The signees of this petition call for the immediate release of writer and activist Amanda Socorro Lacaba Echanis, who has been held in detention in the Philippines for more than four years. 

Amanda's hearings have been repeatedly postponed, denying her the chance to prove her innocence. 

There is strong reason to believe that the evidence used against her was planted and there was a lack of due process in searching Amanda's home.

The charge that was brought against Amanda Echanis—illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives—is one commonly used to apprehend activists, writers, and journalists in the Philippines who speak out against the government. Prior to her arrest, Echanis was an organiser for the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women. She is also the daughter of late peasant rights and peace advocate Randall Echanis, who was murdered by state forces in his home in 2020, months before his daughter’s arrest.

While detained, Amanda continues to create works that imagine a more just world, while also continuing to develop her skills in creative writing. She has joined online classes at the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Her book, Binhi ng Paglaya (Seeds of Freedom) was published in 2023. And she is currently translating work by the late poet Kerima Lorena Tariman into English, including her moving poem 'June 12, in Prison', published by the international literary journal Words Without Borders. Others are forthcoming in the US-based journal Poetry Northwest. 

‘The ongoing detention of writer and activist Amanda Echanis is a damning indictment of the Philippines’ justice system. We urge the Philippine authorities to immediately conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances of her arrest, including allegations of evidence planting’, said Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

PEN Sydney has begun an online campaign to collect letters of solidarity for Amanda. Furthermore, PEN Melbourne, PEN Philippines, the Free Amanda Echanis Movement, and the Institute of Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Diliman have taken up Amanda's cause. 

We join with the above organisations and individuals to demand Amanda Echanis' immediate release.