| 
British Columbia Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
ILPS Participating Organizations in Canada
Press Release
Local Filipinos and Canadians to rally at Dutch consulate to protest arrest of exiled patriot Jose Maria Sison
29 August, 2007
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Local progressive Filipinos and their supporters will rally in front of the Dutch consulate today to protest the arrest yesterday of Professor Jose Maria Sison, exiled Filipino patriot and poet by Dutch police in the Netherlands.
The rally will take place in front of the offices of the Dutch Consulate at: Bentall Centre, 595 Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Similar actions are expected to take place in other cities across Canada this week.
Prof. Sison is the chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and chair of the International League of People’s Struggles (ILPS), an international anti-imperialist organization. The NDFP has been negotiating for a peace treaty with the Philippine government for the past 12 years but negotiations has been stalled due to the refusal of the Philippine government to remove Prof. Sison’s listing as a “terrorist”.
Dutch officials arrested Sison yesterday on the suspicion he ordered the killing of former rebel leaders Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in 2003 and 2006 as chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Professor Sison has adamantly maintained that he is no longer the Chairperson of the CPP. He says he has not held this position in over 20 years since his self-imposed exile to the Netherlands as a political refugee in 1986.
In both cases the New People’s Army and the Communist Party of the Philippines claimed responsibility for the killings. They said the two were resisting arrest under the revolutionary justice system for crimes committed against the people.
Professor Sison is now being detained in The Hague, Netherlands and reports state that he will appear in court on Friday.
Aside from arresting Professor Sison, Dutch authorities also raided and ransacked several residences of progressive Filipinos. Sison’s lawyers stated in a press release that there were no search warrants and, in some cases, minor children were alone in the residences.
“The arbitrary arrest of Professor Sison and the harassment of progressive Filipinos in the Netherlands are part of the escalating attempts of the Philippines, United States and Dutch governments to unjustly malign Professor Sison as a ‘terrorist’ and a criminal,” says Luningning Imperial local spokesperson for the ILPS of which Sison is the Chairperson. “He just won a landmark victory annulling his ‘terrorist’ listing in the European Court last month,” noted Imperial.
“His arbitrary arrest and the subsequent raids are an affront to democracy, justice and the people’s legitimate right to struggle for national and social liberation,” says Imperial. “We call on Canadians to be vigilant as there is a real danger of Professor Sison being the victim of rendition – which we are only too familiar with in Canada because of the case of Maher Arar,” she adds.
The rally will feature performances of Sison’s poetry and songs and speakers from organizations representing Filipino-Canadian youth, migrant workers and women as well as solidarity messages from other anti-imperialist organizations and individuals.
The indignation rally today is part of a worldwide response to Sison’s arrest with demonstrations in Montreal, the Philippines, U.S., Hongkong and Europe.
Filipinos are the third largest visible minority group in Canada, numbering over 500,000 and the second in Vancouver.
Photo opportunities will be available.
--
|
