Karapatan welcomes the dismissal of trumped up charges under RA 11479 and RA 9851 against young human rights defender Hailey Pecayo. The dismissal of the complaints of soldiers of the 59th Infantry Battalion by Office of the City Prosecutor in Sta. Rosa, Laguna exposes the fabricated lies against Pecayo and other respondents and that such charges including the terror law were made to threaten, harass and intimidate Pecayo in a desperate attempt to dissuade her from doing her work as a human rights worker.
We hope that similar charges using the Terror Law against Kenneth Rementilla, Jasmin Rubia, Rev. Glofie Baluntong and many others will be junked or dismissed. We call for accountabilty for those involved in these forms of judicial harassment against activists, dissenters and ordinary folks. We call the attention of relevant authorities that the use of the terror law vs Pecayo et. al. shows how injurious the law is on citizens’ constitutional rights. Thus, these terror laws should be repealed.
Cristina Palabay
Karapatan Secretary General