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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

———————————————————————
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.

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

———————————————————————
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.

Church worker slapped with ‘fabricated’ charges

ICHRP Secretariat
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“The arrest of Agnes was meant to sow fear among the people in the attempt to plunder the rich mineral resources and displace resisting communities for large-scale mining operations. “ – Rural Missionaries of the Philippines

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – An advocate against large-scale destructive mining was detained and charged with common crimes.

Agnes Mesina, 40, a lay worker of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) – Cagayan Valley, was arrested July 4 at a coffee shop in Tuguegarao City by elements of the Philippine National Police Region (PNP) 2 together with the Tuguegarao City PNP. The arrest took place in the presence of ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio who, at that time, was meeting with Mesina along with organizers of the local chapter of ACT Teachers Party-List. They had just come from a consultation with public school teachers.

Mesina has been charged with frustrated murder of a certain Ernesto Belen, a barangay captain of Luga, Sta. Teresita, Cagayan. She was detained overnight at the Tuguegarao City police station and was transferred to the Aparri Trial Court the next day. She was released after posting bail amounting to P20,000.

“We believe that the action is devious and related to her public advocacy of people’s rights against mining operations and other developmental projects that destroy the environment and sources of livelihood of peasant folk in Cagayan Valley. In the past months, she helped form alliances of church people, farmers, youth, and professionals to intensify people’s anti-mining advocacy and campaigns in the region that prick the consciences of (the) powers that be,” leaders of various Church denominations said in a joint statement.

Sr. Minela Alvarez of the Religious of the Good Shepherd in Isabela, Fr. Clarence Olat of the Episcopal Diocese of Santiago, Fr. Roderick Labog of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente-Diocese of Isabela, Fr. Candido Adriano, CssR of the Task Force dor the Orientation of Church Personnel Mission and Fr. Charly Ricafort, MI of the Task Force for Urban Conscientization signed the statement condemning the arrest of Mesina. The last two Church groups are mission partners of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP).

Sr.M. Francis Añover,RSM, RMP national coordinator, described Mesina as a “trusted” lay co-worker of Sister Mela Alvarez, RGS, the RMP-Cagayan Valley coordinator.

“Agnes tirelessly meets with priests, sisters and other lay workers including pastors and ministers of other faith beliefs in the region to express the concerns of the local communities regarding various projects such as the bio-ethanol, logging and mining,” Añover said.

According to Añover, Mesina helped facilitate a meeting of bishops, priests, ministers and lay workers in Cagayan province last January that resulted in the release of a statement calling for the banning of large-scale mining in the province. A month after, Mesina attended another meeting of similar nature in Nueva Vizcaya. More than 800 trooped to the meeting and voiced their opposition to mining. In that meeting, RMP said Bishop Ramon Villena “gave scathing remarks” against mining and also called for the banning of the activity in his Diocese.

“The arrest of Agnes was meant to sow fear among the people in the attempt to plunder the rich mineral resources and displace resisting communities for large-scale mining operations. But we are not cowed by these state attempts to silence us, because as rural missionaries we will continue our mission in the face of harassment against our lay workers in Cagayan Valley who are just defending their land, their rights, and natural resources against imperialist plunder not just for themselves but for the future generations,” Añover said.

In an interview, Nardy Sabino, secretary general of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) said the arrest of Mesina is pure harassment against a Church worker who is helping the poor, especially the peasants in Cagayan Valley.

“As a Church worker, she amplifies the voice of the oppressed,” Sabino said.

According to the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (Kamp), Mesina is “a long-time advocate for indigenous peoples rights, actively involved in campaigns against large-scale mining, logging and other environmental causes as well as human rights abuses.”

“This is the state’s attempt to cut short Agnes’s contributions to the peoples movement, whom she had served for many years,” Piya Macliing Malayao, Kamp spokeswoman, said.

Mesina served as chairwoman of Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino (Katribu) during her college days, and continued her advocacy for peasants and indigenous peoples in various organizations in Manila and other provinces.

Church leaders who signed the joined statement said that the trumped-up charge against Agnes Mesina “affirms the continuing state policy of political repression with its deceitful schemes to press charges against peace and justice advocates who they perceive to be ‘enemies of the state’ have not died down.”

“As church people, we demand that the government end its policy and operational plans that give rise to human rights violations. And we continue to demand justice for all victims of human rights violations. The charge against Agnes Mesina must be dropped and public apology be made by the arresting authorities,” they said.

The RMP called on President Benigno Aquino III to stop the vilification of our Church development workers and stop making fabricated cases against human rights defenders.

PCPR’s Sabino said the filing of trumped up charges against Church workers is not new. During the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, two Church leaders were also charged with common crimes. Pastor Edwin Egar of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and Pastor Mel Abesamis of the United Methodist Church were among the 72 activists in Southern Tagalog who were slapped with heinous crimes in 2008. The charges were recently dismissed.#

UN-SRs noted growing number of killings of rights defenders—Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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UN-SRs noted growing number of killings of rights defenders—Karapatan

Press Statement, July 13, 2012 – Human rights group Karapatan today affirmed the observations of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs (UN-SR) on human rights defenders and extrajudicial killings on the “growing number of threats and killings of rights defenders” in the Philippines. The statement by the UN mandate holders was released on July 9, two weeks prior to Phil. Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders Margaret Sekaggya and on Extrajudicial Killings, Christof Heyns released the following statement, which can be accessed through http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12333&LangID=E.

Cristina Palabay, Karapatan spokesperson, said such observations hold true as the rights group has documented 95 victims of extrajudicial killings under the two-year term of Aquino, from July 2010 to June 30, 2012. Karapatan also recently received report on the killing of Arnolfo Vaflor on July 9. Vaflor was a member of an affiliate of the Negros Farm and Sugar Workers in Negros Occidental. Vaflor’s killing happened only a week after the killing of Wilhelm Geertman, a Dutch volunteer who had been in the Philippines for more than four decades.

“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, Geertman and Vaflor indicate the heightening terror and violence instigated by state security forces and the Aquino government. This comes alongside the serious cases of rights violations brought about by militarization of whole organized communities especially in the Bondoc Peninsula; 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,” Palabay explained.

Karapatan also confirms Sekaggya’s statement, pointing out that those defending the rights of local communities where there are disputes over land rights and campaigns against mining and dam projects are “often met with violence.”

“Among the 95 victims, 43 were rights workers in various organizations and institutions. Many are farmers, indigenous peoples and environmental activists. The communities opposing anti-people projects are victimized through threats, harassment, torture, and repression by the AFP and paramilitary groups. This is the real purpose of Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan – to quell legitimate people’s opposition and enable the plunder of the country’s resources at the expense of the people’s economic rights,” Palabay said. ###

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Spokesperson, 0917-5003879
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

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