Swiss Gov’t Action Sought in 2 Relief Volunteers’ Abduction
Female volunteers were interrogated, ordered to strip by Arroyo soldiers
Theresa-Ladeli
Jegenstorf, a prestigious Swiss development organization, has protested
the abduction of Lourilie Naiz, 22, and Mary Bernadette Solitario, 21,
staff workers of the Disaster Response Center, Inc. (DIRECT) last Nov. 4
while on field work in Tulunan, North Cotabato. Soldiers from the 27th
and 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army were
identified as the perpetrators.
BY D. L. MONDELO
Bulatlat
AMSTERDAM - A
prestigious Swiss organization that has been extending assistance to
several development organizations in the Philippines has written a strong
letter to the Philippine embassy in Switzerland to protest the recent
arrest of two Filipino relief workers.
The Bern-based
Theresa-Ladeli Jegenstorf, a rare recipient in 2001 of a Presidential
Award from then President Joseph Estrada for its outstanding development
work in the Philippines, asked the Philippine ambassador in Switzerland to
intervene in the arrest of the two relief workers belonging to its partner
agency.
Aside from this, the
Theresa Ladeli has further asked the intervention of the Swiss embassy in
Manila, the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department and the Swiss Department of
Justice on the case of the two relief workers.
The two arrested
women, Lourilie Naiz, 22, and Mary Bernadette Solitario, 21, staff workers
of the Disaster Response Center, Inc. (DIRECT) in Sarangani Province, were
abducted last Nov. 4 while on field work in Tulunan, North Cotabato by the
27th and 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine
Army. They were taken to a military “safehouse” where they were
interrogated, ordered to take off their clothes, and forced to admit to
being members of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s
Army (CPP-NPA). The two, who suffered shock during their interrogation,
are detained at the Tulunan Police Station.
Theresa Ladeli
spokesperson, Ms. Monika Baumann, said DIRECT is a disaster relief NGO
(non-governmental organization) that they have been supporting for more
than 10 years. She said DIRECT’s work involves helping victims of
landslides, typhoons, floods or bombings by the Philippine military in the
mountains of Mindanao island.
“I know all those
people and they are highly committed to help all those suffering people.
They work day and night to give relief, food and shelter,” Baumann
stressed in their letter.
“I
count on your help, on your intervention, that justice will be given to
those women, that your military will stop (harassing) their own people,
that your President Gloria Arroyo will stop this crazy all out war!”,
Baumannn said. Bulatlat
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