Sign the Petition to free 43 Healthcare Workers
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An international human rights campaign calls for the immediate release of 43 Filipino health and acupuncture workers imprisoned and allegedly tortured by the Philippines military since February 6, 2010. One Philippines military rep has stated that because the workers possessed acupuncture needles, they are connected with communist groups, as reported in Philippine News.
The arrest occurred during a First Responder Training sponsored by two Filipino groups, including Community Medicine Foundation, INC (COMMED). A former COMMED doctor, Gene Alzona Nisperos, cites a 40-year history of harassment and imprisonment of health workers who provide acupuncture and other health services for the poor. He explains that in spite of the Filipino Department of Health’s approval of acupuncture, “the military still uses acupuncture needles to prop up its lies of linking its accused victims to the communist part in the country.”
The allegation comes from Lt. Colonel Noel Detoyato, the spokesman for the Philippines Armed Forces 2nd Infantry Division, who reports in a television interview that the low educational attainment of the health workers also made them suspect of being subversives. An alliance of human rights organizations, Karapatan, calls the linking of acupuncture needles with armed guerillas “baseless and absurd” and affirms that acupuncture is legal, accepted and integral to providing health care in The Philippines.
“In rural communities where medicines and health care are barely accessible to the poor, a lot of volunteer health care providers rely on alternative medical practices so they may be able to give immediate remedies to the sick,” reports D.J. Acierto, Karapatan’s Public Information Officer. “The Philippine government, instead of giving them support, harass these health workers who volunteer to serve the poor. Anyone who is helping the poor in the rural communities and far-flung provinces may be labeled as members of the New People’s Army, even without acupuncture needles.”
Karapatan leads international efforts and joins relatives of the 43 health workers to demand their immediate release. One petition has been submitted to President Obama, whom Karapatan contends is culpable for the US-supported Filipino state sponsored terrorist program “Oplan Bantay Laya or “Operation Freedom Watch.” Karapatan ranks the current torture as only the most recent of abuses. Their human rights report documents 1,188 extrajudicial killings and 205 forcibly disappeared persons since 2002 under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. They accuse the Arroyo regime of assisting in the 2009 massacre of 57 civilians, including 30 journalists and two lawyers. Karapatan reports, “With the Oplan Bantay Laya, unarmed individuals, activists, and civil libertarians are deemed as ‘enemies of the state’ and become targets for “neutralization” by the state security forces.”
Dr. Nisperos says although acupuncture is at times the only available health service offered for poor communities, the military has used evidence of acupuncture needles to corroborate claims of subversion and communism since the 1970’s under the Marcos dictatorship. “Even though the anti-subversion law was repealed after the Marcos dictatorship, the military mindset simply shifted to ‘criminalizing’ their cases but still using the same ‘Red/communist labeling.’” He explains that the 43 health workers have been labeled communist not only because they had acupuncture needles, but also because they possessed campaign literature of legal Filipino political parties. “Of course, by themselves, the needles are not sufficient to file cases of subversion so the military often ‘conveniently finds’ guns and ammunition during their arrests,” reports Nisperos, also vice-chair of Health Alliance for Democracy, a human rights group who issued a statement on February 22 decrying the detention as illegal and reeking of the Marcos martial law years.
The victims report instances of sexual abuse, interrogation using physical torture including electrocution and intimidation during late hours of the night, according to a Karapatan incident report. The military claims the victims were making explosives, which human rights groups call fabricated evidence. Reportedly, 300 heavily armed military and police seized the health workers, violently frisked, handcuffed and blindfolded them with old shirts and packaging tape before a warrant was provided. Witnesses to the arrest claim the military first searched the training facility after the victims were handcuffed and brought outside. They claim the military brought bags into the facility during the search.
Nisperos says acupuncture is a helpful tool for health workers particularly in remote areas of Mindanao, the poorest part of The Philippines and one of the most densely populated islands in the world. As a community physician for COMMED, he recalls traveling with 2000-3000 acupuncture needles during each visit to Mindanao. He says COMMED has been one of the only Filipino organizations that provides acupuncture training for not only doctors, but community health workers. He adds that in spite of Lt. Colonel Noel Detoyato’s remarks, the current Philippines government has not openly declared the use or possession of acupuncture needles as illegal or subversive.
Several international groups have joined the campaign to call for the release of the 43 health workers, including a United Nations consultant group (International Association of Democratic Lawyers), the largest federation of U.S. labor unions (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations), and the multinational ecumenical Christian group, the World Council of Churches.
The petition reads: “We condemn the government for sending the message that Filipino doctors and nurses are welcome to go abroad to work, but they are unjustly targeted and arrested if they stay in the Philippines to serve the poor and the underserved. These illegally arrested and detained health workers are the first responders that have tirelessly served the communities affected by the flooding and landslides in the aftermath of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng last year.
We are deeply concerned for the safety of these healthcare professionals who have committed their lives to serve the underserved communities in the Philippines. We are equally concerned that it is our tax dollars that are being sent to finance the Philippine government and its’ military in on-going operations that are clear violations of basic human rights. We support the following demands so that they can immediately return to their families and the communities that they serve without further violations of their human rights.”
