16-09-2002
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende
Binnenhof 20
Postbus 20001
2500 EA Den Haag
tel. +31 70 3564100
fax. +31 70 3564683
Minister of Foreign Affairs J.G. de Hoop Scheffer
Bezuidenhoutseweg 67,
PO Box 20061
2500 EB The Hague
telefax 070 3484848
Minister of Finance J.F. Hoogervorst
Korte Voorhout 7
PO Box 20201
2500 EE Den Haag
Tel. 070-3427540/ Fax 070-3427900
Gentlemen:
In the strongest terms, I hereby protest that your sanctieregeling terrorisme (sanction regulation against terrorism) 2002 III, issued on 13 August 2002, criminalizes me as a “terrorist” without the benefit of due process, demonizes and incites public hatred against me and subjects me to such punitive measures as deprivation of the basic necessities of life and violation of my basic human right to life.
Your government has undertaken the following punitive acts against me since 15 August 2002:
1. The freezing of my Postbank joint current account with my wife Julieta Sison de Lima, which bank account receives cash remittances from such agencies of your government as the Dienst Welzijn (Welfare Service) of the Sociale Zaken en Werkgelenheid (Social Affairs and Employment) and the Bestuur COA Cluster 401 and pays our bills for such basic necessities of life as food, energy, health insurance, medical and dental treatment not covered by the health insurance and the like; and
2. As documented by the 10 September 2002 letter of the Hoofd of the Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid Utrecht, the termination of all benefits (previously given to me as an asylum seeker and then as a recognized political refugee) for such bare necessities as food, clothing and other personal necessities, accommodation or housing, health insurance and third party liability insurance.
All the money that goes in and out of the aforementioned joint bank account is quite small, originates from your own social welfare agencies and is used for bare subsistence. It is utterly inane and ridiculous to claim that such money has anything to do with terrorism. It is unjust and cruel to use such false claim in order to deprive me of the basic necessities of life and thus violate my basic human right to life.
Please be reminded that I am a recognized political refugee under the protection of the Refugee Convention and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (EVRM). I demand respect for my rights and the rectfication of the following wrongs against me: criminalization as a “terrorist” without due process, defamation of my name in official publications, and punitive measures up to denying me the basic necessities of life and thus violating my basic human right to life.
No less than your agency for social welfare has suggested to me in so many polite but threatening words in its 10 September 2002 letter that I may be thrown out of the house where I live and be separated from my family anytime. Worst of all, there are persistent indications that your government is colluding with the US government to circumvent and violate Article 3 and the entirety of the EVRM by extraditing me on trumped up charges by the US.
Thank you.
Respectfully,
Signed: Prof. Jose Maria Sison