Statewatch News online: Campaign launched and petition to defend Professor Sison

The Petition: "DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF PROF. JOSE MARIA SISON

To: The Government of The Netherlands
International petition campaign
DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF PROF. JOSE MARIA SISON (Philippines)

To
THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT

Mr.Prime Minister of The Netherlands

Philippine Prof. Jose Maria Sison is living in the Netherlands as a recognized political refugee under the protection of the Refugee Convention and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Prof. Sison is the General Consultant of International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) and has been the chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). These negotiations have been facilitated by the Norwegian, Dutch and Belgian governments.

On 9 August 2002, the US State Department listed the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as “foreign terrorist organizations”, encouraging other governments “to take action to isolate these terrorist organizations, to choke off their sources of financial support, and to prevent their movement across international borders”. Since 12 August 2002, the US Treasury Department has listed Jose Maria Sison as a “terrorist” whose assets must be frozen.

Subsequently, the Dutch government has followed the bidding of the US by issuing the ‘Sanctions ruling on terrorism 2002 III’ on 13 August 2002, criminalizing Jose Maria Sison as a “terrorist” without benefit of due process and subjecting him to punishment such as:

1. The freezing of his Postbank current account through which he receives social welfare payment to pay his bills.
2. The removal of all state subsidies for food, housing, health insurance and other necessities under a directive dated 10 September 2002 from the social welfare agency of Utrecht’s municipal government.

We, the undersigned, vow to help defend the rights of Prof. Jose Maria Sison.

We demand from the Dutch authorities:
• the full respect for the protection of Jose Maria Sison as a recognized refugee under the relevant international conventions;
• the grant of his residence permit in the Netherlands;
• the immediate de-listing of his name and the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the ‘Sanctieregeling terrorisme 2002 III’
• the immediate, unconditional and complete restoration of all the social benefits to which he is entitled as a political refugee (monthly allowance, insurance and housing benefits)
• the refusal of any possible demand for his extradition.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF PROF. JOSE MARIA SISON Petition to The Government of The Netherlands was created by ILPS, AIPRF, FAIG and written by ILPS - AIPRF. This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc. For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

UK: Invitation to join the launch the campaign to defend Jose Maria Sison In Britain

We are writing you to ask for your support in joining the campaign to defend Prof. Jose Maria Sison. Philippine Prof. Jose Maria Sison is living in the Netherlands as a recognized political refugee under the protection of the Refugee Convention and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Prof. Sison is the chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. These negotiations have been facilitated by the Norwegian, Dutch and Belgian governments.

On 9 August 2002, the US State Department listed the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army as "foreign terrorist organizations" encouraging other governments to take action to isolate these terrorist organizations, to choke off their sources of financial support, and to prevent their movement across international borders. Since 12 August 2002, the US Treasury Department has listed Jose Maria Sison as a "terrorist", whose assets must be frozen.

Subsequently, the Dutch government has followed the bidding of the US by issuing the "Sanctions ruling on terrorism 2002 III; on 13 August 2002, criminalizing Jose Maria Sison as a "terrorist"; without benefit of due process and freezing of his Postbank current account through which he receives social welfare payment to pay his bills and removing all state subsidies for food, housing, health insurance and other basic necessities under a directive dated 10 September 2002 from the social welfare agency of Utrecht's municipal government.

Meanwhile, the US has deployed troops to the Philippines under the pretext of military exercises with the Philippine military and to fight a small bandit group that is in fact a creation of the CIA and the Philippine military. The real purpose of the US military is to fight the popular people's movement. US soldiers join the Philippine army in its operations against the people. US soldiers have been involved in shooting and bombing incidents in Mindanao, the Southern part of the Philippines.

The campaign, which has just been launched in UK, will be organising a series of events in the country. The first of these is a visit by Luis Jalandoni, Member of the National Executive Council of the NDFP and Chairperson of the NDFP Peace Negotiating Panel. For further information on the international campaign, please visit the website: http://www.defendsison.be <http://www.defendsison.be/>

We would very much welcome your presence at the following events:

Meeting to launch the campaign to DEFEND Jose Maria Sison In Britain
Sunday 20th October, 4pm-9pm
Main Speaker: Luis Jalandoni, NDPF Chairperson
Tohum Cultural Centre, 2A Belgrade Road, London N16

Press Conference, Monday 21st October, 3.30 pm

House of Lords, Room G
Chair: Lord Rea, member of All Party Parliamentary Human Rights Commission
Speaker: Luis Jalandoni, NDPF Chairperson

Organised by: ILPS -British Section , BM Box 563, London WC1N 3XX
email : europe@ilps2001.com