TFDP - Mindanao calls for release of Political Prisoners

PRESS RELEASE
November 4, 2008


“TFDP SEEKS RELEASE OF POLITICAL DETAINEES”

We, now, neither heard the cries and grief of the political detainees. Their plight has been forgotten amidst the political turmoil and scandals in the government. Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), once again, states that political detention and arrests continue to persist in the country.

Article 3 section 18 of the 1987 Constitution states that “no person shall be detained solely by reason of his/her political beliefs and aspiration”. This provision explicitly holds that states, in any circumstance, should not harbor political prisoners.

As of September 30, 2008, there are 209 political prisoners/detainees across the country of whom 68 (8 women) are in Mindanao languishing in 21 detention centers.

Not one of them committed any criminal offense apart from the fact that they struggled to reform the system that continues to oppress the poor and marginalized sectors of society. But instead of being recognized as such they are now languishing in jails for crimes they did not commit and that they were found guilty of because they were denied due process of law.

A case in point is the abduction, disappearance and torture of Angelina Besuna Ipong. She was 60 years old at that time. She was arrested on March 8, 2005 while facilitating a consultation about CARHIHL IN Aloran, Misamis Occidental by a dozen armed military in plain clothes, wearing bonnets. She was held incommunicado for four (4) days, interrogated, subjected to torture and humiliation. Even a woman at that age did not escape the “berdugo” method they employed during martial law years. Until now she languishes in BJMP, Pagadian City and facing charges of double murder, arson and rebellion.

While political repression by its very nature is anathema to democracy, it has been used by the Arroyo administration to maintain her hold to power and ensure that her anti-poor economic policies would meet no opposition. It is under this context that political imprisonment continues.

The existence of political prisoners is a contradiction to our country’s claim that we are enjoying democracy. Being a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Philippine government has moral and legal obligation to affirm the people’s right to organize and to express their political beliefs.

TFDP calls on the Arroyo government to release all political prisoners now as a step in building a culture of peace! As long as these people languish in jail, we cannot truly say that indeed democracy exists in the country.