[indymediapr] OjO! Resolucion por la excarcelacion de Oscar Lopez Rivera de la Red Internacional de Mujeres contra el Militarismo

[Wanda Colon]

*RESOLUTION*

*INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF WOMEN AGAINST MILITARISM*

*IN SUPPORT OF THE RELEASE **OF PUERTO RICAN POLITICAL PRISONER:*

*Oscar López Rivera*


*8th Gathering of the International Network of Women Against*

*Militarism: “Forging Nets for Demilitarization and Genuine Security”*

*Countries:/Regions represented: Philippines, Guahan, Japan, Hawaii, South
Korea, Okinawa, Puerto Rico and United States*

*February 19-25, 2012 – San Juan, Puerto Rico*


*Introduction:*


The* *International Women’s Network Against Militarism started in 1997 when
some 40 women activists, policy-makers, teachers and students from South
Korea, Okinawa, mainland Japan, the Philippines and the United States
gathered to share information and to strategize together about the negative
effects of U.S. military operations in all our countries. Since then, women
from Puerto Rico, Hawai’i and Guahan (Guam) have joined the Network. We
recognize Puerto Rico, Guahan, Hawai’i, and Okinawa as sovereign nations.

In all our communities, militarism jeopardizes people’s opportunities to
live in sustainable ways. Despite our very different locations, we face
many similar issues: distorted national budget priorities due to high
levels of military spending, military violence against women/human
trafficking, health effects of environmental contamination caused by
preparations for war, the challenges of base conversion to civilian uses,
and the everyday militarization of our societies. In the United States
(including Guahan, Hawai’i, and Puerto Rico), low-income communities face
aggressive military recruiting and inadequate services due to inflated
military budgets at the expense of socially useful programs. Learning from
each other’s situations, we analyze these issues in terms of gender, race,
class and nation. Part of our work is to redefine security, especially for
women and children. This year, our 15 year together as a Network, we met at
Puerto Rico, February 19–25, 2012, to share strategies, information and
further our collaboration.

*WHEREAS,* Oscar López Rivera has served close to 31 years in United States
prisons for his commitment to the independence of Puerto Rico;

*WHEREAS,* along with 14 other men and women in the early 1980's, he
was convicted
of seditious conspiracy and related offenses, but neither he nor any of his
co-defendants was convicted of harming or killing anyone;

*WHEREAS*, in 1999 as a result of an international human rights campaign,
President Bill Clinton determined that their sentences were
disproportionately lengthy and offered to commute their sentences after
they had served 16 to 20 years behind bars. Most accepted and were released
in 1999. However, under the terms of the offer to López Rivera, he would
have had to serve an additional ten years with good conduct in prison. He
did not accept the offer, as the president did not include all of his
co-defendants, and, given his experience in prison, he felt his jailers
would not allow him to successfully complete the conditions;

*WHEREAS,* had he accepted, he would have been released in September of 2009,
given that he has successfully completed the conditions;

*WHEREAS,* he is now the only one of the 1980's pro-independence prisoners
remaining in prison, while all of his co-defendants are living productive,
exemplary, law-abiding lives, fully integrated into civil society;

*WHEREAS*, the U.S. Parole Commission recently denied parole, ordering that
he serve an additional 15 years in prison, which would mean serving 45
years in prison for politically motivated offenses where no one was hurt
and no one killed;

W*HEREAS,* he is a 68 year old Vietnam veteran, who in an additional 15 years
would be 83 years old;

*WHEREAS,* support for his immediate release comes from virtually the entire
civil society of Puerto Rico, from the Puerto Rico Bar Association to the
Ecumenical and Interreligious Coalition of Puerto Rico (which includes
every religious denomination) to elected officials across party lines,
including many, like the representative of the almost 4 million people of
Puerto Rico in the U.S. Congress, who ardently supports his release,
despite personally favoring statehood and opposing independence;

*WHEREAS,* support also includes several members of the U.S. House of
Representatives;
prominent personalities, civic and religious leaders throughout the U.S.;
elected officials, including from New York, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
and Illinois; international figures from Haiti, Mexico, and Australia; as
well as Puerto Rican and Latino communities throughout the United States;

*WHEREAS,  *the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has adopted
resolutions annually, as recently as 2010, calling on the President of the
United States to release López Rivera.



*BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED:*

     * that the International Network of Women Against Militarism calls on
the President of the United States to exercise his Constitutional power of
pardon, and to grant immediate and unconditional release to Oscar López
Rivera;


    *  International Network of Women Against Militarism send this
Resolution to the President of the United States, to convey its sentiments
directly to the person in whom this Constitutional power rests.


*Dated: February 23 , 2012*

*San Juan, Puerto Rico*

*
**Signatures of International Participants *

** Hope A. Cristobal*

Guahan, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice

** Lisa Linda Natividad*

Guahan, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice

** Kozue Akibayashi*

Japan, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Ritumeikan
University, Kyoto

** Yuuka Kageyama*

Japan, Ritumeikan University – International Relations, Japan

** Elise Davis*

Hawaii, Cancer researcher for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders

** Eri Oura *

Hawaii, Third Path Movement for Reproductive Justice, Hawaii

** Kim Ku’ulei Birnie*

Hawaii, Protect Kaho’olawe’Ohana, Hawaii

** Terri Keko’olani*

Hawaii, Women’s Voices, Women Speak, Hawai’i Peace and Justice, Ohana Koa,
Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific

** Suzuyo Takazato*

Okinawa, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

** Hiromi Minamoto*

Okinawa, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

** Harumi Miyagi*

Okinawa, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

** Emiko Utsumi*

Okinawa, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

** Sachika Takara*

Okinawa, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

** Atsumi Ikemiyagi*

Okinawa, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

** Manami Tasaki *

Okinawa, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

** Yoko Fukumura*

Okinawa, Women Act Against Military Violence

** Ahn Jeong Ae *

South Korea, Network for Anti-US Crimes in South Korea

** Aida F. Santos*-*Maranan*

Philippine, Women Network for Peace and Security

** Gwyn Kirk*

United States, Women for Genuine Security

** Debbie Lee*

United States, Women for Genuine Security

** Ellen-Rae Cachola*

United States, Women for Genuine Security, Women’s Voices Women Speak Hawaii

** Michiko Hase *

United States, Women for Genuine Security

** Junko Kanamura*

United States, Women for Genuine Security

** Dianne Cabcabin*

United States, Women for Genuine Security

*Puerto Rico's Delegation *

** María Reinat-Pumarejo*–Colectivo Ilé

** Dominga Flores-Anaya* – Colectivo Ilé

* *Frances Negrón Ramos *– Colectivo Ilé

* *Mariluz Franco-Ortiz* – Colectivo Ilé

* *Jessica Gaspar –* Colectivo Ilé

** Esterla Barreto *– Colectivo Ilé

* *Onelia Pérez Rivera* - Centro Mujer y Nueva Familia, Inc. (Barranquitas)

** Zaida Torres *- Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses

** Judith Conde*-Pacheco - Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses

* *Juanita Laboy* - Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses

* *Carmen Valencia* – Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses

** Miriam Sobá* – Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses

* *Sandra Meléndez* – Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses

** Ibis Cintrón* – Alianza de Mujeres Viequenses

** Wanda Colón Cortés* - Proyecto Caribeño de Justicia y Paz

** Anita Yudkin* - Catedra de Unesco para la Edcuación para la Paz,
Universidad de Puerto Rico

** Liliana Cotto* - Catedra de Unesco para la Educación para la Paz,
Universidad de Puerto

** Sonia Santiago* – Madres Contra la Guerra

** Laura del Moral *– Madres Contra la Guerra

** Lester Caleb Santiago *- Mesa de Diálogo Martín Luther King, Jr.

** Nilda Medina* - Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques

** Robert Rabin* - Committee for Rescue and Development of Vieques

** Orlando Meléndez* -Federación de Estudiantes de la Escuela Graduada de
Trabajo Social Beatriz Lasalle

** Olga Orraca* – Taller Lésbico Creativo

** Verónica RiveraTorres*- Comisión de la Mujer del Colegio de Abogados y
Abogadas de Puerto Rico
------------ próxima parte ------------
Se ha borrado un adjunto en formato HTML...
URL: http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/cmi-pr/attachments/20120229/5ea70e8c/attachment-0001.htm