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Political prisoners on hunger strike heighten action for freedom

ICHRP Secretariat
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Political prisoners on hunger strike heighten action for freedom

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

Friends,

Here are some developments of the  fasting/hunger strike of political prisoners in the Philippines. Your continuing support  for the demands of political prisoners to grant them a general, unconditional and omnibus amnesty by the Aquino government is much needed. We  count on you.

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July 18, 2012 –  Eighteen political prisoners from Tagum City, Patin-ay in Agusan del Sur, Cebu and Taguig City are now on hunger strike to underscore the call for the release of all political prisoners.500 inmates at the Compostela Valley Provincial Rehabilitation Center have joined the hunger strike in sympathy with the political prisoners in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. Meanwhile, other political prisoners in 10 jails all over the country continue their fast that was started on July 16.

The Samahan ng Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda) started its week-long fast on July 16 in time for the Noynoy Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23. The political prisoners demand to release all political prisoners specifically calls for Aquino to proclaim a general, unconditional and omnibus amnesty.

Solidarity actions of relatives, friends and other human rights advocates are also held simultaneously. In Davao City,a picket was held along San Pedro St. to echo the call of the political prisoners. In Cebu City, a solidarity fasting center was also mounted by Karapatan Central Visayas in Fuente Osmeña Blvd. In Iloilo City, the political prisoners made a television interview right after their court hearing to call for their release on July 18. Their families, SELDA-Iloilo chapter and Panay Alliance-Karapatan mounted a fasting center at the heart of Iloilo City until July 20. In Metro Manila, a solidarity fast was held at the grounds of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the first day of the fast. A picket was also held at the National Headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame. This was participated in by various people’s organizations, relatives and friends of the political prisoners.

At the Maximum security of the New Bilibid Prisons, jail guards removed the “Free All Political Prisoners” streamer mounted by political prisoners. The political prisoners defied the order by mounting back the streamer the following day.

“Political prisoners will muster all their efforts until Noynoy Aquino heeds their call. Steel and concrete high walls can’t prevent political prisoners from fighting for justice and freedom.” Angie Ipong, a former political prisoner and secretary general of SELDA concluded.

The political prisoners who are currently on hunger strike and fast are those at the Medium and Maximum Security in New Bilibid Prisons, Male and female dorm of Special Intensive Care Area (SICA) Camp BagongDiwa, Metro Manila District Jail (Cuerna), Camp Lapu-lapu Central Command in Cebu, Victorias City Jail in Negros Occidental, Iloilo Provincial Integrated Jail (IPIL), Calbayog Jail, Misamis Oriental Provincial Jail and Isabela Provincial Jail.#

Reference: Angie Ipong, Secretary General, SELDA
Contact Number: +639499587373

NUPL – On the Palace blaming courts for rights cases

ICHRP Secretariat
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NUPL – On the Palace blaming courts for rights cases

Statement, 18 July 2012 – Palace attorneys and mouthpieces glued to ivory towers should come down from the hill and see reality from the ground. It smacks of ignorance if not duplicity to conveniently invoke separation of powers this time and pass the buck to the courts for the government’s failure to punish perpetrators.

Have they become clueless to realize that the Executive through PNoy (Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III)  has all the police, investigative, and prosecutory agencies and commands all security forces like the military and the paramilitary who are credibly accused and persistently commit rights violations?

They should also not mix up between violations of human rights guaranteed and answerable by state agents and crimes committed by private individuals to make fallacious claims of its rights record. General Palparan remains to be Exhibit A for impunity.

Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL secretary general +639175113373

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National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers(NUPL)
3F Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Sts. Central District,Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.No.920-6660,Telefax No. 927- 2812
Email addresses:nupl2007@gmail.com and nuplphilippines@yahoo.com
“Visit the NUPL  at http://www.nupl.net/

By calling yourselves the ‘people’s lawyer,’ you have made a remarkable choice. You decided not to remain in the sidelines. Where human rights are assaulted, you have chosen to sacrifice the comfort of the fence for the dangers of the battlefield. But only those who choose to fight on the battlefield live beyond irrelevance.”  Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, in his message to the NUPL Founding Congress,Sept. 15, 2007

Karapatan chides Noynoy Aquino to stop acting like there are no political prisoners

ICHRP Secretariat
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Karapatan chides Noynoy Aquino to stop acting like there are no political prisoners

PRESS STATEMENT, July 17, 2012 – A week before Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), political prisoners from Luzon to Mindanao are conducting a one-week fast  to push the call for the release of all political prisoners.

“It has been two years since we started to campaign and lobby for the release of political prisoners who are in various jails, but President Noynoy Aquino not only ignored our call but also arrested and detained 107 more farmers, indigenous peoples, leaders of organizations and activists, as well as suspected rebels. As of June 30, 2012, there are now 385 political prisoners,” said Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of both Karapatan and SELDA.

Karapatan said that Noynoy Aquino cannot just shrug off his shoulders, declare that he is different from the past GMA regime and blame it for all the ills besetting his “matuwid na daan” administration. He cannot go on pretending that there are no political prisoners in the country because “he is already responsible for detaining 107 activists based mostly on fabricated charges in the same way as Gloria did through the brutal Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL).”

According to Hilao-Enriquez, “Noynoy Aquino has his own brutal campaign against a people who organize themselves, assert and defend their rights to live decently. But like the GMA regime, Aquino has implemented his own campaign of suppression through Oplan Bayanihan which is actually just a continuation of the bloody OBL of the US-Arroyo regime.”

“This brutal campaign has resulted to 99 victims of extrajudicial executions, 10 victims of enforced disappearances, thousands displaced in communities classified by the military as rebel areas. All these happened during Noynoy’s two years, a picture no different from the GMA administration. It is no wonder that human rights violations, like the presence of political prisoners, continue to stalk our land,“ added Hilao-Enriquez.

Karapatan asserts that it would do well for Noynoy Aquino to take stock of his watch and not squander the remaining four years of his presidency.  Hilao-Enriquez said that, “he can still be the president who made good on his human rights commitments to the Filipino people. He can start this by releasing all political prisoners in the country through a presidential proclamation granting general, unconditional and omnibus amnesty to all political prisoners; or he may accede to the offer of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) to “Release on Recognizance” the NDF peace consultants. The government should also immediately release the elderly, the women and those who are sick.”

Karapatan also enjoins all civil libertarians and freedom-loving Filipinos to echo the call for the release of political prisoners. “There may be no declared martial law but the same repression against the people and impunity prevail.  This must not be allowed to continue,” concluded Hilao-Enriquez.

Political prisoners in 10 detention facilities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are on their second day of fasting. ###

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Spokesperson, +63917-5003879 and 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 Flr. Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., 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.

Hundreds attend memorial for slain Dutchman; family vows to continue Willem’s ‘mission’

ICHRP Secretariat
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Hundreds attend memorial for slain Dutchman; family vows to continue Willem’s ‘mission’

Justice for Willem Geertman Campaign, Press Release, 17 July 2012

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – The Old Catholic Church in Amsterdam overflowed the other day, July 15, Sunday, with hundreds of Dutch, Filipinos and others, who joined the family members in a memorial and tribute to Dutch peasant, human rights and anti-mining advocate Willem Geertman who was killed by suspected military assassins in central Philippines last July 3.

Geertman, 67, was killed by motorcycle-riding men as he arrived in his office in Angeles City, Pampanga in central Philippines. Geertman was a staunch peasant rights, human rights and anti-mining/logging advocate. He had spent more than 30 years of his life in the Philippines, serving the poor peasants and indigenous people in Central Luzon.

The memorial service, organized by the Justice for Willem Geertman Campaign, began with a warm welcome from Rev. Fr. Dr. Peter-Ben Smit, parish priest of the OCC in Amsterdam. The mood of the afternoon was set with the heart-warming rendition of the Filipino choir who sang about martyrdom for the people’s cause.

According to Toon Geertman, a brother of Willem, who just arrived from Manila with sister Maria, Willem’s final resting place was under the shade of a mango tree. He defiantly remarked that for justice for Willem to be achieved, everyone concerned must break the silence and defy those who wish to silence the voices asking for justice and human rights.

Toon shared with the audience the very warm reception and love they received from the colleagues and the people whom Willem worked with in the Philippines. He said he saw and heard how people loved his brother so much, as they watched over his wake and told him and his sister stories about how Willem worked with them. He also said he was so much overwhelmed by the people’s support as they lined up the streets as the funeral car carrying Willem’s remains passed by enroute to the Baler Catholic Church where 8 priests concelebrated a mass in honour of Willem.

He reiterated the Geertman family strongly believes that Willem was a victim of extrajudicial killing. He shared that during his brother’s wake and funeral there were unidentified persons taking photos of the activities.

A video presentation prepared by the colleagues of Willem, who was executive director of the Alay Bayan Inc., a farmer-support and disaster response institution, showed Geertman among the people whom his projects served.

Theo Droog, chair of the Nederlands-Filppijnse Solidariteitsbeweging (NFS), paid tribute to Willem as a humble human being who embraced the poor and marginalized in the Philippines, the country he considered his home. Droog also presented a stone painted by an artist-friend and offered to the family of Willem as a gesture of honour to him and his various advocacies.

Ana de Jesus, who read a message in behalf of the Filipino organizations in the Netherlands, saluted Willem’s example of working selflessly to improve the lives of the people. She said the Filipino community in the Netherlands would be forever grateful to Willem for his martyrdom and solidarity with the Filipino people.

Manon Kant, who spoke in behalf of the Rotterdam community, where Willem took on a job as a worker and became active in the workers’ movement there, said Willem’s heart was always with the oppressed and exploited, and his search for answers to end such oppression took him to the poor farmers’ and indigenous communities in the Philippines.

Ton Groeneweg of the ‘Mensen met een Missie’, said Willem made the ultimate sacrifice, that of offering his life for his fellowmen, a vision shared deeply by Willem and his mission.

Prof. Jose Maria Sison, chair of the ‘International League of Peoples Struggle’ (ILPS), said Willem’s martyrdom and legacy shed light on the road to a fundamentally new and better world of greater freedom, democracy, social justice, development and peace.

Nanette Hogervorst of ‘Amnesty International’ and Angelica Gonzales of the ‘International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines’, who both delivered responses, vowed to work harder for justice for Willem and for all the other victims of extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses in the Philippines.

Maria, a sister of Willem, presented the various projects that Willem was busy working on at the time of his death. She said the Geertman family firmly supports Willem on his various projects and vowed to continue such projects through a foundation which was established for Willem. She appealed to the audience to join them in supporting and continuing Willem’s project by contributing to the collection.

Members of the Filipino community read offertory prayers calling for justice for Willem, a stop to extrajudicial killings and to all human rights violations and an end to impunity in the Philippines.

Everyone present joined the lighting of candles and offering of flowers in front of the church altar where Willem’s photo was displayed and large banners which state: “Justice for Willem and for all victims of human rights violations in the Philippines”, “Justice for Willem Geertman – staunch environmentalist and anti-corporate mining and anti-logging advocate”. As the name of Willem Geertman and other victims of extrajudicial killings were called out, the crowd responded in one voice – PRESENTE! MABUHAY!#

For Reference:

Theo Droog
NFS
Tel: +31 (0) 725610169
Email: nfs@enefes.demon.nl
Website: http://www.nefiso.nl

Aquino waging war against the Filipino people – Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Aquino waging war against the Filipino people – Karapatan

Karapatan Public Info Desk July 16, 2012 –   With his two years of presidency and three State of the Nation Address (SONA), Pres. Noynoy Aquino has already done his own version of “unsheathing the sword of war” and has no more pretensions about it.

The second year of the Aquino administration is being punctuated with shamelessly deceptive slogans on economic development and human rights to prop up the administration’s image especially in the international community. But it is clear that the Filipino people have seen the truth behind the cacophony of these lies. The severe landlessness and hunger, the multitudes of jobless and the growing number of homeless are more stinging realities, more visible, more audible and felt than any other PR spin from Malacanang. Thus, the growing number of impoverished Filipinos had no recourse but to resist and struggle

This resistance and legitimate opposition, however, are met with repression and terror by Aquino and the Armed Forces of the Philippines through the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan. The bombs, the firing of guns, the killings are the government’s militarist ways to suppress and terrorize the people who refuse to be deceived and silenced.

In the two years of the Aquino administration, Karapatan has documented ninety-nine victims of extrajudicial killings; ten victims of enforced disappearances; threats, harassment, and intimidation and forced evacuation of whole communities; cases of torture, rape, illegal arrests and detention, most are results of military combat operations being waged especially in the rural areas.

The series of attacks and violence against organized communities and human rights defenders and the latest wave of killings of human rights and environmental activists, like Romualdo Palispis, Willem Geertman and recently farmer Romulo Vaflor indicate the heightening terror and violence being instigated by state security forces and the Aquino government. This comes alongside the serious cases of rights violations brought about by militarization of organized communities especially in the Bondoc Peninsula; the violent demolitions of urban poor communities such as in Silverio, Paranaque, where guns were trained and fired at the barricading residents; the illegal arrest based on trumped-up charges against Makabayan coordinator and lay church worker Agnes Mesina; and the indiscriminate firing at the office of Bayan Muna in Catarman, Northern Samar.

To date, Karapatan has also documented the illegal arrest and detention of 107 individuals due to trumped up criminal charges, bring the total number of political prisoners to 385. The illegal arrest of consultants of the National Democratic Front continue with the arrest of trade union leader Reynante Gamara, while consultants Tirso Alcantara and Alan Jazmines are being subjected to inhumane and repressive conditions in jail.

Meanwhile, notorious rights violators such as Maj. General Jovito Palparanand several officials of the AFP and PNP remain untouchables from the bars of justice, as they continue to be coddled by the institutions and powers-that-be whom they serve. The Ampatuans who massacred journalists, lawyers and ordinary citizens have not been convicted, while former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo enjoys the luxury of a hospital detention.

This is the state of the nation under Aquino – where justice has not been served, impunity flounders and his war against the people resounds.

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Spokesperson, +63917-5003879
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 Flr. Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., 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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