Human rights group Karapatan has chided the government for its supposed continued attacks directed against rights activists as illegal arrests and various human rights violations have intensified in the string of the government’s relentless crackdown.
Karapatan (Twitter)
Since October started, Karapatan noted that at least 13 human rights defenders were illegally arrested and charged with trumped-up charges.
Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said there is an orchestrated attempt, led by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), to criminalize and delegitimize the work of human rights defenders.
Since its inception in December 2018, Palabay said the NTF has incessantly targeted human rights defenders and have blurred the distinction between armed combatants and civilians.
“To the eyes of these bloodthirsty beasts and ruthless criminals, human rights defense is a crime. As a State policy, this has severe implications on the ground as human rights workers continue to be subjected to a wide range of human rights violations, particularly killings, illegal arrests, torture, and harassment,” Palabay said.
Last October 10, 2019, Palabay noted three human rights activists were illegally arrested for trumped-up and fabricated charges meant to harass and threaten individuals and organizations who continue to raise legitimate demands and campaign for genuine societal reforms.
The group said Virgilio “Ka Yoyong” Lincuna, Chairperson of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Caraga and Mag-uuma sa Agusan del Norte, was illegally arrested by 30 members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Butuan City based on a warrant for a fabricated case of attempted murder that allegedly happened in Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
In a separate incident, Karapatan noted that Melissa Comiso, a Lumad and headteacher of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Northern Mindanao Sub-Region’s Literacy and Numeracy Program, was illegally arrested in Butuan City and is currently detained at the office of the CIDG in the same city. According to reports, Karapatan said her fellow Lumad teacher was also accosted along with her.
Palabay said Lincuna led numerous peasant struggles that gained victories for farmers and residents of rural areas in Caraga while Comiso and her colleagues worked for years to provide education to Lumad children who have suffered continuous government neglect.
She insisted that “defending the right to self-determination is not a crime, nor is amplifying and organizing farmers to fight for genuine agrarian reform’’.
Palabay believed the government “hopes that this series of illegal arrests would instill fear, but the root causes and social ills that necessitate human rights defenders continue to worsen’’.
“Thus, this regime is not solving anything, but merely adding to the outrage and the crimes against the people,” she noted.
Palabay also slammed the recent illegal arrests of human rights activists in Palawan and Eastern Visayas and raised alarm over reports that some of them are being tortured and threatened while under detention.
On the evening of October 4, 2019, at around 8:30pm, Palabay recounted that former Karapatan – Southern Tagalog Secretary-General Glendhyl Malabanan and six other human rights workers were arrested without warrants by combined elements of the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan after they conducted a fact-finding investigation on reports of human rights violations perpetrated by military forces against farmers in Taytay town.
Arrested on October 2, 2019, Christian “Chanchan” Sabado, a peasant organizer under Northern Samar Small Farmers’ Association, including two other farmers, namely, Anton Manoso and Edson Piczon, were likewise illegally arrested by elements of the 20th Infantry Battalion.
Keep in mind that KARAPATAN (The Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) is the main Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) human rights front organization. KARAPATAN often makes false allegations of human rights abuses targeting Philippine security forces.
ReplyDeleteKARAPATAN never saw an arrested/detained National Democratic Front NDF)/New People's Army (NPA) rebel who wasn't "illegally arrested" or wasn't just a simple farmer/peasant.
The truth is that many of these so-called human rights workers/innocent peasants hold down positions in the underground insurgent infrastructure including positions as armed NPA cadre.
The classic example is the seven individuals recently arrested in Palawan that the commies claimed were just innocent "human rights workers." The military disproved this falsehood by releasing video footage of these folks handling weapons and participating in activities at an NPA camp.
See the video at the following URL: https://www.facebook.com/palawanews/videos/713562139159439/?v=713562139159439
They certainly are not "innocent human rights workers."