State Terrorism and its Justification

Workers' Daily Internet Edition: Article Index :

State Terrorism and its Justification
Statement from the Archbishop of York on Guantanamo Bay

Philippines:
On the St Bernard Tragedy
Never Again to Martial Law! Resist GMA's Emergency Powers with People Power! Oust Gloria Now!
State Of Emergency Must Not Be Used To Attack Human Rights Defenders

The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, visited Iraq this week in order to put pressure on Iraqi politicians to form a government that meets with the approval and serves the interests of both Britain and the US and to try to explain away the crimes carried out by the British army that have recently been exposed in the press. His visit followed threats issued by the US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and reflect the fact that the "democracy" that the Anglo-US forces claim to have brought to Iraq through invasion and following the much-hyped elections held under the guns of the occupiers late last year, is noticeable by its absence. Every day the occupation far from bringing "liberation" to the Iraqi people, lies further exposed for what it is, as more and more atrocities carried out by the occupiers are uncovered and the country becomes ever more violent and unstable.

During his visit Jack Straw attempted to lecture the Iraqi people about what kind of government they should establish, just as US Ambassador Khalilzad had done, but even the Prime Minister of Iraq, Ibrahim al- Jaafari, not known for his opposition to the occupation, felt compelled to speak out against such blatant interference. The fact is that while Jack Straw and the representative of the US piously preach about the need for a "broad government of national unity" to bring together "all the different elements" of Iraqi society, everything is being done by the occupying forces to create all the conditions for sectarian strife and civil war. The armed forces of Britain and the US have not only carried out atrocities such as the infamous crimes committed in Abu Ghraib but also, so all the evidence suggests, are both directly and indirectly involved in the day to day violence throughout Iraq which has led to so many deaths.

Although Jack Straw was quick to condemn the bombing of the al-Askari mosque this week, the blame for this outrage has already been laid at the feet of the Iraqi government and the occupation forces. The invasion and occupation of Iraq is itself an illegal act of state terrorism, a breach of international law, that the British government attempts to justify. The invasion has created the conditions for similar acts of terrorism that the government is equally happy to justify. Whilst he was in Iraq this week, Jack Straw even went so far as to praise the British army for operating "according to the rule of law". When asked about the latest video evidence of violent attacks on civilians by the British army and the fact that the Iraqi local authorities in Basra and elsewhere are refusing to work with them, the Foreign Secretary attempted to explain that this violence was just the action of a "tiny minority", while emphasising that British troops acted on behalf of the Iraqi government and were being opposed simply because they were attempting "to clean up some politics and elements in the Police Service in the South and that is not popular with all politicians".

Any atrocity, any violent or illegal act can now be justified on the grounds that the means justify the end, the end being "democracy" or "liberation" or the "war against terrorism" as defined by the governments of Britain, the US and the other big powers.

Both the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have again sought to justify US atrocities at Guantanamo Bay, following the release of a damning report prepared for the UN Commission on Human Rights. Although there has been some unease in government circles, the view that is presented is that everything has to be understood in the context of 9/11, which justifies extraordinary measures, even if these breach international law and include torture and other atrocities.

According to the government’s thinking, international law is unable to deal with the changed circumstances and the threat of "terrorism" therefore it can be ignored by those who have the responsibility of upholding the "universal values" of humanity and waging a "war against terrorism." Thus those who shout loudest about the "rule of law" can now justify flouting in with impunity.

The Archbishop of York, the Most Revd and Rt Hon John Sentamu, said on February 23 in response to the suggestion that the Guantanamo Bay situation was an anomaly:

"This is not an anomaly. By ‘declaring war on terror’ President Bush is perversely applying the rules of engagement which apply in a war situation. But the prisoners are not being regularly visited by the Red Cross or Red Crescent, which is required by the Geneva Convention. They were not even allowed to be interviewed by the United Nations Human Rights Group.

"In Uganda President Amin did something similar: he did not imprison suspects because he knew that in prison the law would apply to them, so he created special places to keep them. If the Guantanamo Bay detainees were on American soil, the law would apply. This is a breach of international law and a blight on the conscience of America."

The Archbishop had previously said (17/02/06)

"The American Government is breaking international law. Whatever they may say about democracy, to hold someone for up to four years without charge clearly indicates a society that is heading towards George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

"The main building block of a democratic society is that everyone is equal before the law, is innocent until proved otherwise and has the right to legal representation. If the guilt of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay is beyond doubt, why are the Americans afraid to bring them to trial? Transparency and accountability are the other side of the coin of freedom and responsibility.

"We are all accountable for our actions in spite of circumstances. The events of 9/11 cannot erase the rule of law and international obligations. I back the United Nations Human Rights Commission report, recommending that the US try all the detainees, or free them without further delay. If the US refuses to respond, maybe the Commission should seek a writ of Habeas Corpus in a United States Court, or at the Hague."

Statement of the Communist Party of the Philippines on the landslide tragedy in Southern Leyte, Philippines, February 19, 2006

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the entire revolutionary movement join the Filipino people at this time of profound sadness at the death of possibly over a thousand people who were buried and many more who were hurt and who have lost their homes, farms and possessions in the mudslides that swamped the Southern Leyte town of St. Bernard last Friday.

The CPP enjoins all revolutionary forces, including the New People's Army (NPA), as well as all democratic organisations in Southern Leyte, to undertake all possible efforts at extending assistance to the rescue and relief operations in the area. The Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee together with the concerned provincial and front committees are planning out efforts to mobilise its forces and the people in the affected and nearby areas and to muster all possible medical, material and other forms of support for the victims of this tragedy.

The magnitude of the St. Bernard tragedy underscores the extent of the self-interested, irresponsible, and cruel destruction of the environment caused by wanton big-scale logging and mining operations by foreign big capitalists and their local partners since the American colonial period up to the present. The erstwhile forests and mountainous areas of Southern Leyte have, in fact, been completely logged over since the 1970s, making these vulnerable to landslides and mudslides, especially in the face of large volumes of rainfall as had happened right before the latest mudslides. Over the past two decades, the island of Leyte has seen one environmental catastrophe after another, including the Ormoc tragedy of 1991.

Despite the repeated national clamour to put a stop to the wanton destruction of the environment, especially after the massive landslides in north Quezon and Aurora in 2004, the Arroyo regime has brazenly acted as representative of the biggest plunderers and ravagers of the nation’s natural resources. Since 2004, the Arroyo regime has vigorously promoted and campaigned for the expansion and intensification of mining operations by big foreign companies in the Philippines. It has even mobilised its armed forces to give protection to these companies and suppress protests and resistance to their operations.

Furthermore, it has continued to allow large-scale commercial logging to favour its closest allies and bribe its detractors. In order to win over the ambivalent Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, the Arroyo government skirted its own laws and granted the San Jose Timber Company permission to resume its logging activities in close to a hundred thousand hectares of protected forest parks in Samar for another 16 years. DENR Secretary Mike Defensor, however, could not but give in to the overwhelming and vehement protests by the Samareños and various sectors of the people including peasant associations, concerned religious clergy, environmentalists and middle forces.

It is utterly criminal for the Arroyo regime to urge the expansion and intensification of big-scale commercial and foreign mining and logging operations in the country, knowing full well how these rob the national patrimony, destroy the environment and endanger the lives of millions of people.

The Filipino people reject the crocodile tears being shed by Gloria Arroyo over the St. Bernard tragedy. They denounce the government's lack of immediate effective response and sufficient facilities for disaster response as a result of Arroyo's prioritising the military and debt-payments. The failure to immediately send in the urgently needed power generators, helicopters and even thermal sensors that are prioritised for military, espionage and other purposes had delayed the rescue efforts and lessened the probability of saving more lives.

The CPP and all revolutionary forces support fully the open mass movement’s all out campaign to put a stop to the US-Arroyo regime's subservience to interests of big foreign capitalists and their local lackeys and their wanton plunder and destruction of the environment. At the same time, the New People's Army (NPA), the local organs of people’s democratic political power and the entire revolutionary movement shall undertake the necessary revolutionary actions to contribute to the people's resistance against large-scale destructive mining and logging and enforce the environmental policies of the revolutionary government.

Statement of the PCPR (Promotion of Church People's Response) condemning the President's declared state of emergency, February 24, 2006

Around 11:30 am today, Mrs Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) declared emergency powers effectively authorising warrantless arrests, dispersal of people's assemblies and systematic suppression of the Filipino people's right to participate in collective actions that go against Arroyo's wish to stay in power. Ironically, GMA issued the proclamation on the very day that the nation commemorates the 20th year of victory of the people's collective action for the ouster of a dictator.

Moments after GMA's declaration, church people in front of the multi-sectoral rally along EDSA reported the picture of its immediate implementation: Priests, pastors, seminarians, religious sisters and lay members of Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations were water cannoned and aggressively pushed by police forces as they linked arms to maintain their peaceful assembly.

We condemn in strongest terms GMA's Proclamation 1017 which is short of formally declaring Martial rule. Let us not allow the nation to be thrown into the dark days when political activists and supporters of people's movements demanding regime change are arrested without warrant, brutally killed and forcibly disappeared; when freedom of the press is suppressed; and when all instruments of the state are directed to quell the dissent of people seeking urgent political and socio-economic reforms. In fact, even before such proclamation, GMA's record of political killings and violations of civil liberties, especially with her Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) scheme, is now the worst since the downfall of Marcos.

We call on the governments around the world to withdraw support to the Arroyo government which proved to be best in stealing, lying and cheating rather than governing the nation towards genuine progress and democracy.

GMA's Proclamation 1017 is grossly illegal, immoral and serves no one but the illegitimate president who refuses to heed the people's demand for her to step down. In her extreme desperation to hold on to power, GMA ordered the heads of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to implement the force of repression against all civilians, military forces and politicians perceived to be part of various movements demanding her ouster.

Contrary to GMA's speech today that the protesters are bringing down the economy and creating lawlessness, it is her corrupt administration that has aggravated the economic miseries of our people. GMA cheated her way to victory in the May 2004 elections, using public funds to secure votes in her favour and rig the election results. She has now committed another grave crime by robbing the people again of the least democratic space they could have enjoyed after the EDSA I and II uprisings [Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) is the main road in Metro Manila, Philippines. In 1986, demonstrations there by millions of Filipinos led to the downfall of the Marcos regime. Fifteen years after the EDSA Revolution, in January 2001, EDSA II occurred. A million citizens converged at the EDSA Shrine to protest against President Joseph Estrada, resulting in the downfall of Estrada's administration.].

To our friends and partners in the international community, we urge you to speak and act again in solidarity with the Filipino people in this challenging period of our life as a nation. To the members of the AFP and PNP, may you join the ranks of patriotic officers and elements who side with the people in the quest truth, justice and meaningful change.

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission*, February 24, 2006

This Friday, February 24, 2006, a state of emergency was declared in the Philippines. Through Proclamation No. 1017 the president has banned all public rallies and greatly restricted constitutional rights, alleging that, "A tactical alliance [is engaging] in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted government". There are reports of an attempted coup, although the proclamation does not refer to one specifically.

There can be little doubt that the primary objective of this declaration is to stifle growing public protests against the current government. It comes at a time of planned demonstrations to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the toppling of the authoritarian Marcos regime: the most important landmark in the country's modern struggle for democracy and human rights. These gatherings have been planned as a way to reinvigorate people with the spirit of 1986, and to nurture the values embodied by the "people's power" uprising. The rallies were also expected to be used by many to voice discontent with the current administration.

In states of emergency the groups and persons that come under attack most are those that insist upon their rights to free expression and assembly, particularly those engaged in human rights work. Therefore, there is well-founded fear among human rights defenders in the Philippines that this proclamation may soon lead to arbitrary arrests and detention, and wanton violence.

The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned for the wellbeing and safety of all Filipinos at this time, especially human rights defenders and social activists. Its calls for firm public commitments from the president of the Philippines and other government officials that these persons will not be made targets, and those engaging in peaceful public protest will not be met with violence by the security forces. Let the spirit of 1986 – a spirit of peaceful protest, not bloodshed – live on.

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* The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.