Canadians report on human rights abuses in R.P.

Canadians report on human rights abuses in R.P.

SOME of the local Canadian delegates to the recently concluded International Solidarity Mission (ISM) have now returned home from the Philippines bringing with them horrific tales of human rights abuses.

“We are outraged over the blatant violation of human rights and the lack of respect for humanity that Arroyo shows for her own people,” says Barbara Waldern a human rights activist and chair of the B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP) from Vancouver who attended the mission.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came under increased international scrutiny during the ISM and the International People’s Tribunal which followed the mission, which found her and US President George Bush “guilty” of crimes against humanity.

The Mission also presented three boxes of evidence at the impeachment trial of Arroyo held in the Philippine Congress. There have been widespread calls for Arroyo’s resignation or ouster since last June over evidence she cheated in the last presidential election. In July she publicly confessed to having a phone conversation with an election official asking him to rig the election results.

“The number of human rights violations in the Philippines today exceeds the human rights violations of the Marcos era,” said Waldern in Congress. “The situation is very serious. We verified the numerous extreme cases: abductions, murder of activists, torture of children, mutilation of corpses, disappearances, forced evacuations etc. of civilians, innocent people including children.

Suppressing the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – New Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is often given as a justification for the human rights violations but there is no acceptable justification. These atrocities are crimes against humanity and as such a concern for all. We are urged to raise the matter with our respective governments and we are beginning to urge our government to withdraw its support for Arroyo,” she added.

The CPP-NPA-NDF has been waging an armed rebellion in the Philippines for over 30 years.
The ISM had 86 delegates from 15 countries. Among them were lawyers, teachers and students, church people, youth and trade unionists. The delegates were divided into five areas: Mindoro Island in the Southern Tagalog region, Samar Island in the Eastern Visayas region, Surigao in Mindanao region, Hacienda Luisita in Central Luzon and the Moro populated areas in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The solidarity mission took place from August 14-19, 2005 and culminated in the International People’s Tribunal and a protest march.

In nearly every region, blatant human rights violations were reported by victims and their families through testimony after testimony. While delegates to the Mission were also warmly welcomed by the people, delegates also faced harassment from military personnel. In Samar, military in plainclothes questioned and took photos of the delegates. In Mindoro Oriental, signs were displayed reading, “No to foreign intervention! ISM go home!” A similar message was conveyed in Samar and Hacienda Luisita areas.

Delegates to the ISM documented various abuses including extra-judicial killings, torture, illegal arrest and evacuations due to military operations in the countryside.

According to reports from delegates Elizabeth Dollaga and Emmauel Sayo who visited Surigao, human rights violations are taking place in areas where development projects are being targeted. In Surigao, for example one of the largest coal deposits in the country is set for exploration. The military often conducts clearing operations to prevent potential resistance from local civilians or armed rebels.

According to the testimony of a peasant woman, her husband who was an evacuee was shot and later died from his wounds because of torture by the military. On his way to the hospital, the vehicle he was traveling in was stopped several times at military checkpoints. According to his wife, the military tried several times to remove the bullet from his wound in order to avoid being questioned. She says he died from bleeding because of the torture.
In the NCR, ISM delegates were subjected to long delays and a strip search before they were allowed to enter and visit the Moro prisoners being held in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, Rizal. Canadian student Yvette Stephenson recalled the terrible conditions of the prisoners: they were packed six prisoners to a cell and not allowed to leave to the common area. They were denied the right to practice their Muslim religion which requires them to pray five times a day.

Stephenson brought home with her a short video detailing the conditions of the Moro prisoners. Since September 11, the military has been arresting many Moros on suspicion of being members of the bandit Abu Sayyaf group. Those arrested have never been tried or charged and are being detained. 27 were massacred last March when prison guards opened fire in the cramped jail quarters. Other Moros living in National Capital Region have been displaced from their lands in Mindanao because of militarization and development aggression.

ISM delegates met with the Canadian Embassy in Manila where they presented their concerns. They also rallied outside the Vancouver office of the Philippine Consulate on September 2, 2005 and called on local acting Philippine consul general Raul Hernandez for a meeting to present their findings and concerns. They presented a letter protesting a statement Hernandez recently published in the Philippine News Today denying any human rights abuses in the country. He has yet to respond to their request.
For more information, please contact May Farrales