EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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24mar03
Bush and His Cohorts Are Guilty of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
Press Statement
24 March 2003The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) most vehemently condemns US imperialism and its cohorts for flagrantly violating the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq. Bush and the entire US ruling clique, supported by their British and Australian cohorts, are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity as they cause the killing of numerous Iraqi civilians and the destruction of many non-military targets through thousands of missiles and bombs. They have shown only utter contempt for the UN Charter that prohibits the use and the threat of the use of force. They blatantly trample on the universally recognized principle and norm of international humanitarian law that requires that civilians and the civilian population may not be targets in an armed conflict. They commit the most barbaric crimes all for the purpose of grabbing the oil resources of Iraq, planting evidence of "weapons of mass destruction" and installing a regime of colonialism with a retinue of puppets.
Bush and his cohorts are brutally inhuman in carrying out their illegal and inhuman act of aggression against the Iraqi people. Eyewitnesses in Baghdad report how buildings that are targeted are hit twice. After the first time, a second hit is made 15 or 30 minutes later. The purpose is to kill and maim the medical aid workers who come to the aid of the wounded. Because of this devilishly malicious practice, aid workers are prevented from giving immediate aid. The effect is that many of the wounded die due to loss of blood and lack of immediate first aid.
Peoples throughout the world have launched massive and militant demonstrations against the US-led war of aggression on Iraq. In mass actions in the Philippines, in the US and other countries, Filipinos have participated to condemn US imperialism and to declare their solidarity with the Iraqi people.
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines expresses its firm solidarity with the Iraqi people in their heroic resistance against the US-led war of aggression. In an act of solidarity with the Iraqi people, the New People's Army carried out a successful tactical offensive on 21 March 2003, confiscating 92 arms from the security guards of the biggest paper mill in the Philippines, PICOP Resources, that had brutally repressed its workers. "We really timed it with the war on Iraq … to make a clear statement that we abhor this aggression on Iraq by Bush and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's support without consulting the people," said Comrade Oris, regional spokesman for Mindanao of the New People's Army. On 18 March 2003, Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, Spokesperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), declared: "The CPP salutes the Iraqi people for their militancy in defending their country's sovereignty and opposing the dictates of the US imperialist superpower."
The Filipino people have been waging a 34 year-old revolutionary struggle against US imperialism and the local reactionaries. Currently, they are waging a vigorous resistance to the escalating US military intervention, as US President Bush has declared they are opening a so-called Second Front in the Philippines and Southeast Asia in their alleged war against terrorism. In reality, US imperialism wants to reestablish its military presence in the Philippines to tighten its hegemonic control over the whole region, take over the oil, gold and deuterium in southern Philippines and the whole region, and attack the revolutionary movements that oppose US military presence in the area. The NDFP condemns this malicious scheme of US imperialism and the Macapagal-Arroyo administration that subserviently allows the US military intervention in violation of Philippine national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The NDFP condemns the US-led war of aggression in Iraq also because it endangers the lives and livelihood of 1.5 million overseas Filipinos in the region. It also denounces the Macapagal-Arroyo administration for supporting the US and disregarding the safety of the overseas Filipinos and not providing any assistance to them.
The NDFP therefore joins the peoples of the world in denouncing the US-led war of aggression in Iraq and in calling for all forms of militant struggle against US imperialism and its cohorts and make them accountable for their war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Luis Jalandoni
NDFP Chief International Representative
This document has been published on 07apr03 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.