OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA MUST BE FREE

Political prisoner friday is back at SCISSION.  I believe it is of utmost importance that we never forget our POWs and political prisoners.  They are a part of us.  We should all be doing what we can to support them and to help gain their freedom.


The struggle for the independence of Puerto Rico has produced scores of male and female heroes.  Oscar Lopez Rivera is one of them.  Oscar is serving 70 years in the prisons of his islands colonizers and masters.   The Denver Black Cross writes:

In 1975, Oscar was forced underground, along with other comrades.  The FBI claimed that he was one of the leaders of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), a Puerto Rican nationalist clandestine group that fought for the independence of Puerto Rico.  Oscar has neither confirmed nor denied his involvement in FALN and out of principle has refused to denounce armed struggle as a legitimate means to gaining independence.

On May 29, 1981 Oscar was captured in Chicago after five years underground.  Oscar was found guilty on five counts involving seditious conspiracy, armed robbery, weapons violations and interstate transportation of stolen property.  He was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

Political Prisoner Status

At the time of their arrest Lopez Rivera and the others declared themselves to be combatants in an anti-colonial war against the United States to liberate Puerto Rico from U.S. domination and invoked prisoner of war status. They argued that the U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction to try them as criminals and petitioned for their cases to be handed over to an international court that would determine their status. The U.S. Government, however, did not recognize their request.

The sentences received by Lopez Rivera and the other Nationalists were judged to be “out of proportion to the nationalists’ offenses.” Statistics showed their sentences were almost 20 times greater than sentences for similar offenses by the American population at large.

For many years, numerous national and international organizations criticized Lopez Rivera’ incarceration categorizing it as political imprisonment. His disproportionate sentence, the targeting of him and others by the FBI beforehand, the nebulous charges of conspiracy, the political nature of the charges made against Oscar, and the intentional isolation and long-term confinement he has endured all make it clear that Oscar Lopez Rivera is not simply a prisoner, but a political prisoner.

FREE OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA


The following is from the ProLibertad Freedom Campaign. 

			OSCAR LOPEZ RIVERA

Home What is The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign? Who are the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners? Friends of ProLibertad Prisoner's Writings Puerto Rico's Colonial Case Despierta Boricua: ProLibertad's Radio Show El Coqui Libre Newsletter Calendar of Events Solidarity Links ProLibertad Multi-Media Page		Oscar Lopez Rivera Update Page Oscar Lopez Rivera was born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico on January 6, 1943. At the age of 12, he moved to Chicago with his family. He was a well-respected community activist and a prominent independence leader for many years prior to his arrest. Oscar was one of the founders of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now known as the Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was a community organizer for the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, (a half-way house for convicted drug addicts) and ALAS (an educational program for Latino prisoners at Stateville Prison in Illinois). He was active in various community struggles, mainly in the area of health care, employment and police brutality. He also participated in the development of the Committee to Free the Five Puerto Rican Nationalists. In 1975, he was forced underground, along with other comrades. He was captured on May 29, 1981, after 5 years of being persecuted by the FBI as one of the most feared fugitives from US "justice". Oscar, who has a daughter named Clarissa, is currently serving a 55-year sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was convicted of conspiracy to escape along with Jaime Delgado, (a veteran independence leader), Dora Garcia, (a prominent community activist) and Kojo Bomani-Sababu, a New Afrikan political prisoner. Oscar was one of 12 Puerto Rican political prisoners offered some form of leniency by the Clinton Administration in the fall of 1999. According to the Chicago Sun Times, he "declined the president's offer, which still would have him left with 10 years to serve on conspiracy to escape charges. Now he faces at least 20 more years in prison. His sister, Zenaida Lopez, said he turned the offer down because he would be on parole. 'Accepting what they are offering him is like prison outside of prison,' she said. Zenaida Lopez said her brother 'was in total agreement' with the decision of the 11 others to take the conditional clemency." Oscar is presently in prison in Terre Haute, Indiana and his release date is 7/27/2027. Before you write the prisoners: It is important to know that it takes time for your letter to reach a prisoner and to receive a response from him or her. If you do not receive a quick response, do not give up!! Continue to write to him or her until you receive a response. If you are going to send a prisoner money for his or her commissary, it must be in the form of a money order (Postal or Western Union) with their name and prisoner number. Do not send cash and avoid sending them personal checks. If you are going to send them reading materials (Books or magazines); you must make sure that it is a paperback edition. If you are sending a magazine you must remove all the staples and metal clips. The envelope you send it in must have the staples and metal clips removed as well. Oscar Lopez Rivera #87651-024 FCI Terre Haute PO Box 33 Terre Haute, IN, 47808 Before you send money to the Prisoners: The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has changed the guidelines for sending federal prisoners commissary. If anyone wants to send money to our patriots, it must be sent to the following address and in the following manner: Federal Bureau of Prisons (Prisoner’s name and Prison Number) PO Box 474701 Des Moines IA 50947-0001 You must send all funds to the mailing address (above) and adhere to the following instructions: The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will only approve/accept the following items, which it calls “Negotiable instruments”: Money Orders, government checks, Foreign Negotiable Instruments or Business checks. NOTE: No Personal Checks; they will be sent back to you. Print the prisoner’s committed name and register number (prison number) on the funds. The name and return address of the sender must appear in the upper left hand corner of the envelope to ensure that funds can be returned when necessary. Don’t send items other than funds top the above provided address. The BOP will discard letters, pictures and anything else you send. Contact ProLibertad at: ProLibertad@hotmail.com * 718-601-4751