By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
19 October 2010
As chairperson of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), I wish to express the endorsement and support of the ILPS for the International Conference on Solidarity, Defense and Struggle for Freedom of Political Prisoners to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 22-24 of October 2010.
I am personally moved by the nature and purpose of the conference because I was a victim of prolonged torture and was a political prisoner under the Marcos fascist dictatorship in the Philippines for many years, from 1977 to 1986. And once more I was arrested and put in solitary confinement in The Netherlands in 2007 on a false criminal charge cooked up by the US, Philippine and Dutch authorities after having me blacklisted as a terrorist by the Council of the European Union since 2002.
We in the ILPS endorse and support your conference in accordance with Concern No.3 pertaining to human rights in general and Concern No.15 of the ILPS, pertaining to the freedom, justice and indemnification political prisoners in particular. We are most interested in the freedom of those who fight for national and social liberation against imperialism, fascism and other forms of reaction.
We wish the utmost success for the conference workshops concerning the five themes:
1. the conditions of political prisoners all over the world; 2. administrative detention; 3. terror lists/blacklisting; 4. class, race and gender; and 5. tribunals. We are also pleased that the various conference participants can avail of the opportunity to create solidarity networks across borders and between movements and groups working for freedom and the defence for political prisoners all over the world.
We stand firmly in militant solidarity with the conference organizers and participants in the determination to work for the freedom of all political prisoners the world, to join forces and cooperate in achieving such goal and be part of the people’s struggle against the inhumane conditions generated by the world capitalist system and the imperialist powers. ###
Invitation: We invite the conference organizers and participants to attend the Fourth International Assembly of the ILPS in Manila, Philippines on 7-9 July 2011 and present further the cause of fighting for the freedom of political prisoners.