Tag Archives: Human Rights

OPINION | Filipino Community and Allies Rally Against State Neglect as APEC Meetings Convene in Seattle

August 1, 2023 Editor

by Allie Hotzfeld

On Monday, July 24, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (BBM) delivered his second State of the Nation Address as president of the Philippines. In direct response to this address, Filipinos and solidarity groups all over the world held a collective People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA) to speak out on the conditions in the Philippines under the Marcos family, as well as on the experiences of Filipinos abroad. Seattle was no different, as organizers from BAYAN Seattle, Malaya Movement Seattle, and Seattle’s branch of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP Seattle) welcomed community to PSONA last Sunday, July 23, to rally against state neglect and against the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) convening in Seattle this month.

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Voices

OPINION | People’s Rights Reflections on Philippine Solidarity Week

February 4, 2023 Editor

by Meesh V. and Wade J.

Feb. 4 marks the beginning of Philippine Solidarity Week, an annual week of programming to commemorate the Philippine-American War. The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) will be holding events to raise awareness and support for the Filipino people’s persisting struggle for national liberation. These events include a People’s Rights teach-in at The Seattle Public Library’s Columbia Branch on Monday, Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m., and a film screening of Revolution Selfie at The Beacon Cinema on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m.

Since colonial control was wrested from Spain in the “mock” Battle of Manila Bay on Feb. 4, 1899, U.S. military presence has continued to oppress the people of the Philippines. After the U.S. rejected Philippine independence as declared in 1898, the Spanish-American War ended with the revolutionary Filipino government barred from treaty negotiations and struggling against a new colonial adversary: the United States. The subsequent brutal Philippine-American War led to the deaths of 200,000–1,000,000 Filipino civilians over the following decade. Yet over a century after the Battle of Manila Bay and technical independence from imperialist Japan and the United States in the wake of WWII, genuine Philippine sovereignty is still undermined by the colonial influence of the United States.

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News

PHOTO ESSAY | Iranian Diaspora Protest Government of Iran

October 4, 2022 Editor

by Alex Garland

The Seattle Globalist was a daily online publication that covered the connections between local and global issues in Seattle. The Emerald is keeping alive its legacy of highlighting our city’s diverse voices by regularly publishing and re-publishing stories aligned with the Globalist’s mission.

The people of Iran have been protesting their dictatorial government for three weeks, and here in Washington, members of the Iranian diaspora have been making themselves heard. As the people of Iran have been protesting, so, too, have their friends and family in King County. For the first time, on Saturday, Oct. 1, over 1,000 Iranian Americans and their community allies gathered at Westlake Park in downtown Seattle for a rally and march.

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Features

Poor People’s Campaign: The Call for a National Moral Revival — Part 1

August 16, 2022 Editor

The Poor People’s Campaign then and now

by Chardonnay Beaver

In 1967, after fighting against Jim Crow segregation and winning many civil rights victories for Black and Brown Americans, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and many others, called for a “revolution of values” in America.

The Poor People’s Campaign marks Dr. King’s philosophical shift from civil rights to human rights — demanding a new consciousness amid the threat of war, poverty, racial discrimination, and white supremacy. This inclusive fusion movement would unite all races through their commonality of struggle, to create solutions that would revolutionize American values.

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Voices

OPINION: For South Seattle on Human Rights Day

December 10, 2021 Editor

by Amanda Ong

This Friday is Human Rights Day — the international celebration of the United Nations General Assembly’s proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1948. The declaration has been recognized as the first international delineation of standards for the protection of fundamental human rights, including freedom, justice, equity, education, and standard of living. It has since been foundational to more than 70 human rights treaties and is the most translated declaration in the world, having been translated into over 500 languages.

But not only do few of us celebrate this date, but many of us have also never read or really considered the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These kinds of charters and declarations might make human rights feel academic and abstract, but really “human rights” reflect simple values that we can, and should, live every day.

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Voices

OPINION: If Biden Stands for Human Rights, Pass the Philippines Human Rights Act Now!

December 10, 2021 Editor

by Jessica Valdez and Michael Alcantara

Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, is a major date for organizations concerned with the situation in the Philippines. For over a year, activists from the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) and the Malaya Movement, which organize Filipinos and allies in the struggle for a genuine and lasting peace in the Philippines, have lobbied Washington representatives, including Adam Smith, to take action to address the human rights crisis by supporting the Philippines Human Rights Act (PHRA).

On Dec. 10, the activists will stage a die-in and rally outside of Congressman Smith’s Renton office to pressure him to cut U.S. military aid to the Philippines.

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News

COVID-19 Outbreak at ICE Detention Center Continues

August 11, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Luna Reyna

As the delta variant spreads across the country, transfers to Northwest ICE Processing Center are spreading the virus to some of our state’s most vulnerable.

In 2018 the University of Washington Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) began collecting data on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flights with the assistance of Yakima Immigrant Response Network. These flights, also called ICE Air, were once carried out by the U.S. Marshals. Today, they are carried out by private businesses through private deportation contracts for ICE that are worth millions. According to Phil Neff, project coordinator for the UWCHR, the data revealed that nearly 600 people transferred to Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in June 2021 — the most transfers from ICE Air to the facility since June 2014. With these transfers came the transmission of COVID-19, resulting in the worst outbreak of the virus the facility has ever seen.

According to the Tacoma-Pierce County Department of Health, an outbreak is considered two cases within 14 days of each other. NWIPC reported 32 cases in under 14 days. According to ICE reports, each new case was a transfer from the southern border. “My understanding is that most of them are asylum seekers …” Neff explained. “Under human rights terms, asylum seekers shouldn’t be indefinitely detained.” This number has only increased since June. At least 150 people, including nine guards and one medical personnel, have tested positive.

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News

PHOTO ESSAY: Filipino Community Mobilizes Against Philippine President at Othello Park

August 3, 2021 Editor Leave a comment

by Ronnie Estoque

On Saturday, July 31, BAYAN Seattle and Malaya Movement coordinated a rally and carnival to launch the Duterte Wakasan Na Movement, which seeks the resignation of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for human rights violations in the country. Human Rights Watch reports that extrajudicial killings in the country — often committed under the guise of a “war on drugs” — have increased dramatically during the pandemic.

The weekend event also included several bouncy houses for kids, food and games, and local performances from artists as well as group dancing. Several notable speakers in attendance included Miss Washington Maricres Castro and Washington State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña. Both expressed support for local community organizers.

“Under current President Duterte, the unjust system in the Philippines participates in suppressing dissent both by weaponizing the law to facilitate human rights abuses and by failing to enforce legal protections,” said Saldaña, who has served as a sub commissioner on Investigate PH — an organization currently conducting independent investigations of human rights violation in the country.

Last April, the Emerald published a photo essay that documented protests at Seafood City in Tukwila from the same organizations that led Saturday’s event at Othello Park.

The Pacific Northwest is home to one of the largest Filipino populations in the country.

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