"We join the faithful Christians in raising the voice of the oppressed, especially the kin of the victims extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance, the political prisoners and other victims of human rights violations; and their desire for justice and peace in the country. We hope His Holiness Pope Francis may hear and seek them out during his visit in January,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
"We join the faithful Christians in raising the voice of the oppressed, especially the kin of the victims extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance, the political prisoners and other victims of human rights violations; and their desire for justice and peace in the country. We hope His Holiness Pope Francis may hear and seek them out during his visit in January,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
Palabay and Nikki Gamara, daughter of detained peace consultant Renante Gamara, gave testimonies on the human rights situation in the country before the religious and laity during the launch of Giving Voice to the Cry of the Poor: In Celebration of Love for the Visit of His Holiness Pope Francis. The forum is also the launching of a campaign that seeks to draw attention to the issues of the poor Filipino people “in hope that Pope Francis will make a pronouncement on them.”
Palabay cited Pope Francis’ statement, “Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities,” when she said that peasants and indigenous peoples are mostly the victims of human rights violations of BS Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan.
From July 2010 to September 2014, Palabay said, “There are 127 peasants killed as they fought for their right to land and 51 indigenous peoples defending their ancestral lands from incursions of big foreign mining corporations. They are among the 215 victims of extrajudicial killings.” Karapatan, for the same period, also documented 213 victims of frustrated killing and tens of thousands of them displaced because of forced evacuation during military operations.
“We hope His Holiness would also look into the appalling and inhuman situation of political prisoners, especially the sick, the elderly, the women. The 490 political prisoners speak of the kind of democracy the country has, as the government continues to criminalize political acts. This is true for the 14 detained peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines who are engaged in the peace negotiations with the government.”
During the 2012 United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) when UN member States reviewed the Philippine government’s human rights record, among the Holy See’s recommendations to the GPH were “to work towards the complete elimination of torture and extra judicial killings and to intensify efforts to carry out the prosecution of such crimes.”
Palabay said such recommendation, and Pope Francis’ own statements “give human rights victims and their families a starting point for dialogue.”
Karapatan and other human rights groups like the Desaparecidos, Selda and Hustisya are set to hold various activities starting November such as letter writing to the Pope, fasting in various jails and sympathy fasts in centers that will be set up prior to the Pope’s visit. ###