Statement September 13, 2013
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| Kim Chatillon-Meunier |
Bayan Canada condemns in the strongest terms the unwarranted detention by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (PBI) in Manila of Quebec student, Kim Chatillon-Meunier. We demand that Ms Chatillon-Meunier be released immediately. According to sources, the PBI has detained Kim in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig after she was accosted by immigration officials while trying to board her flight today for Hong Kong. We were told that Kim was placed on a “watch-list” and is being held for allegedly participating in a rally against President Aquino’s State of Nation Address (SONA) back in July.
Kim was primarily in the Philippines for her internship to meet the requirements for the International Studies Program of the University of Montreal. During her stay in the Philippines she participated, along with trade unionists, church officials, filmmakers and human rights activists that made up a large Canadian delegation to the International Conference on Human Rights in the Philippines held in Quezon City last July. She joined in the research and documentation of the reproductive health conditions of women in the poverty stricken communities in Tondo, Manila. Kim observed a program consisting of public speeches and cultural presentations during the SONA rally.
The rally itself, which denounced Aquino’s human rights record and economic policies, began peacefully but ended in clashes between hundreds of police in riot gear and thousands of protesters, resulting in a few arrests and injuries. There were dozens of foreigners attending the rally in solidarity with the protesters, including a Dutch national, Thomas Van Beersum, who was also detained by immigration officials at the airport in August.
Bayan Canada denounces the blatant harassment and rights violations of Kim Chatillon-Meunier. They violate the fundamental right of all people to freedom of expression and her right to support human rights issues in the Philippines. The keeping of a blacklist/watch-list of international human rights activists in the Philippines by the Bureau of Immigration are tools for harassment and suppression of fundamental rights. It is meant to instill fear and deter other internationalists from giving their support to the Filipino people’s struggle for genuine democracy and freedom in the Philippines.
While Canada has shown more concern about protecting Canadian mining interests in the Philippines, it must now show concern about its own citizens abroad by demanding the immediate release of Kim Chatillon-Meunier and an end to the climate of impunity in the Philippines. We call on Canadian officials to pressure the Aquino government to immediately release Kim and to send a strong statement of condemnation for this abuse and harassment of a Quebec student in the hands of Philippine officials.
We are infuriated that the same people who wish to observe the human rights situation in the Philippines have now become human rights victims of the reactionary Aquino administration themselves. While the Aquino regime cow-tows to US dictates in the region and opens up the country for the permanent stationing of US military bases, he now makes it a policy and fans the flames of ultra-nationalism to justify the suppression of international human rights supporters of the Filipino people who are visiting the Philippines to show their solidarity.
Bayan Canada member organizations across Canada are encouraged to hold protest actions denouncing the Aquino regime's repression of international human rights activists in the Philippines and to demand for the immediate release of Kim Chatillon-Meunier. ###
Ref: Joey Calugay, Bayan Canada, bayan.canada.noc@gmail.com
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