From [HERE] NEW YORK - A delegation led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), will travel to Puerto Rico next week to hear testimony on the civil liberties violations carried out against students, very little of which has been reported in the media in the United States.
Anthony Romero, director of the ACLU in New York, told this newspaper that the purpose of the visit is to "understand better what is happening in Puerto Rico, whether there were violations of fundamental human rights against the right to demonstrate, to express yourself as you want and police abuse. These are some of the issues we care about. "
The delegation, which will remain for two days on the island, consists of popular actress Rosie Perez, former baseball player Carlos Delgado, Juan Cartagena, director of the Latino Justice PRLDEF, Angelo Falcón of the National Institute for Latino Policy, and businessman Sam McVity.
Romero said it is important to know what is happening on the Island of Enchantment that "has not been reported in the media. It is important to know what is happening in states like Wisconsin and Ohio is also happening in Puerto Rico."
"There are problems that became apparent during the student strike at the University of Puerto Rico. Were there cases of police brutality and excessive force?," said Falcon.
The political analyst said: "We want to shed some light on the situation in Puerto Rico and to know what recommendations we should make to the government on the issue." The recommendations will be made to the government of Puerto Rico, the police and university officials, according to the director of the ACLU.
Delegates will meet with university students, who have been victims of police brutality, teachers and parents of victims, as well as with the police and politicians.
On May 2 a public meeting will be held in the Amphitheatre L-1 of the Law School at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. There, the delegates will listen to the victims of police brutality in an open forum.
On May 3, Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, will hold a news conference where members of the delegation will share their findings based on these two days of fact-finding.