Ecumenical delegation from the Philippines speaks out on human rights abuses

 

An ecumenical delegation including Fr Rex Reyes (general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and a president of the Christian Conference of Asia) and Marie Hilao-Enriquez (chairperson of the human rights group Karapatan) presented the human rights situation in the Philippines at a lunch discussion with staff at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, 7 June 2010.

 

The delegation were visiting Geneva in order to present the case of 43 health workers, who have been detained since their unlawful arrest by military and police forces on 6 February, in a side event during the United Nations Human Rights Council session.

 

Fr Reyes underscored the necessity of living out the words of Jesus Christ who said “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly”. He said it was crucial "for the churches to be constantly there to provide hope in the midst of its apparent absence, in the midst of violence, and in the midst of structures and powers that try to prevent that hope from coming out." 

 

Also on 7 June, the delegation met the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. He expressed the WCCs support to the work of the churches for the defence of human dignity and assured the delegation of his continuing interest in the case of the "Morong 43", as the arrested health workers are commonly referred to.

 

In an 11 February letter to the president of the Philippines, Tveit had called for the respect of the detainees' human rights, including their rights to legal counsel, access to visitors and due process.

 

Listen to an audio recording of the lunch discussion at the Ecumenical Centre

 

More information on the presentation at the United Nations

 

Blog by the ecumenical delegation from the Philippines

 

WCC news release of 11 February 2010: WCC urges release of detained Filipino church worker

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