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“Now, more than ever, governments should release every person detained without sufficient legal basis, including political prisoners and others detained simply for expressing critical or dissenting views.”
“Congress will make a disastrous mistake if its solution to the corona virus threat is centralizing more power to one man, especially one who believes that the problems of the country can be simplistically solved with the use of brute force and martial law powers.”
“The government should decongest the prisons by releasing all political prisoners who were falsely accused of crimes just because they were fighting for this country. Those spaces should be taken up by the real criminals, murderers and corrupt government officials. That is social distancing with justice.”
Gloria Tomalon, in her capacity as chair of KATRIBO MO, was instrumental in opposing attempts by five mining companies to operate in the Andap Valley complex. The five companies were the Romualdez-owned Benguet Corp., Abacus Coal Exploration and Development Corp., the Chinese-owned Great Wall Mining and Power Corp., ASK Mining and Exploration Corp., and Coal Black Mining Corp.
State security forces violating the rights of detainees, the NUPL said, may be charged with civil, criminal and administrative charges, and violation of Republic Act 7438 or An Act Defining Certain Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or under Custodial Investigation.
Teresita Naul, Karapatan National Council member and Bayan Muna member was arrested by members of the 4th Infantry Division. She was charged with kidnapping, illegal detention and arson.
“He [Duterte] has once again blatantly weaponized the law against those who dare stand up against his atrocious policies.”
“Even members of their mercenary force like Ime, an indigenous Dumagat and an active Cafgu, experience harassment. For P4,500, the Army gets to step on indigenous people’s rights and dignity.”
“The [anti-terror] bill provides powers to the executive branch that properly belong to the judicial branch.”
Labor groups and other progressive organizations held a protest action today outside the House of Representatives March 3, demanding the scrapping of Anti-Terror Bill.
“Don’t we have the right to seek protection for ourselves? And perjury? We are God-fearing. We are not liars. They are the ones who lie.”
“Removing or lowering these penalties gives State authorities a free pass, if not outright approval and endorsement, for violations on human rights and civil liberties...”
Who is exempted from being labeled “terrorists?” Rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, Church people, peasants, indigenous peoples and workers have been publicly vilified by state security forces as such.
Since March 2019, the 85th IBPA has been involved in human rights violations against coconut farmers in Quezon. Farmers in Macalelon and Lopez towns have been forced to evacuate due to continuing harassment and accusations of being supporters of the New People’s Army.
“The arrest of the Tacloban 5 (us) through the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police tanim ebidensya (planting of evidence) scheme is a manifestation that President Duterte’s administration and his cronies in the AFP in Eastern Visayas are trembling in fear because the legal activists, despite our young age and short experience just like what the AFP would say, did not fail to reach the grassroots.”
“The arrests of Cumpio and, before her, Krueger, the red-tagging of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and other press freedom groups and advocates, the continued attempts to shut down Rappler, ABS-CBN and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, are all part of this government’s efforts to silence the free exchange of ideas and coopt media into mouthing only what it allows.”
The human rights group stated that “no legal documents were processed to authenticate the identities of the two remains,” and that they were only positively identified as Pinza and Candor upon exhuming.
“If their claims that they were killed in an encounter were true, then why can't they show the body to the family? Why are they so adamant in insisting that they have already buried the two while claiming they are still unidentified?” asked Karapatan in a statement.
“We are disappointed and angry at the military, who not only took Jay-ar’s life, but also blatantly violates the rights of the family by performing delaying tactics and depriving them of the right to claim their relative’s remains.”
The situation has not changed up to now. Armed and supported by the military, these paramilitary groups continue to sow fear among the Lumad.
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