April 1992
Smoke Signals
Mock trial indicts Columbus for crimes
Page 5
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Wc know
the world turns. It has turned on
Christopher Columbus.
The famed explorer who sailed West
to go East came full-circle on March 8
when he was indicted by a mock grand
jury for crimes committed under his
guard as conqueror of the Americas.
In a simulated hearing sponsored by
the University of Minnesota's Human
Rights Center, Columbus was charged
with murder, theft, slavery, forced labor,
kidnapping, torture, violence, genocide
and crimes against humanity, rape and
terrorism.
For his day, he had the power of a
Supreme Court Justice, the fames of a
Kennedy and the wealth of a heavy
weight boxing champion. Now, he is
tarneshcd like the rest of them.
Officially a "mock indictment," the
charges are certainly nothing to laugh at
But the argument that we'd be better off
today had he not existed strikes some as
flat, like blaming Henry Ford for every
drunken driver or Abner Doubleday for
Pete Rose.
"You can't indict him for everything
bad that's ever happened," said Fredilyn
Sison, an attorney with the Ramsey
County Public Defender's office who is
defending Columbus. "Part of his
legacy's not negative and we can't forget
that."
"And I think we're going to , ).,,,...
No bail was set; the late, great 15th
century explorer is no longer considered ;
a flight risk. An
actor retained to .
portray him did
not attend the
hearing on the
advice of
counsel ,
Hailed as a ;
heroin
children's texts,
the historical
evidence
introduced
Sunday told the
opposite story.
Soon after
coming ashore, it
is now known, he
began capturing
the indigenous
people and
selling them as
slaves, demand
ing golden
tribute from
them or maiming or killing them
outright.
One source blamed Columbus and his
successors for 19 million deaths. He
goes on (mock) trial Sept. 16, the 500th
anniversary of his tanking in the "New
World."
. Sison said she will present a three
pronged defense for the ancient mari
ner.; , . ' ' 'i ' '.-.. -;
-"They've charged the wrong person,"
she said. "We're not saying that some of
COLUMBUS IN AN EARLY PORTRAIT
No bail-ta's not a flight risk sayi jury
the things
did not
happen, but
he was
directed by
the Crown
of Spain to
do what he
did."
-"It was
the common
practice,"
she went on.
"They
discover a
country and
they were
expected to
take
whatever
spoils they
could."
-"It's
unfair to
take a man
out of the historical context and
blame him for everything that's
happened in the last 500 years."
This last argument seemed the
most troubling to those on the panel.
Although efforts were made to
measure Columbus by the standards
of his day - a 13th Century Spanish
code is one basis for the indictment
the jury also discussed statues as
recent as 1975.
That gave some the impression that
the great sailor was excuse the
anachronism - being railroaded. Another
troubling aspect in the proceedings was the
composition of the hand-picked jury: six of
the 23 were American Indian and only one
was of any Spanish descent.
A local Gucci distributor was the closest
they came to Italy, Colubus' homeland.
Dan Buettner, a round-the-world cyclist,
brought an explorer's perspective to the
panel
Few on the panel questioned the atrocity
of the crimes references to Nuremberg,
the site of the Nazi war trials, were com
mon. But the diffiulty in charging someone
with a crime 500 years after the fact was
evident in the squabbling over whether the
occupation was theft, trespassing or a
crime agianst humanity.
In fact, at least one juror complained that
charges such as theft - and even rape -trivialized
the terror of his reign as Gover
nor of Hispaniola.
Larry Leventhal who is prosecuting the
case, did not speculate on the trial's
outcome, saying the process itself will
educate people as to Columbus' true
nature.
"It's being celebrated as the anniversary
of something that's alleged to be beneficial
and heroic when in actuality the actions of
Columbus were destructive and criminal,"
he said. "He essentially internationalized
the slave trade... and discovered nothing.
People were there. In fact, other Europe
ans had been there.
"(But) they didn't engage in as many
crimes, which is why they aren't remem
bered as well."
nxo)
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