Statement on the Occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War
The International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) extends its ardent solidarity with all political prisoners worldwide who are behind bars for their courageous resistance to fascist oppression and US imperialist intervention and aggression in their homelands.
It supports the call to free the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners, including women and minors who languish in Israeli prisons for their valiant resistance to the US-Israeli genocidal war against the Palestinian people.
It calls for the immediate release of Kurdish freedom fighter Abdullah Ocalan who was abducted by Turkish state agents on February 15, 1999 in Kenya and brought to Turkey where he and the entire Kurdish national liberation movement have been tagged as terrorist. Ocalan has been sentenced to death after a sham trial and kept in solitary confinement in an island prison while he awaits his execution, all in violation of the Mandela Rules on the humane treatment of prisoners and detainees.
The ILPS calls for the freedom of the elderly couple Izaak Siahaja and Pelpina Werinussa Siahaja, detained in Indonesia since June 2019. We also demand the release of ailing Victor Yeimo, the international spokesperson of the West Papua National Committee, detained since May 9, 2021. Additionally, the ILPS stands in solidarity with the seven Papuan students arrested in West Papua for raising the Morning Star flag.
The ILPS moreover demands the unconditional freedom of all other political prisoners in Turkey, including ailing lawyer Aytaç Ünsal. The ILPS also demands the release of George Ibrahim Abdallah in France and Amin Abu Rashed in The Netherlands.
We call for the humanitarian release of long-time and ailing Basque political prisoner Patxi Ruiz. The ILPS also demands the release of Kurdish political activist Zeinab Jalalian, imprisoned in Iran since 2008, as well as all women political prisoners worldwide, including Rosita Taboy, Evangeline Rapanut, Estelita Almanza and Virginia Villamor who are all in their 70s. We also condemn the highly disproportionate use of hundreds of British police to arrest 8 members of the Kurdish Community Center in London just a few days ago, where police continue to occupy and search the Center for evidence of “terrorism” in complete violation of the rights of the Kurdish community members.
The ILPS, likewise, express our grave concern and strong condemnation of the conviction and sentencing of members of the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (MOVADEF) on October 28, 2024, by the Peruvian judiciary under allegations of terrorism and links to the Shining Path. These rulings, which include sentences ranging from 16 to 35 years for individuals such as Victoria Trujillo, Alfredo Crespo, and others, represent a harsh and repressive response to political dissent and activism. The dissolution of MOVADEF and the closure of its premises reflect a troubling pattern of criminalizing political expression and silencing opposition voices under the pretext of combating terrorism. While any involvement in illegal activities must be addressed with due process, the application of sweeping accusations against movements advocating for amnesty and human rights is a disproportionate and deeply concerning tactic.
The ILPS further urges the release of Mwaivu Kaluka and Kinuthia Ndungu, national chaiperson and organizing secretary, respectively, of the Communist Party Marxist-Kenya who were ordered arrested on November 21, 2024 by the fascist US-Ruto regime for organizing demonstrations against the Kenyan government’s economic policies that have fostered imperialist plunder, economic depression and environmental devastation. To date, 60 protesters have been killed, 610 injured, and 1,376 persons, including 24 journalists have been arrested since protests erupted last June. There have also been 74 cases of enforced disappearance, with 26 of the victims still missing.
The ILPS also condemns the recent appeal rejection of American Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier, one of the longest serving political prisoners in the US. Both he and Black Liberation activist Mumia Abu Jamal have been kept in the US prison system for crimes they assert they did not commit amidst wide signs of evidence tampering by reactionary legal prosecutors. ILPS calls for the release of them and all political prisoners held within the imperialist US, the country with by far the largest imprisoned population in the world.
The ILPS moreover condemns the death of former political prisoner Prof. Gokarakonda Naga (GN) Saibaba, who succumbed to complications a few months after his release. A polio victim since he was a child, he also had progressive and incurable conditions of the spine and nervous system. Despite his condition, he was denied appropriate medical treatment while in detention and his health considerably worsened under the inhumane conditions of his imprisonment.
We urgently demand the immediate release of all National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultants who are presently detained in various jails and prisons across the Philippines, as well as the rest of more than 700 political prisoners in the country.
The ILPS strongly denounces the worldwide rise in the arrest and detention of activists, government critics, revolutionaries and dissidents, marking the systemic persecution of all forms of dissent.
Today, on the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, we raise our resounding call for genuine social freedom and democracy even as we urge the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Free all political prisoners!
Down with imperialism!
Onward with the struggle for people’s rights!
Signed,
ILPS Commission on Peoples’ Rights and Anti-Fascism (Commission 3)