Submission to Australian Dept of Foreign Affairs on the listing of the New People’s Army of the Philippines

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Remove the New People’s Army of the Philippines from the terrorist list for financial asset freezing.

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) demands the immediate removal of the New People’s Army (NPA) of the Philippines from the DFAT terrorist list.

The NPA is not a terrorist organization, but a people’s army under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).  

The guiding ideology of the CPP is Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. Marxism-Leninism condemns acts of terrorism and distinguishes between these and the armed struggles conducted by oppressed peoples. It is a characteristic of the latter that they do not indiscriminately target ordinary people, and that they are conducted according to ethical standards upheld by the revolutionary leadership.

As an army under the leadership of a Marxist-Leninist Party, the NPA is expected to adhere to the Three Rules of Discipline enumerated by Mao Zedong for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), namely:

        (1)  Obey orders in all your actions.
        (2)  Don't take a single needle or piece of thread from the
             masses.
        (3)  Turn in everything captured.

It is also expected to adhere to the Eight Points for Attention also enumerated by Mao Zedong for the PLA, namely:

        (1)  Speak politely.
        (2)  Pay fairly for what you buy.
        (3)  Return everything you borrow.
        (4)  Pay for anything you damage.
        (5)  Don't hit or swear at people.
        (6)  Don't damage crops.
        (7)  Don't take liberties with women.
        (8)  Don't ill-treat captives.

The NPA is not a terrorist organization and does not engage in indiscriminate acts of terror.

It has been placed on the DFAT list because Australian governments slavishly follow the dictates of US imperialism.  No justification for the NPA’s inclusion on the list has been offered by DFAT except for the following statement jointly issued by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Attorney-General on October 28, 2002 :

“The latest list includes organisations and individuals linked to Al Qaida and the Taliban and a number of internationally recognised foreign terrorist organisations, including Jemaah Islamiyah and the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“Similar action has been and continues to be taken by the United States, the European Union and other countries”.

This is entirely lacking in credibility, lacks any pretence at justification, and merely confirms that Australia lacks the capacity for independent decision-making in respect of foreign policy.

The irony is that in attempting to list as “terrorist” a people’s army under the leadership of a Communist Party so as to show our support for US and other imperialisms, the Australian Government is turning a blind eye to the circumstances of the founding of the United States of America.

Mr. Jesse Lemisch, Professor Emeritus of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York, states:

"The rules of war are laid down by militarily strong nations. These nations define their modes of making war as legal (although they do not always abide by their own rules), while criminalizing alternate modes of warfare rising from the limited strength of the militarily weak. During the American Revolution, the U.S. was militarily weak. It compensated for that weakness at sea by engaging in a very effective form of legalized piracy called privateering. Privateers were denounced by the British in ways that resonate with the denunciation of terrorists that we hear these days…. When privateers' men were captured, they were not recognized as prisoners of war, since they were civilians, and civilians of rebellious colonies to boot. They were held indefinitely in special camps…."

Today's disputes around indefinite detention and the use of terror against civilians should take note of the fact that American civilians were victims of this kind of detention during the Revolution, and the U.S. was born in what was seen at the time by its more powerful adversary as a form of terrorism.
(http://hnn.us/articles/915.html )

It is entirely relevant that the Philippines Government has been engaged at different times since 1992 in peace negotiations with the NPA as an army fighting for national liberation and not as a terrorist organization.

The NPA is not listed as a terrorist organization by the Philippines Government.

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) expresses its solidarity with the NPA and calls for its immediate removal from the DFAT list of terrorist organizations and individuals.

The Australian Government must cease interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign nations, cease acting as a cheerleader for US imperialism, and display some self-respect as a sovereign and independent nation in its own right.

Central Committee
Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
July 11, 2013

 

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