A reign of terror: Extra-judicial killings in Duterte’s Philippines (tags)
Since Rodrigo Duterte began his term as the 16th president of the Philippines in 30 June 2016, Filipinos and the international community have watched in horror at accounts of dead bodies found nightly in the country’s streets, linked to extra-judicial killings (EJKs).
Philippines: Stop the killings, stop silencing dissent (tags)
This is the statement of a seven-member delegation of the Progressive Alliance (PA) and the Party of European Socialists (PES) that have visited Manila this week to assess the situation and to demonstrate solidarity in support for democracy in the Philippines. The delegation was hosted by Akbayan Party, a member of Progressive Alliance.
PHILIPPINES: 8,000 killings proof of policy to kill (tags)
Akbayan Partylist condemns President Rodrigo Duterte’s denial of his policy to kill under the War on Drugs.
PHILIPPINES - Akbayan slams Duterte's raid killings, threats vs. rights activists (tags)
Akbayan partylist condemns Duterte's public threat to shoot human rights groups. The threat comes at a time when Oplan Tokhang has reached its bloodiest and human rights groups are needed to watch over the government's operations.
Tracking Twenty Years of Stockton Killings by Law Enforcement (tags)
This timeline mapping state violence in Stockton, CA was collectively generated as part of a larger ongoing convivial research effort to expose low intensity war across the Bay Area and state. The timeline was produced through a collaboration between the Center for Convivial Research and Autonomy (CCRA) and the efforts of families and grassroots groups in Stockton and beyond.
Deep State Targets Duterte for Shaky Alliances, Not Drug Killings (tags)
The deep state is attempting to destabilize Duterte for his political instability, not his extrajudicial killings of civilians. The Philippines turning to Russia and China scares the intelligence community enough to use ISIS to stage a coup.
Philippine President Duterte’s next target: 9-year-old children (tags)
Once, when Rodrigo Duterte got to talking about his anti-drug campaign, he mused about murdering his children. If his son used drugs, he said in April, he would kill him himself.
Philippines: The Punisher's dirty war on drugs (tags)
He’s been called a demagogue with a foul mouth backed up by bare-knuckle populism. But Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte, aka “the Punisher”, has also embarked on a brutal drug war that is drawing international condemnation. Foreign Editor David Pratt reports.
Philippine Government’s ‘War on Drugs’ Claims Child Victim (tags)
Five-year-old Danica May became the youngest reported victim of the Philippine government’s abusive “war on drugs” on Tuesday.
Orlando Shooting Permitted By fbi Assassins (tags)
Fbi fails to prevent/stop Orlando Florida killings perpetrated by Omar Mateen, 29: -
Police and fbi crimes as SOP (tags)
This report seeks to understand the nature of our emerging police state USA.
Mindanao, Philippines: Stop ‘Lumad’ killings, harassment - UN (tags)
Killings and harassment of the Lumad, or the indigenous people (IP), should stop and those accountable should be brought to justice, according to Ola Almgren, the UN country representative and humanitarian coordinator.
Philippines: Lumads to AFP, NPA: Leave us alone (tags)
MANILA, Philippines — A group claiming to represent 33 lumad (indigenous people) tribes in Mindanao on Friday urged the military and the rebel group New People's Army (NPA) to stop dragging them into their conflict and to respect their human rights and ancestral domain.
Abduction, Torture and Summary Killings of Palestinians by Hamas (tags)
‘Strangling Necks’: Abduction, Torture and Summary Killings of Palestinians by Hamas Forces During the 2014 Gaza/Israel Conflict
Links Re Many Instances Of Police Killings And Beatings (tags)
Video cams and cellphones have been equalizers and democratizers in exposing blue violence.
police state
Paris Killings Aftermath: War on Civil Liberties (tags)
police state
Paris Killings Postmortems (tags)
police state
#BlackLivesMatter Massive Lawyer Die-In at Los Angeles Courthouse (tags)
Los Angeles lawyers die-in outside courthouse for 15 minutes and 30 seconds in response to the police murder of unarmed citizens, including Michael Brown of Ferguson, MO and Eric Garner of Staten Island, New York.
Whitewashing Kiev Mass Murder (tags)
Ukraine
Israeli Extrajudicial Assassinations (tags)
Israel
drones
Anti-Assad Committed Atrocities (tags)
Syria
Film about Truth and Reconciliation in Indonesia (tags)
Activists and filmmakers have now released the documentary "40 Years of Silence" online for free (86 minutes).
Philippines: Another labor leader killed; second this month (tags)
BARELY two weeks after the death of Antonio “Dodong” Petalcorin, the transport leader who was murdered by a paid assassin in Davao City, another local leader of NCTU-APL in Cotabato City was gunned down in a brazen daytime attack again, which makes a mockery of justice and underscores the reign of impunity in the country.
New York Times Supports Targeted Killings (tags)
NYT
Honduran Police State Repression (tags)
police state
Whitewashing Extrajudicial Killing (tags)
tyranny
Obama Wants State-Sponsored Murder Legalized (tags)
Obama
Drones: Instruments of State Terror (tags)
anti-war
ACLU Sues CIA Over Drone Killings (tags)
anti-war
Duplicitous Human Rights Council Report on Syria (tags)
Syria
Insurgents Named Responsible for Syrian Massacres (tags)
Syria
Targeted Killings: US and Israeli Specialties (tags)
rogue states
Philippines: Communist Rebels Target Civilians (tags)
(New York,) ? The rebel New People?s Army (NPA) in the Philippines should immediately end unlawful killings and detention of civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has admitted to gunning down civilians and detaining others in recent months.
anti-war
The Degenerate Under her Regenerating Obligation to Recompense for her Human Rights Viola (tags)
The Alliance News recieved a report from the NDF-Southern Tgagalog last Thursday, July 01, that former president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) was rushed to the hospital due to pinched nerve. On the same day, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) filed a P6-M damage suit against her for extrajudicial killings of five of its members and abduction of another one during her term as president. UCCP filed the complaint through its general secretary and executive officer Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza. According to the 18-page complaint, "numerous church pastors and leaders were either liquidated, harassed, unlawfully detained or tortured with impunity by military agents and operatives, who, by law, were then all under her ultimate control and command responsibility."
Killings, Detentions and Torture in Egypt (tags)
repression
WikiLeaks: Police trained Bangladeshi death squads (tags)
"Crossfire" killings are a euphemism for an execution. Acting as judge, jury and executioner, a government-appointed Star Chamber decides who should die for their so-called crimes against the interests of the ruling clique and then the order goes out to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The WikiLeaks cables show that the British government facilitates this execution squad—providing it with training, the exact nature of which, in light of the ongoing brutal behaviour of British forces and inhumane conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan, remains somewhat cloudy. "The training of the Bangladeshi RAB members in the UK has been carried out by the West Mercia and Humberside police forces. The courses are approved by the British Association of Chief Police Officers."
STOP THE SENSELESS KILLINGS OF CHURCH PEOPLE, JUSTICE TO THE VICTIMS OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL KIL (tags)
“With all boldness, as always so now also, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. (Philippians 1. 20-21) We, bishops, priests and faithful of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, are once again pained as two of our lay leaders became victims of the spate of senseless killings in the country. Our hearts bleed as we remember in prayers our brothers Benjamin Bayles and Jovelito Agustin, who were both killed for standing firmly for the cause of justice and peace in our land.
Political Killings in Colombia (tags)
shocking crimes committed with impunity
By continuing Oplan Bantay Laya, Aquino shows he is no different from Arroyo (tags)
The PESANTE BULETIN based in Los Angeles gathered that the National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today assailed the announcement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on extending its Oplan Bantay Laya campaign until January 2011 as proving that Benigno Aquino III is no different from his predecessor. From the news sources in the Philippines, PESANTE BULETIN also learned that While the world commemorates International Humanitarian Law Month today, the AFP will be continuing its campaign that has led to many killings of social activists and other civilians," said NDF-EV spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas.
Obama v Wikileaks + Nixon v Pentagon Papers = War Criminals (tags)
In 1971, with the publication of the Pentagon Papers, Republican Nixon and his predecessor, Democrat Johnson, were exposed as war criminals in their massacre of 5 million Vietnamese, and eventually 1 million Cambodians and 58,000 Americans, and thousands of other people, for their war of anti-communism in Vietnam. The outrage was so great by 1968 that Johnson did not run for a second term. Now we have Wikileaks, exposing the war crimes of Democrat Obama and Republican Bush in Afghanistan, one of the poorest, most illiterate countries in the world, where the people are subject to US remote controlled drone attacks and daily killings on the ground to get the Caspian Sea oil, minerals and be poised to attack the biggest mineral prize, Russia. Meanwhile the US Congress, Democrats and Republicans, just voted overwhelmingly for more money to kill Afghans and anyone else disliked by US imperialism.
PESANTE-USA CONDEMNS EXTRA JUDICIALS KILLINGS UNDER P-NOY REGIME (tags)
The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante-USA), a human rights, environmental and a peasant advocacy group based in Los Angeles condemns the latest rounds of extra-judicial killings under the new Aquino III regime. At the the same time, Pesante -USA supports Anakpawis Party-list Representative Rafael Mariano call to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to make a “decisive action” against the military in connection to the killing of a peasant leader in Nueva Ecija. Pesante learned that seventy-eight-year old Pascual Guevarra was shot dead by a lone gunman on Friday.Guevarra was head of the local Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association and the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid na Nagkakaisa.
MILITARY TORTURE AND STATE TERRORISM IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
Despite the election of Benigno Aquino III to succeed the corrupt brutal Arroyo, 43 healthworkers continue to suffer military torture. Five are confined to the military camp alleged as self-confessed New People's Army guerillas, while 38 were transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, notorious for the massacre of Moro suspects. The five persons on which the fascist generals are concentrating their torture are: VALENTINO PAULINO, CHERRYLYN TAWAGON, ELLEN CARANDANG, JENNYLYN PIZZARO, & JOHN MARK BARRIENTOS. Carandang's children were taken from their home by the military," according to KARAPATAN, human rights monitor. Their relatives are threatened or offered bribes coercively to side with the military and incriminate themselves or their kin. We appeal to the international community to denounce this barbaric treatment and demand the immediate release of the Morong 43.
Statement of Solidarity for the Armenian Day of Remembrance, April 24, 2010 (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines expressed militant solidarity with the Armenian Community in the United States in commemorating their Day of Remembrance for the 1.5 million victims of the Turkish genocide of 1915. The Alliance highly criticized US president Obama’s posture who refused to declare the 1915 mass killings of Armenians a genocide. In a double speak, Obama in his statement to mark Armenian Remembrance Day, Obama described the killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century." Yet for the second year in a row, Obama avoided describing the episode as a genocide.
Statement of Solidarity for the Armenian Day of Remembrance, April 24, 2010 (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines expressed militant solidarity with the Armenian Community in the United States in commemorating their Day of Remembrance for the 1.5 million victims of the Turkish genocide of 1915. The Alliance highly criticized US president Obama’s posture who refused to declare the 1915 mass killings of Armenians a genocide. In a double speak, Obama in his statement to mark Armenian Remembrance Day, Obama described the killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century." Yet for the second year in a row, Obama avoided describing the episode as a genocide.
Demonstration Against Palestinian Honor Killings (tags)
In Honor and in Memory of Reem Abu Ghanem (murdered in 2006) Halima Ahmed (murdered in 2009) Abeer Abu Damous (murdered in 2010) and too many others
Obama's War Crimes Same as Nazi War Crimes (tags)
On March 23, 2010, at age 88, a former Nazi iwas convicted of war crimes perpetrated over 65 years ago which the perpetrator, Henrich Boere, called justifiable under international law as a response to violent acts of resistance against the German occupiers as he was told the victims were partisans, terrorists.
Political Killings still major problem in RP, says US (tags)
"At long last, the US State Department have stated the obvious" The Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) News today through various news sources that the US State Department has reported that extrajudicial killings remained a major problem in the Philippines last year and that security forces and insurgent groups were both responsible. The “2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” released to the US Congress on March 11, noted that concerns about impunity in the Philippines persisted.
Honduras: A selective and low-intensity human hunt (tags)
Another murder in broad daylight
Stop Police Abuse - Build Community Self-Defense (tags)
Police killings and abuse with impunity are systemic. We can't rely on the courts for justice, but must build inter-communal solidarity and resistance and the capacity for community self-defense.
NLG: Massacre part of the ‘killing pattern’ (tags)
-THE MASSACRE in Maguindanao on Nov. 23 that has left more than 50 dead, many of them women, follows the pattern of extrajudicial killings that has been plaguing the Philippines. Death squads have been murdering progressive activists with impunity. The death count has reached more than 1,000 since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency began. Twenty-two lawyers and 15 judges had been killed before this massacre, and among the dead in Maguindanao are two women lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers—Concepcion “Connie” Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo.
MILF, SUARA BANGSA MORO SCOFFED AT AMPATUAN CLAIMS (tags)
The AJLPP NEWS sources learned today that The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Suara Bangsamoro,scoffed at the claim of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. that MILF rebels were behind the Nov. 23 mass murder in Maguindanao. MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said Ampatuan’s claim was “absurd” and that “even a small kid would not believe it.” MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said it was “a mediocre attempt to divert the issue.” “Who would believe that?” Kabalu said.
Philippines: Abduction and killings of journalists and politicians must be investigated (tags)
A group of about 45 people (latest news figure is now 57) were ambushed and abducted by about 100 armed men, according to reports. The military recovered the bodies of 13 women and eight men—some of them mutilated.
Digos Massacre Remembered (tags)
25 June 2009 It is quite common these days to read from the newspapers violence being perpetrated by the communist New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) that most Filipinos no longer care as long they are not the poor victims. People have become so passive that when rebels committed atrocities to civilians, none would make a fuss about it or chastise the perpetrators -- except for the families of the victims and the authorities. None would take the initiative to launch a crusade to seek justice. This is also what happened 20 years ago today.
Filipino peasant leader ambushed! (tags)
Renato Peñas, Vice-President of PAKISAMA (National Movement of Peasant Organizations), was ambushed dead by unidentified gunmen at 11:00 PM Friday, 5 June 2009, on the way to his farm in Sumilao, Bukidnon.
US-Arroyo Gov’t fails to stop killings, Political killing Still Persists (tags)
he Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) condemns the US -Arroyo Regime for its failure to stop extrajudicial killings in the Philippines and its avowed policy that the military should end the insurgency "once and for all" by 2010. The AJLPP beleives that this policy remained the justification of military officials in tagging political and civil society organizations as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army. These are some of the observations made by Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings in a recent report. "Overall, the most important shortcoming has been the Government's failure to institutionalize or implement the many necessary reforms that have been identified. In the absence of such steps, the progress that has been made remains fragile and easily reversed," Alston said in his 16-page report. Alston said the follow-up report was based on information provided by the government as well as through consultations with domestic and international civil society, and by reference to publicly available reports and materials.
US-ARROYO REGIME FAILS TO STOP POLITICAL KILLINGS-UN REPORT (tags)
he administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has failed to institute substantive reforms recommended two years ago by the United Nations’ special rapporteur to put a stop to extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. And the President's statement that the military should end the insurgency "once and for all" by 2010 remained the justification of military officials in tagging political and civil society organizations as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army.
AJLPP CONDEMNS HOUSE PROBE ON DAVAO KILLINGS (tags)
The Alliance Philippines (AJLPP) vehemently condemns the House planned probe into the reported summary executions in Davao City, describing it as politically motivated. “For the AJLPP the investigation is nothing more than a political vendetta,” Arturo P. Garcia AJLPP West Coast coordinator said “The public and all the peoplel know that Mayor Rudy Duterte and Speaker Prospero Nograles are political enemies. And clearly, the investigation is nothing more than an abuse of the power of Congress and the ruling party. “ Garcia said.
AI, EU Community Calls for Probe and End of Political Killings (tags)
Lawmakers of the European Union (EU) and the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) have again urged the government to put an end to political killings. At the same time, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald of the European Commission condemned on Monday the abduction and murder early this month of Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao.
Civil war and vigilantism gripping Mexico (tags)
To date some 7,000 Mexicans have died in this war – all attributable to the government versus the rich and powerful Mexican Drug Cartels war.
Venezuela: Trade unionism between the servile bureaucracy and the hired killers (tags)
* In the difficult times being experienced by the Venezuelan labour movement, perhaps the most dramatic issue have been the criminal acts that kills tens of trade unionists to the passivity of the pseudo-revolutionary government and the silence of his admirers from outside the country. It speaks about it this text of El Libertario # 55, January-February 2009.
Venezuela: Trade unionism between the servile bureaucracy and the hired killers (tags)
* In the difficult times being experienced by the Venezuelan labour movement, perhaps the most dramatic issue have been the criminal acts that kills tens of trade unionists to the passivity of the pseudo-revolutionary government and the silence of his admirers from outside the country. It speaks about it this text of El Libertario # 55, January-February 2009.
Philippines: An urgent call to the NDF and the GRP regarding the recent killings of farmer (tags)
An urgent call to the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) regarding the recent killings of farmers!
PESANTE CONFIRMS HR RIGHTS GROUP FINDINGS: Rights abuses continuing in RP (tags)
Pesante-USA, a Filipino American peasant , environmental and human rights advocacy groups confirmed thorough relaisble news sources that human rights abuses are continuing in the Philippines with 21 extrajudicial killings taking place in the third quarter of the year, a local rights monitor said Thursday. Pesante reported that of the killings 19 took place on the restive southern island of Mindanao where the government is fighting Muslim and communist secessionist groups, substantiated and according to a report by Karapatan, an umbrella organization of human rights groups in the Philippines.
THE NIGHTMARE OF ALL TIME (tags)
Voting is a joke given the scope of genocidal blood drenched US idiocy globally. Much, much more must be done. Vote, then strike.................
PHILIPPINES: Open Letter to the NPA General Command and the NDF (tags)
We, the undersigned, condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent spate of killings of farmers and farmer-leaders in Masbate, perpetrated by individuals identified as belonging to the local command of the New People’s Army.
Missing sisters and missing credibility (tags)
The daughters of slain Filipino peasant activist Eddie Gumanoy – Rose Anne, 21, and Fatima, 17 – were traveling to the city of Cavite on the morning of July 3 when they realized they were being followed. They sent a text message to their mother Maria to meet them at a mall in Muntinlupa, but the two sisters never arrived. They later sent a second text message saying they had been intercepted by soldiers. The family and members of the human rights group Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) thus began looking for the two women. On July 4, they went to the office of the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at Camp Aguinaldo, which denied that the military was holding Rose Anne and Fatima. They also filed a complaint with the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame in Quezon City. That afternoon army spokesman Col. Ernesto Torres denied that the military had abducted Rose Anne and Fatima, but did admit that the two women were under the care of the army. He refused to disclose where they were, however, stating that the young women had voluntarily sought protection from the military as they were afraid of Karapatan.
Amnesty Int’l warns of resurgence in extrajudicial killings (tags)
Amnesty International (AI) warned Wednesday that killings and abductions of left-wing activists in the country could surge again this year unless the government seriously prosecutes perpetrators. In its 2008 report on worldwide human rights, AI noted that extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances across the country dipped last year due to international pressure.
Mexican officials warn Americans to stay away (tags)
"There will be shootings and executions throughout the city in what is being called 'La Limpia' (the cleansing) in response to threats by the 'Juárez drug cartel' or 'La Linea,' " the e-mail stated in Spanish. La Linea is reputed to be a "line" of corrupt police officers protecting drug traffickers. Dozens of Juarez police officers have been among the more than 300 homicides in Juárez this year. Many of the killings have been committed boldly and in broad daylight on busy downtown Juarez boulevards. Juarez is a Mexican border city of a million and half people.
Killings still major problem in Philippines--US report (tags)
- Extrajudicial and political killings, including those of journalists, by members of the military, police and other perpetrators continue to be a major problem in the Philippines, according to a report of the US Department of State. In its 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released in March this year, the US said that communist rebels and other terrorist groups also committed human rights violations against civilians. The report said that despite intensified efforts by the Philippine government to investigate and prosecute these cases, many went unsolved and unpunished.
Open Letter to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and Canada (tags)
We, the undersigned Canadian-based organizations and individuals, strongly condemn the harassment by armed men of Rep. Satur Ocampo on his return from a Human Rights Mission to Canada. We also condemn the threat of his imminent arrest. We are seriously concerned for his safety and that of the other members of the Mission, Rep. Crispin Beltran and Rep. Luz Ilagan.
Satur Ocampo details UN report on HRVs in Canada speech (tags)
Philippine Rep. Satur C. Ocampo (Party List, Bayan Muna), Deputy Minority Leader in the House of Representatives of the Philippines, appealed to the Canadian government to urge the Philippine Government to seriously consider the recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the spate of extrajudicial killings that have been going on at an alarming rate in the Philippines over the past six years. In a speech delivered to the Filipino community at the Carr Hall of St. Michaels College of the University of Toronto, Ocampo spoke about the report submitted by Prof. Philip Alston to the United Nations on November 28, 2007.
Japan rights group tags cops, soldiers in killings (tags)
A Japan-based international human rights group Tuesday joined the growing number of non-government organizations that have tagged the Philippine military and police in extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances. Human Rights Now (HRN) said a fact-finding team it sent to the Philippines last year had concluded that there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that in the many cases, the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the Philippine National Police were responsible for the killings.
RP human rights measures 'window-dressing'--HRW (tags)
Measures introduced by the Philippine government to curb human rights abuses are mere "window-dressing," an official from Human Rights Watch said Thursday. "The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seem little more than window-dressing," said Elaine Pearson, Asia deputy director for the New York-based rights group.
US slashes AFP aid to RP, cites corruption, killings (tags)
he United States has slashed its development and military assistance to the Philippines from $116.6 million in 2008 to $99.2 million in 2009, citing corruption and extra-judicial killings as reasons, a report yesterday said. In its 2009 congressional budget justification report for East Asia and the Pacific, the State Department said the aid for the Philippines “represents an overall decrease from the FY 2008 level.”
Israeli Extra-Judicial Executions (tags)
Israeli crimes of genocide
Communist Party of the Philippines pursues a violent course against its left opponents (tags)
In the Philippines, one of the poorest countries in Asia, 40 percent of the people live in poverty. Conditions there have sparked a large radical movement, heavily repressed by the government.
Philippines: Senate alarmed by resurgence of killings (tags)
Senate leaders yesterday raised the alarm over the apparent resur-gence of extra-judicial killings in the country, taking to task the Philippine National Police (PNP) in containing the situation before it gets worse. Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., in condemning the killing of Fr. Rey Roda, OMI in Sulu, and the abduction of teacher Omar Taub during a raid on a church-run school, also warned authorities that the case had already raised tension in the province.
FIGHTING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FILIPINO DIGNITY (tags)
Massive human rights violations--extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, massacres, dislocation of millions of peasants and rural folk--characterize the current Arroyo regime in the Philippines. US taxdollars are paying the Arroyo military and police to carry out such barbaric practices. US citizens, concerned with human rights, ought to protest Bush/Pentagon's aid to the corrupt Arroyo administration, and demand an end to US mililtary intervention in suppressing the Moro and National Democratic Front insurgents. In the following article, Prof. E. San Juan re-affirms the necessity of upholding human rights embodied in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which is an integral part of contemporary international law, to which every nation should adhere as member nation-states. The article pays tribute to the self-sacrificing work of thousands of Filipino activists fighting for national democracy, social justice, and genuine sovereignty, in particular the staff of KARAPATAN and its secretary-general, Marie Hilao Enriquez.
DUTCH ARRESTS JOMA SISON, NDF POLITICAL CONSULTANT (tags)
JOSE Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), was arrested in The Netherlands after a Dutch court judge issued a warrant for his arrest, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. The DFA confirmed reports aired on the TV network ABS-CBN that said Sison is in custody of the Dutch police. Sison is chief consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in the suspended peace talks between the communist rebels and the Philippine government. Sison was apprehended in The Hague, the Dutch capital, in connection with the alleged killings of "deep penetration agents" of the New People's Army in Leyte Province, according to the ABS-CBN website.
Philippine Democracy Under Arroyo’s Petty Tyranny (tags)
The rampant human rights violation under the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government and her penchant for issuing policies that have curtailed the freedom of speech and assembly have been likened to the tyranny that reigned over our country during the time of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Activists in Canada Give Tribute to Claver (tags)
In a tribute to signify their protest against the impunity in human rights violations back home, supporters of Alice Omengan-Claver gather July 28 to mark the one year anniversary of her death. Claver, wife of then Bayan Muna-Kalinga Chapter chair Dr. Chandu Claver, died a year ago from assassins' bullets in Bulanao, Tabuk in the province of Kalinga in the Philippines. The ambush is widely-believed to have been carried out by military operatives in the province as part of the counter-insurgency campaign of the Macapagal-Arroyo government called Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Guard Freedom).
General Esperon's ceasefire proposal is mere propaganda (tags)
eneral Hermogenes Esperon speaks with a forked tongue. He pretends to be for the resumption of peace talks but says his recommendation is "to crush the insurgency in forms of peace and negotiation." So, his proposal for a three-year ceasefire as a precondition for the resumption of formal talks is mere cheap propaganda. The NDFP is open to start exploratory talks aimed at addressing and resolving the extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, forced displacement of over a million people by GRP military operations, the unjust "terrorist listing" of the CPP, the NPA and the NDFP Chief Political Consultant and other prejudicial questions rightfully raised by the NDFP.
Lift terror tag, we talk' --NDF (tags)
Communist rebels are willing to resume peace talks, but only if the government initiates the dropping of the terror tag on the revolutionary movement, exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chairman Jose Ma. Sison said yesterday. Sison said they would only return to the negotiating table when the government moves to have the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) stricken off the lists of foreign terrorist organizations drawn up by the United States and the European Union. Sison said the government must also show it is sincere about stopping the military from carrying out extrajudicial killings, while also indemnifying victims of human rights violations.
Letter to the Philippine President on widespread violations of human, democratic, workers' (tags)
The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) hereby raises to your office as Chief Executive of the land our concerns about the reports that at the International Labor Organization Conference Committee on Standards meeting held in Geneva, the Philippine representative rejected said committee's recommendation for the ILO to send a high-level mission to the Philippines to look into the case of involuntarily disappeared and murdered trade union activists and leaders.
The American people want him out
PHILIPPINES:Gonzales to Reds: Truce or terror tag? (tags)
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, who assumed his post yesterday as officer-in-charge of the defense department prior to the installation of the permanent defense secretary, warned communist rebels that they would be identified as terrorists once the anti-terror law or the Human Security Act of 2007 takes effect this month. Gonzales said the New People’s Army (NPA), however, could avoid the terrorist tag if the rebels declare a ceasefire. “If the NPA rebels refuse to implement a ceasefire, they will be branded as terrorist like the Abu Sayyaf, Rajah Solaiman Group and the Jemaah Islamiyah,” Gonzales told reporters during turnover rites at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, attended by outgoing Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
Trillanes probe asked to open safehouses, secret detention places in the Philippines (tags)
The Philippine human rights alliance KARAPATAN welcomed the planned probe on extrajudicial killings of former soldier and now senator-elect Antonio Trillanes. KARAPATAN Secretary General Marie Hilao-Enriquez said, "We laud Senator Trillanes for this move to put the Arroyo administration to task for the unabated extrajudicial killings." KARAPATAN likewise welcomes the pronouncements made by top anti-Arroyo military officials who said that they will provide the detained senator-elect with evidence once he begins work in the Senate next month.
US Church and Labor Leaders to Pres. Arroyo: “Stop the Killings and Release Ka. Bel (tags)
The Philippines News Today, a local newspaper in the cities of San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver, Canada will release a full page Ad of American and Filipino progressive organizations and individuals calling among other things, an end to political killings in the Philippine and the immediate release of detained Congressman and labor leader Crispin Beltran and all political prisoners. The Supreme Court of the Philippines recently dismissed trumped up case against six Congress leaders including Beltran. Another local newspaper, Diaryo Pilipino, based in Southern California issued the same statement a month ago. Both newspapers have combined circulation of 60,000 that target to reach the majority of Filipinos living in the West Coast of North America.
France urges RP to back disappearances treaty (tags)
France appealed to the Philippine government to sign and ratify an international treaty on forced disappearances in view of the pending assistance of local authorities by human rights experts from Europe in solving the unabated political killings in the country. French Ambassador to the Philippines Gerard Chesnel yesterday stressed the need for all democratic governments to support the treaty on disappearances, which will criminalize and put an end to rampant state-sanctioned abductions.
Political Killings haunt GMA in New Zealand (tags)
Protesters greeted President Arroyo and human rights was one of the main issues she discussed with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark during their meetings here yesterday. After a bilateral meeting between the two leaders at the Prime Minister’s Office at the Parliament House, Clark informed the media that the respective human rights commissions of the two countries “have started a dialogue and are exploring ways in which New Zealand might share its experience and support the work with its counterpart.” The Philippines was called a “disaster area for human rights” by New Zealand parliamentarians and human rights activists, which said hundreds of trade unionists, priests, journalists and human rights advocates had been systematically murdered since Mrs. Arroyo took office in 2001.
PROTEST VS POLITICAL KILLINGS GREETS GMA IN TOKYO TRIP (tags)
President Arroyo was greeted with protest on Tuesday as Japan-based human rights groups gathered in front of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo urging her to immediately end the spate of political killings in the Philippines and prosecute the perpetrators. Members of Amnesty International Japan, Human Rights Now and other groups also called on Tokyo to push visiting Mrs. Arroyo on human rights issues.
FILIPINA MILITANTS CONDEMN ARROYO-BUSH FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (tags)
The 2nd session of the Permanent People's Tribunal (March 21-25, The Hague, Netherlands) marks a historic milestone in the Filipino people's struggle for social justice and true independence from U.S. imperialism and predatory global capital. This brief report sums up the major achievement of the Tribunal, highlighting the role of progressive Filipina women in the fight for freedom and people's liberation.
AJLPP Condemns the Killing of Two Peasant Leaders/Attempted Massacre in Mindanao (tags)
The Alliance for Just anbd Lasting Peace (AJLPP) based in the United States vehemently condemn in the strongest terms possible the killing of two peasant leader in Davao and the wounding of three others in an attempted massacre in New Bataan, Davao in the island of Mindanao last April 26. Two members of a Davaol peasant group were shot dead and three others wounded in the southern Philippines, the media sources reported, Friday.
Femicide in the Aftermath of Guatemalan Civil War (tags)
Actress Samantha Mathis discusses violence against women in Guatemala, including the recent increase of murders. This article is adapted from her testimony before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on September 13, 2006.
STOP THE KILLINGS AND ABDUCTIONS (tags)
The Alliance Philippine (AJLPP) condemn in the strongest terms possible the continued spree of political killings and abduction of progressive leaders in the Philippines. The campaign of political killings and abduction continued unabated despite the international condemnation by international organizations of the US-Arroyo regime. And the most embarrassing, the killings and abduction were committed despite the Lenten season. Also in flagrant violation of the JASIG, it has summarily executed Sotero Llamas, Political Consultant of the NDFP, and caused the involuntary disappearance of NDFP Consultants and their immediate families and staff, namely, Rogelio Calubad and his son Gabriel; Prudencio Calubid, his wife Celine Palma and two companions, Leopoldo Ancheta and Philip Limjoco. The AJLPP believed that as long as the US-Arroyo regime remained play deaf and dumb on political killings and abduction of activists in the Philippines, her hands will be filled with blood and not too soon, she will pay like Marcos and Estrada for her crimes against the people.
The Arroyo regime has scuttled the peace talks (tags)
Avoiding answering the question whether the Arroyo regime agrees with the report of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston that the military is principally responsible for political killings, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo makes the false statement that the regime has a standing invitation to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines for peace talks. The Arroyo regime has scuttled the peace talks. It has declared its militarist plan to destroy the revolutionary movement before 2010. It has flagrantly violated the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) by committing crimes against humanity, perpetrating extrajudicial killings of more than 830 unarmed civilians, enforced disappearances on about 200 persons and frustrated killings on more than 350 persons, among other gross human rights violations.
* Philippine Government Apathetic Toward Human Rights Abuses * (tags)
UNITED Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston gave an oral report to the UN Human Rights Council yesterday of the preliminary findings and recommendations in connection with his 10-day visit to the country in February to investigate extrajudicial killings. In his report, Alston criticized key government agencies, particularly the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice, and Malacañang for shirking their responsibilities in upholding human rights in the Philippines.
Two Washington Meetings, One Goal: Stop Political Killings in the Philippines (tags)
Leaders and members of Baptist, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, ANSWER Seattle, Veterans for Peace and the Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) will fund-raise on Mar 16, Friday at 6 PM at the University Baptist Church in Seattle, Washington to publish a full page ad in the leading newspaper in the Philippines demanding among others an immediate end to political killings that to date have claimed 840 lives of social activists.
An Appeal to Philippine President Arroyo (tags)
Stop agrarian violence and killing of farmers! Implement agrarian reform in contentious landholdings!
RP Accepts US offer to help solve killings (tags)
The Philippines police will accept technical assistance from the United States to help solve a wave of political murders targeting mostly leftist dissidents, a senior police official said Wednesday. Malacañang, however, was more guarded on the issue. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters the government wants to be “more deliberate.” Ermita said Philippine and US officials are “in contact with each other” but that no decision has been made. A special United Nations Human Rights Commission rapporteur last week alleged that that some in the Armed Forces—one of the most powerful institutions in the country—were behind the unsolved killings, which human-rights groups have said numbered in the hundreds since 2001.
Hold (Philippine President) Arroyo Regime and Military Accountable for Extrajudicial Killi (tags)
The press statement of the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and special executions Prof. Philip Alston and the report of the Melo commission put forward important findings and conclusions that hold the Arroyo regime and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) accountable for extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations from 2001 to the present.
US bishops mag-aatras ng suporta kay GMA (tags)
Iaatras ng pamunuan ng United Methodist Church (UMC) na nakabase sa Estados Unidos ang kanilang suporta sa administrasyong Arroyo hanggang hindi nareresolba ang mga nagaganap na extra-judicial killings sa bansa kabilang na sa mga taong Simbahan. Ito’y matapos na dumating sa bansa ang 17-kataong "mission team" sa pangunguna ni Bishop Beverly Shamana buhat sa California-Nevada Conference ng UMC. Layon ng grupo na pag-aralan ang mga nagaganap na political killings at mga paglabag sa karapatang-pantao sa bansa. Ayon kay Bishop Soli to Toquero, binisita ng grupo ang mga lugar ng Nueva Ecija, Leyte, Samar, Davao at Cagayan de Oro. Nagulat umano ang grupo nang malaman na maging mga taong-Sim bahan ay hindi pinapalagpas sa naturang mga pagpatay. Dahil sa natuklasan, nakatakdang makipagpulong ang grupo sa kanilang mga mambabatas sa Estados Unidos upang magsulong ng imbestigasyon at pilitin ng kanilang pamahalaan na iatras ang suporta sa administrasyong Arroyo.
Alston press statement and Melo commission report (tags)
The press statement of the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and special executions Prof. Philip Alston and the report of the Melo commission put forward important findings and conclusions that hold the Arroyo regime and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) accountable for extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations from 2001 to the present.
AJLLP Joins the Call for the Removal of AFP Chief and NSA Chief in the Philippines (tags)
he Alliance- Philippines (AJLPP)-USA supports the call of -- party list group Bayan Muna (People First) and other pro-people groups that demanded the sacking of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and Armed Forces chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr., and the prosecution of retired major general Jovito Palparan, now a Department of Justice security adviser for the political killings in the country.
Statement of Prof. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the UN-Human Rights Council (tags)
Professor Phillip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in the Philippines
Former RP Defense Chief ; "Don’t tell us how to handle an insurgency’ (tags)
The Philippine lawmaker who was defense minister during martial law said Thursday that he had told a UN human rights investigator to keep out of Manila’s internal affairs. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile had harsh words for UN special rapporteur Philip Alston, who is probing the wave of hundreds of political murders that have taken place since President Arroyo took office in 2001.
Philippine Human Rights Victims, rights groups presented cases to UNSR Mr. Alston (tags)
Witnesses and relatives of about 20 victims whose cases were documented by KARAPATAN presented their cases to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Mr. Philip Alston at an undisclosed place this morning. Among the cases presented were those of Armando Javier, Jr. and Romeo Malabanan, victims of extrajudicial killings. Armando and his wife were shot inside their home on 2 October 2005. Armando was Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Party List Municipal Coordinator in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija and was being harassed by soldiers prior to his murder. Romeo Malabanan, a Bayan Muna Coordinator of Bay, Laguna was shot in front of their home on 23 December 2003.
STATEMENT ON THE POLITICAL KILLINGS IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
We Filipino-American students call for an end to the murder of activists in the Philippines and to a Philippine government that works against rather in the national interest.
Pesante-EFJP Los Angeles Remembers Mendiola Massacre (tags)
Filipinos and their solidarity allies militantly remembered the 20th year of the Mendiola Massacre of January 22, 1987, solemnly paid tribute to the 820 victims of political killings in the Philippines and reaffirmed their solidarity to the people’s struggle in the Philippines last night, January 22, 2007 at Remy’s on Temple Art Gallery in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles.
Philippines - 2006 worst year for rights since Marcos (tags)
Political murders in the Philippines reached their highest level in 2006 since the toppling of dictator Ferdinand Marcos more than 20 years ago, human-rights activists say. More than 180 activists—including journalists, human-rights workers, leftwing politicians, trade unionists and lawyers—were assassinated this year for their criticism of those in power, they say. “An average of three extrajudicial killings are occurring every week in the country,” a Canadian human-rights team concluded recently after a fact-finding mission to the Southeast Asian nation. “A clear pattern of state-perpetrated politically motivated extrajudicial killings” was occurring in the country, the team said.
Bayan Muna leader Killed in Sorsogon, Bicol Region, Philippines (tags)
Another BAYAN MUNA activist was killed yesterday morning—the third in Sorsogon province in the Bicol Region, Southern Luzon in two weeks—and the manner of his death was particularly brutal. Francisco Bantog, provincial chair of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna in Sorsogon, was shot 20 times by yet unidentified men in Barangay Dancalan in Donsol town, news sources in Bicol reported.
4 Marines charged in mass murder of 24 Iraqi civilians (tags)
Four Marines from Camp Pendleton, Calif., were charged Thursday with multiple counts of murder and several lesser charges in the shooting death last year of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. Four Marine officers, including a lieutenant colonel, were charged with trying to cover up the crimes.
2006 ‘another murderous year’ with 111 high-profile killings in the Philippines (tags)
The year, 2006 that is about to end is "another murderous year" in the country "with at least 111 high-profile killings recorded to date," opposition Rep. Roilo Golez of Parañaque said yesterday. Golez, former national security adviser of President Arroyo, said the killings represent "a near total breakdown of peace and order in the country."
Rights group condemns Arroyo regime for butchery of Filipinos and their freedom (tags)
"We condemn the Arroyo regime for its butchery of hundreds of Filipinos and our nation's freedom by presiding over gross human rights violations and insisting on a self-serving charter change similar to that of the Marcos dictatorship," said the Philippine human rights group KARAPATAN whose members and allied organizations joined the anti-Cha Cha rally today at the House of Representatives in Batasan.
Pesante-USA Support’s Cagayan Valley Peasant’s Struggle for Land and Freedom (tags)
--The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante)-U.S.A vehemently condemned the despicable killing of the new Gunglo Dagiti Mannalon peasant association president Anthony Licayo last November 27 at Brgy. Cabirauan, Gonzaga, Cagayan, Licayo has just succeeded Joey Javier, the president of Gunglo was killed by military agents in Brgy, Bagunot,Cagayan. Licayo became the 791st victim of political killings perpetrated by the military throughout the Philippines under the US-Arroyo regime. Pesante is very much aware that the peasant associations led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) is taking the brunt of the fascist attacks by the US trained and directed Philippine military, police, its intelligence agencies and paramilitaries all over the country.
Filipino Activists protest Charter change, killings in Mendiola (tags)
Thousands of FIlipino protesters led by the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP-The Philippine Peasant Movement) marched Friday to denounce President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's campaign to amend the constitution and what they said was a spate of political killings in the Philippines. The Philippine Peasant Support Network(Pesante-USA) expressed solidarity with this nationwide mass action in the Philippines. As a Filipino peasant advocacy group, Pesante was formed in the U.S in 1991 and is a member of the Aliiance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP).
US Church Leaders Condemn Political Killing of a Filipino Bishop (tags)
Justice for Bishop Alberto Ramento! Justice for all 756 victims of political killings including church workers, peasants, union officials and organizers, journalists, women, student activists, lawyers, doctors and peace advocates who, in their pursuit of justice for the poor and oppressed, have been felled down by the military death squads of the government of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
PHILIPPINES: The Killings Must Stop (tags)
This is a Statement by European Church and Civil Society Organisations regarding the recent upsurge of political killings in the Philippines.
AJLPP-USA Sept.21-13 Events- A Success! (tags)
The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace In the Philippines (AJLPP)-USA commemorative activities for the 34th year of martial law and solidarity against political killings in the Philippines that was held in four cities of the United States was a tremendous success.
Global Day of Action Demands End to Killings in the Philippines (tags)
Global Day of Action Demands End to Killings in the Philippines
AJLPP-USA Mobilize for the Martial Law Commemoration and International Global Days of Acti (tags)
The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP)-USA in solidarity with the people of the Philippines in their militant protest against political killings, call to resume peace negotiations and in commemoration of the 34th year of the declaration of martial rule in the Philippines launches different types of activities from September 21-23 in four major cities in the United States.
AJLPP-USA MOBILIZES FOR MARTIAL LAW COMMEMORATION (tags)
The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP)-USA in solidarity with the people of the Philippines in their militant protest against political killings, call to resume peace negotiations and in commemoration of the 34th year of the declaration of martial rule in the Philippines launches different types of activities from September 21-23 in four major cities in the United States. The following cities will ho
PHILIPPPINE MILITARY CHIEF CALLS BAYAN MUNA's OCAMPO, CASINO -"ENEMIES OF THE STATE.& (tags)
Philippine ARMED FORCES of the Philippines chief of staff, General Hermogenes Esperon yesterday said some party-list representatives, including Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño, were enemies of the state hiding behind the legitimate cover of their organization, Bayan Muna. On the other hand, the Philippine Peasant Support Network(Pesante)-USA based in Los Angeles, in a statement issued today, September 14, 2006 vehemently criticized Esperon’s statement against Ocampo and Casino and other leaders of the progressive mass organizations in the Philippines. “Esperon’s statement is a clear military’s anti communist mind-set. It’s bunker mentality that foments anti-communist with-hunting and a clear signal for the military death squads to go after progressive mass leaders.”
ANOTHER UNIONIST MURDERED IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
Another unionist was killed today in Southern Tagalog region. Nemesio Aquino, a worker of JAM Transit (formerly Tritran Bus Company), was shot dead by unidentified men when he just came out from the Bureau of Labor Relations office in Barangay Parian, Calamba City, Laguna at around 2:00 PM. The militant Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK-KMU) or Solidarity of Workers in Southern Tagalog expressed condemnation and alarming concern over the recent killing of a unionist.
AFP DEPLOYS TWO MORE BATALLIONS TO CARAGA REGION IN MINDANAO (tags)
Two more battalions of Army soldiers have been deployed by the AFP to the Caraga region as reinforcements to troops battling communist guerrillas in an apparent bid to crush the NPA insurgency. Meanwhile, NDF's George Madlos, NDF Mindanao spokeperson warned that a bloody end awaits the soldiers responsible for the spate of militant killings in the region. Caraga region is in the Northeastern part of Mindanao which covers Surigao and Agusan provinces.
Cabua, not Palparan to the NSA (tags)
The World Council of Churches has condemned the killings and called on the government to disband the death squads, private militias, and paramilitary forces operating in the country. The church group also asked the United Nations Human Rights Council, wherein the Philippines is a member, to take up the issue of extra-judicial killings in the country. Danilo Ramos, secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, said Palparan should be punished not commended. "His appointment (to a new government post) is like unleashing the butcher on the whole nation to carry out a bloodbath."
Leftist murders spark fear in Philippines (tags)
James Ayunga thinks of death whenever a motorcycle roars past. "I get goosebumps when I hear one come up behind me," said the farmers' activist and father of three. Across the Philippines, masked gunmen on motorcycles have killed scores of left-wing community leaders and Ayunga fears he could be next.
We Demand a Credible Independent Investigation of the Murder of Filipino Activists (tags)
The Melo Commission of the Arroyo administration is doomed to fail because her regime as the prime suspect in the killings is also the prime investigator. We Fil-am students call for a truly independent and credible investigation of the murder of Filipino activists.
The Significance of Two August 21st Incidents in Philippine History (tags)
Like the rising number of political killings, the August 21, 1983 Aquino assassination remains unsolved. Despite the court findings which sent several military men involved in Aquino’s murder to jail, the people still believe that the real masterminds are still scot-free, and are still in the limelight, and are enjoying their loot in their unperturbed ostentatious style. As we join our voice with all of those who work for a just and lasting peace and fight for justice, the FQSN-USA remembers these historical incidents to remind the Filipino community in the United States that we still face the enemies of the people responsible for these crimes. It is our duty not to let them go unpunished. We will never forget. We will continue to struggle against political amnesia and always uphold the truth.
PHILIPPINES: Impeachment killers, murderers of justice! (tags)
“Murderers of justice! This is what Congressmen who will vote for the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) will be remembered as.”, said AKBAYAN (Citizens Action Party) President Ronald Llamas today on the information that the House Committee on Justice will terminate the impeachment proceedings today.
International Church leaders Condemns Political Killings in the Philippines (tags)
Condemnations as well as outrage over the unabated and rampant political killings in the Philippines is swelling in the international Christian community. More and more Protestant denominations have expressed alarm over the killings, with the Methodists issuing a statement calling on the US government to pressure Philippine President Arroyo's administration into decisive action. This came on the heels of the latest Amnesty International statement condemning the Arroyo government’s inaction and apparent crackdown of political dissent.
International Church leaders Condemns Political Killings (tags)
Condemnations as well as outrage over the unabated and rampant political killings in the Philippines is swelling in the international Christian community. More and more Protestant denominations have expressed alarm over the killings, with the Methodists issuing a statement calling on the US government to pressure Philippine President Arroyo's administration into decisive action. This came on the heels of the latest Amnesty International statement condemning the Arroyo government’s inaction and apparent crackdown of political dissent.
Philipine Govt bars NDF from probe (tags)
THE government won’t allow the participation of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in an investigation into extrajudicial executions in the country, charging that the group itself is guilty of the crimes. National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the government is considering the possibility of setting up an independent body to monitor and investigate the killings and disappearances, but the NDF will have no part in it.
‘Amnesty’ to GMA: Stop leftist killings (tags)
Amnesty International has called on President Arroyo to do more to stop a spate of killings targeting leftist activists. Mrs. Arroyo must "show she means business by implementing concrete measures to prevent the deaths of more activists," Amnesty deputy director for Asia-Pacific Tim Parritt said in a statement issued in Manila yesterday. Among other things, the President should "strengthen implementation of witness protection laws," Parritt said.
Warnings she must heed: (tags)
All kinds of speculations have been aired since former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante was arrested in the United States for entering the country without a visa. Could his arrest be a US government warning shot to the Arroyo administration? Opposition voices are saying his arrest was made on the initiative of the Arroyo administration. They allege the administration does not want Bolante to come back to the Philippines and be forced to spill the beans in congressional investigations about his alleged diversion of P728 million from funds for fertilizers to be shared with farmers to President Arroyo’s 2004 campaign kitty. Both the Philippine and American governments are not forthcoming with details. The Philippine government has in fact ordered a total blackout on statements and news about Bolante. US immigration experts are befuddled why Bolante was arrested and held. He is in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement “processing center” in San Pedro, California.
Warnings she must heed: (tags)
All kinds of speculations have been aired since former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante was arrested in the United States for entering the country without a visa. Could his arrest be a US government warning shot to the Arroyo administration? Opposition voices are saying his arrest was made on the initiative of the Arroyo administration. They allege the administration does not want Bolante to come back to the Philippines and be forced to spill the beans in congressional investigations about his alleged diversion of P728 million from funds for fertilizers to be shared with farmers to President Arroyo’s 2004 campaign kitty. Both the Philippine and American governments are not forthcoming with details.
Pesante-USA Condemns the Killing of Isabela Woman Peasant Leader (tags)
The Philippine Peasant Support Network-USA after learning from news sources that Madonna Castillo, 32, succumbed at around 6:30 p.m. to three gunshot wounds to the stomach and feet sustained when she was attacked around 8 a.m. in front of the Isabela State University, condemned in the strongest possible terms the reign of terror being perpetrated by the Philippine military against the progressive mass leaders and activists.
Isabela activist dies after being shot (tags)
News sources reported that Madonna Castillo, 32, succumbed at around 6:30 p.m. to three gunshot wounds to the stomach and feet sustained when she was attacked around 8 a.m. in front of the Isabela State University. She was also the secretary general of Anakpawis-Isabela and Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon iti Isabela-Echague municipal chapter. The group is affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) that condemned the killing.
NDF calls for peace talks resumption (tags)
The prospect for the resumption of the peace negotiations in the Philippines remains bright despite the all-out attack of the Arroyo regime against the NPA and the MILF. Pesante-USA.AJLPP reprints the news article on the armed conflict that besets the county. Amid the government’s all-out offensive against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), the National Democratic Front (NDF) pushed yesterday for the resumption of peace talks with the government.
Human rights in RP alarming — Oslo (tags)
A ranking Norwegian Foreign Ministry official has expressed alarm over the rise in political killings in the Philippines, describing the human rights situation in the country as “very difficult.” Speaking before a conflict and development seminar on the Philippines last June 20 in Oslo, Tore Hattrem, director general of the Section of Peace and Reconciliation of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that the situation has stalled peace negotiations between the Arroyo administration and local communist rebels.
Sison expulsion easier with death repeal - Palace (tags)
The true intentions of the US-Arroyo regime is coming out. Executve Secretary Ermita has let the cat out of the bag--WITH the abolition of the death penalty Malacañang sees better chances of persuading The Netherlands to deport exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Ma. Sison. Executive Eduardo Ermita made the statement as communist guerrillas urged the government to respect the civil rights of their comrades targeted by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's revitalized two-year counter-insurgency campaign. Citing conversations with an official of the Dutch embassy here, who he did not name, Ermita said the only real stumbling block to Sison’s expulsion from The Netherlands was the death penalty. Meanwhile, Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the National Democratic Front peace panel, called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and “all organizations which uphold human rights and international humanitarian law” to “hold the Arroyo regime accountable” for the alleged abduction by government troops of an NDF consultant and his son earlier this month. Jalandoni accused the government of “crimes against humanity,” claiming it was responsible for “more than 180 enforced disappearances, more than 690 extra-judicial killings of unarmed civilians and frustrated killings of more than 200 civilian victims.”
Killing season in the Philippines (tags)
The escalating repression taking place now in the Philippines is no coincidence. Twenty years since the end of the dictatorship and three "people's power" uprisings later, Philippine society is hugely polarized.
US, EU "Terror Lists" Promote Political Killings In The Philippines – Jalandoni (tags)
The Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines took another swipe today at governments maintaining "terrorist lists", saying that the inclusion of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People's Army and NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison in such lists emboldens the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to continue on its rampage of extrajudicial killings of civilians, enforced disappearances and other human rights violatio
On Killings and Church Persecution (tags)
Pesante published a press statement of PCPR to inform the public in the US on the killings and persuction of the US-Arroyo regime of church people. To date there are about 15 churchpeople who have been killed under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s regime. All of them, members of the clergy, church workers and lay leaders, were active social justice advocates.We pay the highest respect unto the martyrs of the church and the people. As the good book stated, “God’s faithful people are dragged off and killed and no one even cares. Evil sweeps them away, but in death they find peace for obeying God.” (Isaiah 57:1-2) Lastly, we also call on the churchpeople to be steadfast in their commitment for the cause of truth, justice, peace and genuine democracy.
CBCP head condemn killings (tags)
Pesante-USA published the CBCP Statement that condemns the extra-judicial killings that already victimized 75 people this year alone---The president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has expressed alarm over the spate of abductions and killings that has swept the country. In a statement issued today, Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo described the said incidence as "a sad commentary of our country and government which want to abolish death penalty." Saying that the cases of killings are "alarming," Lagdameo stressed it is not right that people be killed "simply because they have different 'political beliefs' or are suspected of being 'subversive' or plotting against the government."
Statement of the all-women US lawyers' legal mission, (tags)
Pesante-USA printed the statement of the all-women US lawyers legal mission to the Philippines from the Gabriela website. This is to inform the US public of the human rights situation in the Philippines. We, the all-women US lawyers' legal mission, came to the Philippines in response to growing international concern over the extrajudicial killings and political persecution of women's rights activists, political leaders, members of the opposition and the Batasan 6. Our presence in the Philippines is an affirmation of international sisterhood and the imperative for women to help each other amid worldwide growing repression and political persecution. In this country, such deliberate constriction of public space for women is symbolized by the persecution of women's organizations and their leaders, such as GABRIELA and Gabriela Women's Party, and Congresswoman Liza Maza, the representative of the women's sector in Congress.
NDFP condemns cowardly murder of Ka Teroy Llamas (tags)
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) strongly condemned Monday the cowardly murder of Sotero "Ka Teroy" Llamas and the almost daily killings of leaders and members of the left movement, political party lists, the media and the church, which it said is perpetrated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's deat squads. In a statement issued by Luis Jalandoni, chairperson of the negotiating panel of the NDFP, he stated that Ka Teroy served as adviser to the negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). As adviser to the NDFP, Ka Teroy was covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed by both the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. As holder of JASIG, Ka Teroy should be protected by the JASIG.
White House: Haditha findings to be made public (tags)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The results of an investigation into the killings last year of 24 Iraqi civilians will be released to the public when the Marine Corps' investigation is complete, the White House said.
Pentagon Threatens to Kill Independent Reporters in Iraq (tags)
Recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Eason Jordan, a CNN executive, told a panel that the U.S. military deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq. He said he "knew of about 12 journalists who had not only been killed by American troops, but had been targeted as a matter of policy," said Rep. Barney Frank (Dem) from Massachusetts who was on the panel with Jordan. "When we hear this statement with the knowledge that 63 journalists have been killed in Iraq, in addition to the fact that in a 14-month-period, more journalists were killed in Iraq than during the entire Vietnam War, one begins to get the feeling that the military clampdown on the media is more than a myth or a conspiracy theory'', Baghdad correspondent Dahr Jamail wrote. Some time ago the BBC's Kate Adie* openly said the Pentagon c.s. was out to kill 'un american' journalists, and gave an interview concerning those 'friendly fire' killings of her colleagues.
Stop the Police and Killing March (tags)
The Community Call to Action & Accountability and Christ Liberty Tabernacle, is sending a community call to Stop the Killings March.
SF Examiner ad demonizes Palestinian children, shows young girl with gun (tags)
Such anti-Palestinian stereotypes obscure the reality that over the past four years Palestinian children have been the principal victims of violence and other human rights abuses in the Israel-Palestine conflict. 625 Palestinian children were killed by the Israeli army and settlers in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip between 29 September 2000 and 31 December 2004 according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Over 100 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians during the same period.
Massacre in Iraq - 11 civilians killed by U.S. troops (tags)
U.S. Army soldiers remove two destroyed vehicles from the scene of a massacre in the Al Mansour suburb of Baghdad, Sunday July 27, 2003. U.S. troops searching for Iraqi fugitives raided a house in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood on Sunday and witnesses said up to 11 civilians had been killed when occupation troops fired on cars on nearby streets (photo REUTERS/Chris Helgren)
Court rules HIV not proven to cause 'AIDS'. (tags)
After years of claims by the AIDS establishment that a link between HIV and immune supression had been established a High Court found the claim without merit and a unfounded deception. This is the first legal trail of the HUV/AIDS hypothesis and a historic defeat for AID$ Inc.
Why is the US media blacking out documentary on war crimes in Afghanistan? (tags)
This major story, however, has received virtually no coverage in US newspapers or on network or cable television. Aside from stories on some alternative Internet publications, and a June 16 article on Salon.com, the story has been essentially blacked out in the US. A search for news about the documentary in the major dailies—including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe and the Miami Herald —turned up empty. Web sites for ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN have likewise carried nothing on the film.
New Killings Enrage Women of Juarez (tags)
Authorities thought that a 6 year rampage was over; but 8 more bodies have been found.