World | Philippines
Top US lawyer on Manila 'Al Qaida' blacklist
The Philippines has put rights activists, including a former US attorney-general and members of church groups on an immigration blacklist, a rights group said on Friday.
- Agencies
- Published: 12:22 September 28, 2007
Manila: The Philippines has put rights activists, including a former US attorney-general and members of church groups on an immigration blacklist, a rights group said on Friday.
At least 504 people from 50 countries were included in the blacklist labelled "Al Qaida/Taliban Link" imposed between July and August, Human Rights Watch said.
Ramsey Clark, a former US attorney general, is among those banned from entry. The list also includes left-wing activists from Europe, Australia and the United States.
A senior immigration official confirmed that the blacklist existed, adding only that most of the names on it were "leftists".
Human Rights Watch advocacy director, Sophie Richardson, urged the Philippines to stop preventing peaceful critics to enter the country.
"Labelling peaceful critics as Al Qaida or Taliban only serves to sap public confidence in counter-terror measures and expose them as a cover for suppressing dissent," Richardson said.
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