‘Terror’ Tag on CPP-NPA, Sison To End in August

“All the U.S. could do to delist the CPP-NPA (from its foreign terrorist list) is to do nothing.” Unless it is renewed soon under a U.S. law, the “terror” tag on the communists and Sison will expire in August this year.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat.com

“All the U.S. could do to delist the CPP-NPA is to do nothing.”

Thus said Jayson Lamchek, special legal consultant on the Issue of Terrorism of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in a press briefing on the peace negotiations Feb. 27 in Quezon City. The briefing was hosted by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan – New Patriotic Alliance).

The delisting of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Ma. Sison from the “terror” lists of the United States and European Union (EU) was third of the 10 points of agreement included in the Oslo Joint Statement issued by both Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and NDFP panels on Feb. 14 in Norway.

Lamchek said that even if the U.S. government wanted to keep the CPP-NPA and Sison in its own list of “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTO) and “individual terrorists” and hence obstruct the peace negotiations, their names will be automatically stricken out, like any other in the FTO list, after two years based on a U.S. law.

“Since the communist group and Sison were named in the FTO list in August 2002, the listing should automatically expire by August 2004,” Lamchek said. If the U.S. wants to keep them in the list, it should be renewed at least 60 days before the expiration date, he added.

Lamchek, who also teaches at the University of the Philippines, issued the statement on the heels of denials by members of the GRP panel that the Macapagal-Arroyo committed itself to have the CPP-NPA and Sison removed from the “terrorist” lists. Teresita Quintos-Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process, said on Feb. 15 that the listing is the sovereign right of the U.S. and other foreign governments concerned.

Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Armed Forces officials also said they would oppose the delisting.

Also with Lamchek during the news briefing were Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general of the human rights alliance Karapatan, and Rafael Baylosis, member of the NDFP’s Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and Economic Reforms.

Violations of bilateral agreements

The Oslo joint statement said that “to resolve the outstanding issue of ‘terrorist’ listing of the CPA-NPA and the NDFP Chief Political Consultant, effective measures shall be undertaken in consonance with the Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), and other bilateral agreements.”

Lamchek said that the GRP is actually not honoring these bilateral agreements since the “terrorist” tag which government had asked the U.S. and EU governments to use, clearly violated the agreements. Some observers said inviting foreign interference in what is clearly an internal affair violates the principle of national sovereignty emphasized under the agreements.

“The GRP should not have allowed foreign authority to exercise jurisdiction over Philippine concerns,” the NDFP legal consultant said. “With the agreements, the U.S. cannot define CPP-NPA and Sison as terrorists.”

He also said that even the NPA’s tactical offensives and other activities deemed criminal acts by the government should be considered political offenses under the Supreme Court’s Amado V. Hernandez Doctrine which is also upheld by the GRP.

Lamchek also read NDFP chair Luis Jalandoni’s letter on the alleged violations by the GRP of the bilateral agreements, specifically the democratic rights of Sison guaranteed by the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and Breukelen Statement.

These are the “right to free speech, press, association and assembly, and to seek redress of grievances,” “right not to be subjected to campaigns of incitement to violence against one’s person,” “right to substantive and procedural due process (and) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,” and “the right not to be held responsible for an act he has not committed and to be punished without complying with all the requisites of due process,” among his other rights as a recognized political refugee.

Interpreting the Oslo Joint Statement

The legal consultant said that one should look into the intentions of both parties in order to interpret the Oslo Joint Statement correctly.

Lamchek recounted what the GRP did before and after the “terrorist” listing. For instance, in 2002 then Foreign Secretary Blas Ople campaigned in Europe for the listing of Sison and the CPP-NPA as “terrorists.” Bulatlat.com

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