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INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL PRISONERS’ DAY It is the year 2007 and there are still political prisoners around the world. Palestine, the Basque Country, Colombia, Fortress Europe, the USA, and the prisoners in that stolen piece of land: Guantanamo-Cuba, etc. continue to mark the path of commitment and struggle of thousands of men and women who are in jail for daring to struggle. Social and political conflicts, oppressed peoples, the dominant logic of money and accumulation, speculation, subjugation, destruction, are all at the root of the causes that lead millions of human beings to struggle around the globe. To struggle for a world in which the logic of capitalism is not foremost; to struggle for a world in which the diversity of the thousands of peoples which make up humankind can continue to exist. On this 17th April, 2007 we have to highlight the situation in Europe. Europe continues to hold political prisoners today; particularly Spain and France, where hundreds of Basque political prisoners are dispersed throughout their territories, but where there are also communist comrades, Corsicans, Galicians, Catalans and Bretons; Italy where persecution of antagonistic movements is on the increase and independence movements for Sardinia come under repression; Germany, where discussion on lengthening the sentences of political prisoners is high on the agenda. In every country, trade unionists, workers struggling against Capitalist Europe are being thrown in jail again. Belmarsh jail, the isolation jails in France, Spain, Belgium and Germany show the high price States wish to make those who oppose them pay. We would not like to continue without remembering the five prisoners of the Empire, in jail for fighting the terrorism the US Government uses against Cuba; we would like to remember the Puerto Rican prisoners; Leonard Peltier and Mummia Abbu Jamal; bring to mind Simón Trinidad and Sonia, Colombian prisoners in the USA; the Peruvian political prisoners, the Mapuche, the Colombians held by Alvaro Uribe’s genocidal government; the Palestinian political prisoners, truly at the frontline of the Zionist and Imperialist plunder of the Middle East, the brave people of Iraq, still resisting the brutal imperialist attack. But, it was always like this. The struggle always brought a price to pay, and that is the price our comrades struggling around the world in order to change this capitalist world of destruction into a better place are prepared to pay. This is why we would like to take the opportunity, on this 17 April, to demand Political Prisoner Status for all of us currently serving sentences handed down by those lackeys of Capital, the judges, the tablecloth and napkin judges, the media-star judges… and to demand democratic conditions for our struggling peoples, conditions which allow the dispossessed equality to face the oppressor. We would like to call on you to organise pickets, demonstrations, all kinds of protest activities on and around this day; which must clearly be a day for struggle, based on our local struggles, but with a special reference to the international struggle. Because we do not struggle alone. A big hug to all those men and women who live inside four walls, inside the walls of barbed wire. A big hug in solidarity and commitment from the outside, to continue to work and support your struggle. LONG
LIVE POLITICAL PRISONERS AROUND THE WORLD! 15
March 2007 |