Canadian Delegates Return from Mission in Philippines with Horrific Tales of Human Rights Abuses: Call for Canadian Government to Withdraw Support to Arroyo

For immediate release: September 13, 2005

Some of the local Canadian delegates to the recently
concluded International Solidarity Mission (ISM) have
now returned home from the Philippines bringing with
them horrific tales of human rights abuses.

"We are outraged over the blatant violation of human
rights and the lack of respect for humanity that
Arroyo shows for her own people," says Barbara Waldern a human rights activist and chair of the B.C.
Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BCCHRP) from Vancouver who attended the mission.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came
under increased international scrutiny during the ISM
and the International People’s Tribunal which followed
the mission, which found her and US President George
Bush "guilty" of crimes against humanity.

The delegates from Vancouver will report their
findings in a community forum. "ISM: Report back" on
Sunday, September 25, 2005 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at
St. Patrick’s Parish Hall, 2881 Main St. at 12th Ave.
in Vancouver.

The Mission also presented three boxes of evidence at
the impeachment trial of Arroyo held in the Philippine
Congress. There have been widespread calls for
Arroyo's resignation or ouster since last June over
evidence she cheated in the last presidential
election. In July she publicly confessed to having a
phone conversation with an election official asking
him to rig the election results.

"The number of human rights violations in the
Philippines today exceeds the human rights violations
of the Marcos era," said Waldern in Congress. "The
situation is very serious. We verified the numerous
extreme cases: abductions, murder of activists,
torture of children, mutilation of corpses,
disappearances, forced evacuations etc. of civilians,
innocent people including children. Suppressing the
Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army
- New Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) is often given as
a justification for the human rights violations but
there is no acceptable justification. These atrocities
are crimes against humanity and as such a concern for
all. We are urged to raise the matter with our
respective governments and we are beginning to urge
our government to withdraw its support for Arroyo,"
she added.

The CPP-NPA-NDF has been waging an armed rebellion in
the Philippines for over 30 years.

The ISM had 86 delegates from 15 countries. Among them
were lawyers, teachers and students, church people,
youth and trade unionists. The delegates were divided
into five areas: Mindoro Island in the Southern
Tagalog region, Samar Island in the Eastern Visayas
region, Surigao in Mindanao region, Hacienda Luisita
in Central Luzon and the Moro populated areas in the
National Capital Region (NCR). The solidarity mission
took place from August 14-19, 2005 and culminated in
the International People’s Tribunal and a protest
march.

In nearly every region, blatant human rights
violations were reported by victims and their families
through testimony after testimony. While delegates to
the Mission were also warmly welcomed by the people,
delegates also faced harassment from military
personnel. In Samar, military in plainclothes
questioned and took photos of the delegates. In
Mindoro Oriental, signs were displayed reading, "No to
foreign intervention! ISM go home!" A similar message
was conveyed in Samar and Hacienda Luisita areas.

Delegates to the ISM documented various abuses
including extra-judicial killings, torture, illegal
arrest and evacuations due to military operations in
the countryside. According to reports from delegates
Elizabeth Dollaga and Emmauel Sayo who visited
Surigao, human rights violations are taking place in
areas where development projects are being targeted.
In Surigao, for example one of the largest coal
deposits in the country is set for exploration. The
military often conducts clearing operations to prevent
potential resistance from local civilians or armed
rebels.

According to the testimony of a peasant woman, her
husband who was an evacuee was shot and later died
from his wounds because of torture by the military. On
his was to the hospital, the vehicle he was traveling
in was stopped several times at military checkpoints.
According to his wife, the military tried several
times to remove the bullet from his wound in order to
avoid being questioned. She says he died from bleeding
because of the torture.

In the NCR, ISM delegates were subjected to long
delays and a strip search before they were allowed to
enter and visit the Moro prisoners being held in Camp
Bagong Diwa in Taguig, Rizal. Canadian student Yvette
Stephenson recalled the terrible conditions of the
prisoners: they were packed six prisoners to a cell
and not allowed to leave to the common area. They were
denied the right to practice their Muslim religion
which requires them to pray five times a day.

Stephenson brought home with her a short video
detailing the conditions of the Moro prisoners. Since
September 11, the military has been arresting many
Moros on suspicion of being members of the bandit Abu
Sayyaf group. Those arrested have never been tried or
charged and are being detained. 27 were massacred last
March when prison guards opened fire in the cramped
jail quarters. Other Moros living in NCR have been
displaced from their lands in Mindanao because of
militarization and development aggression.

ISM delegates met with the Canadian Embassy in Manila
where they presented their concerns. They also rallied
outside the Vancouver office of the Philippine
Consulate on September 2, 2005 and called on local
acting Philippine consul general Raul Hernandez for a
meeting to present their findings and concerns. They
presented a letter protesting a statement Hernandez
recently published in the Philippine News Today
denying any human rights abuses in the country. He has
yet to respond to their request.

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