JAMAICA’S ambassador to the United States, Seymour Mullings, has urged American lawmakers to support a Bill sponsored by New York Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel to absolve Marcus Garvey of a mid-1920s federal conviction on mail fraud.

Rangel has written to colleagues in the United States House of Representatives seeking support for the passage of House Resolution 50, which calls for President George W Bush to officially clear Garvey’s name.

The Bill, which has been tabled in the 107th Congress, was also the subject of an address to the House last month by Rangel in observance of Jamaica’s 40th anniversary of Independence and 164th year of emancipation.

Since 1985, Congressman Rangel has sponsored several resolutions in the US House aimed at completely exonerating Garvey, and has been a leading proponent for presidential action which would once and for all strike Garvey’s conviction from federal criminal records.

Rangel, whose congressional district spans the municipality of Harlem, which was Garvey’s base of operation during his tenure in the United States, has also called on the US government to recognise the Garvey trial and conviction as a miscarriage of justice, and to have the federal record reflect this determination.

“No effort should be spared in restoring the name of this great Jamaican, who was not only an example to countless numbers of his countrymen, but inspired thousands in the United States and indeed millions around the world, through his profound sense of internationalism and his deep commitment to social justice and human rights,” Ambassador Mullings said.

Mullings also said that Garvey, one of Jamaica’s seven National Heroes, is regarded by millions of Americans as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, whose legacy still serves to empower many, particularly in the African-American community.

Marcus Garvey, along with three other members of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) were indicted on mail fraud charges stemming from the UNIA’s mailing of brochures to members and supporters advertising stock in the SS Phyllis Wheatley, a ship that the UNIA was negotiating to acquire, but did not own.

All the defendants were acquitted of the charge of conspiracy. However, Garvey was found guilty of the substantive charge of using the mail to defraud. He was convicted on the single charge and was given the maximum penalty of five years in the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. His sentence was subsequently commuted in November 1927 by President Calvin Coolidge, after which he was immediately deported to Jamaica.

In his recent statement calling for the adoption of the Bill which was tabled in February, Congressman Rangel asserted that the exoneration was necessary, given “the weakness of the evidence against Garvey”.

The congressman further stated that the resolution was meant to declare that Garvey was innocent of the charges brought against him and that he should be recognised internationally as a leader and thinker in the struggle for human rights.

“Today, he stands out in the pantheon of Black America’s greatest and most controversial leaders. But in the records of the US Department of Justice and the Federal Courts, Garvey remains ex-convict number 19359,” Rangel said.