Political prisoners fast to grab Francis’ attention

MANILA, Philippines–Political prisoners throughout the country are going on a hunger strike to try and catch Pope Francis’ attention, and possibly his intervention for their release, during his visit this week.

A letter addressed to the Pope from 32 political detainees at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, where the hunger strike began on Saturday, said they had started fasting from dawn to dusk. Upon the Pontiff’s arrival on the 15th until his departure on the 19th, the prisoners would fast for 24 hours.

“We hope that with your efforts and intercession, and the efforts too of many others, our sacrifices will bear positive results, including the return of lost freedom, redress of injustices and respect of human rights,” the detainees wrote the Pope.

“We have been arbitrarily, unjustly and illegally imprisoned, heavily restricted and gravely repressed behind iron bars, just because we have been what you have been asking to come out boldly and in numbers from the people, its various sectors and your flock: ‘Street fighters for change,’” they said.

Among those who signed the letter were accused communist rebels Andrea Rosal, daughter of the late communist spokesman Ka Roger Rosal, and Alan Jazmines, Tirso Alcantara, Loida Magpatoc, Emeterio Antalan, Leopoldo Caloza, who were identified by human rights group Karapatan as consultants to the peace talks between the Philippine government and the communist National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The three-page letter was circulated on Sunday by the families of the detained activists in a press conference in Quezon City organized by Karapatan and Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda).

Wrongfully jailed

Lydia Guray, mother of youth activist Voltaire Guray, one of the Camp Bagong Diwa detainees, said her son had been wrongfully jailed for three years after he was accused of being a communist rebel and on trumped-up charges of carrying explosives.

“My son was a fresh graduate who just wanted to help the youth. He was an artist, and conducted workshops in communities for the out-of-school youth,” Guray said.

Niki Gamara, daughter of detained urban poor and workers’ rights activist Renante Gamara, said she and other political detainees’ relatives would also go on a “solidarity fast” in support of the prisoners’ release.

Gamara said her father was illegally arrested and wrongfully accused of being a communist leader. The elder Gamara has been detained at Camp Crame in Quezon City since 2012.

“Now that the Pope is coming, we are calling on him to help free our family members and seek justice for human rights violations,” the younger Gamara said.

“With the Pope, we hope the government will have a conscience,” she added.

Pope plays vital role

Gamara pointed out the Pope played a vital role in the release in December of the “Cuban 5,” Cuban intelligence agents accused of espionage in the United States.

“We hope Pope Francis can also do this for our families who have long been away from us and are clearly suffering injustice,” Gamara said.

The Camp Bagong Diwa detainees, in their letter, hoped Pope Francis could intercede for the release of political prisoners in the country, the way Pope John Paul II did during his visits in 1981 and 1995.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said the group had tallied 491 political prisoners nationwide as of November 2014. They are expected to join the hunger strike in Metro Manila, Abra, Batangas, Aurora, Eastern Visayas, Compostela Valley, Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon and Digos.

Their families and supporters, including members of the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and the United States chapter of Bayan, had also committed to a “sympathy fast,” Palabay said.

“These families have gone to every court, have taken to the streets, the United Nations. Should the Pope take heed, it will be a very important statement and it should shame the Philippine government into action, to finally recognize and free its political prisoners,” Palabay said.