Resist sabotage operations by AFP against peace negotiations--CPP*
CPP Information Bureau
February 17, 2011
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today called on all peace-loving Filipinos to unite and resist the sabotage operations being carried out by the AFP against peace negotiations and support the talks being conducted by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Philippine government (GPH) to resolve the roots of the armed conflict.
The CPP issued the call three days after combined operatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested CPP official and NDFP peace consultant Alan Jazmines on the eve of the resumption of NDFP-GPH formal peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway.
The CPP reiterated that the arrest and continued detention of Jazmines is in "gross violation" of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). Jazmines is a holder of a Document of Information with reference number 978213 under the assumed name Dodi Lapida issued by the NDFP in accordance with the JASIG. Under the agreement, holders of JASIG-DIs are guaranteed rights against surveillance, arrest and detention in order to allow them to carry out their work as peace consultants unhampered."
"In carrying out the arrest of Jazmines, the AFP has shown utter contempt of the JASIG and the peace negotiations," said the CPP. "They are showing themselves as singularly above the peace talks and not bound by the NDFP-GPH standing agreements."
According to the statement issued by Jazmines, he informed the military and police operatives that he is a holder of a JASIG-DI and that under the agreement he is immune from arrest. "The operatives, however, received instructions from their commanding officers to proceed with the arrest and were overheard saying 'to hell with the JASIG'." Many of the items in Jazmines' possessions, including his computers and an undisclosed amount of funds used by Jazmines in his work as peace consultant, were also taken by the arresting team.
"The Philippine government must firmly rein in and leash the AFP to stop it from continuing to violate the JASIG and other standing agreements between the NDFP and the GPH," said the CPP. "It must castigate the AFP officials for carrying out the arrest Jazmines which violated the JASIG on the very eve of the formal talks."
"The Philippine government should silence the rabble-rousers in the AFP who issue statements left and right concocting questions about the sincerity of the NDFP and disparage the peace negotiations," added the CPP. "Such conduct by the AFP spokesperson and all the rest of the AFP officials derail and weaken the peace talks."
"The ultra-fascists are trampling on the peace agreements with their bloody boots. Their obvious aim is to push the NDFP to the edge by demonstrating to the revolutionary forces that they have nothing to gain from the peace negotiations," said the CPP. "The AFP wants the peace talks to fail. It wants to compel the NDFP to be the first to break off from the negotiations in order to justify its all-out war."
"The peace-loving Filipino people easily see through the AFP's deceptive psywar propaganda when when it speaks in favor of the peace talks but acts against it."
The CPP urged the negotiating panels of the NDFP and GPH currently meeting in Oslo, Norway to immediately resolve the case of Alan Jazmines, Tirso "Ka Bart" Alcantara and 14 other NDFP peace consultants currently languishing in military and police prisons in violation of the JASIG. "It would be very difficult for the peace negotiations to proceed to tackle the substantive issues as long as the military and police continue to detain the NDFP consultants preventing them from performing their various duties for the talks."
"The CPP also urges all peace-loving Filipinos to resist the anti-peace acts and utterances of the ultra-fascist officials of the AFP. The CPP calls on the Filipino people to intensify their national and democratic mass struggles in order to highlight the substantive issues that need to be addressed and resolved through peace negotiations in order to resolve the root causes of the armed conflict."
* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2011/02/resist-sabotage-operations-by-afp.html
