This book of interviews with the family members of the Philippines’ Abadilla 5 details their travails in their quest for justice and how the incarceration of their loved ones has ultimately derailed their lives. In the foreword, Basil Fernando writes:
“…Five accused, all adults, have spent quite a significant part of their time in the prime of their lives in jail while the courts have taken their sweet time in deciding the case. They have spent their time within the confines of prisons, having lost all contact with the rest of their society, including their families. One of them at least is very seriously ill and has not been able to get the medical care and family attention that he would have received under normal circumstances.
“That is only a part of the problem. There are five families. The families include wives, children, parents and other close relatives and also many who are bound by affection. Of these, of particular importance are the children, as every child has only one childhood. All their children have lost this precious period without those things that we attribute to the rights and lives of children…”
The book is available from the AHRC, 19/F, Go-Up Commercial Building, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel. +852 2698 6339, fax +852 2698 6367, email: books@ahrchk.net, and can be obtained through the website: http://www.ahrchk.net/pub/mainfile.php/books/347/.
For more details on the Abadilla 5, visit the AHRC campaign page:
http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/abadilla5.
