Karapatan
11 April 2021
Dear friends,
We are forwarding you this solidarity statement from Misun Woo, Regional Coordinator of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) denouncing the bogus attempted murder charge against Karapatan National Chairperson Elisa “Tita” Lubi, who was a governance member of the APWLD, having engaged in the network for more than 25 years; she was its interim Regional Coordinator from 2008 to 2009.
APWLD and its members strongly calls on the Philippine judiciary to immediately dismiss all trumped up charges against Lubi, political organisers, and human rights defenders in the Philippines, for the Philippine government to immediately stop the killings, arrests and all forms of violations against its own people, and hold all perpetrators accountable, and for the international community to support an international independent investigation of the human rights situations in the Philippines.
Please circulate the statement among your networks. You can also read the statement through the attached PDF file.
Karapatan Public Information Desk
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Drop Trumped-Up Charges Against Tita Lubi and all Activists in the Philippines!
Misun Woo, APWLD Regional Coordinator
The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) denounces the bogus charge of attempted murder against Elisa ‘Tita’ Lubi, National Chairperson of Karapatan in the Philippines. This is another serious addition to the years of targeted threats that the government of the Philippines have used to silence and criminalise the entire life of Tita and political activists in the Philippines.
I have known Tita Lubi since 2007 and had the honour to work closely with her when she joined the Secretariat as the Interim Regional Coordinator in 2008-2009. From the first moment she joined APWLD in 1989 as a former political prisoner, she has pioneered APWLD’s organising and movement building work, with specific dedication to women’s political power and leadership, to resist and dismantle imperialist globalisation and feudal patriarchal structures. I still vividly remember the conversations we had, walking down the street together in search of steamed corn and the small personal notes that she would give with encouragement and advice full of love. Her guidance has helped me grow to be a feminist, not only with a brain but with a heart, committed to peoples’ struggles, liberation and to reclaim our sovereignty. And I am sure I am one of the thousands of people who have been touched by Tita’s fierce activism and dedication to feminist and peoples’ movements. If all these beautiful and fundamental work for all the oppressed peoples make Tita to be labelled as a terrorist and now a murderer, what are you, government of the Philippines? We know you feel threatened by the work of Tita and political activists in the Philippines, and afraid of international solidarity. It is time for you to stop immediately and be held accountable for the atrocities you have conducted and orchestrated.
According to Karapatan, from 2016 to December 2020, victims of politically-related human rights violations include over 376 extrajudicial killings (EJKs), 488 frustrated killings, 18 enforced disappearances, and 1,040 illegally arrested and detained. Two hundred ninety seven (297) of the victims of politically-related EJKs were peasant activists, and 68 were indigenous peoples. Furthermore, there have been 451 political prisoners under President Duterte’s term, bringing the number of political detainees across the country to 680. Of these detainees, 116 are women.
APWLD and our members strongly calls on:
• The Philippine judiciary to immediately dismiss all trumped up charges against Tita Lubi, political organisers and human rights defenders in the Philippines; and by doing so prove its independence from the autocratic government of the Philippines
• The government of the Philippines to immediately stop the killings, arrests and all forms of violations against its own people, and hold all perpetrators accountable.
• International community to support an international independent investigation of the human rights situations in the Philippines.
#HandsOffActivists #HandsOffTitaLubi
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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESKpublicinfo@karapatan.org