Human Rights in the Philippines: ADELISA

ADELISA by Kiri Dalena is one of an series of short Public Service Announcements on the human rights situation in the Philippines produced by progressive film artists in that country. Click menu for other films such as The Disappeared, Where is Jonas?, Ignorante and LOST AND FOUND. These films were screened in Montreal along with a sneak preview of a new short film by Marie Boti and Malcolm Guy, Philippines: War on the people, on December 10, 2007. Forty-five people attended the event held at the Simon Bolivar Cultural Centre to mark International Human Rights Day.

Lancement du film le 10 décembre - Journée internationale des droits de l'home

Un nouveau court-métrage documentaire sur les assassinats politiques aux Philippines sera lancé le 10 décembre pour marquer la Journée internationale des droits de la personne. Le documentaire, Philippines, War on the people, de Marie Boti et Malcolm Guy vient dans la foulé de la campagne international pour dénoncer la vague d'assassinats et d'enlèvements politiques qui se deferle sur l'archipel philippin depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir de la Présidente Gloria Macapagal Arroyo en 2001. Le film suit l'histoire de Dr. Chandu Claver, un dirigeant autochtone qui a été victime d'une attaque par les militaires, attaque qui a pris la vie de son épouse Alice en 2006. Le docteur Claver a fait partie d' une délégation philippine qui a visité le Canada au printemps 2007.

Le couple Boti et Guy sont rentré à Montréal la semaine dernière suivant un séjour de recherche aux Philippines ou ils travaillent sur un nouveau documentaire. Ils discuteront de la conjoncture actuelle dans ce pays du sud-est asiatique ou la crise politique s'aiguise et le gouvernement est plus isolé que jamais.

Date et heure: Lundi le 10 décembre de 17h à 19h
Lieu: Centre Simon Bolivar, 394 de Maisonneuve ouest (Métro Place des Arts)

Film launch December 10 - Human Rights Day

A new short film by Marie Boti and Malcolm Guy, Philippines: War on the people will be launched December 10, 2007 in Montreal to mark International Human Rights Day. The film looks at the international campaign, including a 2007 tour in Canada, to oppose the wave of politically-motivated killings and abductions in the Philippines since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power in 2001. Featured in the film are indigenous leader Dr. Chandu Claver, whose wife Alice was gunned down in 2006, and the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal Second Session on the Philippines held in The Hague, Netherlands earlier this year.

CAP-CPC members Boti and Guy, just returned from a one-month research trip to the Philippines, will discuss the making of their film and the present situation in this South East Asian nation, where young military officers are rebelling, massive displacements of populations continue, and the Arroyo regime is more isolated than ever.

The event will be held Monday, December 10 between 5 and 7 pm at the Simon Bolivar Cultural Centre, 394 de Maisonneuve West (Metro Place-des-Arts).

*Photos courtesy of Arkibongbayan

Photos - Public Forum on Nepal and Philippines

The March 8th Coordination and Action Committee of Women of Diverse Origins in Montreal held a sucessful public forum on the Philippines and Nepal on November 11, 2007 at the Simon Bolivar Cultural Centre. Speakers included Sarwat Viqar of the Centre for Philippine Concerns, Sharhzad Arshadi from the Iranian Women's Association of Montreal, and Evelyn Calugay and Thelma Castro from PINAY, a Filipino women's group in Montreal.

To view more photos of this event, please click onto our CAP-CPC Flickr account.

Public Forum on women in Philippines and Nepal

CAP-CPC member, Sarwat Viqar, will join a panel of speakers that will report back on the Women's International Solidarity Affair in the Philippines (WISAP) hosted every 2 years by Gabriela - a national alliance of militant Philippine women's organizations. The event is organized by the March 8th Coordination and Action Committee of Women of Diverse Origins and will also feature another speaker on the situation in Nepal.

The activity will take place on Sunday, November 11 at 2pm at the Simon Bolivar Cultural Centre on 394 de Maisonneuve (metro Place-des-Arts).

The CAP-CPC Women's committee is an active member of the March 8th Coordination and Action Committee in Montreal.

__________

« Le comité d'action et de coordination des femmes
de diverses origines pour le 8 mars» présente
Les Philippines et le Népal: deux expériences

1- Sarwat Viqar, une participante à la conférence internationale des femmes aux Philippines en août 2007 (le WISAP) partagera son expérience.

2- Une photographe montréalaise fera un rapport de son voyage au Népal avec projection de photos

Date: 11 novembre 2007 à 14h00
Lieu: Centre Culturel Simon Bolivar, 394 de Maisonneuve (à l'ouest du métro Place-des-Arts)

SUPPORT FOR IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS IN NEW ZEALAND

On Monday, October 22, 2007, The Centre for Philippine Concerns came out to support
the protest action outside the office of the UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity in Montreal. The Centre for Philippine Concerns, a member of the International
League of People's Struggles, opposes the New Zealand government's suppression of the
Moari and environmental activists and the "terrorist" labeling of these same acttivists.
These are the same tactics used by the Philippines in the suppression of Filipino activists.
Attached is the press statement of the Maori Solidarity Committee in Montreal.

Press Release

Protest New Zealand's bid for UN Human Rights Council
IN SUPPORT OF IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS IN NEW ZEALAND

Montreal. Last week in Aotearoa /New Zealand, Maori sovereignty
campaigners, environmental, peace and social justice activists, were
targeted in military-style raids under the post 9/11 Terrorism Suppression
Act, and are being painted in the media as terrorists. Police raided
homes, confiscated possessions and imprisoned at least seventeen mainly
Maori activists in a military-style operation. Amongst those arrested was
prominent Maori activist and community worker Tame Iti, who has been
denied bail along with eleven others.

"We are not terrorists - we've been terrorised" read banners on a 1500
strong demonstration on Friday in the small town of Whakatane, in
solidarity with the arrestees.

Protests this week continue across Aotearoa/New Zealand. In the USA,
Australia, Germany, Greece, and South Africa, people are denouncing New
Zealand's targeting of Indigenous sovereignty campaigners – and making
links between last week's raids, and an international trend of labeling
legitimate political dissent "terrorist".

On Monday, October 22, 2007 at 13h, we are protesting last week's raids,
and drawing attention to Canada and Aotearoa/New Zealand's hypocracy with
respect to the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Last month, New Zealand and Canada were among only 4 governments to vote
against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. On 13
September 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) with 143 member states voting in
favor, eleven abstaining, and Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US
voting against the Declaration.  New Zealand is now waging a militarized
campaign against Maori sovereignty, environmental and social justice
activists. Shamelessly, New Zealand announced its candidacy for the UN
Human Rights Council for the period 2009-2012 this past Friday.

Maori advocacy for self-determination was portrayed a domestic "terrorist"
threat in Aotearoa long before 9/11 and long after colonization of the
nineteenth century.

We stand in solidarity with those in Aotearoa/New Zealand, like here in
Canada, who continue to be terrorized and persecuted by legislation that
criminalizes dissent, particularly those most affected – Indigenous
Peoples and immigrants of colour.

New Zealand repression echos events here in Canada

New Zealand police raids echo the treatment of Indigenous activists in
Canada. Similarly, so-called anti-terror laws are used to label dissent –
especially the dissent of Indigenous peoples – as criminal and terrorist.
Internationally, Canada and New Zealand have consistently attempted to
block the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

This summer, Tyendinaga Mohawk activist Shawn Brant was arrested after
blockades of rail lines and highways on Tyendinaga land. A leader in his
community's struggle, he has been portrayed as a criminal and terrorist.
Like Tame Iti, Shawn was jailed in July 2007, and was denied bail until
the end of August.

Communities in the Mohawk territories of Kahnawake, Akwesasne, and
Kanehsatake are all too familiar with racist government repression and
attacks. In Kahnawake in 1990 and in Kanehsatake in 1994 the Canadian
government used the military to attack and repress Mohawk people. In 2006,
we saw heavy police repression in Six Nations when Indigenous activists
reclaimed their land. This summer's police crackdown after the June 29th
days of action are proof that colonialism is alive and well in Canada in
the 21st century.

Repression hidden beneath laws to supposedly fight 'terror' has become all
too familiar.

Demands

We call on people to expose and oppose the New Zealand government's
repressive actions. We strongly oppose New Zealand's bid for a place on
the UN Human Rights Council for its clear suppression of the legitimate00
right to dissent, and for the ongoing violent repression of the Maori
people. We demand in that New Zealand government release those arrested
and apologize to the Tuhoe.

WHEN: Monday, October 22, 13h
WHERE: Outside the UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity, 413, Saint Jacques Street, Montreal
CONTACT: Maori Solidarity Committee 514-839-4661

Arnel Salvador of WAC wraps up Montreal tour

Montreal was Arnel Salvador's last leg in his three-city tour of eastern Canada, including Toronto and Ottawa. In Montreal his week of activities was hosted by the Centre for Philippine Concerns (CAP-CPC). Arnel Salvador is the executive deputy director of the Workers Assistance Centre (WAC) based in Cavite, Philippines. He was invited to Canada by KAIROS (a church-based social justice movement). The Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (Ottawa) and the Philippine Network for Justice and Peace (Toronto) also played an active role in his trip.

Arnel met with several union federations in Quebec including representatives from the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN) and the Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ). He also met with the Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO- International Centre for Workers' Solidarity) campaign committee on sweatshops. Salvador exposed the situation in the Cavite Export Processing Zone where thousands of workers, mostly women, face the exploitative labour practices of foreign multi-national corporations. One of the most notorious is Wal-Mart, where a strike for the right to unionize at one of its Philippine suppliers, the Chong Won clothing factory, has been violently attacked.

CAP-CPC contacts among college professors were mobilized to help organize talks in schools to inform students about the high cost of low priced goods that corporate giants like Wal-Mart provide. It was an important part of building solidarity with a new generation of young Canadians.

On Saturday, October 20, the Filipino Association of Montreal and Suburbs (FAMAS) co-hosted a community forum with Arnel as the main speaker in the FAMAS Community Centre. Present were representatives from Filipino community organizations like the Federation of Filipino Associations of Quebec, NGO's like Development and Peace and social activists based in Montreal. This event was a first step for future collaboration between the well-established Filipino community organizations, the Centre for Philippine Concerns and other concerned organizations on issues such as the extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations happening in the Philippines.

Arnel is returning to the Philippines satisfied that he has gained concrete support from organizations in Montreal. Many of the people and organizations he had met gave their commitment to continue their links and raise financial support for the WAC, organize a Canadian Labour delegation to the Philippines, and lobby Canadian government to pressure the Arroyo administration to put a stop to the ongoing human rights violations in the Philippines.

Related links:

More photos of Arnel's visit in Montreal

Public Service Alliance of Canada hosts Arnel

Bataille syndicale aux Philippines - article de CISO

Workers Assistance Centre