[van-announce] Urgent appeal for support

[B.C. Commitee for Human Rights in the Philippines]

 8 September 2002
Dear Friends,

 As overseas Filipinos in Canada, we are appealing to all freedom and
peace-loving people for your support in these troubling times.

 Now more than ever, the Filipino people are in urgent need of your support
and solidarity.  As the U.S.-led international ‘war against terrorism’
tightens its grip on the tiny archipelago, legitimate people’s organizations
are now under the gun of the U.S. military and the tyrannical Philippine
military.  Reports of increased ‘disappearances,’ harassment, and relentless
terrorizing of leaders and members of people’s organizations are surfacing
daily from the streets of Manila to the provinces of the Philippine
countryside.

 Under the flimsy pretense of helping the Philippine military quell a
handful of rebels of the Abu Sayaff, ironically a group created by the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. stormed into the Philippines earlier
this year opening up the second front in its international war against
terrorism.  Presidents Bush and Arroyo claimed that troops would just be
there for six months.

But the pretext of U.S. imperialism has quickly evaporated.  Now, eight
months after the first deployment, U.S. military aggression is spreading
with greater intensity outside of the original combat zone into other areas
of the Philippines.

The U.S. military has now set its military might on suppressing the Filipino
people’s aspirations for genuine national independence, freedom, and
democracy with the help of Philippine President Macapagal-Arroyo’s military
machinery.

On August 9, 2002, US Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the
inclusion of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army
(CPP/NPA) on its so-called list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

This announcement has given the U.S. and Philippine military a blank cheque
in dispensing terror tactics to suppress the democratic desires of the
Filipino people for a genuine and just and lasting peace.  Since this time,
backed by the approval and military machine of the U.S., the
Macapagal-Arroyo government has launched a systematic campaign of all-out
war and terror against the legal mass movement.

In the Netherlands, where the International Office the National Democratic
Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is located, the Dutch government has ordered
that the bank accounts of the CPP, NPA and its founding chairperson, and
current political consultant of the NDFP, Jose Maria Sison, be frozen.  The
Dutch government has also proposed the inclusion of the CPP on the European
list of "terrorist" organizations.

The Canadian government followed the lead of the U.S. and Dutch governments
on August 29, 2002, by including the CPP / NPA on the list of "terrorist"
organizations under the U.N. Suppression of Terrorism Regulations.

Filipino progressives in the Netherlands now face the prospect of their
democratic rights being violated.  They face the following threats:
surveillance and harassment; freeze and seizure of their personal and
collective assets; violation of privacy; police raids on their homes and
offices; control of movement and travel and so on.

The actions of the U.S., Dutch and Canadian governments also undermine the
peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of
the Philippines (GRP).  Several European governments have hosted these
negotiations since 1992.  As well, the negotiations were endorsed by the
European Parliament.

With no end to this witch-hunt in sight, we can only expect more human
rights violations and terror as U.S. military’s war machine rolls over the
Philippines and the Philippine military is allowed to go on unchecked.

It is in these desperate times that we appeal for your support to help put a
stop to the U.S government’s campaign of terror and suppression.

Please find attached, three (3) petition letters addressed to the
Philippine, Dutch, and Canadian governments to take a stand against the U.S.
international war against terror that is causing more war and misery in the
Philippines.  The pretext of fighting “terrorism” in the aftermath of
September 11 must not be used to suppress legitimate political activities
and dissent.

We are asking for those committed to peace, justice, and freedom to sign the
petitions and help circulate them.

In solidarity,

B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Filipino Nurses Support Group
Philippine Women Center of B.C.
SIKLAB (Overseas Filipino workers organization)
Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino-Canadian Youth
Alliance-Vancouver



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