Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights and other people’s organizations rallied outside the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process tp protest the continuing detention and conviction of National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Eduardo Sarmiento.
Protesters criticized peace adviser Teresita Deles and said they were outraged and concerned over the detention of Sarmiento and in a strongly worded letter, Karapatan wrote:"...the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process... promotes discord and contempt with the peace talks, through the continuous arrest and conviction of NDFP consultants, rather than fulfill its mandate to foster just and lasting peace in the country."
The letter, signed by Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay, stated: "We view the recent conviction of Sarmiento...as another blow impeding the peace process between the two parties and a clear indication of the Aquino government’s insincerity to resume the peace talks."
Sarmiento was arrested on February 2009 in Metro Manila by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police. Without any warrant, Karapatan alleged that Sarmiento was blindfolded, forced into a van, interrogated and tortured for 24 hours.
Later, Sarmiento found out he was facing a charge of illegal possession of explosives for a grenade that the arresting officers claimed to have found in his possession. The grenade was planted evidence, it said.
Nearing five years of imprisonment at police headquarters in Camp Crame, Sarmiento was convicted with life imprisonment in December 2013 in promulgation issued by the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 203. Other trumped-up charges against Sarmiento in the Eastern Visayas were dismissed for lack of evidence.
"For Karapatan, the case of Eduardo Sarmiento illustrates the injustices being suffered by all political prisoners in the country—rights violations which are being perpetuated by the Benigno Aquino administration through its counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan," the letter said. "At present, 449 political prisoners—154 of them illegally arrested and detained under the current administration—remain imprisoned."
"The Aquino administration through the OPAPP...is mocking the peace negotiations by not respecting and rendering inoperative the agreements such as The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law—agreements painstakingly forged throughout the years," Karapatan said.
The JASIG provides protection for NDFP peace consultants and staffs from arrest and detention in order to perform their duties and push through the program for just and lasting peace.
"We challenge the Aquino administration and the OPAPP be true to its words in “forging peace” and not turning the negotiating tables around. It should respect The Hague Declaration, JASIG and the CARHRIHL. We also call on the GPH and the OPAPP to stop attacking the previous bilateral agreements, resume the peace talks and release all political prisoners now," Palabay said.
Karapatan also condemned the latest arrest and detention of 56-year old Dionisio Almonte, and his wife Gloria Pritargue, on January 9. The group said it was the first documented political arrest in 2014.
It said Almonte is an organizer in Pagsanjan town in Laguna province while his wife is just a store owner. Almonte is currently in Metro Manila to seek treatment for his severe diabetes, slip disc and other ailments when he was arrested.
"We are now on the second phase of Aquino's Oplan Bayanihan where human rights violations are disguised as legitimate police operations, such as this case yet, the motive for political repression and persecution still exist," Palabay said.
"We fear that the year 2014 will be haunted by more arrests and more numbers of political prisoners in the country. The Filipino people have more reasons to fight against a corrupt, negligent and war mongering regime," she added.
The NDFP is the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines and authorities tagged both Sarmiento and Almonte as leaders of the rebel group New People's Army, CPP's armed wing. The military also tagged Karapatan as a communist front.
http://mindanaoexaminer.blogspot.com/2014/01/karapatan-scores-opapp-says-conviction.html
KARAPATAN is the main Communist Party of the Philippine (CPP) human rights umbrella front organization. KARAPATAN routinely comes to the defense of captured/detained members of the underground Maoist insurgent movement while simultaneously engaging in strident criticism of the Philippine government on HR issues.
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