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Freedom for Political Prisoners
In July, 1992, different groups from around the world meeting in Munich, Germany over the 500th anniversary of the Columbus Encounter, formed a group called "Libertad!" around the goal of organizing an International Day of Action around the issue of political prisoners. The primary organizers of Libertad! are the Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional/Puerto Rico, National Democratic Front/Philippines, FMLN/El Salvador and the MLN-Tupamaros/Uruguay.
Libertad defines political prisoners as "Those comrades imprisoned because of their struggles, mobilizations and actions as well as those people oppressed in every country by their rulers. This includes prisoners of resistance, liberation and basis (sic) processes all over the world as well as prisoners of the class struggle fighting for the abolition of class society... it is only possible to succeed with an international campaign for the freedom of all political prisoners if it also has the aim of breaking the system of oppression and imprisonment as a whole."
There are currently over 150 political prisoners held in the US, over 800 in England, 700 in Spain, several dozen in Germany, Italy and other countries that normally don't come to mind as holding political prisoners. Thousands more are held in diverse countries around the world from Peru to Senegal, Israel, South Africa, etc. Libertad seeks to struggle for their freedom as well as social change and the political conditions needed for their freedom.
Right now the campaign is in the formative stages, they are seeking input and discussion with interested prisoners, groups and people. They encourage people to devise their own approaches to the campaign. Their initial opening statement is four pages long, too lengthy to report here in PLN. We will report further developments as they occur. Those interested in further information should contact: Libertad!, C/O 3 Welt Haus, WesterbachStr. 40, 60489 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Libertad defines political prisoners as "Those comrades imprisoned because of their struggles, mobilizations and actions as well as those people oppressed in every country by their rulers. This includes prisoners of resistance, liberation and basis (sic) processes all over the world as well as prisoners of the class struggle fighting for the abolition of class society... it is only possible to succeed with an international campaign for the freedom of all political prisoners if it also has the aim of breaking the system of oppression and imprisonment as a whole."
There are currently over 150 political prisoners held in the US, over 800 in England, 700 in Spain, several dozen in Germany, Italy and other countries that normally don't come to mind as holding political prisoners. Thousands more are held in diverse countries around the world from Peru to Senegal, Israel, South Africa, etc. Libertad seeks to struggle for their freedom as well as social change and the political conditions needed for their freedom.
Right now the campaign is in the formative stages, they are seeking input and discussion with interested prisoners, groups and people. They encourage people to devise their own approaches to the campaign. Their initial opening statement is four pages long, too lengthy to report here in PLN. We will report further developments as they occur. Those interested in further information should contact: Libertad!, C/O 3 Welt Haus, WesterbachStr. 40, 60489 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
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