"We reiterate that activism and the full exercise of our civil and political rights is not a crime. While we continue with our everyday human rights work, we are also resolute in our commitment to see this through."
“They think that because they threaten us, we would be silenced.”
Human rights lawyer Maria Catherine Salucon says the granting of the writs of Amparo and Habeas data may be a “landmark decision” but it does not mean that she would let her guard down.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“While we commend the courage of the mothers of Karen and Sherlyn, now human rights defenders themselves, in pursuing the criminal case, it is equally significant that the Aquino government must take concrete steps in making the roads to justice accessible for the victims and their families.” – Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“It’s good news but it [the decision] took so long. Unfortunately, the decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court have not resulted in the surfacing of the disappeared.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño, mother of missing UP student Karen Empeño
Various progressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan on Friday staged a torch march in Davao City to demand justice for Gregan Cardeño, a Filipino interpreter who was found dead inside US troops’ barracks in Marawi City. The group also demanded for the immediate pull-out of the US troops in the country.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The Court of Appeals has granted the Filipino-American activist's amparo and habeas data petitions, saying that Melissa Roxas’s story was credible. But it also pointed out that Roxas failed to show that the military was behind her abduction and torture, hence President Arroyo and elements of the armed forces cannot be made respondents in the case.
The implementation of the writ of amparo which takes effect Oct 24 gives hope to families of about 200 victims of enforced disappearances. A test case is that of activist-agriculturist Jonas Burgos who was abducted allegedly by state agents on April 28. By Dabet...
The relatives of victims of forced disappearance have seen a flash of hope with the Supreme Court’s recent approval of the rules for the writ of amparo. The writ of amparo orders military and police officials to produce or actively search for victims of enforced...
A petition for the writ of amparo has been filed in behalf of a former Marine who was recently included in a police and military “wanted” list even in the absence of charges against him. The petitioners, his wife and his mother, said his being thus included in the...
Relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances deplore the fact that up to now justice still remains elusive and impunity still prevails even as the Supreme Court promulgated new remedies such as the writ of amparo. Worse, the Court of...
Relatives and colleagues of missing activist James Balao asked the Benguet Regional Trial Court to give teeth to its decision on the petition for writ of amparo. BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat LA TRINIDAD, Benguet –...
A Regional Trial Court in Benguet found substantial evidence to link Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and state security forces to the abduction of missing activist James Balao. BY BULATLAT HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Bulatlat LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (263 kms. North of Manila)– A...
Even as they were accompanied by representatives from the Commission of Human Rights (CHR), members of the Balao family and officers of the of Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) were denied entry to military camps in Manila last Oct. 27. BY CYE REYES Northern...
With members of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), the family of missing activist James M. Balao, through counsel National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL), filed a petition for a writ of amparo at the Benguet Regional...
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