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Filipino-Dutch solidarity groups to launch justice campaign in the Netherlands for the killing of Willem Geertman

ICHRP Secretariat
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Filipino-Dutch solidarity groups to launch justice campaign in the Netherlands for the killing of Willem Geertman

Press Release
July 3, 2012

The death of Willem Geertman, a Dutch NGO worker and missionary in the
Philippines, has shocked the Filipino-Dutch solidarity community.

BAYAN Europe strongly condemns the killing of Willemthis solidarity worker who dedicated more than four decades of his life working with poor farmers and rural folks in Central Luzon.

Geertman was shot in front of his office around 1pm by two motorcycle riding men believed to be military agents. His death is strongly suspected to be another extrajudicial and politically motivated assassination of those working with peoples organizations critical of the governments anti-people policies.

BAYAN Europe will support the campaign for justice for Willem Geertman,
who is the second European NGO/Community worker in the Philippines killed under the Aquino regime, after the death of Fr. Pops Tentorio in Mindanao. Talks with the Nederlands-Filippijnse Solidariteitsbeweging (NFS), the International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICCHRP), and other concerned Filipino migrant, human rights, and solidarity organizations in the Netherlands to launch the campaign is already under way.

We call on the international community to support the struggle to end impunity in the Philippines.

For more information related to this incident, please visit the website of Bayan Europe where statements from several Filipino organizations who have worked with Geertman have been posted in BAYAN Europes website.

http://www.bayaneurope.org/bayan-condemns-the-killing-of-wilhelm-geertman/

JUSTICE FOR WILLEM GEERTMAN!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS IN THE PHILIPPINES!
END IMPUNITY NOW!

FOR MEDIA REFERENCES:
Theo Droog, Chairperson (NFS) Nederlands-Filippijns Solidariteitsbeweging
Mobile 0031-6-23180561

Nato Reyes, Secretary General (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, BAYAN or New Patriotic Alliance) Telephone number: 00-63-9285082902

Joseph Canlas Chairperson, Alyansa ng mga Magsasaka sa Gitnang Luzon
(AMGL) or Alliance of Farmers in Central Luzon
Mobile 00-63-9182335050

Rita Baua International Relations Officer, BAYAN
Mobile 00-63-9189910665

Harassment continues in palm oil plantation in Mindanao

ICHRP Secretariat
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Harassment continues in palm oil plantation in Mindanao

Media Advisory, 29 June 2012 – Manila, Philippines – Residents of Bagocboc and Tingalan in Misamis Oriental, Mindanao, particularly those affiliated with Pangalasag – a local organisation of indigenous Higaonons which has been very vocal against the establishment and expansion of a palm oil plantation in their area, continue to face injustice at the hands of the government authorities.

Pangalasag members reported that local police force have warned them of being prosecuted if they join any actions against A Brown Company, Inc. – the company behind the palm oil plantation in Opol. The local police also took photographs of the Pangalasag members’ houses, which is a clear form of harassment to instil terror to those who dare oppose the palm oil operations. Furthermore, a relative of a Higaonon elder was one of the labourers retrenched by the palm oil plantation immediately after the company found out his affiliation to Pangalasag.

According to Jomorito Goaynon, chairperson of Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization which has been part of the recently held international fact-finding mission (IFFM) led by Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Paficic (PAN AP), “It is very clear whose side the local government of Opol is siding to. A Brown is also keen on not showing any respect to our indigenous culture and life.”

Sr. Ma. Famita Somogod, MSM, coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Northern Mindanao Sub-Region added that “While trampling on the right to land of the indigenous peoples concerned, A Brown is also pushing the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the community into the state of disgrace.”

The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer also admitted that A Brown has yet to secure a permit after already operating for two years. Goaynon said that they fear that the environmental department (DENR) will fast-track the issuance of the necessary permit to legitimise the plantation’s operation and eventually displace the farmers and Higaonons in Bagocboc and Tingalan.

PAN AP calls on the Philippine government to rethink its programme on palm oil development in the country. “The government should protect the inherent rights of the people and ensure the free and prior informed consent of the indigenous people as enshrined in the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  The indigenous peoples’ rights are being marginalised in favour of profits from this industry” says PAN AP Executive Director Sarojeni Rengam.

Meanwhile, Dr. Romeo Quijano of PAN Philippines stated that “as the palm oil plantation continues to operate, more and more hazardous agro-chemicals will be introduced to the area that will negatively impact the lives of the people as well as the biodiversity of the area.” Since the establishment of the plantation, villagers no longer use the water from a nearby stream for drinking and food preparation for fear of being poisoned.

PAN AP, together with the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP), Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao SUb-Region (RMP-NMR), Sentro Kitanglad, Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization and Pangalasag recently conducted an IFFM in the area and the report can be downloaded here: The Real Trespassers (June 2012). PAN AP also setup an online petition for the concerned individuals and groups to pressure A Brown and the Philippine government to pull out the plantation, reinstate farmers and Higaonons to their lands, and give redress to the victims of human rights violations.

For more information, contact:

Sr. Ma. Famita Somogod, MSM
RMP-Northern Mindanao Sub-Region
rmp.nmr@gmail.com

Virgilio Tamayao Jr
PAN AP
jingo.tamayao@panap.net

John Ryan Mendoza
Sentro Kitanglad
sentro.kitanglad@gmail.com

Jomorito Goaynon
Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization
kalumbay@gmail.com

—
RURAL MISSIONARIES OF THE PHILIPPINES-Northern Mindanao Sub-Region (RMP-NMR)
Room 01, Kalinaw Lanao Center for Interfaith Resources
0016 Bougainvilla Puti, Villaverde
9200 Iligan City, Philippines
T/F: +63 (63) 223 5179  E: rmpnmr@gmail.com  W: www.rmp-nmr.org

“our love is not to be just words or mere talk but something real and active” –1 John 3:18

Alan Jazmines stealthily transferred to Bicutan jail without notice and valid reason—Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Alan Jazmines stealthily transferred to Bicutan jail without notice and valid reason—Karapatan

Karapatan Public Info Desk, Press Statement, June 29, 2012 – Government authorities should immediately explain the sudden, stealthy transfer of political prisoner Alan Jazmines from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan early this morning of June 29.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of Karapatan slammed the move “because it reeks of treachery. Alan Jazmines was not even allowed to call his legal counsel and the Custodial Center has not provided any reason for the haste in Jasmines’s transfer.”

“The chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) should likewise answer for the PNP’s action. We learned that she was with Supt. Cesar Magsino, chief of the PNP Custodial Center, when Jazmines was transported to Bicutan. The CHR chairperson could have at the very least facilitated Jazmines’s request to talk to his lawyers,” added Hilao-Enriquez.

Earlier, Karapatan submitted to CHR complaints on the ill-treatment and increasing restrictions of political prisoners at the PNP Custodial Center and at the Fort Bonifacio Headquarters, PA Custodial Center, 191st MPBn., HHSG, PA where Tirso Alcantara, another NDF consultant, remains in solitary confinement for over a year and a half already, in complete violation of RA 7438, the law that supposedly enumerates the rights of a detained, accused person.

Alan Jasminez is among the 14 peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) currently detained in various jails in the country, whose releases are being sought for by the NDFP Panel. Ramon Patriarca, another NDFP detained consultant in Cebu experienced a similar treatment. On January 25, 2012 he was, without notice, taken straight to a military stockade in the AFP-Central Command in Camp Lapu-Lapu, Lahug, Cebu City after attending a hearing and did not even have time to pack his things.

In the past, several attempts were made to isolate Alan Jazmines from his co-detainees in Camp Crame. Jazmines recently figured in the news when he wrote a letter to the Department of Justice, CHR and Karapatan saying that “The FBI maintains an office inside the detention center itself and in a unit in a nearby condominium…”

Hilao-Enriquez said that “the pattern of repression of political prisoners is becoming evident as shown in the case of Jazmines, Alcantara and Patriarca. For two years, Aquino has not lifted a finger to act positively on the situation of the political prisoners who are unjustly detained. He has instead allowed the plight of the political prisoners to worsen, to the point of even betraying and forgetting his own father’s sufferings in jail.” ###

Reference: Marie Hilao Enrique, Chairperson, +63917-5616800
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.

‘Asan si Palparan?’ A call for artworks

ICHRP Secretariat
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‘Asan si Palparan?’ A call for artworks

The Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) is calling on artists to submit artworks in pursuit of justice.

ASAn si Palparan? (ASAP) is a collection of artworks in the style of Larry Alcala’s “Slice of Life” and Martin Handford’s “Where’s Waldo”. A contribution from you can help bring to the general public the plight of several victims of human rights violations conducted by the military forces in the country and eventually bring justice to them by finding, convicting and jailing Maj. General Jovito Palparan Jr.

General Palparan, notoriously known as the “Butcher,” is responsible for the abduction, torture, killings and/or disappearances of several of our kababayans—activists and ordinary folks in the provinces—including UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno who remain missing to this date. Palparan personifies the prevalent state of impunity in the country, as he continues to evade the warrant of arrest against him. The warrant of arrest is a result of the persistent struggle for justice of the mothers of Cadapan and Empeno.

All artworks must play on the idea of searching or looking for Palparan in any format, be it a maze, puzzle, spot-the-difference, or any popular activity/game. All artworks must be 8 inches by 8 inches, square format, colored or Black & White on white ground/paper. Interested contributors can submit their works either by:

1) Email to concernedartistsphils@yahoo.com. Artforms must have 200 dpi resolution, 8inch by 8 inch square format; or
2) Snail mail/ hand deliver at Erythrina Building,  #1 Maaralin cor Matatag Sts., Brgy. Central, Quezon City.

Deadline for submission of artworks is on August 15, 2012.

Artworks will be displayed on the internet as viral advertisements on social networking sites  in time for the celebration of International Day of the Disappeared on August 30.

We are calling on artists and cultural workers like you to participate in our effort to help bring justice to the victims of enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings.

Justice to all human rights violations victims!
End Impunity in the Philippines now!

Torture still in practice under the Aquino govt –Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Torture still in practice under the Aquino govt –Karapatan

Karapatan Public Info Desk, 27 Jun 2012, Press Statement –   As the world commemorated on June 26 the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Aquino government continues to employ torture on political prisoners as in the case of Tirso Alcantara, a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to the peace process.

“There is too much duplicity in the air. The AFP held a ‘run against torture’ on June 26 yet it has been named as the perpetrator in most of the 96 torture cases Karapatan has documented under the Aquino government. Noynoy Aquino portrays himself and his counter-insurgency program as pro-human rights yet human rights violations continue with impunity; even failing until now to jail ‘The Butcher’ Gen. Palparan. The Philippines is a signatory to the Convention Against Torture yet political prisoners like Alcantara and Ramon Patriarca are kept under solitary confinement and denied of their rights,” said Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of Karapatan.

In a sworn statement dated June 16, 2012, Alcantara enumerated the ill-treatment he experiences in detention in Fort Bonifacio such as,solitary confinement, deprivation of sunning and limited visitation rights, being served with food with dirt, trash, broken pieces of glass and fecal matter and ‘mentholated’ water that caused him vomiting and loose bowel movement. Even the medicine given him by a person who pretended to be a doctor caused him nausea, palpitations and terrible pain on his neck. Patriarca, on the other hand, was also forcibly transferred from the Danao Provincial Jail, a regular detention facility, to the AFP Central Command in Cebu.

Hilao-Enriquez added that, “such duplicity is reflected specially on the government’s handling of the issue of political prisoners. The government peace panel promised to work for the release of political prisoners yet it denies that there are political prisoners in the country only because political dissenters are lodged with trumped up criminal charges.”

Karapatan reiterates that Alcantara and the 13 other NDFP peace consultants are protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). “They should be out of jail, in the first place if not for the government’s disinterest to keep the peace negotiation going. The government must fulfil its promise to work for their release as stipulated in the documents signed during the peace talks on February 2011,” said Hilao-Enriquez.

“At the very least, the self-professed human rights advocate President could get Alcantara and Patriarca out of military detention centers and into a civilian facility; or the government can heed the offer of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) to “release in recognizance under the collective custodial guarantee of the member churches of the NDFP consultants who are willing to be under the sanctuary of churches.”

The PEPP’s offer was made through a statement issued on February 8, 2012. The PEPP is composed of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) and the Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum (EBF). ###

Stop all forms of torture!
End Impunity in the Philippines now!

Reference: Marie Hilao-Enriquez, +63920-9466207
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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