Press Release, 12 September 2007
Members of a national human rights and solidarity for the Philippines group reiterated its urgent demand for the immediate and unconditional release of exiled Filipino leader Professor Jose Maria Sison in a nationally-coordinated action last Friday, September 7, 2007 in front of the Dutch Consulates in three major cities across Canada.
Members of the Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights (PCTFHR) in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal voiced their concerns to local representatives of the Dutch government in a written statement over the “unjust arrest of Professor Jose Maria Sison and its imperialist intervention and meddling in internal Philippine affairs.”
ProfessorSison was arrested on August 28, 2007 by Dutch police for supposedly ordering the killing of two former rebel leaders, Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in the Philippines in 2002 and 2004. The Communist-led New People’s Army (NPA) claimed responsibility for the killings. Professor Sison has maintained his non-involvement in the killings, stating that he has not led the revolutionary movement since he has been living in the Netherlands in forced exile for over 20 years.
Protesters denounced the arrest of Professor Sison as “politically-motivated” and condemned the Dutch government for “bowing to the interests of the Philippine and US government who have been targeting and labelling Sison as a ‘terrorist’ because of his vocal criticisms of US imperialist policies worldwide.”
In Vancouver, members of the PCTFHR rallied for the second time in front of the busy downtown offices of the Consul General of the Netherlands. Around 30 protesters gathered to denounce the Dutch government. A delegation from the group visited the Consulate offices to follow-up on a request for a dialogue with the Consul General Hans Driesser. They were rebuffed by Vincent Vemeer, Deputy Consul General who told them he would merely forward the signed petition letters to the Department of Foreign Affairs but that he did not want to dialogue or comment about Professor Sison’s case saying it was, “not within [his] jurisdiction.”
The delegation emphasized to Mr. Vemeer the urgency of Professor Sison’s case because of reports of Sison being tortured and that his safety was the concern of progressive Filipinos in Vancouver and across Canada. Vemeer stated that it was the group’s right to protest and that he would simply forward the petition letters. Vemeer refused to talk more about the case or write a formal reply to the group’s request. After about ten minutes of dialogue Vemeer became visibly upset and left the room. A few minutes later members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived at the building.
“Vemeer told us to trust that he would forward our concerns to the Dutch government,” says Aiyanas Ormond of the Bus Rider’s Union (BRU) -- a member organization of the Vancouver Steering Committee of the Stop the Killings in the Philippines campaign. “But we asked him how can his government be trusted when Professor Sison was unjustly arrested and suffering from inhumane treatment and torture in solitary confinement for ten days, denied visits from his wife and access to warm clothing, medicine and visits to his doctor, and access to newspapers or television?”
Speakers at the rally included member organizations of the PCTFHR such as: BC Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance, SIKLAB (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers), BRU and La Surda (Latin American Collective).
Around 30 people attended an educational forum on September 9, 2007 in Vancouver about Professor Sison’s case. Speakers included Jennifer Efting of the BRU and lawyer Luningning Imperial, Western Canada Coordinator of the PCTFHR about the history of Professor Sison’s case and how it should be understood within the context of global US imperialist-hegemony. In particular, she highlighted the need to revisit the analysis and conclusions of the 2004 conference, Laws, Labels and Liberation: The Case of Professor Jose Maria Sison, which looked at Professor Sison’s listing as a so-called ‘terrorist’ as an example of the negative impact of anti-terrorist laws and measures on the right to national liberation and the future of human rights.
A delegation in Toronto hand-delivered a letter to the Dutch Consular Office outlining the PCTFHR’s demand for the immediate release of Professor Sison and to stop the state-sponsored terrorism and harassment of Filipino progressives in the Netherlands. Deputy Consul General Astrid de Vries met with the group and accepted the letter on behalf of Consul General Mr. J. Kramer.
Joy C. Sioson, chairperson of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON), a member organization of PCTFHR, stated, “We are here to voice our protest and utmost condemnation of the actions of the Dutch police and the Dutch government regarding the arrest, continued detention and torture and the violation of Professor Sison’s legal and human rights as a political refugee.”
In a brief dialogue, Ms. De Vries refused to make a comment regarding the arrest and the case of Professor Sison stating, “The case is not within the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs department, but under the Ministry of Justice.” However, the delegation continued in its demand to set an immediate meeting with the Consul General of the Netherlands when he returns. Ms. de Vries assured members of the PCTFHR that the letter would be given to Consul General Kramer and a response to the letter and to the demand for the meeting would be communicated with the group in the next week.
In Montreal, hundreds of the latest statement of the PCTFHR denouncing the Dutch government for Professor Sison’s arrest and intervention in Philippine affairs were handed-out in front of the Dutch Consular Office. The group also gathered signatures for the petition that shows the growing support of Canadians and the Filipino community for Professor Sison.
Roderick Carreon, chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada, a national organization of overseas Filipino workers, stated that, “The growing support and solidarity for Professor Sison and other Filipino progressives in Europe is a testament to the growing concern about the political repression and unjust labelling of anti-imperialist movements and individuals, who continue to expose and oppose the rottenness of U.S. imperialism, as ‘terrorists’ and ‘criminals’ by the Bush administration and the US-backed governments of the Philippines and the Netherlands.”
PCTFHR and its member organizations across Canada are determined to continue protest actions and heighten its militant struggle for the immediate release of Professor Sison, for a stop to the attacks on progressive individuals and anti-imperialist movement and for a just and lasting peace in the Philippines.
They will be preparing for another nationally-coordinated day of action on September 21, 2007 to mark the 35th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law under former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
According to the group, since 2001 over 1000 people have fallen victim to extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances under the current President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Photos from Vancouver rally: <http://kalayaancentre.net/assets/images/photos/2007/jms_sept7_07_vancouver.htm>
Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights:
*Centre for Philippine Concerns – Montreal
*Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines – Ottawa
*Philippine Network for Justice and Peace – Toronto
*Centre for Philippine Concerns – Winnipeg
*B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
*Vancouver Steering Committee for the "Stop the Killings in the Philippines Campaign" -- B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Bus Riders Union, Filipino Nurses Support Group, Grassroots Women, Philippine Women Centre of B.C., SIKLAB-B.C., Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-Vancouver
British Columbia Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP)
"Celebrating 25 years of solidarity with the Filipino people for genuine peace, democracy and freedom!"
Member of the Philippines-Canada Task Force for Human Rights (PCTFHR)
c/o Kalayaan Centre, 451 Powell Street, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6A 1G7
Phone/Fax: 604.215.1905 | http://www.kalayaancentre.net
To sign onto on-line URGENT ACTIONS please visit: http://www.psacbc.com/philippines/