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Philippines: State of emergency and crackdown on activists Below is an official letter to the Philippine Secretary of Justice sent by the legal counsel of Tita Lubi and Liza Maza, women human rights defenders, who are being persecuted by the Philippine government.
Update - 16 March 2006 SECRETARY RAUL GONZALEZ Department of Justice Padre Faura, Manila Re: Your Rogues Gallery
Dear Secretary Gonzalez: PUBLIC INTEREST LAW CENTER Presidential Decree (PD) 1017, which declared the Philippines in a state of emergency, has been lifted. However, six party list representatives continue to be under the protective custody of the Congress and charges of rebellion are being prepared to be filed against them and other activists, including Tita Lubi, a member of Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) and a women's human rights defender. We should continue to call for the dropping of the charges, and for the government to stop the crackdown on activists and uphold human rights!
The political crisis in the Philippines is deepening. There is an ongoing crackdown on the peoples' movement, with activists arrested and many others in a list of persons to be arrested circulated by the police. We then urge you to appeal to the Philippine government to stop this crackdown on the activists in the Philippines, and to release the arrested political leaders and human rights activists. We need to send this appeal TODAY, if possible. LETTER OF APPEAL 28 February 2006 We denounce the illegal arrests of progressive parliamentarians, leaders of mass organisations and other human rights defenders. We urgently appeal for their release and to put an end to this illegal crackdown on the people’s movement in the Philippines. The UN Declaration of Human Rights Defenders (article 1) states that “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.” The issuance of the Proclamation 1107, declaring the Philippines as “state of emergency” has been challenged by members of the Philippine Senate and which has been rendered unconstitutional by the College of Law, University of the Philippines. We strongly urge you to lift the Proclamation 1107, as it is a serious threat to the human rights of the Filipino people. Proclamation 1107 is contradictory to the spirit of Article 2 of the same declaration, which provides that “Each State has a prime responsibility and duty to protect, promote and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms, inter alia, by adopting such steps as may be necessary to create all conditions necessary in the social, economic, political and other fields, as well as the legal guarantees required to ensure that all persons under its jurisdiction, individually and in association with others, are able to enjoy all those rights and freedoms in practice.” We from the international community are watching closely the developments in the Philippines. We expect immediate positive steps be taken by the Philippine government to improve the human rights situation in the Philippines. Meanwhile, we are in solidarity with the peoples movement in the Philippines as they struggle for peace and justice. name of the representative organisation country TO BE SENT TO –
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