29 août - ligne de piquetage pour appuyer les victimes des Ouragans Katrina et Rita

Le Centre d'appui aux Philippines et ses ami-e-s anti-impérialistes ont organisé une ligne de piquetage devant le Consulat américain (coin René-Lévèque et Saint-Alexandre) le mercredi, 29 août 2007 de 17:00 à 18:00 pour appuyer les victimes des Ouragans Katrina et Rita. Le 29 août marque le deuxième anniversaire de ces tempêtes dévastatrices et la journée d'ouverture du Tribunal international sur les Ouragans Katrina et Rita à Nouvelle-Orléans (voir www.internationaltribunal.org pour plus de détails). Une activité appuyée par la Ligue Internationale de luttes des peuples (ILPS). Batissons notre ouragan populaire!

Nous avons aussi demandé la libération du militant anti-impérialiste philippin, Jose Maria Sison, arrêté par la police néérlandais le mardi 27 août 2007!

The Centre d'appui aux Philippines / Centre for Philippine Concerns and its anti-imperialist friends held a picket line Wednesday, August 29, 2007 from 5-6 pm in front of the U.S. Consulate in Montreal to support the victims of the devastating Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. August 29 marked the second anniversary of the storms and the opening day of the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans (see www.internationaltribunal.org for more details). Event supported by the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS). Let's help build the People's Hurricane!

The demonstrators also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Philippine revolutionary leader, Jose Maria Sison, arrested by Dutch police on trumped up charges Tuesday, August 27, 2007!

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Solidarity Message to the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

August 29, 2007

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

To the organizers of the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,

We wish to convey our warmest solidarity greetings from the Centre d'appui aux Philippines - Centre for Philippine Concerns (CAP-CPC) in Montreal. The CAP-CPC is a member organization of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), one of the endorsing organizations for this tribunal. We believe that this tribunal is an important event that will further expose the criminal culpability and neglect of the US government towards African-Americans, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, and the poor during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Even as we write this solidarity message to you, the Chairperson of the ILPS, Prof. Jose Maria Sison, has been arrested by Dutch officials. Prof. Sison who is a known political refugee in the Netherlands has been and continues to be a harsh critic of US foreign policy, especially with regards to US policy in his home country, the Philippines. Because of this, we believe that Prof. Sison is a victim of the extended racism and national oppression of US imperialism through its global war of terror.

It is not enough that US imperialism continues to oppress and exploit the people within its own borders, but it also spreads these policies of oppression and exploitation throughout the world using its puppet regimes in the third world and its rabid allies in the west.

As Prof. Sison wrote in his statement on behalf of the ILPS, "When six residents of New Orleans died from flooding in 1995 a project named Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (SELA) was started to protect the city from flooding. In 2003 the flow of dollars from the federal government dropped to a trickle due to diversion of public funds to the war in Iraq and homeland security so-called, while the Bush regime was giving big tax cuts to the big corporations."

Prof. Sison goes on to say in the statement, "We commend the organizers of the Tribunal for striving to raise public consciousness on the crimes of the Bush regime against the African-American people, fighting against injustice, upholding the rights of the victims and doing all they can to help the survivors rebuild their lives. The campaign to defend the rights of the victims and bring about the benefits that are due them can only be as successful as they can be aroused, organized and mobilized to fight for their rights and welfare."

We therefore support the objectives of the Tribunal, namely:

· Hold the US government accountable for its crimes against humanity;

· Demand financial restitution and justice for the victims of Katrina and Rita;

· Advance the Katrina-Rita reconstruction movement;

· Build a global campaign against the US government’s program of ethnic cleansing;

· Demand that the US government adhere to UN guidelines on Internally Displaced Persons

The CAP-CPC, along with its friends and supporters will be answering the call of the International Tribunal and the ILPS for coordinated solidarity actions by holding a rally in front of the US consulate in Montreal on August 29, 2007.

We wish you success with the Tribunal!