Justice for Thomas Sankara, Justice for Africa

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Many witnesses, often ex-associates of Charles Taylor, implicate Blaise Compaoré in the assassination of Thomas Sankara, which was carried out with the complicity of Houphouet Boigny, other African personalities, France and the CIA.

In April 2006, the UN Committee for Human Rights, spurred on by the Judiciary committee of the International Campaign for Justice for
Thomas Sankara (ICJS), working in the name of the family, concluded in favor of the plaintiffs. It further asked the state of Burkina Faso to elucidate the facts behind the assassination, in order to provide the family with a means for impartial justice, to correct his death certificate, to prove where he was buried, to compensate the family for the trauma they have suffered and to publicly divulge the committee’s decision.

On April 21, 2008, the UN Committee for Human Rights, in complete contradiction with the preceding decision closed the record without
an investigation having been carried out. Such a decision does no honor to this institution.

Certain members of the international community pretend to see in Blaise Compaoré a man of peace, even though he is notoriously implicated in
conflicts in Liberia and in Sierra Leone, in the arms’ traffic and the trafficking of diamonds for Jonas Sawimbi’s l’UNITA, then under UN embargo, and
more recently in the conflict that has torn apart the Ivory Coast.

This same international community asks us to cry over the, in fact, extremely rich continent, which is Africa, all the while working to perpetuate its submission. In reality the causes of Africa’s difficulties can be traced back to the international networks which initiate wars and assassinations in order to maintain their control over the continent’s resources — this, with the complicity of many western countries and certain African leaders.

More than 22 years after the assassination of Sankara, a historical personality, first rate african leader who is more and more seen as a reference
for an honest, determined, creative and courageous leader; precursor of the fight for the preservation of the environment, the Burkina F. revolution
has become a model for development. Sankara was assassinated because he denounced the odious debt and the diktat of the western
powers but also because he engaged in an independent policy, oriented toward the needs of his country, for the satisfaction of the
people of his country, while at the same time opening up to a pan-Africanism.

For these reasons we call for the support of the Judiciary Committee of the ICJS’s initiatives. For more than 12 years, the committee has relentlessly filed legal actions together with the Sankara family.

We demand that an independent investigation into Thomas Sankara’s assassination be carried out. It is the international community’s duty, the right of the Sankara family, and a necessity for the growth of the nation’s youth. Without such an investigation, with a history expunged of the true story concerning one of the major episodes of the 20th century, the prospects of the continent cannot be fully realized.

We call the youth, the democratic parties, the social movements in Africa and beyond to continue to mobilize in order that the light be finally shed on this assassination. Justice needs to be done so that Africa can move towards an end to impunity.

FIRST SIGNATURES

Other organizations : CADTM, SURVIE, Coalition des Alternatives Africaines Dette et Développement (CAD-Mali), ATTAC Afrique, CEDETIM, AFASPA, CETIM, l’Etrange Rencontre, Mouvement des africains à Rome, Collectif Afrique de Lille, Casa della sinistra Thomas Sankara, Forum Sinistra Europea Genova, Associazione Culturale Punto Rosso Genova, Circolo ARCI Thomas Sankara, Fratelli Dell’Uomo ong, Association « Carlo Giuliani »

Parties : Italy : Partito della Rifondazione Comunista (Italie) ; Burkina : UNIR/PS, FFS, PAI ; France : NPA, Les Verts, PCF ; RND (Sénégal), Parti communiste du Québec,

Trade Unions : Solidaires (France), Syndicat National des Agents des Douanes du Niger SNAD (Niger )

People : Eric Toussaint , Jean Ziegler, Guy-Patrice Lumumba, Blandine Sankara, Firoze Manji (Pambazuka News), Robin Shuffield (cinéaste), Benéwendé Sankara, Fidel Toe, Nkodo Maurice, Abdoulaye Diallo (cinéaste), Moussa Demba Dembele, Camille de Vitry (documentariste), Antonio Lozano (écrivain), Jacques Jouet (écrivain), Alex Zanotelli (Missionario comboniano), Luigi Ciotti (Presidente di LIBERA), Haidi Gaggio Giuliani (Politica), Silvestro Montanaro (Giornalista, Documentarista), Roberto Silvestri (Giornalista), Sabina Guzzanti (Attrice-actrice), Luigi De Magistris (Europarlamentare, Presidente della Commissione per il controllo del bilancio comunitario), Carlo Bata (traduttore, scrittore), Davide Ferrario (regista), Renato Nicolini (Politico, drammaturgo), Roberto Faenza (Regista), Joël Vernet (écrivain)

contacts : contactjusticepoursankara (at) gmail.com

TO SIGN THE PETITION FILL IN THE FORM. YOU EMAIL ADDRESS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED, YOU WILL RECEIVE AN EMAIL WITH A LINK. CLICK THE LINK IN ORDER YOUR SIGNATURE TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.