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Human rights defenders condemn as “cruel” the treatment of jailed activist Queen Mae Nasino while resting her three-month-old baby.
Jailed Filipino activist Reina Mae Nasino wanted to hug her three-month-old daughter one last time before she was buried, but couldn’t.
Heavily armed prison officials guarding her during the funeral refused to remove her handcuffs despite pleas from her family and human rights defenders, who have condemned the treatment received by Nasino and other political prisoners and mothers in Philippine prisons. .
“We were denied the opportunity to be together. I didn’t even see your laugh, ”said Nasino, 23, who was seen crying in front of her daughter River’s tiny white coffin on Friday.
A local court granted Nasino a three-day license to attend his daughter’s wake and funeral.
Nasino, a member of the urban poverty group Kadamay, was arrested in November 2019 with two other people for illegal possession of firearms, charges she said were fabricated and part of an offensive against left-wing activists.
In April, she petitioned the Supreme Court to release her from jail on humanitarian grounds amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While Nasino awaited the court’s response, she gave birth while in jail in July, but her baby was removed from her care and brought to her mother in August.
The following month, her baby fell ill and was hospitalized, prompting calls and an immediate appeal to the court for mother and child to meet.
Wearing a full-body personal protective suit while standing in the hot sun, Nasino told her baby, “I hope we are the last to experience this.”
The solemn occasion turned chaotic as police officers in camouflage uniforms dispersed the funeral procession and told the hearse carrying the coffin to speed up, forcing mourners to run after the vehicle.
“I thought we would have a proper burial with family and friends, but I was traumatized. My other daughter almost fainted while chasing the car, ”said Nasino’s mother, Marites.
Today I will never forget the story of two mothers. Nanay Maritess, Ina’s mother is kneeling before the police, begging for respect and for the funeral to take place according to her wishes; while Ina is handcuffed and couldn’t even wipe her tears. pic.twitter.com/FzhCDQul1V
– Maria Sol Taule (@soltaule) October 16, 2020
“I’m so angry that we couldn’t even give my grandson a proper procession and we couldn’t even play the music that he liked.”
Since the collapse of the latest talks between the government and communist rebels, the Duterte administration and its supporters have stepped up their attacks against the rebels, as well as other mainstream activists who are perceived to support socialist political ideologies.
Human rights activists have condemned Nasino’s treatment as “cruel” and “inhumane”.
“These are not random acts of cruelty and inhumanity. Clearly, this is a coordinated ‘nationwide’ effort ”by the Duterte administration, said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of another rights group, Karapatan.
“Baby River’s death is in Duterte’s government.”
Carlos Conde of the Human Rights Watch organization noted that the government’s counterinsurgency campaign “directed at outspoken legal activists has always been brutal” with thousands killed and tortured over the years.
“But what the government did to Nasino and his son is a new and unacceptable casualty.”
Police denied the allegations, saying the troop deployment was necessary to maintain security.
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