The Hands Off Assata Campaign is a coming together of organizations and individuals who are outraged by the heightened attempts by Department of Justice and the State of New Jersey to illegally force a return of Assata Shakur from Cuba to the United States.

     We believe that Assata Shakur is a bona fide political exile living in the island nation of Cuba.  She was persecuted for her political beliefs and tortured while in prison.  We support the international human rights and Geneva conventions, which enabled her to seek and secure political asylum in Cuba, and we support the right of the Cuban people to grant it to her.  We are shocked by the issuing on May 2nd, 2005 of a $1million bounty/reward on head of Assata Shakur and the adding of her name to the “terrorist” watch list. Doing such a thing is tantamount to a call to "soldiers of fortune" to kidnap and kill Ms. Shakur and for them to engage in international espionage against the sovereign nation of Cuba. 

     Given that there is no binding extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States, such a request is outside the context of international law. In addition, it is outside the parameters of common sense to label Ms. Shakur a terrorist. To do so is against all internationally held definitions of terrorism; and is an affront to those who have experienced it and/or studied it. Moreover, to say that bounty hunters should view her as “120 pounds of money” smacks of the tracking down of runaway slaves and vigilante violence, which is clearly immoral, unethical and anti-human. 

     Thus, we call on the State of New Jersey & the US Government to rescind the bounty, to remove Ms. Shakur from the terrorist watch list, to respect international law, and to end the hostility towards the tiny nation of Cuba by normalizing relations with the Island and ending the US economic blockade.

What can you do?

1. Contact us so that we can add your organization's name to our list of endorsers.
2. Contact your Congressperson. Demand that he/she work to overturn this diabolical bounty and listing of Ms. Shakur on the terrorist Watch list.
3. Call or write to New Jersey State Police Superintendent, Rick Fuentes New Jersey State Police, P.O. Box 7068, West Trenton, NJ 08628. 609-882-2000 and the State Attorney General, 609-984-6500; http://www.nj.gov/lps/contactus.htm, and demand that that they rescind the bounty and remove Ms. Skakur from the terrorist watch list.
4. Plan a showing of the Film Eyes of the Rainbow (1996). This film portrays the life and current struggles of Assata Shakur.
5. Work to rescind the Patriot Act.
6. Demand an end to the blockade against Cuba.
7. Acknowledge and release all US political prisoners.