Peasant Group Decry Human Rights Violation

PRESS RELEASE
December 11, 2008
References:
Danilo Ramos, Phone: +632-9284184
Erpan Faryadi , E-mail: agra_pusat@yahoo.com

Asian Peasant Group Decry Human Rights Violation

On the occasion of the 60th International Human Rights Day on December 10, the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) is calling on all its member organizations to be more vigilant in defending their human rights especially their rights to land, seeds, resources and livelihood.

Danilo Ramos, APC Secretary-General and concurrent Secretary-General of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines) said in a statement made yesterday, “At this point, governments in Asia cannot be trusted nor expected to uphold the human rights of its citizens. More often, fascist states are the number one violators of human rights. Unfortunately, the Philippines had probably had the bloodiest human rights record among so-called democracies in Southeast Asia.”

“The human rights group Karapatan in its Human Rights Report for 2008, said that human rights defenders have been tagged as “enemies of the state” by the Arroyo government and harshly dealt with as such. Karapatan has documented 977 extrajudicial killings of civilians of which 528 where KMP members since Arroyo assumed office in 2001,” Ramos added.

Erpan Faryadi, APC Vice-Chairperson for Internal Affairs and also Secretary-General of Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria (Alliance of Agrarian Reform Movements) adds, “The peasant sector is one of the highly victimized and is constantly oppressed by state forces who are involved in land conflicts. Last August 2008 in Indonesia, three peasant activists were forcibly taken by the police after attending a peaceful demonstration to defend their land.”

“In India , indigenous people and farmers alike are constantly being displaced due to government initiated special economic zones project. The peasants have no place to live, no means of livelihood, and the environment is polluted due to processing plants,” added Faryadi.

Ramos further points out that “what we are experiencing today clearly states that our human rights that are supposed to be celebrated today were continuously violated. We are joining the people worldwide in commemorating the International Human Rights Day, and call for a stop in political repression and persecution. Specifically in the Philippines, we call to halt extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and arrest and detention. We are also urging the peasants in Asia to strengthen our ranks and intensify our struggle for land and genuine freedom." ###