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Release the Tiamzons, pursue peace negotiations — peace advocates

ICHRP Secretariat
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Release the Tiamzons, pursue peace negotiations — peace advocates

Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines

As human rights and peace advocates, the Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP) calls for the unconditional release of NDFP consultants to the peace negotiations, Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon.

We are very much concerned that their illegal arrest shall push the peace negotiations further in danger of collapse.

According to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the two are holders of NDFP Document of Identification and Letters of Acknowledgement signed by former Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP/GPH) negotiating panel chief Silvestre Bello III that put them under the cover of JASIG, or the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees.

The GPH’s arrest of NDFP peace consultants, including Alan Jazmines, has been hindering the advance of the peace negotiations. The criminalization of NDFP peace personnel puts into question the sincerity of the GPH in pursuing the long-stalled peace negotiations with the NDFP.

Aside from these illegal arrests, the continued extrajudicial killings of activists including the Ligiws – anti-mining activists in Abra in Northern Philippines – and Romeo Capalla who was a fair trade advocate in Panay island, and the appointment of a Martial Law general to the compensation body for victims of the Marcos dictatorship, have not contributed to creating a favourable condition for the peace talks.

To date, the human rights group Karapatan has documented 169 cases of extrajudicial killings, 179 cases of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 19 cases of enforced disappearance, 86 cases of torture, and 570 cases of illegal arrest and detention under the Aquino government. These are on top of the more than 1,000 victims of killings under the previous government who have not yet been granted justice.

The arrest of JASIG-protected NDFP personnel constitutes a violation of previous agreements and disrespects advancements that have been made in the past including the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

The Tiamzons should be released immediately and unconditionally. Instead of arresting NDFP personnel, the GPH should instead heed the calls for the resumption of the peace negotiations based on previously agreed upon system and process.

For reference:
Bruce Van Voorhis
Co-Convenor
Tel. No. (852) 9492-3064
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Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of
Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines
c/o ASA, No. 4 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Tel. (852) 98105070, 97585935
Fax. (852) 27354559
E-mail: hkcahrpp@gmail.com

Stop the bombings in Talaingod, Davao del Norte

ICHRP Secretariat
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Stop the bombings in Talaingod, Davao del Norte

SALUGPONGAN TA ‘TANU IGKANUGON
Talaingod, Davao del Norte

We, the leaders and members of the Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanugon, strongly call to immediately stop the bombing and militarization of our communities in Sitio Tibucag and Sitio Pangaaan of Barangay (village) Dagohoy and Sitio Nalubas and Sitio Bagang of Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao del Norte . The 60th Infantry Battalion and the 4th Special Forces under the 10th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are responsible for the spate of human rights violations against our tribe since they arrived last 4 March 2014.

From 3:00 pm until past 4:00 pm this afternoon, 20 March, we heard big blasts of bombs and saw two (2) helicopters and four (4) warplanes. The bombing had greatly threatened our tribe.

We strongly condemn the aerial bombing perpetrated by the military inside the ancestral land of the Manobo. This is a huge violation to our right to live peacefully and to be free from any threat to our lives.

We would also like to expose the human rights violations experienced by our people. Yesterday, 19 March, there were military who stayed in Sitio Nalubas, Barangay Palma Gil. Purok leader Tungig Mansimuy-at, community teacher Roylan Licayan, and thirteen (13) pupils and three (3) parents were walking towards Sitio Palungan to get chicken and root crops to prepare for the community school’s graduation. They were accosted by 15 elements of the military. They were interrogated separately and held for 1 hour. Their photos were also taken.

From Sitio Palungan, they were forcibly escorted by seven (7) military personnel back to Sitio Nalubas. Along the way they again met thirty (30) military personnel and were again interrogated. They were released after one (1) hour.

In Sitio Pangaan, the military destroyed the rice fields.  They also took and cooked the chickens.

A woman elder named Ubonoy Botod Manlaon from Sitio Bagang, Brgy. Palma Gil was illegally arrested by the military while walking going to Sitio Bagasan with her rice seeds. She was taken by the military for one (1) week and was forced to guide them in their counter-insurgency operations. She eventually escaped from the custody of the military.

In the past years, we have experienced many kinds of human rights violations including murder, destruction of our farms, threats among others, but until this day, we have not achieved justice and no one among the perpetrators were punished.

Therefore, we call to immediately stop the militarization and pull out of the military forces in our ancestral lands.  We challenge all the municipal officials of Talaingod, officials and council members of the province of Davao del Norte, the Commission on Human Rights and all other concerned agencies to immediately conduct an investigation, make accountable those who perpetrated the violations and help the victims achieve justice for the said violations.

We also call for the support of the organizations, church people and concerned individuals to conduct separate and independent investigation. Please help us in our demand for respect of our basic rights, right to our ancestral land and right to self-determination to achieve peace based on justice.

Stop the militarization in our ancestral domain!
Pull out all military forces from our ancestral domain!
Punish all abusive forces of the military under the 10th Infantry Division of the  AFP!
Respect our right to ancestral domain and right to self-determination!

For reference:
Datu Doloman Dausay
Spokesperson
Salugpongan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanugon
Talaingod, Davao del Norte
Mobile no: +639303183434

(Translated into English by Rural Missionaries of the Philippines Southern Mindanao Region)

Spare the children, uphold basic human rights in the dirty war

ICHRP Secretariat
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Spare the children, uphold basic human rights in the dirty war

http://www.karapatan.org/EcuVoice%3A+Spare+the+children%2C+Uphold+basic+human+rights+in+the+dirty+war

“The growing number of children victims of extra judicial killings in the Philippines is alarming. We appeal to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to investigate these cases of extra judicial killing of children and we urge the Philippine government to respect the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and to comply with its obligation under international human rights law,” stated Atty. Ephraim Cortez, assistant secretary general for legal  services of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), in his oral intervention during the general debates of the 25th United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva, Switzerland on March 14, 2014.

Cortez, who also spoke in the name  of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, (IADL), was part of the delegation of the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines (EcuVoice), a network of human rights defenders and faith-based institutions advocating for peace and human rights issues in the country.

“In the Philippines, under the Aquino administration, 18 children have been victims of extrajudicial killings. The government continues to sow violence and terror through military operations under the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, claiming children’s lives,” said Cortez, as he welcomed the reports of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children in armed conflicts and on violence against children.

He cited the cases of 7-year old Richard Mancera, 10-year old Michael Mancera and their father who were killed by soldiers of the 49th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in their house in Camarines Norte on February 25, 2012; 8-year old Roque Antivo from Compostela Valley who was killed by elements of the 71st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on April 3, 2013; and 16-year old Victor Freay who was killed by the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army and Task Force KITACO on August 23, 2013. All of the cases were documented by human rights groups Karapatan and the Children’s Rehabilitation Center.

“In 2012 alone, a total of 13 children were killed. In these documented cases, four of the children were living in militarized communities protesting the entry of mining companies; four were killed because of indiscriminate firing of state security forces forces; two of the victims were tagged as members of the New People’s Army; nine of the victims were inside their homes when they were killed. Not one perpetrator involved in the above cases has been arrested, prosecuted and brought to jail,” Cortez concluded.

Reference:
Atty. Ephraim Cortes
Assistant Secretary General for Legal Services
National Union of People’s Lawyers

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Flr. Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., Central District
Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. 

Open letter to Pres. BS Aquino III: On The Extrajudicial killing of Romeo Capalla

ICHRP Secretariat
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Open letter to Pres. BS Aquino III: On The Extrajudicial killing of Romeo Capalla

Dear Mr. President

I trust you were as shocked by the slaying of Romeo Capalla as were many other people. I believe he is the latest of many scores of human rights defenders and advocates who have been slain since you became President of the Philippines.

As Honorary President of the Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (UK) and Chair of the Global Council of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, I, respectfully, ask for:

  • The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the latest extrajudicial killing of Romeo Capalla.
  • An end to the policy of automatically labelling, and targeting of, human rights defenders as “members of front organizations of the CPP” and “enemies of the state.”
  • The withdrawal of Oplan Bayanihan, your government’s counterinsurgency program, that you know very well victimizes innocent and unarmed civilians.
  • The observation of, and adherence to, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all the major Human Rights instruments that your Government  is both party to and signatory of.

Your nation remains much in my prayers and my heart longs for the day when all your citizens may live in justice and in dignity with a fair share of the nation’s blessings and without the fear of the assassin’s bullet.

Yours truly,

The Reverend Canon Barry Naylor
Urban Canon and Sub Dean

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www.leicestercathedral.org
Leicester Cathedral
St Martins House
7 Peacock Lane
Leicester LE1 5PZ

Karapatan to BS Aquino: shape up or ship out

ICHRP Secretariat
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Karapatan to BS Aquino: shape up or ship out

Extrajudicial killings on the rise

http://karapatan.org/Extrajudicial+killings+on+the+rise+Karapatan+to+BS+Aquino%3A+shape+up+or+ship+out

The National Council of Karapatan, in a recently concluded meeting, called on BS Aquino to “shape up or ship out” as the human rights alliance condemned the rising incidents of extrajudicial killings, now with 11 people killed in the first ten weeks of 2014.

“If the Aquino government cannot control and stop its killing spree, BS Aquino, the commander in-chief of the armed forces, has no business staying in Malacañang,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.

The members of the National Council of Karapatan, representing 16 regional chapters and people’s organizations gathered at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to air the call to stop the killings and for the government to find and punish the perpetrators of these killings and other human rights violations. The group also called for the junking of Oplan Bayanihan, Aquino’s version of Gloria Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya.
The latest victim of extrajudicial killing is Romeo Capalla who was shot on March 15 in Oton, Iloilo province; and father and sons, Licuben, Eddie and Freddie Ligiw in Baay-Licuan, Abra province. The three were missing for a few days and found buried in a shallow grave on March 8.

“Just two weeks ago we were here at the DOJ to sound the alarm bell and protest the seven reported incidents of killing in the first six weeks of 2014. In a matter of two weeks, four more incidents of extrajudicial killings happened,” Palabay said. “Naghahabol ng ba ng quota ang ang gobyernong ito?” Palabay asked.

The protesters again laid down “corpses” in front of the DOJ like they did two weeks ago; this time with 11 “dead bodies”. “The BS Aquino government stinks—with corpses of victims of rights violations and those who were victims of his criminal negligence during disasters. Families of victims cry out for justice but the Aquino regime knows nothing about justice,” Palabay said.

Karapatan said the Aquino government has no intentions to render justice. It noted that as cases of human rights violations mount up, justice has not been served to Fernando Baldomero, the first victim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino regime. Baldomero was killed five days after Aquino assumed presidency. Since then, Karapatan has documented 169 victims of extra-judicial killing (as of December 2013).

Baldomero was detained on false charges of arson in 2005, under the Arroyo regime. “Who would have known that Baldomero’s co-accused, Romeo Capalla would become the 180th documented victim of extrajudicial killing. BS Aquino finished off what Arroyo started during the OBL,” Palabay said.

Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan and Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya are both local versions of the US Counter Insurgency program. “With the imminent signing of a new framework agreement between Aquino and Obama—the basing of US troops in the Philippines and a direct hand in the local counterinsurgency operations of the Philippines armed forces –the Philippines will become a killing field,” Palabay warned.

Reference:
Cristina “Tinay” Palabay
Secretary General
+63917-3162831

Angge Santos
Media Liaison
+63918-9790580
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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Floor Erythrina Building
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Streets
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.

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