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News Release
August 29, 2007
Reference: Raul Menchavez, Northeast Coordinator, BAYAN USA
email: ny @
bayanusa.org
Filipinos in New York Demand
Dutch Government
Free
Joma Sison
New York-- Approximately 50
protestors showed up in front of the Dutch Consulate building near
Rockefeller Center, 29 August at 4pm, two days after the arrest of Prof.
Jose Maria Sison. The protest, calling for Sison's release, was organized
by BAYAN USA and the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.
Protesters condemned the "deplorable and despicable" character of Sison's
arrest and "Gestapo-like raids and ransacking" of the homes and office of
members of the National Democratic Front Negotiating Panel.
"This clearly violates provisions set by the United Nations on the rights
of recognized political refugees, which Prof. Sison is," states Berna
Ellorin of BAYAN USA.
Sison was arrested on 2 charges of murder that the Philippine Supreme
Court has already ruled as invalid. Following his release from his 1977
imprisonment under the Marcos regime, several administrations have
attempted to incarcerate Sison on various criminal charges that all proved
invalid by the Philippine judicial system. In 2002, at the encouragement
of the Arroyo government, Sison was placed on the US State Department
Terrorist list, a move many worldwide found absurd.
International supporters in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, and at least
four other US cities are mounting similar indignation actions, exposing
massive support for Sison as a political figure.
"We are here because Prof. Sison is a beloved hero not just for the
Filipino people, but for all who work for peace based on justice," Ellorin
continued.
Other protesters that supported the call for Sison's release included
representatives from the International Action Center, ANSWER,
Revolutionary Communist Party USA, Freedom Road Socialist Organization,
Center for Constitutional Rights, Troops Out Now Coalition, Students for a
Democratic Society, Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum, Al-Awda, CAAAV, and
representatives from Revolution Books.
A large bus of Veterans for Peace activists en route to Washington DC
attempted to block traffick near the rally but was stopped by the police.
BAYAN member organizations included
Anakbayan, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, and Filipinas
for Rights and Empowerment (FIRE).
Professor
Sison is currently the chair of the International League of People's
Struggle (ILPS), a global alliance of organizations opposing US
interventionism.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2007
RELEASE JOMA SISON!!!: Fil-Am Alliance Condemns Dubious Arrest of NDF Political
Consultant
Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email:
secgen@bayanusa.org
The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, an alliance of over
12 Filipino organizations in the US, vehemently condemned the arrest of the
National Democratic Front Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison last night
by the Dutch Police on false charges of multiple murders.
The alliance further condemned the raiding of homes by the Dutch police of the
NDF personnel.
Sison was arrested last night for multiple murders of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo
Tabara. Police say Sison ordered the murders from the Netherlands back in 2003.
Sison will be put on trial in the Netherlands, not the Philippines.
While the New People's Army has already come forward with admittance to the
killings, Sison maintains he is not in the leadership of the NPA nor the
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
BAYAN USA maintains the real reasons for Sison's arrest are political not
criminal. Emergency actions will also be set at Dutch consulates across the
country calling for Sison's immediate release.
"Behind the actions of the Dutch police is the Arroyo government, which since
its ascendency has been in pursuit of Joma Sison and worked tirelessly to subdue
his meaning to the people," states BAYAN USA Chair Chito Quijano.
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The alliance, a
member of the International League of Peoples Struggle, an international
organization of which Sison serves as Chair, has been calling for a de-listing
of Sison from the US and EU terrorist lists.
"It is in every
interest of the US and Arroyo governments to confine Professor Sison for his
politics. As the Chief Political Consultant to the organization that comprises
one half of the stalled NDF-GRP peace negotiations, the Arroyo government is
declaring to the world it is not interested in resuming peace talks," Quijano
added.
BAYAN USA has also supported the resumption of peace talks between the NDF and
GRP. The Arroyo administration just recently called to intensify the all-out war
in Mindanao under the auspices of the US War on Terror as a measure to raise its
annual pork barrel of military aid from the US government.
BAYAN USA also asserted it's been a year of hot water for the Arroyo
administration, with isolation from human rights watchdogs such as the UNHRC,
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and even a US Senate hearing that may
influence US military aid to the Philippines. Sison, a political refugee in the
Netherlands for nearly 20 years, has been one of the most famous and vocal
critics of the Arroyo regime.
Earlier this year, a European court nullified Sison's terrorist listing. Since
his listing of 2001, Sison had his assets frozen and right to work stripped.
Sison remains on the US State Department's terrorist list.
For more information, contact BAYAN USA at info @ bayanusa.org### |
