Enhedslisten - de rode-gronne Folketingsgruppen
Chritiansborg . 1240
Kobenhaven K

April 22, 2003

An open letter to the Communist Party of the Philippines/New Peoples Army and to the Philippine Left:

Stop the murders of political opponents

With great distress we have been informed:
- that Mr. Rolly Kintanar was assassinated January 23 this year;
- that public spokespeople of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New Peoples Army (CPP/NPA) have claimed responsibility for this murder;
- that this is not the first time, that CPP/NPA assassinates political opponents of the left, often former members of the party;
- that the CPP/NPA has published death threats against other publicly known left wing individuals.

My party, the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), and I support the fight of the Philippine peoples against oppression and social injustice. On many occasions we have had the opportunity to voice this solidarity, both during the Marcos dictatorship and later.
In this period we support the resistance of the Philippine people against the US-invasion, taking place under the cover of fighting terrorism.

My party and I most strongly condemn the CPP/NPA-killings of political opponents. Such metods are completely unacceptable.

The fight of the Philippine people can only be harmed and weakened by these kind of actions:
- because it denigrates the socialist alternative in the eyes of the people;
– because the whole left is in danger of ending in an internal war in stead of a united resistance;
- because it makes the necessary pluralist discussion inside the left impossible.
- because it makes it much more difficult to build international solidarity with the Philippine people.

I call on the CPP/NPA to immediately cease these kind of actions.

I expect, that close friends and collaborators of the CPP/NPA in the field of legal political work make their protest publicly known and use their influence to put pressure on the CPP/NPA.

And I call on all parts of the Philippine left and on all, that internationally are in contact with the CPP/NPA and its friends in legal politicial work, to unite in the rejection of murder and other sorts of political violence to solve differences on the left.

Søren Søndergaard, MP,
Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten),
Denmark