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<font size=3><b><i><u> (a printable version is attached)<br><br>
</u></i></font><font size=4>Please Circulate.<br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>February 7, 2005<br>
<br>
<i>Greetings Comrades</i>,<br>
<br>
The Bay Area Jericho Movement, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the
GABRIELA Network would like to encourage you and your organization to
join us in organizing the <b><i>International Day of Solidarity with
Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War</i></b> called for <b>Saturday,
December 3, 2005</b>. <br>
<br>
The idea of the<b><i> International Day of Solidarity with Political
Prisoners and Prisoners of War </i></b>originated from a political
prisoner in the Philippines, Donato Continente. During a conversation
with a delegation from the United States in the summer of 20004, Donato
suggested<b><i> that we “have an international day of solidarity with
political prisoners worldwide</i></b>?” While discussing the
situation of political prisoners worldwide it was noted that although
most countries have political prisoners, there is little knowledge of
them outside their homelands. Also there is very little if any
communication between political prisoners or political prisoner support
groups of different countries. Each country could decide it’s own way of
observing this day, as could the political prisoners and support
organizations. The impact of this work would be strengthened by
communication between groups and coordinated media work to highlight the
situation of political prisoners internationally. <br>
<br>
In November human rights activists met in Holland at an anti-imperialist
conference: the ILPS-International League of Peoples’
Struggles. There, representatives from the Philippines, US, Canada,
Mexico, Iraq, Palestine, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Turkey agreed
to make Donato’s idea a reality on December 3, 2005 – which would give
activists’ one year to organize. Additional outreach will broaden
this concept to include political prisoners and their movements in many
other countries.<br>
<br>
We have written the political prisoners in the US about this concept and
have begun receiving overwhelming support and suggestions. We will
summarize some of their responses in subsequent mailings.
<br>
<br>
We are looking for your support in planning and coordinating activities
and actions for a <b><i>Day of Solidarity</i></b> in the US. At present,
people have shown interest in organizing regional demonstrations and
programs in Oakland, Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, and Eugene, Oregon.
We hope you and your organizations want to organize actions and
activities in other cities as well. We ask that our efforts be
coordinated to maximize the impact of our efforts. At this time you
can:<br>
a) Organize Endorsements for the
<b><i>Day of Solidarity</i></b>.<br>
b) Commit to organize local or
regional actions <br>
c) Help to organize one of the
projected regional activities<br>
<br>
In Oakland we are considering a demonstration at the Oakland Federal
Building on Friday, December 2<sup>nd</sup> which will also initiate a
one-day solidarity fast with our imprisoned sisters and brothers and a
community event on Saturday December 3<sup>rd</sup> to educate and build
an ever stronger support movement, demanding the freedom for all
political prisoners and prisoners of war.<br>
<br>
We are anxious to hear from you. We welcome your ideas and suggestions.
If you have contacts with any international, national or local prisoner
support movements, please let us know. We are aiming to get as much
feedback as possible from all of you by the end of March
2005. <br>
<br>
All correspondence should be mailed to:<br>
<br>
Jericho Movement<br>
P.O. Box 3585<br>
Oakland, CA 94509<br>
<br>
All email correspondence can be sent to:
<a href="mailto:kaliaw@sbcglobal.net">kaliaw@sbcglobal.net</a>. <br>
<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3><a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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