Appeal For the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Assassination of President Captain Thomas Sankara

Appeal For the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Assassination of President Captain Thomas Sankara.

2007 YEAR THOMAS SANKARA….DARE TO INVENT THE FUTURE

October 15 2007 will mark the 20^th anniversary of the assassination of Captain Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkina Faso.  His assassination was committed with impunity, and has left the country in consternation and discouragement.

Though the current powers that be are eagerly trying to negate the achievements that Thomas Sankana and his team accomplished in less then four years they were in power, these achievements still remain in the hearts of Africans and in the hearts of struggling peoples, as they are still applicable and needed on the continent today.  Be it the cancellation of debt, neo-colonialism, struggling against corruption, advancement of women, rural economy, citizen responsibility, health or education, the achievements of Thomas Sankara in these areas are an example of the way forward.

The effort that Sankara demanded of himself and others visioned to construct a better future based on sound notions.  These lasting demands imprinted a sense of sacrifice on the part of the people.  However, today the Burkinabe people are suffering a big leap backwards; despite a government hiding under a guise of democracy, and the burden of poverty that is exacerbated year after year, a well to do and careless class of continue to shamelessly enrich themselves.  

Sankara’s simplicity, his high spirits, his humour, his honesty and his generosity, has appealed to a generation of conscious young Africans, who see him in themselves.  They have manifested their enthusiasm in the creation of “Sankara Clubs” in Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin and Guinea.  Even young people in Europe, Asia, Latin American, the USA and everywhere around the world have spontaneously created “Sankara Clubs”

20 years later, Thomas Sankara’s ideas have not taken a back seat, quite the opposite!  It is the Sankariste reality that we would like to bring to the forefront with major events on October 15, 2007. This project came to life at the Young Thomas Sankara International Camp of the Social Forum in Bamako held in January of 2006, and is being slowly advanced. During the last 10 years, the International Justice for Sankara Campaign mobilized a judicial procedure to seek justice for Thomas Sankara.  Beginning in Burkina Faso, the procedure made its way to the United Nations, where last year the campaign finally received justice.  This victory, which marks a precedent at the United Nations and in Africa in the case of the assassination of a head of state, needs to be respected by the regime in Burkina Faso who are currently perpetuating impunity. 

The 20^th anniversary celebrations needs to be a time of mobilization and national and international pressure so that Burkina finally respects its international obligations, gives justice to Thomas Sankara and his family and allows for a genuine national reconciliation.    

All through out 2007, ‘year of Sankara’, we will intensify our struggles and actions, and increase the levels of international organizing.  We are engaging ourselves in organizing various mobilization forums in as many countries as possible, culminating in a central action of three days in Ouagadougou on the occasion of the commemoration of the 20^th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas Sankara, on October 15, 2007.

We call on grassroots organizations, social movements, workers organizations, peasant’s organizations, community organizations, NGOs, political forces, and all citizens of the North and South to take part in the actions that will be taking place in Burkina Faso in October and/or to participate in the decentralized actions.  If we would like to advance towards an ‘alternative world’, it is of utmost importance to call the world’s attention to Africa’s struggles and resistance and to bring back the massive actions of Thomas Sankara.

We invite everyone in the world to join this project by creating organizing committees in your respective localities.

Lets make this year of 2007, declared “year of Sankara” by those who are reclaiming this heritage, a year of study, reflection, struggle against impunity and organization for the struggles of tomorrow.

Contact :

Burkina :  Issaka Traoré issakatraore@defensedigniteafricaine.org

Cameroun :   association meticam assometicam@yahoo.fr

Canada :  Grila admin@grila.org

England :  Kassim Polo kasspolo@yahoo.fr

South Africa:  Amadou Diallo abaillo@yahoo.fr

USA :  Sankaratribute@yahoo.com

Tanzania : klaus mwalongo mwalongoklaus@yahoo.co.uk