Sign the call and take local protest action!
Free the arrested of the protests in Jalalabad including three communists!
To demonstrate against US occupation is a democratic right!
In the latest street protests in Jalalabad from May 10-15 the people took to the street en masse against the US occupation and the regime it installed in Kabul.
# Sign this call and send it to the local Afghan embassy. Inform us if you are able to take local protest action.#
Karzai, the president imposed by Washington, immediately blamed it on "Islamic fundamentalist terrorism" in order to justify the brutal repression unleashed by his police. Also the "Peace Keeping Forces" were involved in the massacre left about 20 dead and 100 injured. About 100 people have been arrested many of whom have been tortured in order to find out about the alleged "terror network" behind the protests. The police used footage taken by journalists to identify the participants of the demos and use it as documents against them.
Jalalabad is an old left-wing stronghold. It is a completely ridiculous claim that tens of thousands protesters form part of an "Islamic fundamentalist network" only because they demand the withdrawal of the US troops and the dismantling of their Guantanamo and Bagram camps. The very fact that local communists were leading part of the popular uprising is a proof for the large and broad character of the protests. Afghanistan has a great left background as PDPA had two hundreds thousands members and the Maoists around one hundred thousand members, sympathisers and supporters in 70s and 80s. So considering the political changes parts of the communists originating from both previous trends are reorganizing themselves and stand for radical social, economic and political changes. They believe that imperialist cannot grant Afghanistan prosperity but only instability, poverty and killing.
But under the new "democratic" regime not only protesting is a crime but also being communist. So while most of the detainees have been freed as a result of the protests of their families, three communists linked to the "Left Radicals of Afghanistan" (LRA) are being accused of subversion and membership in an illegal organisation. If convicted they face the death penalty. Therefore we have been asked not to disclose the names of the three comrades as that might be used against them.
We, the undersigned, demand the immediate release of all those arrested in the Jalalabad protests including the communists!
# This call has been commonly drafted by the Left Radicals of Afghanistan and The Anti-imperialist Camp. #
EEK (Workers Revolutionary Party), Greece
Lajpat Rai, film maker, Mumbai, India