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BRIEFING PAPER ON
POLITICAL PRISONERS
Political Prisoners and
Political Detainees
·
Political prisoners are
victims of the government’s covert policy of
political persecution against persons with different political beliefs.
·
They are those
who were charged or convicted with political and/or common crimes,
arrested, detained and/or imprisoned for acts to further their political
belief or are victims of political repression.
·
They are charged
with fabricated criminal offenses or common crimes, conveniently hiding
the political nature of their cases, thereby hiding the systematic
political persecution committed against people like them.
·
The circumstances
of their arrests reveal the pattern and rampant practice of illegal
arrests and detention in the country: most of the time arresting
authorities have no arrest warrants or have faulty and hastily secured
warrants.
·
Their arrest and
incarceration are meant to silence them, break their spirits and muffle
their legitimate voices of opposition and dissent to government policies
detrimental to the people’s democratic rights and interests.
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Number of Political Prisoners (as of
February 2011):
From the time of Fidel Ramos to May 31,
2011 |
342 |
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Number of Jails where they can be
found: |
63 |
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Number of Detainees under P-Noy: |
36 |
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Number of Women Detainees (as of
February 2011): |
30 |
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Number of Detainees that are
protected by JASIG (Joint
Agreement for Safety and Immunity Guarantees): |
17 |
 Our
Demand
Free All Political Prisoners
Grant “General, unconditional and
omnibus amnesty to all
General
means all political prisoners, alleged political offenders
or others as defined in the preceding paragraph and covered by the
effectivity of an amnesty proclamation.
Unconditional
means no precondition is set before they can be released. They will
not have to go through the tedious application process and will not be
required to plead guilty or make any admissions. They only need to be
covered by the definition and effectivity of the Proclamation. The
operative act to effect their immediate release is their inclusion in a
pre-screened list and mere acceptance of the General, Unconditional and
Omnibus Amnesty Proclamation.
Omnibus
means that all charges or offenses as defined in the
Proclamation are covered by the amnesty.
Sample Cases:
·
Rolando
Pañamogan, was
unjustly charged and convicted with frustrated murder and is now detained
in NBP, is among those who need to be immediately released especially
because he has been suffering from diabetes, deep toxic goiter, and
congestive heart failure. Pañamogan is currently confined at the NBP
Hospital due to lowered blood pressure as complications of his diabetes,
where facilities and attending medical personnel are scarce. Pañamogan was
arrested in 2002.
·
Emeterio Antalan,
51 years old, an NDF consultant to the peace talks and a JASIG holder
has been suffering from kidney problem and fluctuating blood pressure. He
collapsed while inside the jail. Antalan was charged with murder.
·
Political
prisoner Ernesto Dumlao, who is suffering from asthma, has been
sleeping on the floor of the dingy and smelly hallways of the Quezon City
Jail, where about 3,400 inmates are being housed, because he cannot pay
for a “tarima” that costs P3,000.00
·
Husband and wife Jesus
and Moreta Alegre, 65 and 64 years old respectively, are among the
oldest detainees at present. Jesus and Moreta, together with their 34-year
old son Selman, were charged with murder and have been in detention
since 2005.
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