By FIDEL V. AGCAOILI
Chairperson, NDFP Human Rights Committee
The three false charges of rebellion in Negros against Professor Jose Maria Sison, Chief Political Consultant of the NDFP Negotiating Panel, are the handiwork of the Interagency Legal Action Group (IALAG) of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales. The charges are part of the 1,500 false charges that IALAG has been ordered to manufacture against Prof. Sison before the May 2007 elections.
By FIDEL V. AGCAOILI
Chairperson, NDFP Human Rights Committee
The three false charges of rebellion in Negros against Professor Jose Maria Sison, Chief Political Consultant of the NDFP Negotiating Panel, are the handiwork of the Interagency Legal Action Group (IALAG) of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales. The charges are part of the 1,500 false charges that IALAG has been ordered to manufacture against Prof. Sison before the May 2007 elections.
These charges against Prof. Sison, even if manufactured in the hundreds or even thousands, are invalid and ineffective because they are false and fabricated. They come out as puerile, silly and cheap propaganda.
Under Philippine law, there can only be one case of rebellion arising from one rebellion. This absorbs all other possible allegations or specifications. Otherwise someone accused of rebellion would be in jeopardy of being punished twice or several times for one and the same alleged offense of rebellion.
Also under Philippine law, Prof. Sison is not in the custody and jurisdiction of the Philippine reactionary authorities. Under international law, he is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights and by the Refugee Convention.
It would be both a legal and political anomaly if the Dutch authorities were to join the brutal Arroyo regime in persecuting Prof. Sison. The Dutch authorities are bad enough for being deafeningly silent on human rights violations by the Arroyo regime and for impeding the consultations between the NDFP-Joint Secretariat and the Utrecht-based NDFP members in the Joint Monitoring Committee and the NDFP Negotiating Panel despite the endorsement of the Norwegian government.
Any request for the Red notice of Interpol is useless because there is no extradition treaty between the Netherlands and the Philippines. Furthermore, the charges are clearly politically motivated. Article 3 of the Interpol charter excludes politically motivated charges.
Among the lawyers of Prof. Sison are the best in international law on human rights and international criminal law. The ignoramuses on these subjects in the Arroyo regime and the military should stop exposing their ignorance and malice internationally.
