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Barack Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.
We the signers of this petition ask you to release Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. Given
the injustice of his lengthy sentence, and the irrationality of his continuing imprisonment, we add our voice to
the voice of the many civic, religious, political and community leaders in the U.S. and Puerto Rico who have
asked him to come home, be it by presidential commutation or parole.
Mr. López, arrested in 1981, is serving a sentence of 70 years for seditious conspiracy, for his commitment to
the independence of Puerto Rico. He was not accused or convicted of causing harm or taking a life. His
projected release date is in 2023, when he will be 79 years old. Having served 29 years behind bars,
including over 12 years in torturous conditions of total isolation and sensory deprivation, this 67 year old man
is among the longest held political prisoners in the history of Puerto Rico and in the world.
A decorated Viet Nam veteran, Oscar worked as a community organizer in Chicago, for better housing,
education, employment, and living conditions for Puerto Ricans and Latinos, helping
to found institutions which are thriving today, including the Pedro Albizu Campos Alternative High School, in
the heart of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community.
In 1999, President Clinton commuted the sentences of eleven Puerto Rican political prisoners arrested in the
1980’s, after they served from 16 to 20 years, as he determined their sentences were disproportionately
lengthy. President Clinton offered to commute Oscar’s sentence, on the condition that he serve an additional
ten years of clear conduct in prison before being eligible for release. Oscar did not accept the president’s
offer, as the offer did not include all the Puerto Rican political prisoners, and since he knew, from his
extensive experience at the hands of his jailers, that if he accepted, they would never have allowed him to
successfully complete the conditions. Under the president’s offer, he would have been released in September
of 2009.
The conditions of President Clinton’s 1999 offer to commute Oscar’s sentence— that he serve an additional
ten years of clear conduct in prison— have been fulfilled.
Of all the Puerto Rican political prisoners convicted in the early 1980’s, only Oscar remains in prison. Carlos
Alberto Torres, who was not included in the commutation, was released on parole in July of 2010 after
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serving 30 years. Some of those released in the 1999 commutations had sentences longer than Oscar’s. All
those released in the 1999 commutations are living successful lives, fully integrated into civil society. Oscar’s
daughter Clarisa and granddaughter Karina, as well as his brothers and sisters and extended family, have
asked him to come home. Their request is fueled by the recent death of Oscar’s sister Clara, after a long
illness during which prison officials refused to grant him a furlough to visit her bedside or to her funeral.
Oscar continues to enjoy wide support, including Puerto Rican civil society: the Senate and the House of
Representatives, the Bar Association, former governors, virtually every religious denomination, labor unions,
environmentalists, academics, mayors, community activists, human rights activists, and celebrities. Similarly,
in the United States he enjoys the support of Latino and Puerto Rican communities, including elected
officials, religious leaders, community and civic leaders, as well as people in general.
We are anxious to welcome him home and to facilitate his integration into civil society. We urge you to
release him immediately.
SIGNATURES:
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14. 敾 é¼ (8/29/10) - I support this petition.
15. devon the biggest green day fan :) (8/29/10) - I support this petition.
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41. Jose Soler (8/29/10) - I support this petition.
53. Ramon J. Conde (8/29/10) - I support this petition. Long Live the Rebels of Puerto Rico.
54. Paulette Dauteuil (8/29/10) - I support this petition. Parole for Oscar Lopez Rivera
65. Jahahara Amen-RA Alkebulan-Ma\'at (8/29/10) - I support this petition. FREEDOM, AMNESTY AND
RESTITUTION FOR ALL OF OUR UNJUSTLY IMPRISONED POLITICAL LEADERS!
SELF-DETERMINATION AND INDEPENDENCE FOR THE PUERTO RICAN NATION! FREE THE LAND!
REPARATIONS NOW!
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66. Judith Vega (8/29/10) - I support this petition.
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93. Victor Rivera (8/29/10) - I support this petition.
118. Melissa Montero (8/29/10) - I support this petition. Oscar Lopez has served too many years in prison
and should be freed. Dear Mr. President, please grant clemency to Oscar who is an elder now and has spent
29 years in prison. He is not a murderer or rapist, he believes in freedom as we all do and loves humanity.
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thanks Melissa
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145. Bob Schwartz (8/30/10) - Lopez-Rivera ought to be released immediately.
148. Rachel Laforest (8/30/10) - I support this petition and hope that President Obama can call on his own
sense of justice and history to do what is right.
150. Romero Aida (8/30/10) - I support this petition. Que vuelva a casa ya.
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171. Luis Sánchez (8/30/10) - I support this petition.
182. Enrique Barrera Barrers (8/30/10) - I support this petition. yo respaldo esta petición. ou tau cu astú
fategún.
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197. Manuel Davila Rodriguez (8/31/10) - I support this petition.
216. Marina Ortiz (8/31/10) - I support this petition. Please parole Oscar Lopez Rivera. Today.
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224. Ivan Melendez (8/31/10) - I support this petition.
231. Roger Drew (9/1/10) - Free Oscar Lopez Rivera and all political prisoners!
234. Beti Guevara (9/1/10) - I support this petition. It\'s a shame that Oscar is still in prison , but the guy that
shot and killed my brother thought the back, got out in 9 months. He now lives in Puerto Rico driving a cab.
Free Oscar Lopez Now!!
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250. Léonie Philipparie (9/2/10) - I support this petition.
265. Emmanuel Criollo (9/2/10) - We need Oscar free and in Puerto Rico.
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277. Tony Marks-Block (9/2/10) - I support this petition.
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304. Vilma Santiago-Irizarry (9/5/10) - I support this petition.
311. Carlos Rivera (9/6/10) - I support this petition. Is time for his liberation. He is not a criminal, he is a
puertorican patriot. As Hamilton , Madison, Washington are for the USA people
315. Luis Lopez (9/6/10) - I support this petition. It is time to end Oscar Lopez Rivera\'s politically motivated
incarceration.
329. Emile Schepers (9/6/10) - I support this petition. It is an obscene perversion of justice that Oscar Lopez,
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who hurt nobody, has to serve out this draconian, politically motivated sentence while a man who blew up a
Cuban airliner in 1976, killing 72 people, is not even prosecuted. Free Oscar Lopez now!
344. sergio torres (9/8/10) - I support this petition.I want him to free.
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355. Diane Fujino (9/11/10) - I support this petition.
357. Jim Jaszewski (9/12/10) - I support this petition. Freedom for all U.S. political prisoners -- and an end to
the impunity and nascent fascism of the U.S. police and military apparatus and its sponsors.
368. tiye binta (9/12/10) - I support this petition. Enough is Enough, set all political prisoners free
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381. Marque Brill (9/13/10) - I support this petition.
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408. Casa Esperanza (9/24/10) - I support this petition.
423. Antonio Nieves (9/29/10) - I support this petition....PLEASE release him - he served this country proudly
and was even awarded the Bronzo Star in Vietnam. I know I have your support as you had mine during the
elections. Respectfully, Antonio Nieves (SFC, US Army/Retired)
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434. John Osten (10/14/10) - I support this petition.
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461. Sandra Rivas (11/8/10) - I support this petition.
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488. Angelica Rivera-Lopez (11/8/10) - I support this petition.
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515. ClevelandAnarchist BlackCross (11/9/10) - I support this petition.
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542. Mabel Paulino (11/9/10) - I support this petition.
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569. Leticia Diaz-Perez (11/9/10) - I support this petition.
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596. Sharon Mauras (11/10/10) - I support this petition.
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623. Almudena Rozenburg-Grim (11/10/10) - I support this petition.
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650. Neida Rivera (11/10/10) - I support this petition.
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677. Edita Vidal (11/13/10) - I support this petition.
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704. Amarylis Pagan (11/17/10) - I support this petition.
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731. Sandra Rivera (11/20/10) - I support this petition.
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758. Nivea Luz (11/22/10) - I support this petition.
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785. Jason Williams (11/27/10) - I support this petition.
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