 PREVIOUS |
FOR PEACE NEGOTIATIONS:
RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS AND END SPATE OF POLITICAL ARRESTS
NEWS RELEASE
22 April 2001
"Preliminary talks on peace negotiations have begun yet the spate of arrests under the Arroyo administration continues. Such moves are anathema to the Arroyo administration's pronouncements of pursuing peace." The militant women's group GABRIELA aired this observation as it called for the immediate release of all political prisoners, especially the women and children. GABRIELA also called for an end to the spate of political arrests under the Arroyo administration.
"The People Power installed administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has already arrested and detained 22 political activists, four among them are women. It is disquieting to note that while the GMA administration is going through the slow process of releasing political prisoners, it is at the same time replenishing the number of its political prisoners," Emmi De Jesus GABRIELA Deputy Secretary General said.
The four women political prisoners detained under the GMA administration are Annie Sta Ana, Gloria Pabillon, Irene Plagtiosa and Janeth Montecalvo. Sta Ana has reportedly been released after her confinement at the Fort Bonifacio Military Hospital.
Aside from the four, GABRIELA has documented 10 women and minors political prisoners languishing in jail in all parts of the country. Their names have not been included in the list for immediate release. And their release has been constantly delayed with the slow judicial process. The case of the minor detainees in Bicol-- Ailyn and Neschil Navarro and Lambert Nubla has frequently been postponed or delayed because either the judge is absent or the prosecutor fails to present its witnesses. Some of the cases like that of Emma Raet should have been dismissed due to lack of evidences.
"We have observed that while the GMA administration seems to have a hard time arresting Joseph Estrada with all the evidences in tow, it can easily arrest ordinary citizens with a mere suspicion of being a member of the NPA." said De Jesus.
GABRIELA also said that the continuing arrest could derail the administration's 18-month target for the completion of the peace process. "We would like to remind the President that the issue of political prisoners should be a priority. Especially now that President Arroyo is pursuing peace talks with the revolutionary groups like the NDFP and MILF. The immediate release of political prisoners will prove President Arroyo's sincerity in pursuing peace," says De Jesus. ###
