CPP hails ‘Morong 43’ release order, says more action needed

Philippine communist insurgents praised President Benigno Aquino III for his order to release the 43 health workers detained for allegedly being members of the New People's Army (NPA), saying this will boost the peace process. But in the same breath, the rebels said the government had still to back up the order by punishing those who arrested the 43 workers — dubbed as the Morong 43 — and working to prosecute perpetrators of, and end, political killings in the country. Aquino’s order to release of the 43 health workers arrested last February on suspicion of being communist rebels is a "boost of goodwill for the forthcoming resumption of peace negotiations," the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in a statement posted on its website Saturday. The Justice department is expected to finalize the withdrawal of charges against the Morong 43 on Monday, even as formal peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front are scheduled to resume in February 2011 in Oslo, Norway. The CPP praised the release order as a "victory" of the Morong 43 that should serve as “inspiration" for “thousands of other victims of military abuses to defend their rights" and to “seek redress for the grave injustices inflicted on them." However, the rebel group maintained that the government still had to take "a thousand more steps" to redress the "injustices and cruelties" committed against the Morong 43, as well as seriously address “continuing (and) widespread human rights abuses (committed) by its Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), police and paramilitary forces." "It is not enough for (Pres.) Aquino to just mouth the rhetoric of 'upholding human rights' without carrying out decisive measures to check and punish the abuses," the rebels said. The grave injustice against the Morong 43 must be corrected by punishing the officers and forces of the Philippine Army's 2nd Infantry Division who arrested the 43 workers in February, and allegedly tortured and intimidated the detainees since, the group said. The CPP also pointed out that some 400 political detainees continued to languish in jails and military camps — including a number of National Democratic Front consultants who were supposed to be granted safe passage under the Joint Agreement for Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) that governs the peace talks. The CPP called for decisive steps to stop extrajudicial killings and end the climate of impunity. There have been at least 22 political killings since Aquino took office, the group said. The CPP also urged the government to consider the recommendations of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Philip Alston, who paid a visit to the country on 2007, and found that the military, police and paramilitary forces under the administration of former President Gloria Arroyo were responsible for many extrajudicial killings. The policy of allowing political killings to continue apply to the current regime, the CPP said. For the past three months, a series of unprecedented meetings between human rights groups and those most often accused of grave abuses has gone largely unnoticed — even if the meetings comprised small but significant steps toward ending enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the country. - DM/KBK, GMANews.TV