Fight Back News Service urges all our readers to support this event

Mumia Abu-Jamal—father, husband and grandfather—is an internationally renowned US political prisoner, widely honored for his piercing indictments of the racial inequities and brutal imperialist powers of the US. Abu-Jamal was originally targeted for surveillance and “neutralization” when he was a 15 year-old spokesman for the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia, by the FBI.

By the age of 26, Mumia Abu-Jamal was an award-winning radio journalist with a wide following, known as the “voice of the voiceless” and outspoken in his defense of the MOVE organization. On December 9, 1981, Mumia saw a police officer assaulting his brother. When he approached the scene he was critically shot, brutally beaten by the police, framed for the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner and, in a sham of a trial, sentenced to death. Abu-Jamal is innocent!!!

Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mumia and countless other aging political prisoners are facing another death sentence, along with all the thousands of other aging, vulnerable and immune-compromised prisoners in Pennsylvania and across the country. We can’t let them be murdered in their cells by this inhumane medical neglect. Join with the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ), the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC), Mobilization 4 Mumia, The Campaign to Bring Mumia Home, the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition Bay Area and the many more organizers and activists in this International action to #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth!

Demands:

\* Gov. Tom Wolf: Approve immediate reprieves for Mumia and ALL political prisoners!

\* Incarceration during a global pandemic SHOULD NOT be a DEATH sentence

\* Immediate compassionate release for ALL aging, vulnerable and immune-compromised prisoners

\* Provide all prisoners with PPE and COVID-19 test on demand

\* End the solitary confinement lockdown NOW

\* Place those who are symptomatic into off-site medical facilities immediately.

From – http://www.freemumia.com/2020/04/twitter-storm-for-mumia/

#UnitedStates #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #MumiaAbuJamal #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #COVID19

Call-In to save the life of Facundo Molares! Call Bolivian Ambassador Walter Oscar Serrate Cuellar at 202-483-4410 ex. 4 When: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 between 8 am and 4 pm Eastern time Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Committee To Free Facundo Molares.

Demand, “We want Facundo Molares Schoenfeld released so he can go home to his family now!”

Tell them, “I am concerned for the health and well-being of Facundo Molares. Release him now and allow him to go home to his family!”

Facundo Molares is an Argentinian photojournalist illegally imprisoned by the Bolivian dictatorship.

The dictatorship arrested Facundo Morales while he was in a coma at the hospital with kidney failure on November 11, 2019, a day after seizing power in a coup d’état. Facundo was in Bolivia reporting on the elections for the Argentinian magazine “el Centenario”.

While imprisoned, and without access to adequate medical care, Facundo Morales lost the use of one eye and there is concern that if he does not receive needed medical treatment, which may include a kidney transplant, that his life could be in danger.

The Committee To Free Facundo Molares asks you to call Bolivian Ambassador Walter Oscar Serrate Cuellar at 202-483-4410 ex. 4. We want Facundo Morales Shoenfeld released now!

For more information: FREEFACUNDOMOLARES@GMAIL.COM

Free Facundo Molares!

#UnitedStates #International #AntiwarMovement #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #BoliviaCoup #FacundoMolares

Facundo Molares Schoenfeld is an Argentinian photojournalist who was illegally arrested by the Bolivian dictatorship, and who is currently held in terrible conditions in a Bolivian prison. His life is in danger, as he does not receive adequate medical attention for a life-threatening condition.

This photojournalist was on assignment, for the Argentinian left-wing magazine El Centenario, in Bolivia to document the election of Evo Morales and its aftermath in October, 2019. Bolivia suffered a coup d’état by fascist elements and the military, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, on November 10, 2019. A wave of state violence and repression was unleashed by the dictatorship that took power from the elected president Evo Morales.

Hugo Molares, the father of Facundo, received an anonymous call that his son was ill and travelled from Argentina to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia to visit his son in the hospital on November 11. He found his son in a coma suffering from kidney failure, a pulmonary edema, possible lead poisoning and hantavirus.

As soon as the Bolivian de facto government discovered that Facundo was a left-wing activist they arrested him in the hospital, and accused him of being involved in a clash between supporters of President Evo Morales and fascist gangs where two people were killed. There is no credible evidence that Facundo Molares was involved in this incident. The Bolivian dictatorship made the wild and unsubstantiated allegation that Facundo was part of a ‘shock force’ for Evo Morales.

The Bolivian de facto government transferred Facundo Molares to its highest security prison, Chonchocoro, without clearance from his treating physicians. Chonchocoro is a prison that does not have adequate medical facilities, or sanitary conditions, to treat Facundo’s kidney and other medical problems.

Facundo is cut off from contact with the outside world, but one lawyer who was able to see him reports that Facundo has lost his vision in one eye and his physical and mental health is deteriorating due to the lack of medical attention. It appears that this journalist’s very life is in jeopardy.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization calls on the de facto government of Bolivia to immediately release and repatriate Facundo Molares Schoenfeld.

Freedom for Facundo Molares!

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Bolivia #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #BoliviaCoup #FacundoMolares

Bolivia suffered a vicious coup d’état on November 10, 2019 that was provoked by right-wing gangs rampaging in the street, traitorous police and military officers, the old guard political elite, and, of course, supported by the United States Embassy. As soon as Evo Morales was elected to a fourth term as president of Bolivia on October 20, with almost 47% of the vote, right-wing elements, centered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, started a campaign to destabilize the progressive government headed by Evo.

Directly after the results announcing that Morales won in the first round of the presidential election, reactionary gangs began attacking supporters of Morales’ party MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo) in the streets, making loud, false, accusations of massive voter fraud. When the chief of staff of the army, who had the backing of large segments of the army and police, asked Morales to step down, Morales resigned and fled the country. A dictatorial government was installed on November 10, headed by Jeanene Añez, a politician whose party won 4% of the popular vote in the election. She immediately showed her contempt for her indigenous fellow citizens, who constitute the majority in this country, referring to them as “Satanists.”

In order to stabilize the dictatorship, the Bolivian de facto government initiated a campaign of state-sponsored terror to consolidate its grip on power. The dictatorship committed multiple extra-judicial killings of opponents, which include the massacres of Senkata (El Alto) and Sacaba (Cochabamba). An Argentinian Human Rights Delegation (Delegación Argentina en Solidaridad con Bolivia) was in Bolivia shortly after the coup to study the human rights situation of Bolivia after the coup and stated the following:

We observed that the repressive system put into place by the de facto government has caused dozens of deaths, hundreds of arbitrary arrests, thousands of injuries, innumerable cases of torture, rapes and other crimes violating the physical, psychological and sexual integrity of the victims, who are men, women, children, elderly, and members of collectives.

One case of arbitrary detention that causes great concern is the case of Facundo Molares Schoenfeld, an Argentinian photo-journalist who went to Bolivia in October of 2019 to document the Bolivian election and its aftermath for the left-wing Argentinian magazine el Centenario (https://revistacentenario.com/).

Facundo’s father, Hugo Morales, who is a justice of the peace in his native Argentina, received a call towards the end of October from his son stating that he wasn’t feeling well. After this call Hugo didn’t hear from his son for more than a week. Hugo then received an anonymous call that his son was sick in the hospital in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Hugo immediately went to Bolivia and on November 12. Hugo Molares, along with his partner, visited his son in the hospital and found Facundo in a coma, with a diagnosis of kidney failure, a pulmonary edema, possible lead poisoning and hantavirus.

The Bolivian authorities only allowed Hugo to visit his son for 15 minutes. After Hugo left the hospital to buy some medicine for his son, he was approached in the street and stopped by three men who threatened Facundo’s father with death if he didn’t leave the country immediately.

The dictatorship arrested Facundo in the hospital and detained him without any evidence that he had committed a crime. The de facto government discovered that Facundo was a left-wing activist who had written articles on the conflict in Colombia and was reputed to have been a former member of the FARC. Facundo’s beliefs are widely believed to be the motivation of the dictatorship to prosecute this political prisoner.

The prosecution of the dictatorship made the claim that Facundo was involved in a confrontation between MAS supporters and supporters of the coup in which two people died. The government charged Facundo with homicide, with the only purported evidence being that one person stated that Facundo may have been present during the confrontation between the two groups. There is no evidence that Facundo participated in any of the events between the pro and anti-Evo Morales protesters.

Without any judicial order, or medical authorization from his treating doctors, Facundo was first transferred to Palmorola prison in Santa Cruz on December 2. Shortly after this, the journalist was transferred to the Chonchorro Prison in the Bolivian capital, La Paz. This prison does not have adequate medical facilities to treat kidney disease and the other ailments that Facundo suffers from. He has also not been allowed any visits from his family. Hugo Molares stated, “Our whole family is in deep anguish over his present and immediate future. The news that I get about him is through the consul, who goes to see him at the Chonchorro prison every ten days.”

Due to the concern about Facundo’s health and his illegal detention, a solidarity committee formed in Argentina. The fear is that Facundo will die if he is not released and sent back to Argentina for urgent medical care as he may need a kidney transplant. The solidarity committee is looking for support and states, “The committee welcomes all forms of diplomatic, political and popular struggles that initiates and calls for the repatriation of Facundo Molares.”

The Bolivian dictatorship holds Facundo in the most dire conditions in the Chonchorro prison in La Paz. This prison was built to house 800 prisoners but actually holds 4000. There is rampant violence between various groups in the prison, and there is not the most basic hygiene that a patient such as Facundo requires. Due to the imminent risk to the health and welfare of this Argentinian journalist, the despicable conditions in which the Bolivian dictatorship holds this political prisoner, and the clear falsity of the charges, human rights organizations around Latin America say: Free Facundo Molares!

#Bolivia #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #DonaldTrump #BoliviaCoup #FacundoMolares

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following June 4 statement from the militant trade union Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

Court decision on Maga's case, unjust, anti-union

We protest the guilty verdict handed down by the San Mateo Regional Trial Court against trade unionist and political prisoner Maoj Maga. He was convicted yesterday on the case of illegal possession of firearms and was sentenced to prison for a minimum of eight years and one day.

The court’s decision is biased against trade unionists and is leaning towards the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippines National Police (PNP). It serves their objective of preventing key leaders and organizers of the militant trade union Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and PISTON from organizing workers to assert their demands.

The charges laid against Maga were baseless. The evidence was planted. The real criminals here are the police who illegally arrested Maga and came out with false testimonies. They blatantly lied in their testimonies and the court based its decision only on these lies, and nothing more. Maga’s basic rights to liberty and due process were grossly violated.

The police lied, and by affirming their lies, the court also committed a serious crime and violated the law, apart from violating Maga's rights.

The decision to keep Maga detained comes timely when the issue of banning provincial buses, phasing out of jeepneys, and implementing route rationalization and fleet management are about to spark public outrage.

Months before his arrest in February 2018, Maga was one of the leading organizers of public utility drivers who conducted a series of transport strikes against the phasing out of jeepneys.

The Duterte government is afraid that by releasing Maga, drivers and commuters will have a young and vibrant organizer back to work.

We in the labor movement will not stop fighting for Maoj Maga's release. He should not be punished for being a trade union organizer.

The court should review its decision and let truth and justice prevail.

Free Maoj Maga! Free all political prisoners!

#Philippines #InJusticeSystem #Labor #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #KilusangMayoUno #ArmedForcesOfThePhilippines

Minneapolis, MN – On Feb. 15, a panel called, “Victories in Resistance, Solidarity Against Injustice” was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) to celebrate newly-won freedom and to reflect on how to do political prisoner solidarity which builds our movements.

The basement at the Minnehaha Free Space was packed for an emotional discussion that was alternately jubilant and sobering. More than 50 people gathered to hear from Lynne Stewart and CeCe McDonald, both recently released from prison. Sabry Wazwaz, an Palestinian activist and AWC member also spoke, along with AWC-member Jess Sundin, one of the Midwest activists targeted by an ongoing FBI and grand jury investigation.

Sundin explained the motivations for the event, “In 2010, the idea that any of us could become a political prisoner became very personal for me and other members of the Anti-War Committee. As many of you know, we were the targets of a two-year undercover investigation. Our homes and office were raided by the FB, and we were ordered to appear before a grand jury in Chicago. When each of us refused to testify there – to serve as witnesses against each other, our movements or our allies abroad – we made that decision in spite of the very real threat of imprisonment.

“While it was painful, as we made arrangements for who would care for our children if we were taken away, we felt we had no choice. Our testimony could have endangered the very lives of people like Samer Issawi, leaders of the people’s movements we had met on solidarity trips to Palestine and Colombia. And while on the one hand, it’s a decision you make alone, we never stood alone – Lynne sent a solidarity statement to one of our early rallies. Delicious lasagna made by CeCe was served at a community dinner to support us. And thousands of people across the country – and the world – joined us in demanding an end to the grand jury. We had our own victory against that grand jury – out of 23 people called, not one testified. And out of 23 grand jury resisters, not one was jailed for refusing to testify. The threat against us was very real, and very personal. But so was the solidarity.”

The government claims it is investigating anti-war and international solidarity activism as a form of “providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations.” Long-time attorney, Lynne Stewart, was also faced a ‘material support’ charge, for her work defending an Egyptian cleric accused of terrorism.

Lynne Stewart, speaking via Skype, was greeted by audience cheers. First, she thanked supporters for writing her in prison and encouraged people to keep writing other prisoners. She said that letters are important acts of solidarity that keep political prisoners from being isolated and called each one “a poke in the eye against imperialism.”

Stewart, who is battling stage four breast cancer, credited the movement with getting her out before she was ready to die. She said it was through the tireless work of supporters that the U.S. government decided it was more destructive to keep her in prison than to release her. 45,000 people signed the petition demanding Stewart’s compassionate release. She highlighted the work of her husband, Ralph Poynter, for her release. In speaking of his relentless picketing of the White House during blistering heat in August she said “Everyone should have a Ralph, and everyone does when we have a movement!”

The audience was moved to see Stewart in her first Midwest appearance since her release from prison.

CeCe McDonald was also warmly greeted by the audience which was eager to hear her speak about her experiences just one month after being released from prison. In June 2011, CeCe McDonald fought off a racist, transphobic attack. She was sentenced to 41 months in a men’s prison for second degree manslaughter, despite clear evidence of self-defense. She is an international symbol of the resistance and resilience of trans women of color.

McDonald said that community support also helped her win an early release from prison. She was proud that the movement had sent a loud and clear message that trans women of color were not disposable. She gave special mention to the CeCe McDonald Support Committee, several of whom were present.

McDonald described how the struggle around her case moved her forward politically, “I learned about my history, about the history of powerful Black women like Assata Shakur and Angela Davis through this process. It made me open up my eyes and learn to love myself more… It was my duty to prove a point, that they couldn’t turn me into a statistic and it was the people in the community who helped me.”

Anti-War Committee activist Sabry Wazwaz shared the words of Palestinian political prisoner Samer Al-Issawi, written in a message to his supporters on Day 209 of his hunger strike, “I draw my strength from my people, from all the free people, from friends and the families of the prisoners who continue day and night chanting freedom and an end to the occupation.” Wazwaz added some experiences of his own family, Palestinians confronting Israeli apartheid.

After a record 266 days on hunger strike, Issawi won his freedom in December 2013. During Issawi’s hunger strike he became a symbol of the epidemic of unlawful detention of Palestinians with no charges or trials by the Israeli government. He would only end his hunger strike with a promise of freedom and the right to return home, tying his demand to the universal Palestinian struggle for that right to return to homes and land stolen by Israel.

These cases inspired international support and attention not only because of the extreme injustice faced in each case, but also because Lynne Stewart, CeCe McDonald and Samer Issawi all spoke from behind the prison walls, to demand greater justice for all.

Jess Sundin called on those present to continue to fight for more victories against injustices. “The government has used its investigation of us to target our friends and allies across the country. First was Carlos Montes, Chicano leader from Los Angeles – we beat back their attempts to imprison him.” At this point, the crowd interrupted with applause.

She continued, “And now we have Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh. We know her from Chicago’s Arab American Action Network, where she works with Hatem Abudayyeh, one of the main targets in our case. Rasmea is charged with immigration fraud. Allegedly, in her application for citizenship, she didn’t mention that she was arrested 45 years ago by an illegitimate Israeli military court. To describe her past as though she was a some kind of terrorist, legitimately and legally arrested by the Israeli government, covers up that Israel occupies Palestinian land and arrests and tortures Palestinians systematically and illegally.

“Supposedly an immigration case, this stems at least in part from the investigation against us. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, the lead prosecutor in our case, was at the courtroom, consulting with the assistant U.S. attorney who was presenting the indictment to the judge. The indictment against Rasmea reads more like one of his anti-terrorism cases than an immigration paperwork violation.”

Sundin urged action, “If the government wins its case against Rasmea, she faces imprisonment and deportation. We ask that all of you learn more about her story, and take action to stop the government from railroading her as part of its continuing repression of Palestinians and people who stand in solidarity with them.”

A collection was taken to support CeCe McDonald and to contribute to Lynn Stewart’s medical expenses. For information about how you could donate to help keep Stewart alive please go to: http://lynnestewart.org/.

The event was organized by the Anti-War Committee and endorsed by Communities United Against Police Brutality, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Coalition for Palestinian Rights, MN Committee Against FBI Repression, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Twin Cities Socialist Action, U of MN Students for a Democratic Society, Veterans for Peace (chapter 27), Welfare Rights Committee, and Women Against Military Madness.

#MinneapolisMN #PoliticalPrisoner #LynneStewart #USImperialism #CeCeMcDonald #InjusticeSystem

Meredith Aby of the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression told the crowd, “Rasmea Odeh overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 1970s. She is one of the millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights to liberation, equality and return. It is shameful that the U.S. government is now attempting to imprison her once again.”

Tracy Molm, also of the MN Committee to Stop FBI Repression, urged people to take action, and encouraged to sign the online petition demanding the charges against Odeh be dropped.

A link to the petition can be found here: http://www.stopfbi.net/2013/10/23/solidarity-palestinian-american-activist-rasmea-odeh

#MinneapolisMN #PalestineSolidarity #PoliticalPrisoner #InjusticeSystem #RasmeaOdeh

Minneapolis, MN – On Oct. 2 through Oct. 4, the U.S. government will be put on trial for “malfeasance in Indian Country,” according to a statement released at a press conference Sept. 4. Witnesses are being subpoenaed to appear in Oneida, Wisconsin for the three-day tribunal entitled “The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal on the Abuse of Indigenous Human Rights.”

After three days of testimony, a panel of judges will rule on the conduct of the U.S. around the case of Leonard Peltier in particular and about the oppression meted out by the government to Native peoples in general. Organizers are exploring, bringing the findings of the tribunal to the World Court in the Netherlands after the tribunal.

“The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal on the Abuse of Indigenous Human Rights will tell our stories with a focus on the last 40 years,” said Dorothy Ninham – a former Oneida Nation judge and founder and director of Wind Chases the Sun.

Leaders from many Native struggles will be there to witness about “fishing rights, the sterilization of Indigenous women, extreme poverty, theft of tribes' natural resources, environmental issues and their impact on Indian reservations, the horrific rate of suicides among Native children, and the wrongful conviction of Leonard Peltier (specifically the events that led up to the June 26, 1975, incident at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and the effects on survivors of this period),” the organizers state.

It has been nearly 40 years since the uprising at Pine Ridge in South Dakota. Leonard Peltier, a leading member of the American Indian Movement, was unjustly convicted of killing two FBI agents in a battle that took place there. Amnesty International and many international figures have denounced Peltier’s two life sentences as a gross miscarriage of justice.

“This isn’t just about one day in Pine Ridge. It’s a culmination of everything that has been done to that led up the Indian people saying we won’t take it anymore,” said Ninham.

“We will show overall government policies that affected our people and the American Indian Movement,” said Clyde Bellecourt, of the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council. Other speakers at the Sept. 4 press conference included Bill Means of AIM and Gina Buentostro of Wind Chases the Sun.

The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal on the Abuse of Indigenous Human Rights will take place Oct. 2 – 4, at the Radisson Hotel and Conference center near Green Bay, Wisconsin. The public is encouraged to attend to learn about the last 40 years of the fight backs in Indian Country against U.S. government repression.

#MinneapolisMN #IndigenousPeoples #humanRights #PoliticalPrisoner #AmericanIndianMovement #FBIRepression #LeonardPeltier #WindChasesTheSun

Fort Worth, TX – About 60 people gathered here at the U.S. District Court building, March 29, to demand “Free Aafia Siddiqui!” Dr. Siddiqui is a Pakistani woman who was kidnapped in Pakistan and tortured. She is now a political prisoner held in a Texas prison.

Among the speakers at the protest was former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Jess Sundin, who is one of the anti-war activist raided by the FBI in 2010, told the crowd, “It's an honor to stand with you today, to demand justice for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Her imprisonment stands as a shameful example of the crimes carried out by the U.S. government across the globe in the interests of empire and under the banner of the so-called war on terror.”

A statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression notes that nearby Carswell federal prison is where the U.S. holds its women political prisoners, including for Dr. Siddiqui, activist attorney Lynn Stewart, and the Colombian rebel “Sonia” – Anayibe Rojas Valderrama.

Sundin said, “We stand with Colombian revolutionary ‘Sonia’, people's attorney Lynne Stewart, and environmentalist Marie Mason, all imprisoned right here in Carswell.”

#FortWorthTX #PoliticalPrisoner #AnayibeSoniaValderrama #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #DrAafiaSiddiqui #InjusticeSystem #Pakistan

Abdallah’s family and friends took part in the protest, as did delegations from Hezbollah and the Communist Party of Lebanon.

Abdallah, who was to be released on Jan. 14, has spent the last 28 years in French jails. Observers believe that U.S. pressure is responsible for his prolonged confinement.

In the course of the Beirut protest, a taped message from Abdallah was played in which he hailed the Lebanese resistance and all the resistance movements against Israel.

#Lebanon #Beirut #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #France #GeorgesIbrahimAbdallah

At issue was the accusation that Yusuf helped out friends in Somalia, who were also said to be members of al-Shabab.

The courtroom was packed with family, friends and supporters when Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz handed down the sentence.

A statement from Yusef’s defense committee refers to her as a hero and notes, “Nimo Yusuf is a daughter with great heart. She will go beyond her ability to help others. She is highly beloved in the Somali Community. She has touched the lives of so many of us here in the twin cities. She translated, provided transportation, cared for the sick and the widows. She loved her faith and followed its commandments of giving, helping, and caring. She carried the burden of others, solved their problems, counseled the youth, cried and cared for many of us who are struggling and adjusting to the new life in America.”

The FBI made use of wiretaps against Yusuf and, according to court records, intercepted and recorded 35,000 calls made by her.

Mick Kelly, of the Committee to Stop Repression, states, “A good person who did good things is being sent to prison for a very long time. The government wants to criminalize people who support a Somalia that is independent of foreign domination. She should be released at once.”

#SanDiegoCA #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #politicalRepression #alShabab #InjusticeSystem #NimaAliYusuf

Colombia – Colombian political prisoner Liliany “Lily” Obando is now free, released on bond from prison where she spent over three and one-half years on charges of “rebellion”. Obando is today hugging her elderly mother and two children. The International Network in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (INSPP) is celebrating the freedom of this powerful Colombian woman labor activist and human rights defender. Obando is one of 8000 political prisoners and prisoners of war imprisoned by the Colombian government.

Lily Obando was arrested August 8, 2008 while serving as a human rights coordinator for FENSUAGRO. FENSUAGRO is Colombia’s largest peasant farmers and farm workers union. Police arrested Obando just as she was finishing an academic report and documentary movie about her union’s 1,500 members killed by Colombian military and paramilitaries over the past 30 years. Colombia is a country where one trade unionist murdered every week is considered “an improving situation” by the U.S. government. President Obama signed a Free Trade Treaty with Colombia on October 11, 2011. Known as an important trade union leader, Lily Obando was held on false evidence generated by the military and police.

The Colombian government’s evidence consisted of severely damaged computers and discs captured after a U.S./Colombian bombing raid inside Ecuador that targeted and killed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader Raul Reyes and 24 others. Colombian Police Captain Ronald Hayden Coy Ortiz oversaw the initial investigation of computers captured in the bombing raid. He testified in court that the computers contained no email records. Still the courts ignored evidence from the government’s own side to keep Lily in prison and punish her for “rebellion”. There never was any evidence against Lily, just lies to stop her important work exposing the wealthy one-percent, their death squad government, and U.S. backers.

Lily Obando had powerful backing too, not to be underestimated—international solidarity. Over three years, activists in the U.S. and other countries collected friend of the court statements signed by notables, petitions, letters, and emails protesting Lily’s imprisonment. The Colombia Action Network educated people and demonstrated at the School of the Americas (WHISC) and helped send solidarity delegations. Activists built a movement of international solidarity for Liliany Obando and her freedom, but aimed for much more. Obando’s release is being announced along with a major conference in support of the more than 8,000 Colombian political prisoners: the Colombia Behind Bars Forum, with guests from around the world, including representatives of the INSPP and the Alliance For Global Justice (AFGJ) from the U.S.

James Jordan of AFGJ explained, “I spoke a few days ago to Liliany at the Buen Pastor (Good Shepherd) Women’s Penitentiary just moments after receiving the news. I was so happy, so overjoyed I could barely contain myself. Lily greeted me, ‘You heard the good news?’ Yes, of course, I’d heard it. I asked her how she was feeling, and she said, ‘I have mixed emotions. I want to leave, but I don’t want to leave the other political prisoners behind. We have to keep working until all the political prisoners are free.’”

James warned too, “All is not settled regarding Liliany’s case. The court process is not suspended and she can be sent back to jail. Also, political prisoners are often at risk of violence from government death squads in the first days, weeks, and months following their liberty.”

James finished by saying, “Now is the time to demand freedom for Colombia’s 8,000 political prisoners and prisoners of war. We must demand an end to the U.S. government war and repression in Colombia, including funding and restructuring Colombian prisons where political prisoners are concentrated under harsh conditions. But as we vow to continue this struggle … let us also take a moment to celebrate this great victory. As Liliany once told me, ‘By day we struggle, by night we dance!’”

#Colombia #PoliticalPrisoner #LilyObando #Americas

Call to Action: Support Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike!

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons issued a statement on Sunday, September 25, 2011, stating that they plan to begin an open-ended hunger strike on September 27, 2011, demanding an end to the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat, an end to isolation for all Palestinian political prisoners, and an end to the policies of repression and humiliation against visitors to the prisoners, including denial of family visits and visitors being stopped, searched and impeded at Israeli occupation checkpoints. The prisoners are also demanding an end to abuse and humiliation of prisoners while they are transferred from one prison to another.

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat stands in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike and calls for people around the world to join their voices to the prisoners' call for justice.

Ahmad Sa'adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a Palestinian national leader, has been imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces since his kidnapping in March 13, 2006. He was abducted in a violent Israeli military raid from a Palestinian Authority prison where he had been unjustly held without charge or trial for over four years under U.S. and British guard. He has been in isolation for over two years following his calls for resistance to the Israeli assault on Gaza in winter 2009.

The prisoners' statement follows:

“We, the comrades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Zionist prisons and detention centers, declare to the steadfast, struggling brave masses of the Palestinian people and to all free people in the world:

We announce that we will begin an open-ended hunger strike on Tuesday morning, September 27, 2011, in response to the official policies of the Zionist government and its fascist prison administration. We demand our rights and our dignity, as we struggle for the victory of our values and ideals.

Our goals for this hunger strike:

1. End the solitary confinement and isolation of our comrade, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the PLO Central Council, Ahmad Sa'adat, Abu Ghassan.

2. End the policy of isolation for all prisoners;

3. End the policy of systematic humiliation by the occupation army against the Palestinian people at checkpoints and crossings, particularly targeting visitors to prisons, and end the arbitrary denial of visits to the prisoners, especially the prisoners from the Gaza Strip. End the humiliation and abuse of prisoners during transfer.

The principles of our revolution include the rejection of all forms of injustice, and for us to struggle and confront the occupier in all areas and places in our own manner. Accordingly, we call upon all of the Palestinian and Arab people, political forces and institutions, human rights and civil society organizations, to raise their voices for us, so that we do not become easy prey for a vicious occupier. We promise to all of our people, and to the legacy of the martyrs of Palestine, that we will continue on our path until victory.

Great glory to the martyrs ... Victory to the revolution ... Victory is inevitable.”

TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT AHMAD SA'ADAT AND ALL PALESTINIAN PRISONERS!

1. Picket, protest or call the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian political prisoners.

2. Distribute the free downloadable Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat flyer in your community at local events.

3. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that the Israelis ensure that Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners are freed from punitive isolation. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at jerusalem.jer@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situation of Ahmad Sa'adat.

4. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at info@freeahmadsaadat.org with announcements, reports and information about your local events, activities and flyer distributions.

#Palestine #AhmadSaadat #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoner #PoliticalPrisoners #HungerStrike

The Philippines is a country of extremes. There are very rich people and wealthy U.S. corporations in the Philippines. But most people, millions of them, are very poor. The Philippines is also a country that has been at war for over thirty years-a war between the haves and the have-nots.

Those who fight for people's rights – trade unionists and peasant leaders – are often killed by the government. Many in the poor people's movement have been forced to take up arms against the government. They have joined the New Peoples Army and are fighting for a country that is free of exploitation and foreign domination. The government of the Philippines is brutal. It denies basic rights to people and tortures prisoners. Here is the story of one person who dared to fight the system.

Donato Continente worked as a technical staff member at the Philippine's State University. One of eight children, Donato helped his parents in supporting the family. He also was active in the community, organizing poor youth. He organized out-of-school youth to help them stay out of the street and away from drugs, and he educated them on the national issues. Because of his outspoken activism, Donato was targeted for a crime he did not commit in 1989, and, thirteen years later, despite evidence that the he was not even at the crime scene, Donato remains in jail.

On June 16, 1989, Donato was abducted and taken to a station of the corrupt Philippines military where he was tortured for months. He was accused of killing a U.S. military operative, Colonel James Rowe. His captors struck his testicles and rubbed pepper on his anus. They took to beating him for 'fun.'

While he was undergoing torture, Donato's brother was killed by the military and Donato was told that others in his family would be killed if he did not admit to the crime. Unable to see more of his family members killed, Donato confessed to a crime he did not commit.

The charges against Donato are so flimsy that even the Supreme Court of the Philippines has been forced to reduce the charges. The court found Donato's confession was coerced and that he was not even at the crime scene.

However, Donato was not released from prison. Why? Because, unfortunately for Donato, the United States government has been pressuring the Filipino authorities to keep him in jail. And when the U.S. government says, “jump,” the Philippines government asks, “how high?” The U.S. has a long history of messing in the affairs of the Philippines, starting in 1898 when they killed a million Filipino peasants and made the Philippines a colony.

Political prisoners in the Philippines continue to fight for their freedom. On Feb. 22, 2001, Donato joined the nationally coordinated hunger strike of more than 200 political prisoners, pushing for the immediate implementation of the release of their comrades. Human rights groups continue to push for the release of all political prisoners, especially of Donato.

Fight Back! urges all of our readers to contact the Philippine embassy. Tell them to let freedom fighter Donato Continente out of jail now!

#Philippines #Commentary #Donato #PoliticalPrisoner #Asia