RAIL LAUNCHES SISON FAMILY DEFENSE FUND

Article from MIM Notes No. 167,    August 1, 1998

RAIL proudly announces the founding of the Sison Family Defense 
Fund. The SFDF was officially launched on June 11, 1998 at the 
Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Night organized by BAYAN - 
International. The purpose of the SFDF is to raise money for the 
legal expenses involved in the Sison family's petition for 
political asylum and to raise awareness of their case in the 
broader context of the Filipino people's struggle for economic and 
political freedom. 

Jose Maria Sison and Julieta de Lima-Sison are both prominent 
anti- imperialist activists from the Philippines who have been 
living in exile in the Netherlands since the late 80s. De Lima-
Sison has been very active within the national democratic 
movement. She has been in the Netherlands since 1988, but has been 
denied legal permit to reside there. Only this year was she and 
their son Jasm granted residency on humanitarian grounds although 
the Dutch government does not recognize her status as a political 
refugee. This in spite of the fact that she is on the "order of 
battle," the hit list of the Armed Forces of the Philippines 
(AFP), and that her colleagues had been kidnapped, tortured and 
murdered by AFP personnel. 

Sison was a leader within the national democratic movement from 
its inception. He was the founding chairperson of the 
reconstituted Communist Party of the Philippines. Because of his 
political activity, he was subject to intense state repression by 
the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP). He was 
imprisoned and brutally tortured from 1977 to 1986 for his 
involvement with the national democratic movement. He currently is 
serving as consultant to the National Democratic Front-Government 
of the Philippines peace talks. The Dutch refusal to grant him 
political asylum in accordance with international conventions is 
an obvious attempt at derailing the peace talks.

After Sison's release from prison, he was doing a university 
lecture tour in west Europe when the Aquino government canceled 
his passport and falsely charged him under the Anti-Subversion 
Law. In 1988, Sison applied for political asylum in the 
Netherlands. The following year, the Manila government placed a 
million peso bounty on his head and a half million peso bounty on 
the head of de Lima-Sison, although no charges were made against 
her. In 1992, the Raad van State (RvS) -- Council of State, the 
highest administrative court in the Netherlands -- nullified a 
prior negative decision made by the Dutch Justice Ministry and 
decided in Sison's favor. 

In the Philippines the anti-subversion law was repealed and the 
charges against Sison became groundless. Nevertheless, the Dutch 
Justice Ministry continued to decide against Sison. In 1995, the 
RvS ruled that Sison is a political refugee with a justified fear 
of persecution in the sense of the Refugee Treaty of Geneva, that 
he cannot be sent back to the Philippines and needs protection 
under Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of 
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 

In September 1997, the Dutch Rechtseeheidskamer (REK) agreed with 
the RvS ruling, but insisted that Sison cannot be legally be 
admitted to the Netherlands as a refugee because he is liable for 
crimes on the basis of "maintaining the credibility of the Dutch 
state to its allies" and CIA secret intelligence dossiers. 
However, in recognition of the primacy of the NDFP-GRP peace 
talks, the Philippine justice secretary issued Sison a certificate 
stating that there is no pending criminal charge against Sison; 
previous charges were dismissed or nullified. But in contradiction 
to its own court and in defiance of international law, the Dutch 
Justice ministry and Dutch Alien court continue to refuse to grant 
the Sison family political asylum. 

The prime instigator in this attack on their basic rights as 
political refugees is not the GRP but actually its imperialist 
puppeteers, the u.s. and its Dutch ally. Sison's role as chief 
political consultant to the NDFP-GRP peace negotiations in The 
Hague is a prime motivation in his family's persecution by the 
Dutch and Amerikan governments. The u.s. has a vested interest in 
seeing national liberation struggles fail. The victory of the 
Filipino national democratic movement would be a devastating blow 
to the corpulent imperialists. The vibrant and dynamic nature of 
the national democratic movement in the Philippines already has 
forced the GRP to the peace tables as an equally belligerent 
force. 

This international recognition of the strength of the Filipino 
national democratic struggle has earned the wrath of the u.s. 
imperialists. BAYAN International states "it is necessary to keep 
up the legal struggle of Prof. Sison in order to keep up the 
political struggle. Which is the international mass campaign in 
defense of his rights. For this reason, the Sison Family Defense 
Fund must be seriously undertaken." 

RAIL encourages concerned and progressive people to contribute to 
the struggles of the Filipino masses against oppression. Get 
involved in the Sison asylum case and help build the Sison Family 
Defense Fund by donating money and labor, hosting events and 
publicizing this case.

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