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Aquino Govt writes off HR violations for $13M US aid —Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Aquino Govt writes off HR violations for $13M US aid —Karapatan

Press Statement, September 28, 2012 – Karapatan today criticized the Aquino government as “it continues to peddle lies on the human rights situation in the international community, through the Universal Periodic Review process at the United Nations and, the recent visit of Dept. of Justice Sec. Leila de Lima at the United States, in exchange for US military assistance.”

“Human rights defenders, victims and their relatives, and communities under military attack can attest to the prevailing, if not more emboldened, climate of impunity under Aquino. While the GPH officials claimed at the UN and, among US parliamentarians, that the Aquino government is taking concrete steps to address extrajudicial killings and; that they do not promote the culture of impunity, indigenous peoples’ leader Genesis Ambason was shot and tortured to death by paramilitary groups in Agusan del Sur last week,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan.

According to Karapatan, Ambason is the 112th victim of extrajudicial killings under the Aquino administration. Among these are nine children who were victims of EJK, three of them killed during the AFP operations in Maguindanao this August 2012. Also, rampant military operations are conducted in mineral and resource-rich areas to suppress the opposition mounted by farmers and indigenous peoples against the entry of big foreign mining and business operations.

Palabay said “this parody of lies by the Aquino government is meant to justify the release of the more than $13 million in US military assistance to the GPH, which was blocked since 2008, when international solidarity groups brought to fore the issues of extrajudicial killings and other rights violations in the Philippines.”

She also said that many of the 112 cases of extrajudicial killings under Aquino remain pending either at the prosecutorial or court levels, while state security forces and masterminds in the AFP who are accountable for these crimes have yet to be put behind bars nor convicted.

Former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., former Gov. Joel Reyes and almost all military and government officials who were responsible for the killings and disappearances remain free from arrest for these violations, while some were even promoted, such as the case of the Morong 43 torturers, Palabay explained.

“Instead of enacting the Anti-enforced disappearance bill and the Marcos Victims Compensation bill, Aquino has expedited and signed into law the Cybercrime Prevention Law which infringes on the right to freedom of expression. All of these illustrate the state of impunity under Aquino,” she concluded. ###

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General, +63917-5003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, +63918-9790580
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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
———————————————————————
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.

International solidarity protest demands surfacing of James Balao and other disappeared

ICHRP Secretariat
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Stop Enforced Disappearances! Surface the victims now!

17th of September 2012

(To president Benigno Aquino III,to the former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of Philippines, mass media, trade unions and to the international democratic public, to the human rights organizations-  please forward this message wherever and whenever you can, to strengthen the international protest and solidarity movement for human rights in the Philippines, which people need for their life in standing up to fight for a liberated world!)

On the Monday demonstration against the unsocial law Hartz 4, we continue our vigil for James Balao in Stuttgart on the 17th of September 2012. We counted – as it was decided  in October 2008 in the partnership agreement between the Monday-Demonstration Movement Stuttgart and the family Balao and Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) –  the days of the disappearance of James Balao.

Today is the 4th year of the disappearance of James Balao, 4 years of waiting, 4 years of tears and remembrances and 4 years of international protests, 4 years of demanding justice and of demanding to stop impunity. The killers and murders are still living among us and they think, that they could go on with their counterinsurgency US made plan “Oplan Bayanihan”.

We want to know, what happened to James and we demand today again that the responsible persons and authorities should be jailed into prison like the former dictators in Argentina Videla and Co. More than 30 years the Mothers of the Placo de Mayo demanded for the truth and for stopping impunity. They have been successful and so we will be successfull, there is no doubt!

4 years of partnership between the Monday Demonstration movement are as well 8 years of fighting against the unsocial law Hartz 4 in Stuttgart and in more than 100 other towns in Germany every Monday.

James was as well with the participants of the 10th International Women Council in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart on the 15th and 16th of September. The German Filippines Friends GFF joined this meeting and demands with their guest from the Philippines and elsewhere:

Surface James Balao now!

International solidarity will be stronger than the power of dictatorship!

CHR Chair has historical amnesia—Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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CHR Chair has historical amnesia—Karapatan

Press Statement, September 17, 2012 – Karapatan today criticized Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Etta Rosales after she rebuked students and youth groups preparing for protest actions leading to September 21, in commemoration of the 40th year of the imposition of Martial Law.

In an interview over ABS-CBN week-end news last night, Rosales was quoted saying “Stop comparing Martial Law of yesterday to what they are doing now because if they do that they are merely muddling the issue. Mag-aral sila, naintindihan ba nila ang sinasabi nila.” Rosales added that the students should instead go the libraries instead of joining the protests.

“Rosales’ statement simply illustrates the historical amnesia, opportunism, and bankruptcy of those in the Aquino administration. They claim to “remember Martial Law,” yet they forget one of the quintessential lessons during those dark years – that when the people and the youth are faced with anti-youth and anti-people programs, rights abuses, and plunder of our lands and resources, we fight back,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan.

The groups led by Anakbayan, National Union of Students of the Philippines, Student Christian Movement, College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines, and League of Filipino students will be holding protests against the rising tuition costs and the spate of human rights violations prevailing under the Aquino administration.

Palabay recalled that Marcos’ Education Act of 1982, which legitimized tuition increases, is still very much enforced under the Aquino government, as more than 260 tertiary schools have increased tuition this year by as much as 15%. Karapatan also received reports that the Armed Forces of the Philippines continue with their red-tagging campaign against youth organizations in schools in their counter-insurgency symposia with the assistance of the Department of Education.

“These, Ms. Rosales, along with the continuing human rights violations, the poverty that drives the young out of schools and the sheer puppetry of Pres. Noynoy Aquino, are the ‘legacies’ of Marcos that you keep today,” said Palabay.

Karapatan and Bayan will lead the protest actions on Friday, as they will be joined by the students, in Mendiola.

“The youth will honor that lesson when they march with the people on September 21. And people like Rosales and Aquino will remain like cobwebs in the libraries of our history as a nation,” Palabay concluded. ###

Reference: Cristina Palabay, Secretary General, 09175003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580

———————————————————————
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
———————————————————————
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.

Romy Capulong, 1935-2012 – Numero Uno People’s Lawyer : Our loss, the people’s loss

ICHRP Secretariat
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Romy Capulong, 1935-2012 – Numero Uno People’s Lawyer : Our loss, the people’s loss

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), made up of generations of passionate lawyers and law students for the people deeply, mourns the passing of its much loved and admired founding chairman and chairman emeritus, Romeo T. Capulong at the age of 77.

Fondly known to us as RTC, he finally rested his case this evening, as if waiting until the conclusion of NUPL’s National Council meeting this afternoon on the ocassion of our fifth founding anniversary. He had battled a lingering illness and is survived by his wife Pia and three children.

His passion, selflessness, dedication, wisdom and vision inspired people’s attorneys and law students immensely, both here and abroad. As the first among us, he built an excellent example in both law and life for lawyers to follow.

RTC, son of a shared tenant famer, began to establish himself as an eminent legal scholar right out of the UP College of Law. He used his skills to defend the rights of the marginalized – the peasants, workers, urban poor, students, women, political prisoners, human rights defenders, peace advocates and other oppressed sectors of society – long before the idea of alternative lawyering secured a foothold in the Philippine legal system.

He represented the common man, the underdog and those who chose to fight back against an oppressive and exploitative system.

RTC’s devotion to his chosen clients was rooted in personal and professional solidarity. He handled public interest cases with the aim of effecting substantial changes, not simply quick relief. He took on suits litigation in behalf of basic sectors, driven by the desire to empower the people.

Our loss hence, is the people’s loss.

As a guiding pillar of NUPL, he ably and indefatigably guided – and still guides – us in our commitment to serve the poor, the exploited and the oppressed in our legal and metalegal struggles in different battlefields, goading us to push the parameters and serve the people.

His  ringing words will forever be etched in our hearts and minds: “After long years of experience as a people’s lawyer, I can honestly say it has been a treasured journey of self-fulfillment and rewarding achievement. I know it will be the same for all others who choose to tread this path.”

We fully concur beyond any shadow of doubt.

People’s lawyers like THE Romy Capulong never die. They just live in the work of the next generations of people’s lawyers.

Mabuhay si RTC! Ang manananggol ng bayan! Tuloy tayo na lumaban!

From martial law to Noynoy Aquino: After 40 long years, ML victims still invisible to the government —Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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From martial law to Noynoy Aquino: After 40 long years, ML victims still invisible to the government —Karapatan

Press Statement, September 16, 2012 – “Many of the victims of human rights violations under the Marcos dictatorship have left us without seeing justice rendered, 40 long years after the imposition of martial law. Even the barest gesture of justice, the Marcos Victims Compensation bill, remains at the backburner. The governments that followed after the dictatorship, from Cory Aquino to her son Noynoy, showed tolerance and gave concessions to the Marcoses. They all should be held accountable for perpetuating the crimes of the Marcoses.”

Thus said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, as 68-year old Nicolas Sanchez passed away early this week. Sanchez was a victim of torture, illegal arrest and detention during the infamous “sona” (zoning of communities) in Brgy. Tatalon, Quezon City in July 23, 1985. The “sona” was conducted by elements of the Marcos’ Philippine Constabulary, when residents resisted the demolition of their community to give way to the development plan of the Aranetas, in-laws of Marcos’ daughter, Irene. Two persons reportedly died during the incident, while many were arrested, including Sanchez.

Sanchez was brought to Camp Crame where he endured torture. He also witnessed the torture of several others, including that of Trinidad Herrera, leader of the urban poor group Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO) during martial law years. This year also saw the demise of martial law activists and victims such as Romy Luneta, Maita Gomez and Bong Barsoles.

Palabay asserted that “the immediate passage of a law that would acknowledge the State’s moral and legal obligation to render justice to the victims of the worst forms of rights violations, during Martial Law, will serve as a beacon and a reminder to everyone not end such violations and injustice.”

While Pres. Aquino, in his first two State of the Nation addresses called on both Houses of Congress to pass the Marcos Victims Compensation bill as an urgent measure, he seemed to have omitted this in his July 2012 SONA.

“What a callous act of ‘remembrance’ on the 40th year of the imposition of Martial Law! It is no wonder that the Marcoses continue to flaunt, with impunity, their political power as well as Imelda’s manic possessiveness of her jewels which, are testament to the plunder of the nation’s coffers during the Marcos dictatorship,” she said.

Karapatan, SELDA and Bayan will lead a protest action of Martial Law activists and various organizations on September 21 to strengthen the call for justice for victims of human rights violations from Martial Law up to Noynoy Aquino. #

Reference: Cristina Palabay, Secretary General, +639175003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, +63918-9790580

———————————————————————
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
———————————————————————
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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