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Various progressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan on Friday staged a torch march in Davao City to demand justice for Gregan Cardeño, a Filipino interpreter who was found dead inside US troops’ barracks in Marawi City. The group also demanded for the immediate pull-out of the US troops in the country.
By MARYA SALAMAT
“For too long, the rights of workers, laborers and employees have been trampled upon because of the economic interests of a few,” said outgoing CHR Chairwoman Leila de Lima, who is transferring to a new position as Justice Secretary in the incoming Aquino administration.
Mass organizations have become victims of political repression because they are the most outspoken and consistent in exposing human rights violations and defending people’s rights. The killings can no longer be viewed as isolated, however. These could be part of a...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Ironically, while the CHR is proceeding with its hearings on the human rights violations complaint filed by the Morong 43 - even as the AFP stubbornly refuses to cooperate - the rights of the 43 health workers are violated over and over again.
NEWS RELEASE April 11, 2010 In a press statement issued today during the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) hearing on the case of the Morong 43, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) again condemned the further detention of the 43 health workers and their...
Media Release April 10, 2010 Free the 43 Health Workers Now! Alliance condemns both the AFP and the PNP for their failure to facilitate the transfer of the 38 out of the Morong 43 despite clear instructions of the court order issued by the Morong Regional Trial...
Press Release April 10, 2010 The human rights group Karapatan strongly denounces the scripted show that the military of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police have concocted and executed in the supposed “transfer” of the...
Media Release 28 March 2010 Contrary to their claims of A1 intelligence information, the Armed Forces of the Philippines actually have no evidence on the 43 health workers, not before and not even after their illegal raid and arrests. According to Health Alliance...
News Release March 21, 2010 The 43 health workers arrested in Morong, Rizal last Feb. 6 who are now detained at the military’s Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal while facing trumped-up charges have revealed attempts by their soldier-custodians to have them cooperate...
Media Release 21 March 2010 Free the 43 Health Workers alliance today condemned the brazenness of the Armed Forces of the Philippines including their Commander in Chief, Philippine National Police, and the Department of Justice in their deliberate actions to...
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The affidavits of the 43 health workers and the medical records from the doctors that examined some of them narrate tales of interrogation, torture and other abuses.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Under the bill, no justification can be offered that would allow torture and other inhuman punishments. Those who torture will be penalized as principals, as well as their superiors in the military, police or law enforcement establishments who ordered it.
The CHR fact-finding mission is in response to a resolution approved by the provincial government of Surigao del Sur asking the CHR to look into the alleged abuses by the military against Lumads. Progressive groups will hold a parallel solidarity mission to the province.
The Philippine military, through its attack dogs Pastor Alcover and Jovito Palparan, are trying to discredit the Commission on Human Rights and its chairperson, Leila de Lima. Human-rights groups are understandably concerned. “Now that the CHR chairperson insists on the mandate of the commission, they consider her as an enemy,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez of Karapatan said. “That is the most dangerous mindset.”
Freedom from torture is a non-derogable right, meaning that states cannot violate this right under any circumstances, even in a state of emergency or martial law. By insisting that Melissa Roxas is a communist guerrilla, the Arroyo regime not only practically admits that it tortured her -- it seeks to justify the atrocity, thus violating the very international instruments that it had earlier agreed on.
Video: Melissa Hearing Turns Into a Witchhunt
When Raymond Manalo suddenly stood up and shouted invectives at former general and now congressman Jovito Palparan during a hearing yesterday at the Commission on Human Rights, he was only venting his frustration that the man he had accused of abducting him and torturing him for 18 long months has not been punished.
Melissa Roxas’s description of the place where she was brought and tortured seemed consistent with what the CHR found during a visit to Fort Magsaysay. But military officials deny soldiers were behind the atrocity. “Fort Magsaysay is a tourist destination,” one of them told the commissioners.
The U.S. government has been criticized for its inconsistent human rights policy and for using it as part of its proverbial "carrots and stick" strategy chiefly to gain concessions from governments. It supports tyrannical governments and deals with states that have...
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