Committee for the Immediate Release of Congressman Crispin Beltran - Canada
Press Release

Supporters demand release of imprisoned Philippine parliamentarian

March 1, 2007

Vancouver, B.C., Canada – Joining internationally coordinated actions, supporters of Congressman Crispin Beltran held a protest action in Vancouver on Monday to demand for his immediate release.  The 74-year old was arrested and detained by President GMA after she declared a state of emergency last February 25, 2006.

“We denounce the political persecution that Ka Bel continues to suffer,” said Ted Alcuitas of the B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.  He is falsely accused of rebellion but has not been formally charged.  He is presently detained in the Philippine Heart Center where he is undergoing treatment for a number of ailments.

Member organizations and supporters of the Free Ka Bel Movement throughout the Philippines, Asia, Europe and the United States launched similar protest actions.  Hundreds of thousands have signed a petition for Ka Bel's immediate release.

The Vancouver protest was initially harassed by building security guards and was not allowed to see the Consul General to deliver the petition.

“Similar to the escalating political killings Arroyo’s government uses in its attempts to stamp out any opposition to her presidency, the unjust imprisonment of Ka Bel on trumped up charges of “rebellion” and “sedition” is a clear manifestation of state terrorism used to frighten the Filipino people into silence,” said Merryn Edwards of Grassroots Women.  Edwards met with Ka Bel while on a Canadian human rights fact-finding mission to the Philippines in November 2006.

“We call on the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay to do more than express concern over the obvious injustice of Ka Bel’s imprisonment. It is time to act decisively to pressure the Philippine government to immediately release Ka Bel and to end rampant human rights violations and political repression,” read a statement from the Committee for the Immediate Release of Congressman Crispin Beltran – Canada.

Ka Bel’s unjust detention continues amidst massive hunger, corruption and political turmoil throughout the country while the Filipino people’s fight to end Arroyo’s repressive leadership reverberates around the world.

“As Filipinos driven out of our homeland because of the rottenness of the Philippine system that could not provide us meaningful work, we join the growing campaign for justice and freedom for Ka Bel and for the end of political persecution in the Philippines,” concluded Alcuitas.

* For photos of the February 26 Free Ka Bel protest action, please see attached.

For more information, please contact the Committee for the Immediate Release of Congressman Crispin Beltran – Canada at:
phone: 604-215-1103, email: bcchrp@kalayaancentre.net