NDFP International Information Office
Communist and Workers parties worldwide slam 'US-Arroyo War of Terror',
Push international support for anti-Arroyo forces
(Utrecht, 10 May) – Communist parties and revolutionary organizations from more than 30 countries worldwide recently joined escalating international condemnations of the gross violations of peoples’ rights in the Philippines, and called on parties, organizations and individuals around the world to “join the Filipino people in frustrating the US-Arroyo regime’s war of terror and support their struggle for national liberation and democracy”.
NDFP International Information Office
Communist and Workers parties worldwide slam 'US-Arroyo War of Terror',
Push international support for anti-Arroyo forces
(Utrecht, 10 May) – Communist parties and revolutionary organizations from more than 30 countries worldwide recently joined escalating international condemnations of the gross violations of peoples’ rights in the Philippines, and called on parties, organizations and individuals around the world to “join the Filipino people in frustrating the US-Arroyo regime’s war of terror and support their struggle for national liberation and democracy”.
In a resolution presented before a plenary session of the International Communist Seminar in Brussels, Belgium on 6 May, at least 44 communist parties and revolutionary organizations expressed their support for “the Filipino people’s struggle against the US-Arroyo regime’s War of Terror”. They stressed that “the Bush-instigated war of terror has involved summary executions, massacres, enforced disappearances, torture and other atrocities” against the Filipino people.
The signatories pointed out that, since coming to power in 2001, the US-Arroyo regime “has murdered more than 830 leaders and members of progressive legal organizations,” inflicted serious injury to 357 others who survived assassination attempts and caused the forcible disappearance of nearly 200 legal activists. They added that the regime is responsible for the forcible evacuation of more than a million people who were “subjected to bombings, artillery fire, arbitrary machinegun fire and other forms of military attacks.”
Among the signatories of the resolution were the Worker’s Party of Belgium, Partido Comunista de Cuba, Partido Comunista de Venezuela, Movement Towards Socialism of Bolivia, Partido Communista do Brazil, Partido Communista Marxista-Leninista del Ecuador, Workers’ World Party of the USA, Freedom Road Socialist Organization of the USA, Syrian Communist Party, Russian Communist Workers’ Party, Workers’ Communist Party of Norway and the Communist Party of Sweden.
The Brussels resolution comes in the heels of increasing international pressure for the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to respect human rights and put a stop to the rampant extrajudicial killings plaguing the country. Most recently, the European Parliament in plenary adopted a resolution expressing grave concern at the increasing number of political killings in the country. Citing statistics from the human rights organization KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights), the European Parliament noted that many of the victims belong to groups “accused by the government of being front organizations” for communist and so-called terrorist organizations.
The signatories to the Brussels resolution expressed support for “all the efforts of the Filipino people to frustrate the regime in every arena of struggle” in the legal mass movement and in the countryside where the New People’s Army is inflicting “fatal blows and heavy losses against the reactionary forces”. They also decried the misrepresentation as terrorists of Prof. Jose Maria Sison, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.
According to Luis G. Jalandoni, chief international representative of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the initial response to the resolution was good and that “we expect to collect additional signatories from other parties and organizations from around the world”.
He added that, “the growing global condemnation and the popular resistance of the Filipino people is pushing the Arroyo regime deeper into political isolation. The people welcome all possible encouragement and assistance in our just struggle for national liberation and genuine democracy.”
