LAWS, LABELS AND LIBERATION (REVISITED)
A conference to expose and oppose the labeling of movements for national and social liberation as terrorist organizations.
Sunday, March 16, 2008, 9:30 AM – 5 PM, Vancouver Public Library (350 W. Georgia), Alma VanDusen Room
Conference Background:
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Canadian government enacted legislation creating a list of designated terrorist organizations and criminal code amendments making it a criminal offense to support listed organizations. Similar legislation was passed in the European Union, Australia and at the United Nations Security Council all closely mirroring U.S. law.
The terrorist lists are part of an all out offensive against political leaders and movements resisting neoliberal globalization, re-colonization and imperialism, using the cover of the general state of concern over the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Internationally the case of Philippine revolutionary leader Professor Jose Maria Sison stands as an outstanding example of how these lists are being used to persecute immigrants, refugees and progressives who continue to support the people's right to struggle for national and social liberation.
In the context of mounting attacks on the movements for national and social liberation, and as we approach the 5th Anniversary of the U.S. led invasion and occupation of Iraq, there is an urgent need to reaffirm the right of peoples to struggle for national and social liberation and to challenge the laws and labels that seek to suppress these struggles.
The International League of Peoples' Struggle has taken up this challenge with the 2004 Laws, Labels and Liberation: the Case of Prof. Jose Maria Sison conference and the 2006 Towards a Just and Lasting Peace conference. Laws, Labels and Liberation (Revisited) continues this tradition of bringing together people, organizations, communities and movements in support of people's just struggles for national and social liberation in Canada and around the world.
Conference Program:
The morning portion of this full day conference will focus on the case of Professor Jose Maria Sison, the current Chairperson of the International League of Peoples' Struggle, who has been placed on the Canadian, EU and U.S. terrorist lists for his role as a leading voice of the Philippine revolutionary movement. We will hear about the case of Professor Sison and draw lessons from the international campaign to defend him.
The afternoon portion of the conference focuses on the impact of the terrorist labelling on struggles for national and social liberation from Canada to Colombia and the Philippines to Palestine. We will explore the possibilities for uniting around and developing a campaign to expose and oppose the terrorist list and other strategies of the Canadian state to undermine support and solidarity for people's struggles for national and social liberation
Confirmed Conference Presenters:
Professor Jose Maria Sison – ILPS Chairperson and Chief Political Consultant to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
Professor Hari Sharma – Teacher, writer and board member of South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy.
Ning Alcuitas – Lawyer and Canadian representative to the International Coordinating Committee of the ILPS.
Billie Pierre – Indigenous organizer and activist.
Roberto Carrasco – Community activist with solidarity ties to Cuba and Latin America.
Khaled Barakat – Palestinian writer and organizer, active with the Free Ahmad Sa'adat Campaign.
Jon Nieto – Vice-Chairperson of the BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.
How to Register:
Pre-registration is encouraged but not compulsory. Suggested donation for registration is $10, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. To register contact ilps_canada@shawcable.com
Organized by: Participating organizations of the ILPS in Vancouver (BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Bus Riders Union, Filipino Nurses Support Group, SIKLAB, Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance/ Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada, Grassroots Women, Alliance for People's Health, Group of Relatives and Friends of Political Prisoners in Mexico, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy), La Surda Latin American Collective, Free Ahmad Sa'adat Committee.