RIGHTS group Karapatan is urging President Rodrigo Duterte to release all political prisoners still languishing in jail ahead of the second round of formal peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on Thursday, October 6 in Oslo, Norway.
In a statement, Karapatan said “the general amnesty and release of all political prisoners is an issue of justice for activists and political dissenters who were illegally arrested, detained and some, wrongly convicted, for crimes they did not commit.”
“We urge the Duterte administration to render justice to political prisoners, their families and the communities they serve by making good its commitment to release [them],” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay in the statement released to the media Monday.
One of the provisions negotiators from both sides had agreed on during the first round of the peace talks was to recommend to the President the issuance of an “Amnesty Proclamation” to all detained political prisoners subject to concurrence of Congress.
Peace panelists wanted Duterte to free detainees who are listed by the NDFP and who have been “arrested, imprisoned, charged, and/or convicted for alleged acts or omissions within the ambit of the Revised Penal Code or special laws in connection with alleged crimes in pursuit of one’s political beliefs.”
Karapatan said other political detainees lauded the government for releasing on bail 21 of their colleagues, majority of whom are NDFP peace consultants, last August.
The group added it also expects the release of three wrongly convicted NDFP peace consultants, “at the soonest possible time to enable their full participation in the ongoing peace talks.”
Those convicted are Eduardo Serrano from Eastern Visayas, Leopoldo Caloza, and Emeterio Antalan from Central Luzon.
“Their contributions will be valuable in the discussions on social and economic reforms and political and constitutional reforms because they hail from regions where peasants have been oppressed and exploited for many decades,” Palabay said.
Kaparatan said the three have been serving prison time for false charges filed against them.
“Just and lasting peace can be achieved by addressing the needs and democratic interests of the marginalized sectors. We need to maximize the knowledge and experience of people who worked with the poor, such as Sarmiento, Caloza and Antalan. We hope that they will be released immediately,” Palabay said.
