Art is indeed for everyone. It strikes at our collective conscience, depicting the realities of human rights abuses through imagery, words, and performance. Too often, though, when artists are dissatisfied with the status-quo and clamor for freedom and justice, they are attacked and imprisoned by the powers-that-be. One such artist is Ericson Acosta, who has been in jail for nearly 11 months on trumped-up charges, has endured torture by the military, and is now several days into a hunger strike.
Photographers, as well, have been harassed and attacked for covering protest rallies and documenting human rights violations. Photographers have also lost their lives for revealing truths that gun-wielding forces want hidden.
On this International Human Rights Day, we're reminded that impunity continues to reign in the Philippines and elsewhere. Art reminds us, too, that these burdens of injustice weigh heavy on our society and reflect on all of us.
Jo
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*Performance artist Terence Tey Krishna Lopez outside the Commission on Human Rights, as families and supporters protested the illegal detention and torture of the "Morong 43" health workers held in a military camp.
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