Human Rights Challenge to Pres. Aquino – Open letter from Australia and NZ

Open Letter to Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III

22 July 2012

 Urgent Appeal from the Pacific: Stop the Killings!

Grant Presidential Amnesty to All Political Prisoners!

Two years ago on the occasion of your inauguration as new president,
we wrote you to express our hopes that the prospects for peace and
human rights situation would significantly improve under your
administration.

As part of the international community seeking justice for victims of
extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and illegal
detentions under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, we are
gravely concerned and outraged that human rights abuses have continued
under your watch, including:

The killings of Italian priest Fr. FAUSTO TENTORIO and Dutch
missionary WILHELMUS JJ LUTZ GEERTMAN on top of the killings of over
90 Filipino citizens involved in socio-political causes.

The arrest of civilians on fabricated charges continue, the latest of
which includes AGNES TADEO-MESINA, a former member of Migrante
Australia who came back to the Philippines as a community worker
defending poor peasants and indigenous people’s rights from
large-scale mining and other anti-poor projects in Cagayan Valley,
Philippines.

In particular we find your inaction on the urgent appeal of human
rights groups for you to grant presidential amnesty to all political
prisoners extremely disappointing. Considering that your family has
also suffered when your father was unjustly incarcerated and
eventually assassinated by the Marcos dictatorship, we are
disappointed that you continue to ignore the pleas of the families of
those unjustly detained and tortured in prisons.

Mr. President, you have four more years in office. We hope that the
recorded human rights in the last two years would not go on and on as
in the previous administration. As you deliver your third State of the
Nation Address (SONA), we wish to reiterate our calls for you as
commander-in-chief of the Philippine armed forces to take decisive
steps to end impunity.

We seek assurance for justice to be served to all the human rights
victims and the perpetrators punished. You have to end this culture of
impunity. We are seriously concerned about the safety of Filipino
community advocates as well as foreign missionaries including
Australians and New Zealanders who are involved with local community
groups working for the empowerment of urban and rural poor Filipinos.

 We urge you to immediately withdraw trumped up charges against Agnes
Tadeo-Mesina and to grant presidential amnesty to all political
prisoners. We continue to hope that your administration will pursue
the resumption of formal peace talks both with the National Democratic
Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF).

 

Signed:

 

From New Zealand:

 

Helen Kelly

President, NZ Council of Trade Unions

 

John H Roberts

President, Methodist Church of New Zealand

 

John Minto

Spokesperson, Global Peace and Justice Auckland

 

Gillian Southey

Campaigns Coordinator, Christian World Service

 

Stuart Vogel, Secretary, Asian Council

Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa-New Zealand

 

Rev Chris Sullivan

St Marks / Our Lady Star of the Sea Justice & Peace Group

 

Mike Treen

National Director, Unite Union

 

Murray Horton

Secretary, Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa

 

Cameron Walker

Spokesperson Auckland Philippines Solidarity

 

Rod Prosser

Convener, Wellington Kiwi Pinoy

 

Dennis Maga

National Coordinator, Migrante Aotearoa

 

From Australia:

 

Peter Brock
Chairperson, Australian Action for Peace and Development in the
Philippines (APDP)

Peter Murphy
Secretary, Philippines Australia Union Link (PAUL)

Denis Doherty
Chairperson, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition

Dr Anne Noonan
Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW), New South Wales, Australia

Jane Corpuz-Brock
Chairperson, Philippines-Australia Women’s Association (PAWA)

 

Spider Redgold

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, New South Wales
Branch-Australia

 

Pastor Berlin Guerrero

Co-Convenor, Philippine Caucus for Peace

 

George Kotsakis

Chairperson, Migrante Australia

 

May Kotsakis, Co-Chairperson

Philippines Australia Solidarity Association (PASA)

 

Angelina Ladera

Chairperson, GABRIELA Australia

 

Stephanie Rabusa

Chairperson, Anakbayan Melbourne