Pan-American Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” founded

The Pan-American Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” is made up of social movements, distinguished intellectuals and political leaders who came together to demand freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and all other political prisoners.

On April 4, 2019, the 70th birthday of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, the Pan-American Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” was officially founded, and today they are sharing it with the world. The Pan-American Initiative "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan" was founded in collaboration with the International Initiative "Freedom for Öcalan – Peace in Kurdistan" based in Cologne, Germany, and includes activists, academics, and public figures from across North, Central and South America.

The aim of the Pan-American Initiative is to realize freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on İmralı Island in Turkey since he was abducted from Nairobi, Kenya, on February 15, 1999, in an international plot involving the intelligence agencies of the USA, Israel, and Turkey. Öcalan is kept under unlawful conditions of extreme solitary confinement; he has not been permitted to contact a lawyer since 2011, and he has only been allowed two visits since April 2015. Currently, there are more than 7,000 people around the world, across the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas, on indefinite hunger strike calling for the end of the harsh isolation imposed on Öcalan.

Öcalan is not only a social and political leader; he is also a thinker of the highest caliber. Both before and after his imprisonment, Öcalan has written extensively on philosophy, politics, history, and the struggle for freedom and self-determination of the Kurdish people that he has been so instrumental in developing. His ideas about ecological society, the liberation of women, and reimagining the very essence of governance have influenced and inspired people around the world, and have served as the foundation for the democratic autonomy project underway in the Rojava region of Northern Syria.

The founding of the Pan-American Initiative represents a monumental step not only in spreading the Kurdish freedom movement’s message of peace and democracy, and in strengthening the solidarity of peoples in struggle around the globe, but also, and most importantly, in promoting a reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationship between the rich diversity of freedom struggles in the Americas and the Kurdish freedom movement. The founding statement of the Pan-American Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” is included below.

--Founding Statement of the Pan-American Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan”--

Abdullah Öcalan is regarded as the undisputed leader by a majority of the Kurdish people. This might sound strange, given that he had spent more than 20 years as a political prisoner in an isolated Turkish prison. However, one could argue that after his abduction in Nairobi in 1999, Öcalan’s political struggle had entered a new phase. His influence and activity is widely recognized as the main reason for the avoidance of a civil war in Turkey. His prison writings have inspired a political theory of democratic modernity, and political practice of democratic confederalism. In dialogue with thinkers and activists from all over the world, Öcalan has succeeded in producing an unlikely synthesis of emancipatory ideas, bringing together feminism, ecology and democratic socialism. His theoretical insistence on democratic nation and autonomy are arguably the most important contribution to the multi-ethnic project of the Middle East without ethnic nationalism and coercive political organizations. It is impossible to understand the revolution in Rojava without the philosophy behind it. But Öcalan is not only a brilliant theorist of democracy and symbol for the struggle for human rights in Turkey. He is an undisputed leader of the majority of Kurdish people. The solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey and Syria is closely linked to his future. The hope for democratization and peace in both Turkey and Syria, as well as hope for a democratic and multi­ethnic project in these areas, is inseparable from the fate of Abdullah Öcalan.

The Pan-American Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” is made up of social movements, distinguished intellectuals and political leaders who came together to demand freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and all other political prisoners, as well as to exert political pressure regarding the democratization process in Turkey. We are inspired within our own struggles in the Americas by Abdullah Öcalan and strive to weave our initiatives with the efforts and achievements of the Kurdish people. The Pan­American Initiative is committed to raising awareness about the plight of Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdish people through grassroots work, lobbying, and public relations efforts.

List of First Signatories

1. Martín Arboleda - Facultad de Sociología, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile
2. Oriana Bernasconi - Socióloga, Chile
3. Rita Laura Segato - Profesora Emérita de la Universidad de Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
4. David Barkin - Profesor Distinguido, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico D.F. Mexico
5. Yvonne Yanez - Ecuador
6. Marisol de la Cadena - Professor of Anthropology, University of California Davis, USA
7. Xochitl Leyva - Chiapas, Mexico
8. Ralph Heyndels - Professor, University of Miami, USA
9. Juan Wahren - Profesor Universidad de Buenos Aires/CONICET, Argentina
10. Catherine Walsh - Docente universitaria, Quito, Ecuador
11. Maristella Svampa - Socióloga y escritora. Investigadora del Conicet, Buenos Aires, Argentina
12. Cecilia Palmeiro - Colectivo Ni Una Menos, Argentina
13. George Yudice - Professor, Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures, Universidad de Miami, EEUU (USA)
14. Veronica Gago - Profesora, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aides, co-fundadora del colectivo feminista Ni Una Menos, Argentina
15. Arturo Escobar - Profesor Emerito de Antropologia, UNC Chapel Hill, Professor Ad-hoc, Doctorado en Ciencias Ambientales, U del Valle, Cali, Profesor Ad-oc, Doctorado en Diseño y Creacion, U. de Caldas, Manizales, EEUU y Colombia (USA and Colombia)
16. Gustavo Esteva - intelectual público desprofesionalizado, Oaxaca, México
17. Angel Hugo Blanco Galdos - Director periódico Lucha Indígena, Luchador social, Escritor, Lima, Perú
18. Arthur Arruda Leal Ferreira - Profesor de la Universidad Federal de Río de Janeiro, Brasil
19. Carlos Walter Porto-Gonçalves - Professor Titular do Programa de Pós-graduação em Geografia da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Coordenador do LEMTO, Laboratório de Estudos de Movimentos Sociais e Territorialidades, Brasil
20. Greg Albo - Professor of Political Economy, York University, Toronto, Canada
21. Sam Gindin - Former Research Director and Assistant to the President at UNIFOR, Professor at York University, Toronto, Canada
22. Samuel Cielo Canales - Profesor, investigador, UACM, México
23. Fabio Lozano - Dir. Énfasis en Política y Derecho del doctorado en Humanidades, Universidad de San Buenaventura, Profesor Maestría en Derechos Humanos, UPTC, Colombia
24. Vilma Rocío Almendra Quiguanás - Pueblos en Camino, Cauca, Colombia
25. Derly Constanza Cuetia Dagua - Pueblos en Camino, Cauca, Colombia
26. Byron Mauricio Acosta - Pueblos en Camino, Cauca, Colombia
27. Emmanuel Rozental - Pueblos en Camino, Cauca, Colombia
28. Orsetta Bellani - Nodo Solidale, Chiapas, México
29. Robzayda Marcos Vera - Profesora Sociología Rural UNESR, cantora, Org. Wainjirawa, Venezuela
30. José Ángel Quintero Weir - Profesor Universidad del Zulia, Org. Wainjirawa, Venezuela
31. Juan Carlos La Rosa Velazco - CEOCIAAC, Org. Wainjirawa, Venezuela
32. Natalia Sierra - Socióloga, Ecuador
33. Alfonso García Vela - Profesor e investigador ICSyH, BUAP, México
34. Erika Arteaga Cruz - Coordinadora Red Ambiente / Asociación Latinoamericana Medicina Social (Ecuador), Environment Circle/ People´s Health Movement, Quito, Ecuador
35. William I. Robinson - Professor of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA
36. Pablo Ospina Peralta - Profesor Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Quito, Ecuador
37. Alberto Colin Huizar - Antropólogo, Ciudad de México, México
38. Patricia Gregorini - Madre de Alina Sánchez, mártir en Rojava..Noreste de Siria, Argentina
38. Sergio Tischler - sociólogo, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, México
39. Betty Ruth Lozano - investigadora y activista de Colombia 40. Óscar Sampayo - ambientalista por el colectivo CRY-GEAM, Grupo de Estudios Ambientales del Maagdalena Medio, Colombia
41. Sergio Palencia - from Guatemala, at the City University of New York, USA
42. Sylvia Marcos - Activista pro Zapatista, profesora e investigadora universitaria, Mexico
43. Oscar Rubén Olivera Foronda - Organizador, Recolector de agua de lluvia y aprendiz de hortelano, Obrero metalúrgico, Cochabamba, Bolivia
44. Alberto Acosta - Ex-presidente de la Asamblea Constituyente de Ecuador
45. José Luis Rocha - sociólogo nicaragüense, investigador de las Universidades Rafael Landívar de Guatemala de la UCA ”José Simeón Cañas" de El Salvador
46. Miriam Lang - Profesora Estudios Sociales y Globales, Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar, Ecuador
47. Justin Podur - Associate Professor, York University, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Toronto, Canada
48. Estefanía Ciro - Centro de Pensamiento desde la Amazonía Colombiana ALAORILLADELRIO, Investigadora, México
49. Jorge Reinel Pulecio Yate - profesor de Economía pensionado de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
50. Cristina Rojas - Profesora Titular Departamento de Ciencia Politica, Universidad de Carleton, Ottawa, Canada 51. Milson Betancourt Santiago - Docente Universitario,Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
52. Mandeep Dhillon - profesión/actividad: médica, activista social en Veracruz, México
53. Judith Deutsch - Toronto, Canada
54. Marv Gandall - Victoria, BC, Canada
55. Roger Annis - writer, Vancouver, Canada
56. Michael John Addario - Toronto, Canada
57. Rosario Rojas Robles - Bióloga, Magister en Ecología, Doctora en Ciencias-Biología , Profesora Asociada, Instituto de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
58. Salvador Schavelzon - Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brasil
59. Jacobo Silva Nogales - Escritor, pintor, ex preso político, México DF, México
60. Jordi Vera Cartas - Coatepec, Veracruz, México
61. Yunuen Torres - Radio Fogata Cherán, México
62. Salvador Huaroco - Radio Fogata Cherán, México
63. Rocelia Rojas - Fogata Kejtsitani Memoria Viva, Cherán, México
64. Daniela Niniz - Fogata Kejtsitani Memoria Viva, Cherán, México
65. Joanne Robertson - Author, Water Activist, Ontario, Canada
66. Michael Truscello - Ph.D., Associate Professor English and General Education, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB, Canada
67. Edwin Díez - Defensor de la Madre Tierra, Medellín, Colombia
68. Mario Alberto Martínez Rosario - Coordinador del Frente de Organizaciones Democráticas del Estado de Guerrero, Defensor de Derechos Humanos, Chilpancingo, Guerrero, México
69. Javier Enríquez Sam - Defensor de Derechos Humanos del Colectivo Contra la Tortura y la Impunidad en México
70. Ana Carolina Herrera Galeano - Socióloga y Comunicadora Comunitaria Corporación Ciudad Comuna, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia
71. Alexander Panez Pinto - Investigador del LEMTO Laboratório de estudos sobre movimentos sociais e territorialidades, Brasil y a nombre del Movimiento de defensa del agua, la tierra y el medio ambiente (MODATIMA) Chile
72. John Holloway - Profesor, ICSyH, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, México
73. Alicia Castellanos Guerrero - Profesora Investigadora de la Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico
74. Gilberto Lopez y Rivas - Profesor, de la Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico
75. Cristina Burneo Salazar - movimiento de mujeres de Ecuador
76. Rene Olvera Salinas - docente universitario, Querétaro, México
77. Lluvia Cervantes Contreras - docente universitaria, Querétaro, México
78. Elizabeth Contreras Colín - docente universitaria, Querétaro, México
79. Viviana Beltrán - Fotografía, Queretaro, Mexico
80. Fredy Páez - Abogado, Docente e investigador, Instituto de Estudios Interculturales , Universidad Javeriana Cali, Colombia
81. Raúl Zibechi - Escritor, activista, Uruguay
82. Nora Cortinas - Madres Plaza de Mayo, Argentina
83. Beverly Keene - Red Tricontinental, Jubileo Sur, Argentina
84. Catalina Duque Martínez - Artista gráfica y activista libertaria, Medellín, Colombia
85. John Gibler - escritor, Ciudad de México
86. Sebastian Gerlic - Thidewa, Olivenca, Bahía, Brasil
87. Alonso Gutiérrez Navarro - Ciudad de México, México, Profesor de la UniversidadNacional Autónoma de México, colaborador del Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural, Zautla, Puebla, Mexico
88. Pabel Camilo Lopez Flores - Investigador social, asociado al CIDES-UMSA (Bolivia), Italia, Bolivia
89. Andrés Tapia - Dirigente de Comunicación de la Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonia Ecuatoriana CONFENIAE, Pastaza, Ecuador
90. Tom Sharupi - Dirigente de Juventud de la Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonia Ecuatoriana CONFENIAE, Pastaza, Ecuador
91. Marlon Vargas - Presidente de la Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonia Ecuatoriana CONFENIAE, Pastaza, Ecuador
92. Cristina Burneo Salazar - Profesora, Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar, Ecuador
93. Andrej Grubačić - Professor and Department Chair of Anthropology and Social Change, California Institute for Integral Studies, USA