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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Moratorium on politically motivated arrests sought

Moratorium on politically motivated arrests sought

Published Dec 14, 2020 04:22 pm

A prisoners’ rights group called Monday for a moratorium on politically motivated arrests following the string of police operations that led to the arrest of seven activists in Metro Manila last week.

Kapatid spokesperson Fidel Ramos said they appeal to the government to declare an immediate moratorium “while the pandemic continues without letup and in the spirit of Christmas.”

“These (arrests) are patently inhumane as COVID-19 cases reach the 450,000 mark,” she said in a media briefing at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Quezon City.

“We ask court officials to desist from prosecuting and sending more people to jail that will aggravate congestion and expose more human life to danger,” Lim added.

“We do not need more prisoners when the worldwide trend is decongestion and decarceration to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 contagion since jails and the communities where the jail staff live are inextricably linked.”

The Kapatid official made the call as various groups launched the “Free the HRD7 Network” to work for the release of the seven activists arrested on International Human Rights Day last Dec. 10.

Police arrested labor organizers Dennise Velasco, Rodrigo Esparago, Romina Astudillo, Mark Ryan Cruz, Joel Demate, and Jaymie Gregorio and journalist Lady Ann Salem of Manila Today.

Some of their families and relatives met CHR Chairman Chito Gascon to talk about what they called the illegal arrests of their loved ones.

Kapatid reiterated the call for the Supreme Court to investigate Quezon City Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert who issued the warrants against the HRD7 and other activists in Negros last year.

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