PETITION SIGNING: SUPPORT THE POLITICAL PRISONERS' HUNGER STRIKE FOR FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

We call on President Aquino to:

1. Call upon competent authorities to look into the plight of the political prisoners and detainees particularly the criminalization of their political acts, and the bureaucracy in government that failed to immediately act on petitions such as parole, pardon and clemency filed by prisoners;
2. Review the present Board of Pardons and Parole guidelines 2006 Revised Manual of the Board of Pardons and Parole, Section 3, Extraordinary Circumstances, a) to consider the proposal to lower the age limit of those eligible for pardon from 70 to 60 and, b)  to include prisoners who are “terminally ill and have debilitating diseases” for immediate executive clemency;
3. Create a working group to examine, monitor, review and provide recommendations in relation to the ongoing cases of political offenders. Similar actions should be taken in dealing with pending appeals and applications for parole, pardon and clemency filed by political prisoners. The group should have unrestricted access to the prison system and its records;
4. Provide “a general and unconditional amnesty” for the release of political prisoners and detainees;
5. Provide a clear action plan of government to include human rights principles as basis for governance and development plan;
6. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards.

The 319 political prisoners and detainees nationwide need our support now.  We are writing on behalf of all the victims of political incarceration and seek your kind support.

PLEASE SIGN PETITION HERE!

Hunger Strike for FREEDOM and HUMAN RIGHTS

The political prisoners nationwide led by those in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City have taken a step further from an indefinite fast into a full-scale hunger strike last July 25 coinciding with the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Rights group dismayed over PNoy’s late clemency on Umbrero

Rights group Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) was shocked and dismayed after hearing the news that President Benigno Aquino III granted clemency to the deceased political prisoner Mariano Umbrero.

“Apparently the President is oblivious to the fact that he gave conditional pardon to a dead man. Tatay Umbrero died on July 15, 2011 and PNoy signed his release papers on July 19. It seems that Umbrero’s release papers stopped at a bureaucratic red light and did not move till he was dead,” Emmanuel Amistad, Executive Director of TFDP said in disappointment.

Mariano Umbrero the cancer-stricken political prisoner died last July 15, 2011.  TFDP received a copy of Umbrero’s release papers yesterday, July 28, 2011. TFDP and other human rights groups have been campaigning for his release on humanitarian grounds since early March after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in late February of this year.

According to TFDP’s records, Tatay Umbrero as they called him was one of the 320 political prisoners languishing in jails nationwide. Tatay Umbrero’s case was a showcase of how inhumane the bureaucracy was, specifically victimizing poor inmates like him.  It is just and reasonable to review and amend the difficult provisions of the Board of Pardons and Parole rules and regulations on granting executive clemency.

“It is necessary that PNoy listens and looks into the plight of our political prisoners.  He should learn the lesson and heed the call of the political prisoners who are now in a Hunger Strike since July 25.  PNoy should act immediately again before another Umbrero happens,” Amistad continued.

Daughter of jailed Bahrain protestor goes on hunger strike

Anti-government protesters present flowers to riot policemen in Bahrain Photo: AFP/GETTY

A daughter of a prominent Bahraini human rights activist has gone on hunger strike to protest the arrest of several family members - including her father and her husband - for their connection to anti-government protests.

Zainab al-Khawaja told The Associated Press that she will refuse food until her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, is released, along with her husband, brother-in-law and uncle.