From the Office of Rep. Crispin Beltran

South Wing Room 602 House of Representatives

Constitution Hills 1126 Quezon City, Philippines

Reference: Rep.Crispin Beltran (+63)9278711080

Ina Alleco R. Silverio, chief of staff  931.6615, 09195065269

 

 News Release   Sunday, January 14, 2007

 

Solon urges Senate, civil libertarians to look into ASEAN Convention on Counterrorism; says it cannot take the place of legally-binding law

 

 Anakpawis Representative and political detainee Crispin Beltran decried the  Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) formalization and signing of its Convention on Counterrorism, saying that the said convention was certain to be abused and wielded even against legitimate political dissenters and innocent civilians. He urged civil libertarians and the Senate to look into the nature of the said Convention because the Arroyo government appears to consider the Convention as legally binding law which in implementation could cover a myriad of security issues.

 

Beltran said that Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her government, in particular, will without doubt use the Convention in lieu of an anti-terrorism bill which has faced stiff opposition from human rights groups and civil libertarians.

 

"This is what Macapagal-Arroyo has been long waiting for. Her government has been given yet another instrument in its campaign of relentless political repression and escalating human rights violations. The ASEAN Convention on Counterterrorism, like all versions of the anti-terror bill in the Philippines, is inherently prone to abuse by governments like those of Macapagal-Arroyo and their military. Before the year is through, there will be more arrests of civilians who have been suspected and unjustly accused of being terrorist. As yet, the Philippines has no credible and reliable means of verifying genuine terrorists; but for the last five years the police and the military have taken to arresting and detaining hundreds of Muslim civilians and charging them of terrorist involvement without the benefit of real investigation," he said.

 

Beltran said that the ASEAN Convention on Counterrorism cannot be made to supersede existing Philippine laws governing criminal activity and subsequent punishment for law breakers, even acts pointing towards terrorism.

 

"This is a Convention, not a fully legally-binding law that went through the usual legislative process. It cannot be cited in lieu of a law," he said.

 

Beltran also said that the US government was also behind the Convention, that the US has continued to pressure the ASEAN and its member governments to implement their own versions of a counter-terrorism campaign that's directly patterned after that of the US.

 

"It is no secret that the ASEAN, like most other economic and trade blocs is strongly influenced by the economic and political policies of the US. The US has always had its eye on Asia, and the growing power of China has the US running scared, so it's making sure that its ally-governments such as those in the ASEAN still obey its dictates. The Convention on Counterterrorism is one of these dictates," he said. "The US wants to safeguard its economic and political interests in the Asia-Pacific Region, and the Convention is an instrument in this goal." #