International Call for an Independent Assembly of the Iraqi People, April 2004

International Call for an Independent Assembly of the Iraqi People, April 2004

AS the occupation of Iraq enters its second year, the demands of the Iraqis
grow clearer every day: an immediate end to the Occupation and free elections free for all Iraqis to participate and free of US interference.

In the present situation, Iraqis are hostage to the Occupying Forces. They
are unable to meet and organize freely and they are denied the right to shape their own future. Furthermore, the political transition process proposed by the US administration is designed to install a tame regime, friendly to US interests and their continued presence inside Iraq.

We the undersigned activists for peace, religious leaders, intellectuals and academics, writers and journalists, parliamentarians, trade unionists and citizens - insist on the right of the Iraqis to be free of occupation and free to decide the course of their own history.

We support the call for free elections: free for all Iraqis to participate
and free from interference of the Occupying Forces.

We support the call of the Jakarta Peace Consensus which was affirmed at
the European Social Forum in Paris in 2003 and at the Anti-War Assembly at the World Social Forum in Mumbai in 2004 - for an urgent and independent Assembly of Iraqis, where all sectors of Iraqi society can freely debate and propose the future shape of their State, completely free of interference from the Occupying Forces. This can be the start of a process of building the New Iraq, and a vital first step towards free elections, democracy and
sovereignty.

This Assembly must be held in Iraq. However, if this possibility is denied
by the Occupying Forces, a Preparatory Conference must be convened outside Iraq.

We guarantee all our efforts to protect the integrity and openness of such a
meeting through our support and presence.

We demand an end to the Occupation and we support the Iraqi peoples right to
sovereignty and self-determination.

• Aminata Dramane Traoré, former government minister and social activist, Mali
• Chalmers Johnson, writer, USA
• Chandra Muzzafar, writer and activist, Malaysia
• Christophe Aguiton, activist, France
• Dennis Brutus, academic and activist, South Africa/USA
• Dennis J. Kucinich (Representative), presidential candidate (Democrat), USA
• Florence Carboni, linguist, Italy
• Francis Houtart, intellectual and activist, Belgium
• Gustavo Codas, trade unionist, Brazil
• Hans von Sponek, former UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, Germany
• Horacio Martins, Brasil
• Immanuel Wallerstein, writer and activist, USA/France
• James Petras, writer and activist, USA
• Jeremy Corbyn, Member of Parliament, UK
• Jorge Eduardo Saavedra Durão, activist, Brasil
• José Maria Vigil, liberation theologist and writer, Panama
• Kamal Chenoy, academic and activist, India
• Mario Maestri, historian, Brasil
• Marta Harnecker, writer, Chile
• Miguel Álvarez Gandara, peace activist, Mexico
• Miguel Urbano Rodrigues, writer, Portugal
• Mike Marqusee, writer and activist, UK/USA
• Naomi Klein, journalist and activist, Canada
• Nawal El Saadawi, writer and activist, Egypt
• Noam Chomsky, linguist and writer, USA
• P.K.Murthy, All India Federation of Trade Unions, India
• Pedro Casaldáliga (Bishop), religious leader, Brasil
• Roni Gechtman, academic, Canada
• Samir Amin, intellectual and activist, Egypt/Senegal
• Samuel Ruiz, former Bishop of San Cristobal de los Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
• Saul Landau, academic and activist, USA
• Sérgio Haddad, international secretary, ABONG, Brasil
• Shivani, India
• Susan George, writer and activist, France
• Walden Bello, academic and activist, Philippines

Italy

• Alfio Nicotra, peace secretary, Rifondazione Comunista
• Luciano Muhlbauer, trade unionist, SinCobas, Italy
• Fabio Alberti, peace activist, Bridge to Baghdad, Italy

Italian senate

• Sen. Luigi Malabarba (Rifondazione Comunista)
• Sen. Nicodemo Filippelli (Udeur)
• Sen. Daria Bonfietti (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Stefano Boco (Verdi)
• Sen. Angelo Flammia (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Aleandro Longhi (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Loredana De Petris (Verdi)
• Sen. Antonio Rotondo (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Angelo Flammia (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Paolo Brutti (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Antonio Falomi (Misto)
• Sen. Natale Ripamonti (Verdi)
• Sen. Elidio De Paoli (Lega Autonomia Lombarda)
• Sen. Luigi Marino (Comunisti Italiani)
• Sen. Tommaso Sodano (Rifondazione Comunista)
• Sen. Alberto Maritati (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Walter Vitali (Democratici di Sinistra)
• Sen. Livio Togni (Rifondazione Comunista)

Italian Chamber of Deputies

• On. Fausto Bertinotti (Secretary General Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Franco Giordano (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Ramon Mantovani (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Giovanni Bellini (Democratici di Sinistra)
• On. Paolo Cento (Verdi)
• On. Elettra Deiana (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Titti De Simone (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Pietro Gasperoni (Democratici di Sinistra)
• On. Luigi Giacco (Democratici di Sinistra)
• On. Alfonso Gianni (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Giovanna Grignaffini (Democratici di Sinistra)
• On. Graziella Mascia (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Giorgio Panattoni (Democratici di Sinistra)
• On. Giuliano Pisapia (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Gabriella Pistone (Comunisti Italiani)
• On. Ruggero Ruggeri (La Margherita)
• On. Giovanni Russo Spena (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Tiziana Valpiana (Rifondazione Comunista)
• On. Nichi Vendola (Rifondazione Comunista)