2026 Petition to UN on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal

In July 2026, the Abolitionist Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and Release Aging People in Prison submitted a petition on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, alleging that his continued incarceration violates numerous international laws and amounts to unlawful arbitrary detention. Mr. Abu-Jamal is a grandfather, award-winning broadcast journalist, prolific author, and former Lieutenant of Information for the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party. He has devoted his reporting career to supporting Black liberation and exposing brutality and corruption within the police and prison system. On December 9, 1981, he was arrested on suspicion of the murder of a police officer after being shot himself. He has remained imprisoned for over 44 years.