by Jose Maria Sison
By bending to the pressures of Manila and Washington to deny me asylum in the Netherlands, the Dutch justice ministry violates not only the 21 February 1995 decision of the Dutch Council of State but also the treaty obligations of the Dutch state under the Refugee Treaty of Geneva and the European Convention on Human Rights on Human and Fundamental Freedoms.
In order to continue treating my asylum case as a political case rather than as a juridical case, the Dutch justice ministry uses unfounded and malicious claims already abandoned by the Manila government and repeatedly nullified by the Dutch Council of State.
The Dutch government is overeager to please the Manila government because of the enormous interests of such Dutch monopoly firms as Shell, Unilever, ING-Barings and Philips in the Philippines. But the strongest power unlawfully intervening in my asylu m case is the US government, which has far larger interests in the Philippines than the Dutch government.
1. In 1989 and 1990, US diplomatic sources in Manila and The Hague made press leaks to the effect that the US government had advised the Dutch government to deny my application for asylum in the Netherlands.
2. The main supplier of derogatory information against me in the secret dossiers compiled by the Dutch intelligence service(BVD) is the US Central Intelligence Agency.
3. In the hearing of my asylum case before the Dutch Council of State on October 29, 1992, the representative of the Dutch justice ministry openly declared that a government friendly to both the Dutch and Manila governments would be displeased or offe nded if I would be granted asylum in the Netherlands. He was clearly referring to the US government.
4. In 1991 an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) and an officer of the Dutch intelligence service (BVD)jointly approached a Filipino asylum-seeker, Nathan Quimpo, and asked him to become an intelligence asset of the CIA with the princip al task of spying on me in exchange for a monthly salary in US dollars, approval of his application for asylum in the Netherlands and a US travel grant.
At that time, Quimpo refused to become a CIA asset and cooperated with journalists of a Dutch TV news program in videotaping and exposing his meeting with the CIA and the BVD agents in Amsterdam. However, he started to write articles against me perso nally and against the National back by their appeal to the Aliens' Court and by the mass protest actions in 18 cities of the world.
But the danger of expulsion of the Sison family from the Netherlands remains. It is a distinct possibility that, while the court case is still pending, Prof. Sison is detained in order to compel him to look for another country to transfer to.
We should not underestimate the power of the Dutch, US and Manila governments to deny asylum to the Sison family in the Netherlands. They have already prevented them from getting asylum status for eight years and are now determined to expel them.
We should not underestimate their capacity to use propaganda and their influence to misrepresent advocates and fighters for national liberation as "terrorists" in order to deny them asylum.
It is therefore of crucial importance and necessity to arouse, organize and mobilize the support of the broad masses of the people. It is not enough that the juridical merits of the asylum application of the Sison family is strong. Powerful forces are out to lay aside the just grounds for the asylum of the Sison family.
Campaign to protect SisonThe International Campaign for the Asylum of the Sison Family urges the people to remain vigilant and militant in supporting the Sison family.
The campaign to collect signatures on the appeal on behalf of the Sison family aims at collecting at least 50,000 signatures in as many countries as possible.
2. Statements from organizations and personalities are also being solicited in support of the Sison family.
3. The International Campaign for the A Sison Family is producing printed, electronic, and audio-visual materials on the Sison Asylum case.
5. Meetings are held to present the facts and significance of the Sison Asylum case and the Philippine situation, especially the deplorable human rights situation.
6. Committees in support of the Sison family in their appeal for asylum are being formed in many cities of the world in order to promote the foregoing activities and raise funds for the work of the undersigned International Campaign for the Asylum of t he Sison Family.
7. An international team of lawyers and representatives of major international lawyer's organizations is being formed in order to support the Sison family, observe and intervene in court proceedings, hold an international conference on the Sison case a nd conduct a fact-finding mission to investigate the human rights situation in the Philippines.
The International Campaign for the Asylum of the Sison Family will continue until the Sison family get their asylum in the Netherlands and the procedure for granting asylum to all political refugees is facilitated and freed from neocolonial political a nd economic pressures and maneuvers, including malicious attempts to vilify and criminalize fighters for national liberation and democracy.
The International Campaign for the Asylum of the Sison Family is encouraging the committees in support of the Sison family to consider becoming simultaneously or eventually committees in solidarity with the Filipino people's struggle for national liber ation and democracy. Thus, the committees can take a long-term interest in what the Sisons stand for_the just cause of the people's struggle for liberation and social emancipation.
The International Campaign for the Asylum of the Sison Family22 August 1996