Labor group demands surfacing of abducted UMDJ leaders

Militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno today condemned the abduction of Ver Eustaquio, Secretary General of the Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ) and four other officials of the urban poor group identified as Ruben Dionisio, Dennis Ibona, Jose Curameng and Jim Cabauatan yesterday in Quezon City.

According to reports, Eustaquio and his colleagues were meeting at his house at 40-C K-5, Kamias Road when they were forcibly taken by 15 heavily armed men. “We condemn in strongest possible terms the continued persecution of anti-Arroyo forces. We only have the incumbent presidency to blame for the growing incidents of abduction, forced disappearances, torture, harassment and extra judicial killings,” said KMU Secretary General Joel Maglunsod.

“We demand the surfacing of Eustaquio and his colleagues. They must be accorded with their inherent rights to resist illegal arrest and seek legal counsel to defend them against any further harm.”

KMU and UMDJ along with other urban-poor based organizations are members of the Baklasin si Gloria Alliance. “KMU worked together with Eustaquio’s group in several anti-Arroyo protests and activities. This incident shows that all anti-Arroyo forces are targets of persecution and attacks from government forces whose only aim is to sow terror among the marginalized sectors to refrain them from joining rallies calling for Arroyo’s ouster.”

The labor group further said that the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) must be empowered to deal with the growing cases of human rights violations in the country.

“As what we have witnessed in our fact-finding missions, CHR lacks the manpower, resources and authority to resolve the cases of killings and other violations against people’s rights. They can only document the instances and cases.”

“The national government must stop treating cases of human rights violations as simple police cases and stop its national policy of persecuting Arroyo’s critics,” Maglunsod asserted.

The labor group joined UMDJ members in a picket protest condemning the abduction of their leaders and members at the QC Police Station 10.