|
|
Seven years of EU terrorist listing and injustice put to an end
Luis G. Jalandoni
Chairperson
Negotiating Panel
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
October 2, 2009
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel
warmly congratulates its Chief Political Consultant Prof. Jose Maria Sison for
his resounding legal victory in the decision of the European Court of First
Instance to take him off the so-called terrorist black list of the European
Union. We likewise heartily congratulate his international team of lawyers
led by Jan Fermon of Belgium, who tirelessly worked for seven years to
effectively counter the unjust terrorist listing by the Council of the
European Union.
Seven years of EU terrorist listing and injustice are put to an end! The ECFI
nullified the decisions and a regulation of the Council of the EU which
unjustly labeled Prof. Sison as a "terrorist". The ECFI decision of 30 September
2009 demonstrated that Prof. Sison was not the subject of any investigation
or conviction for any act of terrorism and therefore the Council of the EU
had no valid ground at all to put Prof. Sison on its terrorist blacklist. The
Court cited the statement of the then Dutch Foreign Minister De Hoop
Scheffer on 8 October 2002 before the Dutch Parliament stating there
was no reason to even start a criminal investigation against Prof. Sison.
The Court noted that this was done less than three weeks before the
Council of the EU put Prof. Sison on its terrorist blacklist on 28 October 2002.
The unjust blacklisting of Prof. Sison and two major allied organizations of
the NDFP, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People's
Army (NPA) seriously prejudiced the peace negotiations between the Government
of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP. After the terrorist listing
of Prof. Sison, the CPP and the NPA by the USA, the Council of the EU and
some other governments, the GRP sought to divert the focus of peace talks
from addressing the roots of the armed conflict through socio-economic and
political reforms. It instead insisted on the NDFP to sign a so-called Final Peace
Accord (FPA) it one-sidedly formulated.
The FPA disregarded ten peace agreements forged by both Parties. It was an
indecent proposal for the capitulation of the NDFP, requiring the surrender of
the NPA, laying aside the substantive demands of the people for social, economic
and political reforms and preserving the most oppressive and exploitative
characteristics of the ruling system. The then GRP Foreign Secretary, who
led a GRP delegation in September 2002 to persuade European governments
to follow the US and Dutch government in putting the CPP, the NPA and Prof.
Sison on the European terrorist blacklist, declared: "If the NDFP signs the FPA,
they will be taken off the terrorist list!"
The Arroyo regime, using the so-called war against terror, has perpetrated
massive human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances,
torture, and uprooting of civilian communities. All these are gross violations of the
GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and
International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). Special mention is made of the
use of the false charges of terrorism and common crimes to justify the persecution,
abduction, torture and murder of NDFP consultants and other people.
Just as the terrorist listing has seriously jeopardized the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations,
so the major legal victory of our NDFP Chief Political Consultant, in the ECFI decision
to take him off the terrorist black list, creates a favorable condition for the peace
talks. It will encourage peace advocates in the Philippines and abroad to push
further for peace negotiations that address the roots of the armed conflict.
|
|