“The year of Sankara was a success, let us persevere in 2008 and beyond”, press release of the International Collective Sankara 2007

The year of Sankara was a success, let us persevere in 2008 and beyond:

Press release of the International Collective Sankara 2007

The year 2007, declared the Year of Sankara, was a great success. In many countries, activities were organized to improve understanding about the actions and the thinking of Thomas Sankara and the Burkinabé revolution.

 In Burkina Faso, the population’s participation in different activities exceeded the expectations of the National Organizing Committee although it lacked the resources and the government continued its political manoeuvring to interrupt the preparation and the commemoration. However, for the first time, thousands of people, particulary the youth, lined up on the streets to reclaim the thinking of Thomas Sankara and they participated in a symposium on the nature of the Burkinabé revolution.

Sankara committees overseas organized numerous demonstrations, film screenings, debates, commemorations, get-togethers, concerts, exhibitions, especially in the following countries: Sénégal, Mali, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Togo, Niger, the Central African Republic, Bénin, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Great Britain, USA,  Germany, Japan, France, Reunion Island, Switzerland and Mexico. The caravan departed from  Mexico and travelled through numerous countries while the press and media from numerous countries provided articles and programming on Thomas Sankara and the Burkinabé revolution.

 The outcome of these activities is apparent by the increasing number of websites and internet pages which address the Burkinabé revolution, replay the speeches of Thomas Sankara or show videos.

The Sankara Foundation should benefit from the contributions of this year in order to further develop its activities. The International Collective Sankara 2007 thanks all those who contributed to the success of these activities like the activists, of course, but also, the artists, musicians, actors, authors, film makers and producers, who in sharing their creativity   contributed to the success of all of these activities.

 We appeal for the support of the Campaign Justice for Thomas Sankara in order that the truth be finally revealed regarding the assassination of Thomas Sankara and so that the family finally obtains justice. In this regard, we ask that you sign the petition at the following address:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Sankara20/

We ask that civil society and democratic political parties in countries suspected to be implicated in the assassination of Thomas Sankara, launch their own campaigns to force their governments to open their archives so that the truth is revealed.

We ask finally for vigilance and solidarity in support of two members of the collective Sams K le Jah and Aziz Fall, who have been victims of intimidation tactics. 2007 was only a beginning for us. This was not an opportunity to pay the last homage to Thomas Sankara but rather an opportunity to be nourished from the past in order to prepare and construct the future.

The deepening in our understanding of the revolution must continue by research and the publication of documents, by the work of activists, researchers, academics and an increasing number of contradictory debates which go beyond emotions.

We ask that documents and information held by people be made public without any further delay and that those involved in the revolution testify in greater numbers. In this regard, we thank the Burkinabé newspapers which published numerous interviews around October 15th revealing some unedited information. We ask  that all those who are committed to pursuing and increasing their actions for the popularisation of the thinking and works of Thomas Sankara reflect on his message and  create associations, Thomas Sankara clubs, engage in anti-globalization against debt, for the protection of the environeent, for peace and the political independence of Africa and for research on Sankara’s development model.

We also invite our friends from Latin America, a continent where political struggles have taken place and are underway, in the tradition of the Burkinabé revolution, to also create association or clubs in order to increase dialogue, exchange and solidarity between the two continents about their respective experiences.

We ask political parties that were absent during the commemoration celebrations, whether in Niger or in Burkina, to better educate themselves on the thinking of Thomas Sankara, on the action and results of the revolution,  in order to give hope to the youth who are in search of a dream, participation and enthusiastic perspectives.

International Collective Sankara 2007

Burkina Faso : Issaka Traoré issakatraore@defensedigniteafricaine.org

Togo :  attactogo@yahoo.fr

Niger : El Hadj Kollo Saloum  esaloum@yahoo.fr

Mali : Bathily Mohamed rasbath02@yahoo.fr

Bénin : cjraong@yahoo.fr

Congo Brazzaville : APASH/CADTM Brazza cadtmbrazza@yahoo.fr 

Côte d’Ivoire : Achille Esse saintcricq@yahoo.fr

Rwanda  : Sergine Gakwaya muhoserg@yahoo.fr

France : Teondaore Somé deoroteon@free.fr, Bruno Jaffré bruno.jaffre@thomassankara.net 

Italie : Patrizia Donadello p.donadello@alice.it, Ouattara Gaoussou ouattara1@gmail.com edition Sankara Sankara Ed. sankara@tin.it

Suisse : raoulouedraogo@gmail.com

España : Antonio Lozano  alozano956@hotmail.com, Juan Montero juanmg59@gmail.com, lberto Cillán albertocillan@gmail.com, Brice Payen bpayen@africainfomarket.org, Cultura africana  casa@culturafricana.com, Boniface Ofogo: info@boniofogo.com  

Belgique : GTS/CADTM Belgique olivier@cadtm.org

Allemagne : Dipama Hamado dipamss@yahoo.fr   

Canada : Grila admin@grila.org

Agentina : Mónica Nielsen de Allende moninielsen@hotmail.com

Bolivia : Roberto Fernández Erquicia robisupay@hotmail.com 

 Honduras : comirev@yahoo.es, La Juventud Popular Morazanista (Honduras) Osman Montesinos Duras y Ronie Salgado, Movimiento Popular (Honduras) Miriam Elizabeth Gonzales, -Movimiento de los Comites Revolucionarios (Honduras) Efrain Fajardo Fajardo.

Perú : Ernesto Carrión Sablich zarkche@hotmail.com