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Labels, Laws and Liberation
The case of Professor Jose Maria Sison
A conference to critically look at
the impact of anti-terrorism laws on the right to national liberation
and the future of human rights
May 28 to 30, 2004
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
currently available conference articles:
The Attack on my Human Rights and Civil Liberties is Part of the
US Offensive Against the People's Right to National Liberation,
Democracy, and Social Justice.
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chief Political Consultant
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Keynote Address To "Laws,
Labels, Liberation" Conference
May 29, 2004
International
Campaign to Remove Professor Sison From "Terrorist" Listing.
By Coni Ledesma
Representative for Commitee Defend
May 29, 2004
Opposing Unjust Labels: NDFP Defends Sison In Peace Talks and
At
European Court Of Justice
By Luis Jalandoni
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel
May 29, 2004
Laws,
Labels, Liberation:
The Case of Professor Jose Maria Sison
Presented by Jayson Lamchek
Public Interest Law Centre
May 29, 2004
Call to Action: Our Work is Finished, Our Work is Just Beginning.
By Ninotchka Rosca
Closing to the
"Laws, Labels, Liberation" Conference
May 30, 2004
Since the events of September
11, the US has pressured other countries around the world to internationalize
anti-terrorism
legislation
as a key mechanism in the so-called “war on terrorism.” Various
countries are creating laws modelled after the repressive
and discriminatory US Patriot Act. In Canada, Bill C-36 quickly
became law in October
2001, at the height of the anti-terrorism hysteria.
But what is the impact of these new laws on human rights
and civil liberties? What is the impact upon international
humanitarian
law
that upholds the right of peoples to struggle for national
liberation?
Legal and human rights activists must now confront the escalating
tension between international human rights standards and
international humanitarian law on the one hand; and these pieces
of anti-terrorism
legislation passed in the name of national security on the
other. Have anti-terrorism laws merely become a way to suppress
dissent?
Have they become a means to attack legitimate national liberation
movements, their leaders and other legitimate political refugees?
For example, the declaration of Professor Jose Maria Sison
as a “terrorist” in
2002 by the U.S., Dutch and European governments violates
his human rights as a political refugee under international
laws.
A respected intellectual, poet and patriot from the Philippines,
Professor Sison is currently challenging this unjust “terrorist” label
before the European Court of Justice and the Dutch government.
His court cases raise precedent-setting arguments that seek
to uphold
his human rights under European and international human rights
instruments.
This international human rights conference will examine the
situation of Professor Sison’s international campaign
for justice as a case study. Through analysis and discussion
of his situation,
his legal defence cases and the international campaign taken
up on his
behalf, the larger global and political forces that shape
his situation and that deeply affect the future development
and protection of
international human rights standards will be uncovered.
Participants at this international conference will also discuss
and analyse the concrete impact of these trends and plan
actions to sustain
campaigns for justice for those, such as Professor Sison,
who are being attacked under this legislation. More details
on
the conference
program will be announced later.
The member organizations of the National Organizing Committee
are proud to host this international conference, under
the auspices of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS).
Human rights activists, organizers, lawyers and others working
with refugees,
migrants, and immigrants and for social justice and in solidarity
with oppressed peoples are invited to attend!
Conference objectives:
- Examine the situation of Professor Jose Maria
Sison as a case study of how the human rights of refugees
and the
right
of oppressed
peoples to struggle for national and social liberation
are being attacked in the context of the internationalization
of so-called
anti-terrorism legislation.
- Discuss and analyse the
impact of anti-terrorism legislation in Canada and in other countries
upon
human rights and
civil liberties, particularly of refugees, migrants,
immigrants and others struggling
for social justice and in solidarity with oppressed
peoples.
- Plan actions, campaigns and other methods
of exposing and opposing these attacks, including
continued support
for the
international Defend Sison campaign and the precedent-setting
legal cases being
taken on behalf of Professor Sison.
Confirmed speakers:
About the National Organizing Committee:
The member organizations of the National Organizing Committee provide
support for and act as a point of contact with
groups and individuals in the Philippines who organize and work
for social justice,
human rights, a just and lasting peace and national democracy.
Through public education, information and action campaigns,
these organizations raise public awareness about the political, economic
and social
situation in the Philippines and its parallel implications
in Canada.
About ILPS:
The International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) is an
anti-imperialist and democratic formation founded in May 2001 composed
of over 200 mass organizations from 40 countries. The ILPS promotes,
supports and develops the anti-imperialist and democratic struggles
of the people of the world against the ideological, political,
military, economic, social and cultural domination and attacks
of imperialism
and reaction.
Endorsing organizations and individuals:
- Dacajeweiah John “Splitting the Sky” Hill
- International Action Center – New York, USA
- Network in Solidarity
with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP) – New
York, USA
- National Lawyers Guild – New
York, USA
- International Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL)
For more information on the conference:
National Conference Secretariat
c/o B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP)
211 - 5450 Empire Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia
CANADA
V5B 1N4
Telephone / Fax (604) 215-1905
E-mail at bcchrp@telus.net
Celebrating 20 years of solidarity with the Filipino people’s
struggle for human rights!
National Organizing Committee:
- B.C. Committee for Human Rights in
the Philippines (BCCHRP)
- Manitoba Centre for Philippine Concerns
(MCPC)
- Philippine Network for Justice and Peace – Toronto
(PNJP)
- Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP)
- Centre
for Philippine Concerns – Montreal (CPC)Under the
auspices of
The International League of Peoples’ Struggle
For more information on the international campaign to defend
Professor Sison:
www.defendsison.be (Website of the Committee DEFEND)
http://inps-sison.freewebspace.com (Website of the International
Network for Philippine Studies)
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