International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS)
9 September 2008
Prof. Jose Maria Sison met with former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark in The Hague, The Netherlands on Monday, September 8, 2008 in order to thank him for his moral and legal support when he (Sison) was arrested in Utrecht on August 28, 2007 and detained by Dutch authorities in The Hague national penitentiary up to September 13, 2007.
Sison was accompanied by Fidel V. Agcaoili, member of the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and chairperson of the NDFP Human Rights Committee. Also present was Julieta de Lima, member of the NDFP Negotiating Panel and chairperson of the NDFP Social and Economic Reforms Committee.
Sison briefed Clark on the status of his legal cases in The Netherlands, European Union and the Philippines. He pointed to the series of decisions favorable to him, such as those of the Hague district court and the Court of Appeals, which resulted in his release last year, of the Philippine Supreme Court decision dismissing the charge of rebellion against him on July 2, 2007, and of the European Court of First Instance on July 11, 2008 which, declared illegal his being blacklisted as a “terrorist” since 2002.
Sison averred that his arrest last year and the simultaneous raids on the homes of the NDFP panelists, consultants and staffers were related not only to the false charges of inciting the killing of military agents in the Philippines but more importantly to the “terrorist” blacklisting by the US, The Netherlands and the Council of the European Union.
Agcaoili also briefed Clark on the status of the materials confiscated during the raids. He said that many materials had not yet been returned. Clark gave his legal observations and agreed with Sison and Agcaoili that the false charges of murder, rebellion and terrorism are politically motivated.
Clark discussed the situation in the US and the world at large. He decried the severe economic and financial crisis and the wars of aggression unleashed by the US. At the same time, he was glad about the growing people’s resistance along the anti-imperialist and democratic line.
As chairperson of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), Sison proposed to Clark, as chairperson of the US-based Anti-Imperialist League, the holding of an international conference on the people’s rights to liberation and development in accordance with the Algiers Declaration and the International Bill of Rights. They agreed to have further communications on this matter.
Agcaoili informed Clark that human rights organizations are contemplating to send an international fact finding mission to the Philippines in view of the escalating armed conflict and atrocities of the military, police and paramilitary forces of the Arroyo regime. Clark expressed the wish to have a copy of the concept. He said that it was possible for him to participate in the projected mission if done within next year. -end-
