information material, such as: newpapers, books, tapes and videos.
  
  
• Classes on death penalty: we organized seminars and debates on death penalty to be held in schools, universities, community centres, and wherever welcome.
  
  
• Radio and TV broadcasts: we held, and will hold, interviews on radio and television about Karl's case in particular, and about our cause in general.
  
  
• Our performance: "The Grinder" now is also a performance you can organize by yourself, or giving its script to a theatre group.
  
  For all these activities the national coordination group is ready to reach every part of Italy asking just for a travel reimbursement.
  
  Contacts and further info:
  
  COMITATO PER LA DIFESA DI KARL LOUIS GUILLEN
  President: Daniela Annetta Ph:+39/055/5520470
  Multimage Editorial Manager: Olivier Turquet

  You can even contact Karl himself at the address below, but first read the prison postal rule by clicking here:
  
  KARL L. GUILLEN # 77614
  ASPC - Eyman SMU II
  P.O. Box 3400
  FLORENCE, AZ 85232 - 3400
  USA
  

  Committee's pan shot taken on the 19.11.00, before the gig for Karl. Standing from left: Patrizia, Daniela, Marzia, Cristina, Fiamma, Alfredo. Sitting: ?, Italo, Alessandra, Ilaria. See more pictures in our Gallery

  
  
  

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  In Florence - Italy on the 28th of October 2001 there took place the Committee's national meeting. We summed up the work done and the future activities. You can read and download the minutes here, in Italian.

  
  

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  UPDATE ON KARL

  We sum up Karl's situation, and we write this update for our new readers

  4.11.02 The Grinder (in Italian Il Tritacarne) ends with Karl waiting for a death sentence in December 1999. He was ready to die to show his innocence. He wouldn't bow to fake confessions that could free him, but could also be a heavy precedent, makig him a slave of the American justice system. His family and friends talk him into pleading "No Contest", i.e. he doesn't plea guilty, yet doesn't contest the sentence that turns from 1st into a 2nd degree murder. The death sentence is averted, but he gets the maximum; 20 years. Karl hopes to be moved into a normal prison, but they charge him with being a gang member so he stays in solitary confinement in the hard SMU II, where his health is growing weaker and weaker. He no longer relies on appointed counsels, and has no money to hire a proper attorney, so decides for a self-defence. But no judge listens to an inmate; his appeals are systematically denied, so as his commutation by the state court based on the unconstitutionality of his solitary confinement. His last chance is an appeal to the federal court. The only good thing is that the federal court allegedly recognized the unconstitutionality of such a hard, long and unjustified solitary confinement, and ordered ADOC to move some inmates. ADOC seems to get transferring, even if slowly and grudgingly, the inmates. Karl has been waiting for a move for a long while now, they talk about Winslow. In the meantime Karl goes on writing, drawing, looking after his legal, and writing to his penpals, and our Committee goes on supporting him, collecting money, and promoting his books.
  But sadly Karl's situation is getting more and more serious; his appeals are systematically denied, they seized his typewriter, quite a troubling thing to Karl who's no longer able to write by hand since they broke his right hand years ago. On top of that he was also written up and put on restriction, he's no longer able to make collect call to Italy, and won't be allowed to buy food at the Xmas store. He's on restriction because "he's on Internet", because our Committee made this site for him. It seems all started from a new Arizona bill banning web sites against the death penalty (read the article of the 23.7.02 at
  http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=41027 - you can download the English translation here) In our case, since we're not American citizens, they cannot prevent us from keeping our site, so they retaliate against Karl increasing their daily abuse. Karl said he won't bow to their petty threats, and asked us not to give up too, and we're decided not to give up, yet we don't know what the future has in store for us. We are worried about Karl, and we're afraid he will not even allowed to have special visits from Italy, so we'll no longer allowed to visit him either. We'll start a protest campaign. We already sent letters to the Deputy Warden Marshall, and to the officials who wrote him up (download the letter here). We also made a new petition to the ADOC Director Terry Stewart that you can download here. Director Stewart's address (plus other useful addresses) is here.
  We'll keep you updated about Karl's situation through this site.
  
  Now let's pass onto Karl's, and some Committee members' letters. You can find it in the page dedicated to the letters
  

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  "Building more prisons to address crime is like building more graveyards to address a fatal disease." ROBERT GANGI, Correctional expert
  
  

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  THIS SECTION'S UNDERPAGES: Committee's Minutes 2001 (In Italian) Death Penalty Gallery

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