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

Comite Internacional de Emergencia Para Defender la Vida del Dr. Abimael Guzmán en español Report on the 7th IEC Delegation to Peru IEC-London (May 12, 2001) PDF Peruvian press coverage of 7th IEC delegation (additional photos with report) The 7th IEC delegation accomplished a great deal in the time they were in Lima, Peru. While they did not succeed in visiting Dr. Guzman, they broke new ground in IEC efforts. The delegation met several times with representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Ombudsman Office. They held a frank discussion with the general who is President of the Supreme Council of Military Justice. In all of these meetings the Peruvian officials had to acknowledge that there were no legal grounds to deny Dr. Abimael Guzman direct contact with his lawyers...
Press Release IEC Delegation, Lima, Peru (Apr 2, 2001) Message to the Peruvian People IEC Delegation, Lima, Peru (Mar 29, 2001) 7th IEC Delegation Now in Peru... IEC-London (Mar 27, 2001) PDF	IEC Emergency Bulletin #61 IEC-London (February 27, 2001) PDF Seize the Time to Break the Isolation of Dr. Abimael Guzman (Chairman Gonzalo)! 7th IEC Delegation to Peru Needed to Demand End to Isolation! IEC-London (January 30, 2001) PDF
BCM-IEC, 27 Old Gloucester St London WC1N 3XX, UK Phone/Fax: 44 20 7482 0853 E-mail: iec_cie@hotmail.com	In the US, NEW address: IEC-US, 2912 Diamond St #302 San Francisco, CA 94131 415-252-5786 / fax: 415-252-7414
Imprisoned Defense Lawyers Freed in Peru (Sept 24, 1999) Condemn Fujimori's Vicious Plans for Another Military "Trial" and More Torture (July 99) "US-backed Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori has announced the capture of Oscar Ramirez Durand, better known as Comrade Feliciano..." Petitions Filed with the U.N. on Behalf of Abimael Guzman and All Peru's Political Prisoners (Sept 98). The 26-page summaries submitted: "Communication In The Matter Of Guzman v. Peru" and "Communication In The Matter Of All Prisoners Convicted Under the Anti-Terrorism Laws" (posted Dec 98). The US-backed Colombian Regime is Responsible for the Killing of Dr Eduardo Umaña Mendoza (Apr 98)	What is the IEC and Who is Dr. Guzmán? Join the IEC! Anyone, in any country, who agrees with the IEC Call can and should join today. Dr. Guzmán's famous September 1992 "Speech from a Cage" The six IEC international delegations to Peru Selected highlights of the international campaign On the 5th Anniversary of Dr Guzmán's Cage Speech (Sept 97)
Published Ads and Leaflets	Emergency Bulletins and News
The IEC Call - the initiating statement of the international campaign. The "End the Isolation" Statement was distributed in 1994 as a paid ad but was censored in Peru.	#61 - February 2001 #60 - October 1997 #59 - April 1997 #58 - August 1996 #57 - January 1996 #56 - October 1995
Revolutionary Prisoners at Yanamayo
Uprising of Revolutionary Prisoners at Yanamayo, Peru (Feb 25, 2000) Please send letters in support of their demands - and help defend their lives. Update: Revolutionary Prisoners at Yanamayo, Peru (May 17, 2000) IEC-US Mobilizes, Forwards Hundreds of Letters & Petition Signatures Yanamayo Prison Rebellion (IEC-London: February 15, 2000)	Statement from Prisoners who Rebelled at Yanamayo Prison (Dated Feb 7 - posted Feb 23, 2000) Summary of November 1999 Demands Issued by Political Prisoners at Yanamayo Complete List of Demands of the Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War at Yanamayo Prison Petition in Support of the Nov 99 Demands (Acrobat Reader Required)
International Emergency Committee Pamphlets
Complete list of IEC pamphlets and videos available from the Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru. The Case of "La Cantuta" The Fujimori dictatorship is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of ten university students and their professor--a look inside the Colina Death Squad. Articles by IEC supporter J.K. Marga Refuting the "big lies" about Peru Fujimori and the Drug Trade A Reply to Peter Archard (of Amnesty International)	The IEC Founding Conference In February 1993, nearly 1000 people from 33 countries traveled from across the globe to attend the Founding Conference of the IEC in Duisburg, Germany. Here are the resolutions, and a few of the speeches: Introduction Keynote Address The Peruvian and Philippine Revolutions U.S. Intervention in Peru On the IEC South Asia Regional Conference and Developments in the Campaign in Nepal In Memory of Mr. Metin Can Resolutions Adopted

What is the IEC and who is Dr. Abimael Guzmán?

Dr. Abimael Guzmán (aka Chairman Gonzalo) is the captured Chairman of the Communist Party of Peru which has led a revolutionary armed struggle since 1980 against the mountains of oppression weighing upon the Peruvian people: imperialism, especially U.S. imperialism; semi-feudalism in the countryside, which keeps the poor peasants landless and brutally oppressed; and bureaucrat-capitalism.

Within days of his arrest in September 1992, the International Emergency Committee to Defend the Life of Dr. Abimael Guzmán (IEC) was formed, and an international campaign arose in countries on every continent. People everywhere saw him on TV and in newspapers make his defiant speech from a cage in a Lima prison, and the call went out to prevent the Fujimori regime from murdering him like other reactionary regimes had murdered revolutionaries before him: Steve Biko in South Africa, Charu Mazumdar in India, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya in Turkey, and many others.

There was recognition among people of different viewpoints that Abimael Guzmán is a leader of millions of Peru's "wretched of the earth," and that defending his life meant defending their hopes and struggles. Even those who did not agree fully with his politics could not tolerate the savage treatment handed out to him by Peru's regime and its U.S. backers, and the deadly precedent it sets in the treatment of revolutionary leaders.

In October 1992, Chairman Gonzalo was sentenced to life imprisonment by hooded military judges of the US-backed regime in Peru. Up to now the Fujimori regime has been prevented from murdering Dr. Guzmán. But his life remains in great danger. In August 1993, Fujimori's Congress voted to reinstate the death penalty, with the purpose of trying to legally execute Dr. Guzmán and the other political prisoners. Beyond this, the conditions of his imprisonment constitute torture and cannot be accepted. He has been held in brutal conditions and solitary confinement in a dark underground cell since October 7th, 1992. He has been denied visits even from his lawyers, deprived of proper medical care and reading materials, and denied the basic rights supposedly afforded political prisoners under Peru's own laws, constitution, and international treaties. Peru's President Fujimori has publicly threatened Dr. Guzmán's life, and boasted of psychologically torturing him. The Peruvian regime must be prevented from killing Dr. Guzmán through the death penalty or other means.

"Abimael Guzmán is very sick. He will be dead within three years. He suffers from psoriasis... and he is very depressed. Nobody has a long life in the prison where he is held...I believe he should remain in isolation." -Alberto Fujimori [O Globo 5/21/95] This is a threat of pre-meditated murder by the president of Peru. This prison was built especially for Dr. Guzmán. No one can believe that death from a medically treatable disease could be called "natural."

While Fujimori now claims that Dr. Guzmán has called for negotiations from prison, the international press continues to cover up the fact that Dr. Guzmán is still in isolation. Many accounts report as if he has free access to communicate with the outside world; this is not true. It is vitally important for people in Peru and around the world to hear Dr. Guzmán's views from Dr. Guzmán himself - directly and unimpeded. What possible excuse can Fujimori offer for continuing to deny Dr. Guzmán independent contact with his lawyers, doctors, and other friendly and neutral visitors from outside the prison?

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.

We urge you to contact the IEC for more information to publicize the situation broadly.

More than three years after the capture of Communist Party of Peru Chairman Gonzalo [aka Dr. Abimael Guzmán], the stakes in the battle to defend his life remain very high for both the world's revolutionaries and the world's reactionaries. This battle has been tortuous, filled with unexpected twists and turns, attacks and counter-attacks, and yet the threat of execution continues to hang over his head. It was to be expected that such a battle would be difficult; winning it will require that many more people have a firm grasp of what is at stake and a spirit of persevering to the end.

-from "The Fight to End the Isolation," A World to Win #21, December 1995

International Emergency Committee to Defend the Life of Dr. Abimael Guzmán-US
New Mailing Address (as of May 00):
IEC-US
2912 Diamond St #302
San Francisco, CA 94131 (USA)
Other IEC-US contact remains unchanged:
phone: 415-252-5786 * fax: 415-252-7414
http://www.csrp.org/iec.htm

Outside of the US, contact the IEC international office at:
BCM-IEC
27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC 1N 3XX, UK
phone/fax: 44-171-482-0853

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Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru
PO Box 1246, Berkeley CA 94701
phone: 415-252-5786 * fax: 415-252-7414

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