Draft resolution - 8th International Symposium against Isolation

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Tuesday December 29, 2009 12:48 by Republican Sinn Féin Europe irish-solidarity at gmx dot net

Symposium held in London, 18.-20. Dec. 2009

We came together, people from many countries all over the world, to inform us, share experiences, discuss and decide upon common activities and projects against isolation. The discussion was divided into three different subjects:

a) POLITICAL PRISONERS AND ISOLATION PRACTICS

Political prisoners are part of the social, cultural and political struggle. In order to keep their struggle and will power in being, we need to combine their struggle with our solidarity outside the prisons. Isolation policies aim to completely deprive them of social, cultural and political development. In this way the system intends to create individuals without free thoughts and free will and to completely withhold them from political life. Therefore it is highly important to keep continuous communication with them. The worldwide prison system, whether serving as industrial complexes or as places of intimidation and isolation, has expanded and developed very quickly in recent years. Political prisoners in particular are subjected to systematic isolation regimes and their rights are severely violated. There are hundreds of examples throughout the globe. These violations include medical neglect, partial or complete restriction of communication with the outside world, as well as physical abuse or torture.

b) ANTI-TERROR LAWS AND CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Anti-terror laws and blacklists continue in force, with organisations and individuals proscribed as "terrorist". Anti-terror laws especially in connection with blacklists after 9/11. While in some countries such laws were already in existence before that, other countries followed suit. At this moment there are several trials running in European countries on the basis of these restrictive laws. The real aim of these trials is to silence opposition. While these laws are in force in trials, they remove jurisdictional rights and are used as a political instrument to intimidate and isolate organised voices against the system. The detainees are kept under strict isolation regimes through restrictions on their communication rights with the outside world.

Political and social movements are more and more faced with political cases against their activists. Democratic lawyers and their institutions are confronted with serious problems regarding the defence of their clients. Today, many political trials within European countries are based on increasing data exchange among international secret services, especially from countries with poor human rights status (e.g. Turkey, Colombia, Israel) For this and other reasons, there is a need for stronger cooperation and exchange between human rights networks of civil liberties and engaged lawyers in different countries.

c) EMBARGO, OCCUPATION, MILITARY INVASIONS AND COUPS

As an imperial power, the USA claims full hegemony throughout the world and uses politics of sanctions and intimidation towards countries who do not accept the "Strategy for a New American Century", which aims at the enforcement of US-hegemony upon the whole world (as already intended in the "Monroe doctrine"), including the means of arms. This plan was presented to the public as "US National Security Strategy". After the September 11 attacks, the "War against Terrorism" was specified with the words of G. W. Bush: "Either you are with us or you are an enemy". As consequence "black lists against terrorist countries, organisations and individuals" were generated and countries were stigmatized as members within the "axes of evil".

The occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan creates daily human disasters. Turkey is the center of this imperialist Middle East project. The US base of Incirlik/Turkey is extensively used by US- and allied warplanes, carrying their deadly loads, which already caused and still cause the death of ten thousands of civilians. Any protest against the USA is silenced and persecuted by the authorities of Turkey, thus dismanteling their ambiguous policy.

Cuba is facing a blockade imposed by the US government for already 47 years. Today the US government is almost standing alone in the world with its blockade on Cuba. In the last UN General Assembly only three countries voted for the blockade, which were the USA itself, Israel and Palau. The US embargo on Cuba causes shortages of food, medicine and other important supplies for eleven million people. The embargo is an immoral policy that uses hunger and disease as political weapons. Not to speak of hundreds of counter-attacks and acts of sabotage against the country which have already cost many lives.

The Palestinian people must be granted their right to resist occupation and to fight for their sovereignty. Freedom and safety for the people living on the territory can only be possible by the end of occupation and embargo, the surrounding and settlement must stop. US support to Israel, providing it with logistics and war equipment, should be rejected and the US-veto against any sanction of Israel's war crimes against the Palestinian people by the UN Security Council, must be strongly condemned. The basic needs of Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, first of all medical stuff, food and construction material to rebuild their houses, must be guaranteed and considered to be a fundamental human right.

Venezuela's people has voted for a change towards participatory democracy. Its president Hugo Chavez Frias also initiated the ALBA project, which was developed as a counter-concept to the US- dominated free trade treaties (e.g. ALCA, NAFTA, etc.). This Bolivarian process, which is opposed to the oligarchic and neo-liberal powers, has been targeted since then by the US administration.

One of the 9 ALBA member countries is Honduras. Its elected president Manuel Zelaya was toppled by a military coup and illegally deported from his country. The imperialist forces thus reacted against his engagement for the Bolivarian process in favor of democratic and social reforms. From that moment on, the people of Honduras is faced with constantly increasing repression, including assassinations, torture, kidnappings, mass arrests and elimination of free media.

The participants of the 8th International Symposium against Isolation therefore agreed on the following demands:

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION:
* Organize regular semestral meetings to keep alive solidarity and communication through direct contact and to decide upon common projects and campaigns.
* Establish common communication mediums (e.g. magazine, website, bulletin, web conferences, weblogs, etc.), including a feed-back mechanism about the activities of the participating organisations.
* Make use of political culture as a mean of information by organizing international festivals and youth camps.

POLITICAL PRISONERS CAMPAIGNS:
* Develop common letter-writing campaigns for the political prisoners and POWs
* List and constantly update names and addresses of political prisoners and distribute them via communication portals
* Organize common actions throughout the world according to specific needs of organisations in solidarity ie, protest, delegations, lobbying etc
* Join activities through global action days in solidarity with political prisoners (e.g. March 18, April 17, December 19-22)
* List the names of seriously ill political prisoners around the world, thus following the campaign for ill prisoners in Turkey (with the exemplary success to free Guler Zere).
* Organize people's tribunals against the responsible officials in charge of prison isolation and torture.
* Assist the efforts of associations of prisoner's families to unite in an international network.

CRIMINALISATION AND POLITICAL TRIALS
* Prepare a report about the situation and outcomes of the different trials based on the anti-terror laws.
* Send delegates for trial observation and denounce arbitrary practices taken during these trials.

EMBARGO, OCCUPATION AGAINST COUNTRIES
* Exchange information on the situation and reality of these countries and send fact finding delegations.
* Support activities of people's resistance against oppression and occupation by joining solidarity networks.

We, the participants of the 8th International Symposium against Isolation, furthermore declare our solidarity with the struggle of peoples against any kind of oppression and occupation, in particular with the political prisoners, giving them our voice when they are isolated and silenced.

We also consider it as part of the isolation policy, that many of the invited delegates from Turkey, Netherlands/Iraq and Lebanon were prevented from joining the symposium because their visa applications were refused or remained without respond.

London, 20th December 2009

Some of the participants of the 8th International Symposium against Isolation:
Kit Aastrup, Oproer (Rebellion), Denmark
Ashanti (Michael) Alston, spokes person of the National Jericho Movement and former BPP/BLA political prisoner, USA
Paulette Dauteuil, NYC Jericho, USA
Naji Mujahid/William Fenwick, Jericho DC, USA
Dr. Mariam Abu-Daqa, Palestinian Developmental Women Studies Association (PDWSA), Palestine
Hassan Mahmoud, lawyer of Palestinian political prisoner Ahmad Sa’adat, Palestine
Iratxe Urizar, lawyer and member of Behatokia, Basque Country
Edurne Iriondo, lawyer and member of Behatokia, Basque Country
Representatives from Venezuela and Cuba
National Front of Popular Resistance, Honduras
Senza Censura, Italy
Latife Adiguzel, Anatolian Federation, Germany
Rote Hilfe (Red Aid); Hamburg, Germany
Luk Vervaet, CLEA (Committee for the Freedom of Expression and Association), Belgium
Des Dalton, President of Republican Sinn Fein, Ireland
Josephine Hayden, Secretary Republican Sinn Féin, Ireland
Dermot Douglas, Republican Sinn Féin, Ireland
Dieter Blumenfeld, Republican Sinn Féin, Austria
Republican Sinn Féin Glasgow, Scottland
Republican Sinn Féin London, England
Les Lewidow, CAMPACC, England
Perico Rodriguez, Counsellor at Medical Foundation, England
Helen Bamber, Helen Bamber Foundation, England
Dr. SweeChai Ang, England
David Enright, barrister, Howe & Co Solicitors, England
Daniel McCluskey, solicitor, Howe & Co Solicitors, England
Pavlos Antonopulos, ADEDY, Greece
Ahmet Kulaksiz, member of TAYAD (Solidarity Association of Prisoner's Families), Turkey
Sandra Bakutz, Anatolian Federation, Austria
Frederico Mahrer, ALBA Latin American Network, Austria