International environmental groups condemn activist killings 06-06-18

	NORDIS WEEKLY June 18, 2006
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International environmental groups condemn activist killings
BAGUIO CITY (June 15) — Support groups of Philippine environmentalist organizations, among them US-based International Rivers Network (IRN), Friends of the Earth-Japan (FoE), Korean Asian NGO Center and Yon Ghe Community University of Taiwan condemned extrajudicial killings in the Philippines in a press conference in Quezon City on June 15. Aviva Imhof, IRN campaigns director said “The international community of non-government organizations are concerned with the alarming rise of human rights violations and the spate of killings of political activists, media people and, lately, of environmental workers in the Philippines.” “We demand justice to all murdered activists and we ask the (Philippine) government to investigate the current threats to activists. We also demand respect for human rights and the rights of citizens in the country,” Imhof added. Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan, said15 environmental activists have been killed lately. “These people have actively campaigned against large-scale mining, commercial logging and mega dam project,” he said. The latest activist killings include Rafael Markus Bangit of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance who opposed the Chico Dam Project in the 1980s and campaigned against large-scale mining in the Cordillera; and Pangasinan peasant leader Jose Doton who opposed the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam Project and the Agno River integrated irrigation project at the boundary of Pangasinan and Benguet. “The killing of Jose Doton has outraged Japanese communities and made them aware of what is happening in the Philippines,” said Hozue Hatae, campaigner of the FoE. Doton was a leader of the peasant organization TIMMAWA (Tignayan dagiti Mannalon a Mangwayawaya ti Agno) that has opposed the San Roque Multi Purpose Dam Project along with Japanese NGOs. Hatae said FoE will raise the issue of human rights violations related to Japanese-funded Philippine projects to Japanese authorities when the latter review its support and funding for projects under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the Philippines. Some 61% of ODA loans to the Philippines come from Japan. These groups, with CPA, the LRC-KSK, La Bugal Tribal Association, and the Cordillera Indigenous Law Center (DINTEG) hold President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responsible for the killings of activists and urged the Philippine government to stop the killings, harassments and continued threats to environmental activists. # Sarah K. Dekdeken for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
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	NORDIS WEEKLY June 18, 2006
Home \| To bottom	Previous \| Next
International environmental groups condemn activist killings
BAGUIO CITY (June 15) — Support groups of Philippine environmentalist organizations, among them US-based International Rivers Network (IRN), Friends of the Earth-Japan (FoE), Korean Asian NGO Center and Yon Ghe Community University of Taiwan condemned extrajudicial killings in the Philippines in a press conference in Quezon City on June 15. Aviva Imhof, IRN campaigns director said “The international community of non-government organizations are concerned with the alarming rise of human rights violations and the spate of killings of political activists, media people and, lately, of environmental workers in the Philippines.” “We demand justice to all murdered activists and we ask the (Philippine) government to investigate the current threats to activists. We also demand respect for human rights and the rights of citizens in the country,” Imhof added. Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan, said15 environmental activists have been killed lately. “These people have actively campaigned against large-scale mining, commercial logging and mega dam project,” he said. The latest activist killings include Rafael Markus Bangit of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance who opposed the Chico Dam Project in the 1980s and campaigned against large-scale mining in the Cordillera; and Pangasinan peasant leader Jose Doton who opposed the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam Project and the Agno River integrated irrigation project at the boundary of Pangasinan and Benguet. “The killing of Jose Doton has outraged Japanese communities and made them aware of what is happening in the Philippines,” said Hozue Hatae, campaigner of the FoE. Doton was a leader of the peasant organization TIMMAWA (Tignayan dagiti Mannalon a Mangwayawaya ti Agno) that has opposed the San Roque Multi Purpose Dam Project along with Japanese NGOs. Hatae said FoE will raise the issue of human rights violations related to Japanese-funded Philippine projects to Japanese authorities when the latter review its support and funding for projects under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the Philippines. Some 61% of ODA loans to the Philippines come from Japan. These groups, with CPA, the LRC-KSK, La Bugal Tribal Association, and the Cordillera Indigenous Law Center (DINTEG) hold President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responsible for the killings of activists and urged the Philippine government to stop the killings, harassments and continued threats to environmental activists. # Sarah K. Dekdeken for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
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