Statement of the ILPS on the Occasion of the International Day in Solidarity with Political Prisoners
The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) stands in unwavering and militant solidarity with all political prisoners and prisoners of war across the world—women, men, elders, youth—who are unjustly caged for resisting fascist tyranny, state terror, and the iron rule of imperialism. Their captivity is a product of systemic repression, and their defiance continues to inspire millions in struggle.
We once again raise our resounding demand to free the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners—women, children, journalists, human rights defenders, and leaders of the resistance—held in Israeli dungeons amid the US-Israeli genocidal war against the Palestinian people. Their torture, administrative detention without charge, and collective punishment expose the criminal nature of the Zionist occupation and its imperialist backers.
We demand the immediate release of Kurdish freedom fighter Abdullah Öcalan, who has endured 25 years of total isolation since his illegal abduction in 1999. His prolonged solitary confinement, denial of legal counsel, and prohibition of family visits are acts of psychological torture and a blatant violation of the Mandela Rules. His persecution embodies the Turkish state’s war against the Kurdish people and their struggle for self-determination.
The ILPS likewise demands the liberation of elderly West Papuan couple Izaak Siahaja and Pelpina Werinussa Siahaja, imprisoned since 2019, as well as the remaining Papuan students jailed simply for raising the Morning Star flag. Their continued incarceration exposes Indonesia’s brutal repression of Papuan national liberation and its systematic erasure of West Papuan identity and sovereignty.
We reiterate our call for the unconditional freedom of all political prisoners in Turkey, including ailing rights lawyer Aytaç Ünsal, and for the release of Kurdish political prisoner Zeinab Jalalian, held by the Iranian state since 2008. Jalalian continues to suffer severe and untreated health conditions, compounded by the regime’s deliberate denial of medical care. As recently as October 2025, she was forced back into prison only a day after a medical procedure—still shackled, still persecuted. This cruelty is emblematic of the misogynistic and anti-Kurdish repression she has faced for nearly two decades.
We also shine a light on long-serving political prisoners worldwide: Indigenous leader Leonard Peltier of the American Indian Movement, who continues to languish in US custody despite clear evidence of prosecutorial misconduct; Black liberation journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, imprisoned through a racist and irregular legal process; Palestinian leaders Ahmad Sa’adat and Marwan Barghouti, symbols of steadfast resistance to occupation; and Julian Assange, whose persecution by the US and UK exposes the imperialist war on press freedom and truth-tellers.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong democracy activists—including the “Hong Kong 47”—face long sentences under China’s National Security Law, and Indian writers, academics, and rights defenders jailed under the fabricated Bhima Koregaon case remain behind bars.
Across Latin America, the ILPS denounces the continuing persecution and imprisonment of political activists. In Guatemala, Indigenous and peasant leaders, anti-corruption prosecutors, and members of community resistance movements remain jailed or forced into exile—victims of a reactionary alliance between oligarchic elites, criminal networks, and US-backed state forces seeking to crush popular movements. In Mexico, we demand freedom for long-standing political prisoners such as Álvaro Sebastián Ramírez and other Indigenous community defenders criminalized for opposing militarization, megaprojects, and state repression. The ongoing incarceration of activists from Indigenous, peasant, and teachers’ movements reflects the deep-rooted violence of the Mexican state against the organized masses.
These cases reveal a global pattern: states invoking “terrorism” and enacting draconian laws to silence dissent, criminalize national liberation movements, and punish human rights advocacy.
The ILPS expresses grave alarm over the conviction and harsh sentencing of members of the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (MOVADEF) in Peru on October 28, 2024. The outlawing of their organization and the closure of their offices mark a clear escalation of political persecution under the pretext of counterterrorism.
We denounce the intensified fascist repression in Kenya, including the state’s crackdown following mass protests against IMF-imposed austerity. The arrest orders for CP-Kenya leaders Mwaivu Kaluka and Kinuthia Ndungu, alongside killings, injuries, arrests, and disappearances, expose the brutality of the US-Ruto regime.
In the Philippines, the ILPS urgently demands the release of all National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants and the nearly 700 political prisoners incarcerated on fabricated charges—victims of the reactionary state’s relentless campaign of terror against activists, community leaders, and human rights defenders. We call for the release of Vicente Ladlad, Adelberto Silva, Wilfrido Villanueva, Perferfio Tuna and many others.
We likewise denounce the growing criminalization of Kurdish communities in Europe, including the recent mass police operation in London that targeted members of the Kurdish Community Center in blatant violation of their democratic rights and political expression.
Across the world—from Palestine to Peru, from Turkey to the Philippines, from West Papua to the Americas—revolutionaries, activists, Indigenous peoples, workers, peasants, and youth are being jailed, tortured, and silenced. These attacks reflect an unmistakable reality: imperialist powers and their reactionary allies are intensifying state terror to crush the rising tide of people’s resistance.
On this International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, we raise our collective voice in defiance. We honor the courage of those behind bars and commit to intensifying the struggle for their freedom.
Free all political prisoners!
Down with imperialism and all reactionary regimes!
Long live the struggles of oppressed peoples!
Onward to victory!
Signed,
International League of Peoples Struggle
In collaboration with the ILPS Commission on Peoples’ Rights and Anti-Fascism (Commission 3)
