Fight for Justice and Accountability! Defend Human Rights!
Malaya Movement USA Statement on International Human Rights Day 2022
December 10, 2022
The Malaya Movement USA joins the Filipino people in celebrating International Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. Today must serve as a reminder and a continuing call to action to defend and assert human rights and the collective rights of the Filipino people against the continued violations of the Philippine government under the Marcos-Duterte regime.
Justice and accountability remains elusive. Tens of thousands of victims of the war on drugs as well for the hundreds of victims of assassination, enforced disappearance, and other human rights violations of the previous Duterte regime has yet to see any justice and accountability within the Philippine government’s justice system.
Human rights violations continue and worsen. Since Ferdinand Marcos Jr assumed office, there’s been 17 recorded cases of extrajudicial killings on top of the more than 150 cases of drug related extrajudicial killings. It is clear that the Marcos-Duterte regime is not interested in upholding human rights.
Red tagging is going extraterritorial. We want to sound the alarm on the increasing efforts of the Philippine government to attack and silence activists and critics overseas. This past month, we criticized the Philippine government-sponsored red tagging tour of Jeffrey Celiz and other agents of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Many Filipino community leaders and members reported to us the blatant disinformation of Celiz and his crew. In this state-sposored tour, Celiz and his team of government agents red tagged and terrorist tagged many activist groups and critics based in the United States including the Malaya Movement USA. Even going so far as calling us “fronts of the CPP-NPA.”
We believe that these propaganda tours are in preparation for escalated attacks against human rights defenders in the diaspora. Celiz and NTF-ELCAC agents are weaving lies and threatening to invoke “anti-terrorist” laws in the U.S. against us and other activists in the diaspora. We must expose and oppose this plot.
Despite these threats, we in the Malaya Movement USA remain steadfast. We unapologetically stand with all those who are defending, upholding and asserting human rights and democracy in the Philippines. No amount of red tagging or terror tagging will prevent us from continuing call for justice and accountability for the victims of human rights violations.
We especially stand with the more than 100 political prisoners in Negros Island currently conducting a protest fast. We stand with the 828 political prisoners languishing in various jails in the Philippines. They are the symbol of both the grave injustice in the Philippines as well as the determined struggle for justice and democracy in the Philippines. We encourage our kababayan and allies to hold solidarity fasting and help amplify the demands of our political prisoners. We join the demand for the immediate and unconditional release.
Let this International Human Rights Day be a call to resist and actively defend, uphold, and assert human rights and democracy in the Philippines. Fight back against fascism and state repression in our homeland and overseas. Join the movement for genuine freedom in the Philippines!
