The Call of the International Emergency Committee to Defend the Life of Dr. Abimael Guzmán

This is the initiating statement of the international campaign. It was distributed immediately after the capture in September 1992 and has been signed by tens of thousands from every continent. As the IEC campaign pamphlet put it, "The challenge now is to go out even more broadly so that many more people speak out on this urgent matter, and also to deepen our campaign so that it will be taken up even more uncompromisingly and fiercely." Print this form to add your name or join the IEC today!

Buca Prison, Turkey. Political Prisoners' Day of Solidarity with Dr Guzmán

"On 12 September 1992, Dr. Abimael Guzmán, known as Chairman Gonzalo of the Communist Party of Peru, was captured by the Fujimori regime in Lima, with the full assistance of the US's notorious counterinsurgency machine.

"There is every reason to fear for the life of Dr. Abimael Guzmán at the hands of one of the world's bloodiest governments. The Peruvian state has repeatedly murdered its political prisoners, from the hundreds killed in the El Fronton massacre of 1986 to the 40 women and men gunned down in cold blood at Canto Grande prison in May 1992. The Peruvian Constitution has been suspended, and Fujimori is threatening to impose the death penalty on Dr. Abimael Guzmán.

"This must not be allowed to happen.

"No knowledgeable and truthful observer of Peru, regardless of their political beliefs, can deny that Dr. Abimael Guzmán is the recognized leader of millions of peasants, workers, students, intellectuals and others of various walks of life in Peru. In no way can the 12-year-long war he has been leading be dismissed as 'acts of terrorism.' In no way can Dr. Guzmán be denied the stature of a captured leader of a revolutionary party and army. Dr. Abimael Guzmán merits the broad international support that all imprisoned opponents of imperialism and reactionary regimes have always benefited from. He should be allowed access to lawyers, journalists, and doctors to ensure his health.

"It is urgent that many voices be heard to demand that the Peruvian state respect the international conventions concerning the treatment of political prisoners. That a military tribunal cannot be legally competent. That the life of Dr. Abimael Guzmán be saved."

Abuscharekh Abdelhadi (Germany) - Information Office on Palestine
Yusef Abdullahi (Britain) - Cardiff 3, recently freed political prisoner
Mumia Abu-Jamal (US) - political prisoner on death row, former Black Panther
Falco Accame (Italy) - Ex Member of Parliament
Fayez Ahmed (Bangladesh) - President, Coalition of Cultural Organizations
Robert Aitken (US) - Writer and Buddhist teacher, Hawai'i
Shamin Akhter (Bangladesh) Editor, Rupantor, feminist monthly magazine
Buland Al-Haidari (Iraq) - Poet, Vice-Pres of Iraqi Democratic Assn
Dalal Al-Mufti (Iraq) - Sculptress, head of Iraqi Artists Assn
Reza Allamezadeh (Iran) Film director,in exile
Sushil C. Amatya (Nepal) - Pres, Nepal National Teacher's Organization
Phil Amos (New Zealand) - Former Labor Govt Minister of Education & Island Affairs
Stanley Aronowitz (US) - Editor, Social Text
Antonio Artuso (Canada) - Secretary, International Anti-lmperialist Bloc
Askapena (Basque) - International Basque Organization
Kadir Asmal (Azania/South Africa) - Member, National Executive Committee of African National Congress
Iraj Jannati Ataie (Iran) - Poet, Writer, Director
Dr Bani Sadr (Iran)- Former President of Iran, in exile
Amiri Baraka, Amina Baraka (US) - Revolutionary artists
Nihet Behram (Turkey) - Writer, former collaborator with Yilmaz Guney
Tony Benn (Britain) - Member of Parliament, House of Commons
Keith Bennett (Britain) - Political editor, Asian Times and Caribbean Times
Larry Bensky (US) - Pacifica Radio
Ismael Besikci (Turkey) - Ex-Political Prisoner, Doctor of Sociology
Black Lawyers Association (Azania/South Africa)
Bill Bowring (Britain) - Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Francis Boyle (US) - Prof of Int'l Law, University of Illinois
Dr Jim Cairns (Australia) - former Deputy Prime Minister & Treasurer
Catalonian Committee for Internationalist Solidarity (Catalonia)
Javier Centeno (Mexico) - Federal Representative
Ramsey Clark (US) - Former U.S. Attorney General, editor of War Crimes
Alvira Coke (Jamaica) - Mother of Peter Tosh, murdered reggae musician
P. Custers (The Netherlands) - Independent Journalist/Writer
Carl Dix (US) - National Spokesperson, Revolutionary Communist Party
Joe Deom - Citizen of Mohawk Nation
Jean-Marie Dermagne (Belgium) - Lawyer
Kasthoori Devan (India) - Convenor, Yuva Kerala Munnani
Rev Peter H.F. Duncan (Britain) - Vicar, St. John's Church
Martha Duran (Bolivia) - Lawyer
Michael Franti (US) - Musician
Helmut Frenz (Germany) - Pastor
Bishop Monseigneur Jacques Gaillot (France) - Eveque d'Evreux
Lavarice Gaudin (US) - Haitian activist, VEYEYO, Miami
Prof Haluk Gerger (Turkey) - Journalist from daily newspaper Gundem
Alexandro Jimenez Gil (Mexico) - Director of Juan Rulfo Cultural Center of Oaxaca
Gulay Gokturu (Turkey) - editor of Aktuel Magazine
Danny Glover (US) - Film actor
Andreas Gross (Germany)- Lawyer for political prisoners
Grup YORUM (Turkey) - Musical group
Ishtiaq Ahmad Hashimi (Pakistan) - President, Human Rights Forum
Larry Heineman (US) - Author, Paco's Story
Jon Hendricks (US) - Artist
Hinewirangi (New Zealand) - Maori Women's Center
Rose Hunter (Britain) - Treas, Miner's Wives Action Group
Chrissie Hynde (Britain) - Musician, The Pretenders
International Action Center (US)
International Federation of Iranian Refugees and Immigrants Councils
V.R. Krishna Iyer (India) - Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India (ret.)
R. Jilani (Britain) - Director, Asian Studies Dept., Toynbee Hall
Linton Kwezi Johnson (Britain) - Musician
Syed Abul Kalam (Bangladesh) - Playwright
Ergan Kanae (Turkey) - Chair, Human Rights Organization
Dr Karam Khella (Germany) - University teacher, Hamburg
Charles Kilduff (Australia) - Former Chief Magistrate, Australian Capital Territory
Maina Wa Kinyatti (Kenya)- former Kenyan political prisoner, in exile
Abdul Matin Khan (Bangladesh) - Writer
Azharul Islam Khan (Bangladesh) - President, Society of Film Directors
Ron Kuby (US) - Lawyer, Centre for Constitutional Rights
William Kunstler (US) - Lawyer, Centre for Constitutional Rights
La Patria Radical (Puerto Rico)- Newspaper of the MLN
Carlos and Delia La Torre (Peru)- Father- and Mother-in Law of Dr Guzmán
Juan Jose Landinez (Colombia) - Lawyer for Political Prisoners
Ring Lardner, Jr. (US) - Writer
Colette Magny (France) - Singer
Ms Begum Abida Malik (Pakistan) - Central Exec Committee, Pakistan Peoples Party & National Assembly
Michael Mansfield Q.C. (Britain) - Defender of political prisoners
Dr Manning Marable (US) - Author and Professor, Univ of Colorado
Ludo Martens (Belgium) - General Secretary, Party of Labour
Hugh Masakela (Azania/South Africa) - "Freedom fighter who happens to be a musician"
Andre Michel (France) - Writer, Dir. of Research (CNRS)
Eduardo Morales (Canada)- CONICA - Salvadorans Against Intervention in Central America
Paul Morocco (Britain) - Entertainer
Judy Mowatt (Jamaica)- Singer
Pablo Moses (Jamaica) - Reggae musician
Movimiento Popular del Peru - MPP
Movimiento Popular Domincano-MPD-ML - (Dominican Republic)
Mutabaruka (Jamaica) - Reggae dub poet
Jan Myrdal (Sweden) - Author of books on China
National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), Australia & Europe Committees
National Union of Workers in Education (SNTE)(Mexico) - Sectional Executive Committee, Sec 22
Aziz Nesin (Turkey) - Writer, Political Satirist
New Afrikan Peoples Organization (US)
Soli Niheu - Kanaka Maoli, Nation of Hawai'i
Sinead O'Connor (Ireland) - Musician
Felim O'Hagan & Brian Campbell (Ireland) - Editors, Captive Voice, Long Kesh Prison
Jan Ovland (Norway) - Musician and Singer
Jorge Palacios (Chile) - Ex-Chairman, Philosophy Dept., Univ of Chile
Parizat (Nepal)- Poet, Novelist, VP of Human Rights Organization
Jeff Paterson (US) - First US soldier to refuse to serve in Gulf War
Biswa N. Pathak (Nepal)- Lecturer, Tribhuvan University
Robert Parry (Britain) - Member of Parliament, House of Commons
Siwan Perwer (Kurdistan)- Kurdish Singer, in exile
Gareth Pierce (Britain) - Lawyer, defender of Irish political prisoners
Brenda Proctor (Britain) - Secretary, Miner's Wives Action Group
Radio Cooperativa (Italy) - Veneto, Radio SHERWOOD, Radio ONDA ROSSA, Radio ONDA DIRETTA; Milan, Radio ONDA D'URTO
John Reid (Australia) - Deputy Director, Institute for Aboriginal Development
Veronique Reizner (Switzerland) - Committee Against Sexual Harassment
Michael Rose (Jamaica) - Reggae Musician
Raphael Rowe & Michael Davis (Britain) - M25 Three, Political Prisoners
Enrique Gonzalez Ruiz (Mexico) - Investigator, UNAM
Erasmo Ruiz (Colombia) - Lawyer for Political Prisoners
Mr. Sanmugathasan (Ceylon) - General Secretary, Ceylon Communist Party
Arthur Scargill (Britain) - President, National Union of Mineworkers
Dr Ali Sadeghi (Iran)- Political activist, in exile
Terhan Selcuk (Turkey) - Political Cartoonist
Jens Scheer (Germany)- Professor of Nuclear Physics, University of Bremen
Ilhan Seljuk (Turkey) - Journalist from daily newspaper, limhuriet
Ahmad Shamloo (Iran) - Poet, Candidate for Nobel Prize in 1983
Sindicato Asambleario Trabajodores Telefonica (Barcelona)-Telephone Workers Union
Prof Jose Maria Sison (Philippines)- Founding Chairman, Communist Party of the Philippines, in exile
Sister Carol (Jamaica)- Reggae musician
A. Sivanandan (Britain) - editor, Race & Class
Socialist Party of Workers (Spain)
Socialist Popular Unity Movement of Bolivia-MUPS (Bolivia)
Society of Black Lawyers (Britain)
Gloria Steinem (US) - Editor, MS Magazine
Hugh Stevens (Britain) - Int'l War Crimes Tribunals on Gulf War & Peru
Server Tanilli (Germany) - Prof of Contemporary Turkish History
Giorgio Trentin (Italy) - Film critic, editor Cinema Societa
Padma Ratna Tuladhar (Nepal)- MP, VP of Forum for Protection of Human Rights
Unity Group for Rebellion of the Poor (Afghanistan)
Herman Van Veen (Netherlands) - Clown
Luigi Vinci (Italy) - Senator
John Edgar Wideman (US) - Author
Louis Wolf (US) - Co-Editor, Covert Action Bulletin
Donald Woods (South Africa)- Journalist, author of Biko, in exile
Rev. Michael Yasutake (US) - Director, Interfaith Prisoners of Conscience Project
Atif Yilmaz (Turkey) - Film director
Jean Ziegler (Switzerland) - Parliamentarian
Howard Zinn (US) - Historian, Author, People's History of the United States
4 members of Parliament - Italy
9 Professors and Lecturers, University of the Western Cape - South Africa
10 members of Parliament (HEP Party) - Turkey
14 editors and journalists - Bangladesh
23 Lawyers - Bangladesh Supreme Court
48 Poets from Turkey (including Can Yucel & Zhni Anadol)
90 Members of Parliament - Nepal
10,000+ individuals in Nepal

and tens of thousands of other people worldwide, from over 35 countries