THE WHITE HOUSE�(http://www.finalcall.com)-Dozens of supporters of death-row inmate Mumia Abu Jamal�some of whom traveled from Africa, Europe, and Latin America�marched and rallied Jan. 12, calling on President Bill Clinton to stop the threatened execution of the radio journalist.

Celebrities, members of parliament, students and activists from France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom joined actor Ossie Davis and humorist Dick Gregory, and heard a statement from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference�s Martin Luther King III. At a press conference, Mr. King called on Mr. Clinton to order Attorney General Janet Reno to conduct an investigation into the violations of Mr. Abu-Jamal�s constitutional, human, due-process, and civil rights when he was convicted in 1982 of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

"We know that President Clinton cannot order a new trial in this case, nor can he commute (Mr.) Abu- Jamal�s sentence," said Baldemar Velasquez, president of the U.S. Farm Labor Organizing Committee and coordinator of the delegation.

"But ordering an investigation by the Justice Department would go a long way in getting at the truth and would, we are confident, stop the execution," he continued. At the White House, demonstrators carried a banner and chanted: "Brick-by-brick, wall-by-wall, freedom for Mumia Abu�Jamal," before a delegation went to the Justice Department where they met with Stuart Ishimaru, deputy assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. The delegation "gave us documents for review," Justice Department

spokesperson Christine DiBartolo told The Final Call. "We listened to their concerns. We

will carefully review the material they presented and respond to them," she said.

The citizens, students and activists in the delegation�including Martha Osamor from London; Manuel Camara, a member of the Senate in Spain; and Romance Moudilou, a Parisian student who by herself collected thousands of signatures on petitions as well as individual donations from other young people to pay for her trip to this country�represent scores of citizens from their countries who are calling on Mr. Clinton to act.

Mr. Abu-Jamal�s case is currently before a federal district judge in Pennsylvania�his last line of appeal. That judge is considering claims of 29 separate violations of the radio commentator and author�s constitutional rights.

Mr. Abu-Jamal�s state appeals were exhausted when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied his petition for a new trial last year. Mr. Abu-Jamal�s supporters insist that a pattern of rights abuse has emerged in his case as in the case of many other Blacks sentenced to death in the U.S.

Unjust death sentences often exhibit five characteristics, they say: 1. Falsely reported or un-corroborated confessions. 2. Misidentification of perpetrators of crimes. 3. Prosecutorial misconduct. 4. Approved, perjured testimony of police officers. 5. Official mishandling and destruction of evidence removed from the crime scene.

"Mumia�s case exhibits each of these characteristics," said Sam Jordan, director of Amnesty International�s Program to Abolish the Death Penalty. "Moreover, his case exhibits additional characteristics: intimidation of witnesses; his own removal from the courtroom; and an improper reference to his political beliefs and/or associations (during his trial).

"As a result, Amnesty International opposes, not only the death penalty as an egregious violation of human rights, but in this case, opposes the criminal deviation from internationally accepted standards of a fair trial. His execution can only destroy public confidence in the criminal justice system.

"The death penalty must be relegated to the dust bin of history, where it belongs, alongside trial by fire, and human sacrifice," he added.

Amnesty International maintains that the death penalty is "racist, arbitrary, and wasteful of human and economic resources," according to Mr. Jordan, who said it "resembles a weapon in an ongoing civil war against poor people and people of color."