Take action for indigenous rights activist James Balao who was forcibly disappeared in the Philippines in 2008!
How you can help？
- If you are on facebook, support the cause of James Balao here:http://apps.facebook.com/causes/342556?m=de0957a2
- Or you can participate into a photo petition. Take photos of friends holding signs asking “Where is James Balao?” and send them by email to us
By submitting it will be understood that you give Amnesty International & APYN permission to add your photos to this petition.
The whereabouts of James Balao
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On 19 January 2009, the Regional Trial Court in La Trinidad, Benguet province, ruled that the authorities must disclose the whereabouts of abducted Indigenous people’s rights activist James Balao immediately. However, the ruling does not grant permission for his relatives and their representatives to inspect places of detention where he may be held, nor does it compel the authorities to hand over documents relating to his case, or offer protection to those who witnessed his abduction.
The Court’s ruling was in response to a writ of amparo filed by relatives on 9 October 2008, in an effort to establish what happened to James Balao, one of the founders of theIndigenous people’s organization, theCordillera People’s Alliance (CPA). James Balao disappeared on 17 September in La Trinidad town, northern Philippines. Witnesses have told the CPA that they saw him being abducted by armed men, who claimed that they were from the police. The CPA has also said that they had been informed that James Balao is still alive and is being held by state security forces at an unknown location. He is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
The 13-page decision on the writ of amparo directed the authorities to “disclose where James Balao is detained or confined, to release James Balao considering his unlawful detention since his abduction, and to cease and desist from further inflicting harm upon his person.”
The Court further stated that: the “abduction came at a time when the government is engaged in an all-out war against its perceived enemies, which has resulted in unabated extrajudicial killings, abductions, political persecution…”, that “the investigation was very limited, superficial and one-sided”, and that “on record is evidence pointing to the more likely than not motive for James Balao’s disappearance—his activist/political leanings.”
However, while the Court’s statements were welcome, the fact that it did not permit the inspection of places of detention, witness protection or the presentation of state documents on James Balao’s security and whereabouts; and the fact that the Court took three months to rule on the writ of amparo, have denied James Balao the protection that should have been granted immediately.
