Cases of political prisoners brought to Int’l People’s Tribunal

A human rights group has brought the cases filed against political prisoners to the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) in Washington, DC.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said the trumped up charges, inhuman jail conditions and other issues affecting political prisoners are being tackled in the IPT, which kicked off on July 16.

“We have submitted the cases filed against 17 peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and Andrea Rosal to highlight the Philippine and US governments’ duplicity in the peace negotiations with the NDFP and the use of false criminal charges against the detainees to keep them in jail,” Palabay said.

Organized by numerous groups, including a global network called the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, the tribunal has assembled a jury of lawyers, scholars and rights campaigners to look into the human rights violations committed by the Philippine government.

“We have been calling for the release of all political prisoners since President Aquino’s day one in office, thinking that he would be like his mother who released political detainees jailed by the previous regime. Five years had passed and the government has been on incarceration binge against activists and perceived enemies,” Palabay said.

Karapatan reiterated its position that the arrests of the NDFP peace consultants violated the agreement on safety and immunity guarantees between the government and NDFP.

“The arrest and continued detention of Rosal is illegal. There was no basis for her indictment,” the group said.