The International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC) was inspired by and formed in solidarity with the Call for unity from supporters and families of Iran’s political prisoners and the “Burn the Cage, Free the Birds” movement in Europe to free Iran’s political prisoners (Our History). Our mission and goals are spelled out in this Emergency Appeal, and we encourage all who share these concerns and objectives to join with us.
A: The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), as it struggles to hang on to legitimacy, is susceptible to having its “anti US imperialist” façade punctured by exposure of its crimes against the Iranian people and its brutal, illegitimate treatment of its political prisoners. The IEC has taken important initial steps in building a broad, diverse wave of global condemnation of the IRI’s actions and putting it into the public square — and at the same time giving heart to the prisoners, their loved ones, and millions of Iranians.
By rallying the freedom loving people worldwide, this campaign provides REAL hope by proceeding in this struggle from the interests of humanity, the people of Iran and its resisters. We do not promote the false hope of relying on negotiating and pleading with governments and institutions, (e.g., the IRI, the UN, the EU or the US) that have always acted, and will always act, on their own interests.
A: On the contrary, people in the US and Europe have a special responsibility exactly because the US’s foul historyof intervention which has, in part, led to the current regime (see Resources:Background). Citing the fact that US/Western interests currently conflict withthe IRI’s in order to ignore the terrible suffering inflicted bythe IRI and refusing to speak up for the courageous dissidents in Iran is unconscionableand would help maintain the oppressive status quo.
Anything that strengthens one side strengthens the other. As our Emergency Appeal states clearly:
This campaign began in late 2020 in response to a call from supporters and families of Iran’s political prisoners and the “Burn the Cage, Free the Birds” movement in Europe.
It builds off a Statement by the late Carol Downer and revcom.us supporter Dolly Veale in late 2020 and is mainly based among, and directed to, people in the U.S. to stand with resisters in Iran.
People from a broad range of viewpoints have endorsed the IEC's mission and goals as spelled out in its Emergency Appeal: The Lives of Iran’s Political Prisoners Hang in the Balance—We Must ACT Now. They include former Iranian political prisoners and relatives; prominent voices of conscience Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Gloria Steinem; writer Ariel Dorfman; Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams; Daniel Ellsberg (dec); Raymond Lotta, NY Revolution Books and advocate for the new communism developed by Bob Avakian; as well as many academics, activists, people of faith and over 5,000 others from 52 countries.(See full list of signers.)
While the thousands who endorsed and support this campaign are diverse in political perspective, some of the organizers of the Campaign are inspired by the ground-breaking analysis of the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian on the global clash between imperialism and Islamic fundamentalism (see Resources: Background). We find this analysis to be an accurate framework to understand the global dynamics and symbiotic relations between these two contending oppressive powers, and we also deeply appreciate and learn from the concrete application of this to Iran’s current conditions by the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist (website, Farsi).
Here are a few highlighted activities by IEC and friends:
