SUPPORT THE POLITICAL PRISONERS HUNGER STRIKE FOR FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

SUPPORT THE POLITICAL PRISONERS HUNGER STRIKE FOR FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

On July 25, 2011, political prisoners and detainees around the country started their nationwide HUNGER STRIKE for freedom and human rights. This is to express their concern over: 1) governments lack of explicit national policy on human rights; 2) the continuous neglect of the plight of victims of political incarceration; and, 3) to push for prison reforms specifically for the government to consider proposed changes on provisions set forth by the guidelines of the Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP).

The escalation of the struggle of the political prisoners into a hunger strike signifies their firm stance to call attention not only to their situation but the lack of a human rights agenda of the government. Juanito Itaas, head of the steering committee of political prisoners in New Bilibid Prison (NBP) expressed dismay that present government has no intention of looking into their situation.

Citing his case, Itaas was a full-time activist in Davao City when he was abducted and tortured by the Philippine Constabulary Criminal Investigation Service (PC-CIS) and Regional Security Unit (RSU) on August 27, 1989. Later on, Itaas was wrongfully accused of murder and frustrated murder but eventually convicted for the killing of Col. James Rowe who was then the chief of the Army Division of the Joint RP U.S. Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) and the wounding of his driver, Joaquin Vinuya. Itaas had filed several applications for amnesty. Due to supposed pressures and strong opposition by the United States government, his petitions were ignored and rejected.

Aside from Itaas, there are 319 political prisoners and detainees languishing in jails across the country before a political prisoner Mariano Umbrero died two weeks ago. Umbrero was the cancer-stricken political prisoner in NBP who died last July 15, 2011 with government failing to grant executive clemency.

Currently, the government denies that these prisoners are political dissenters. After having charged these political prisoners/detainees with common felonies (i.e. illegal possession of firearms), the government now treats them as ordinary criminals. In the process, they deny the legitimacy and justness of the grievances of political offenders. Suspicion of being members or supporters of insurgent groups are the usual grounds for their arrest.

The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) has asked the government to look into their plight even before President Benigno Aquino III took his oath last year. TFDP and human rights organizations even had a dialogue last year with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and they promised that they will resume the operation of the Presidential Committee on Bail, Recognizance, Pardon and Parole (PCBREPP) to evaluate the releases of political prisoners. But until now this promise has not been fulfilled.

PCBREPP was created during the time of former President Ramos as mechanism to table cases of alleged political offenders. The process was able to release a significant number of political offenders under President Fidel Ramos term. It was resurrected during the term of former President Gloria Arroyo and was able to release eight political prisoners at the last days of her term of office.

Meanwhile, political detainees in Dumaguete Provincial Jail, Kabankalan City Jail, Leyte Provincial Jail, Samar Provincial Jail, Catbalogan Samar Provincial Jail and MMDJ Taguig are also joining the hunger strike while political detainees in Mindanao are already in fasting since July 21, 2011.

Political detainees in Manila City Jail joined the hunger strike on August 1, 2011 and Moro political detainees in MMDJ dedicated their fasting for Ramadan to the call for the release of all political prisoners.

We call on President Aquino to:
1. Call upon competent authorities to look into the plight of the political prisoners and detainees particularly the criminalization of their political acts, and the bureaucracy in government that failed to immediately act on petitions such as parole, pardon and clemency filed by prisoners;
2. Review the present Board of Pardons and Parole guidelines 2006 Revised Manual of the Board of Pardons and Parole, Section 3, Extraordinary Circumstances, a) to consider the proposal to lower the age limit of those eligible for pardon from 70 to 60 and, b) to include prisoners who are terminally ill and have debilitating diseases for immediate executive clemency;
3. Create a working group to examine, monitor, review and provide recommendations in relation to the ongoing cases of political offenders. Similar actions should be taken in dealing with pending appeals and applications for parole, pardon and clemency filed by political prisoners. The group should have unrestricted access to the prison system and its records;
4. Provide a general and unconditional amnesty for the release of political prisoners and detainees;
5. Provide a clear action plan of government to include human rights principles as basis for governance and development plan;
6. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards.