- Human rights in the Philippines
Human rights in thePhilippines has been a subject of concern and controversy. According to U.S. Country Profile on the Philippines dated March 2006, the U.S. State Department reported in 2006 that Philippine security forces have been responsible for serioushuman rights abuses despite the efforts of civilian authorities to control them.Citation
url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Philippines.pdf
title=COUNTRY PROFILE: PHILIPPINES
month=March
year=2006
publisher=Library of Congress – Federal Research Division
accessdate=2008-01-07 ] The report found that although the government generally respected human rights, some security forces elements—particularly thePhilippine National Police —practicedextrajudicial killing s,vigilantism , disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention in their battle against criminals and terrorists. Prison conditions were harsh, and the slow judicial process as well as corrupt police, judges, and prosecutors impaired due process and the rule of law. Besides criminals and terrorists, human rights activists, left-wing political activists, andMuslims were sometimes the victims of improper police conduct. Violence against women and abuse of children remained serious problems, and some children were pressed intoslave labor andprostitution .On Wednesday
December 7 ,2006 International Labor Rights Fund 's Brian Campbell tried to enter the Philippines to continue investigations of recent human rights violations and murders in the Philippines. Mr. Campbell had previously visited the Philippines in early 2006 to investigate various deaths of trade unionists including Diosdado Fortuna. [ [http://www.bulatlat.com/news/5-33/5-33-bloodshed.htm Bloodshed in the Picketline] news article in [http://www.bulatlat.com/ Bulatlat] ,September 2 ,2005 .] On Dec 7, Mr. Campbell was informed he was on a blacklist by the Filipino immigration authorities and was barred from entering the country. Mr. Campbell then was immediately forced to leave the country. [ [http://services.inquirer.net/express/06/12/09/html_output/xmlhtml/20061208-37166-xml.html Deported lawyer prodded US firms to sign letter on killings] news article in Inquirer (Philippines),December 8 ,2006 .]United Nations investigation
Since 2001 when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo began her term in office over 800 people have been victims of extra - judicial killings.cite news
url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36521
publisher=Inter Press Service News Agency
title=RIGHTS-PHILIPPINES: UN Probes Extra-Judicial Killings
author=Marwaan Macan-Markar
date=February 12 ,2007
accessdate=2007-08-22] In 2007Philip Alston , theUnited Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary executions, spent 10 days in the Philippines investigating these killings. He spoke to witnesses and victims, as well as senior members of the military and the government, finding that witnesses have been systematically intimidated and harassed.He says the military is implicated directly or indirectly in a significant number of deaths. [cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/02/21/1853516.htm
title=UN links Philippines military to political killings
author=Karen Percy
date=February 21 ,2007
accessdate=2007-08-22] Victims over the past six years have included trade unionists, farmers' rights activists, people from indigenous communities, lawyers, journalists, human rights campaigners and people of religion. [Citation
url=http://stopthekillings.org/?q=node/281
title=Dangerous Regime, Defiant People - KARAPATAN 2007 Human Rights Report
publisher=stopthekillings.org
accessdate=2008-01-16 ] [Citation
url=http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Report_Investigation_Philippines_Eng.pdf
title=Philippines—An End to Impunity
coauthors=Vincent Brossel and Jean-François Julliard
publisher=Reporters Without Borders; International Secrétariat; Asia Desk] The European Commission (EC) sent a six-man team of experts from the European Union (EU) to the Philippines on a 10-day mission to evaluate needs and identify technical assistance that the EU might provide to help its government prosecute those behind the killings. [Citation
url=http://frjessie.wordpress.com/2007/06/30/ec-serious-problems-remain-amid-rp-efforts-to-end-killings/
title=EC: Serious problems remain amid RP efforts to end killings
date=June 30 ,2007
author=Rev. Fr. Jessie Somosierra, Jr.
publisher=wordpress.com, citing inquirer.net]Press freedom
The fifth annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index released by the international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has ranked the Philippines among the worst-ranked countries for 2006 at 142nd place.It indicates the continuing murders of journalists and increased legal harassment in the form of libel suits as part of the problem in the Philippines. [cite web
url=http://freeexpressionasia.wordpress.com/2006/10/24/philippines-among-worst-ranked-countries-in-press-freedom-index/
title=Philippines among worst-ranked countries in press freedom index
publisher=freeexpressionasia.wordpress.com/
accessdate=2007-08-22] Between 1986 to 2005, 52 journalists have been murdered. [cite news
url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13604
title=52 journalists killed since the return to democracy in 1986
date=2 May ,2005
accessdate=2007-08-22]Other allegations
The Philippine government, currently headed by the elected President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo , is fighting insurgents such as Islamic groups and the CommunistNew People's Army .A spate of extrajudicial killings, estimated by human rights groups at over 800 in the past five years, has put the Philippines on the human rights watch list of the United Nations and the US Congress. A UN special rapporteur criticized the Arroyo administration for not doing enough to stop the killings, many of which had been linked to government anti-insurgency operations. Interior Assistant Secretary Danilo Valero said the sharp decline, 83%, in the number of political killings last year, as well as the filing of cases against the suspects, “underline the Arroyo government’s strong commitment to human rights and its firm resolve to put an end to these unexplained killings and put their perpetrators behind bars.” Task Force Usig was created in 2006 as the government’s response to the extrajudicial killings. Valero said the yearend statistics showed “the creation of the task force has been a deterrent” to such crimes.cite news | url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080114-112184/PNP-Extrajudicial-killings-fell-by-83-in-2007 | title=PNP: Extrajudicial killings fell by 83% in 2007 | publisher=Inquirer.net | date=2008-01-14]
According to Cher S Jimenez writing in Asia Times Online, as of 2007, there is an increasing international awareness of the extra-judicial harassment, torture, disappearances and murder of Filipino civilian non-combatants by the Philippine's military and police. Since the advent of the "War on Terrorism" in 2001, the people of the Philippines have witnessed the assassinations of more than 850 mainstream journalists and other public figures and the harassment, detention, or torture of untold more.cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IB13Ae01.html|title=Deadly dirty work in the Philippines (page 1)|publisher=Asia Times|date=2007-02-13]
The human rights watchdog KARAPATAN has documented human rights violations against 169,530 individuals, 18,515 families, 71 communities, and 196 households. One person, it says, is killed every three days under the Macapagal-Arroyo government or a total of 271 persons.cite web|url=http://www.bulatlat.com/news/3-43/3-43-hr.html|title=Human Rights Violations in the Philippines: A Grim Reality|publisher=Bulatlat|accessdate=2008-03-16]
E. San Juan, Jr. writes that estimates of killings vary on the precise number, with Task Force Usig estimating only 114. It has failed to gain any convictions, and as of February 2007 had only arrested 3 suspects in the over 100 cases of assassination. [http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/sanjuan180906.html E. San Juan, Jr., "Class Struggle and Socialist Revolution in the Philippines: Understanding the Crisis of U.S. Hegemony, Arroyo State Terrorism, and Neoliberal Globalization" ] ] The online publication Bulatlat states that " [A] ccording to a recent international fact-finding mission of Dutch and Belgian judges and lawyers, Task Force Usig 'has not proven to be an independent body…the PNP has a poor record as far as the effective investigation of the killings is concerned and is mistrusted by the Philippine people."cite web|url=http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-27/6-27-war3.htm|title=What Drives Macapagal-Arroyo’s "Silent War"?|publisher=Bulatlat] Task Force Usig dismissed nearly half of the 114 cases of assassination as "cold"cite web|url=http://www.kilusangmayouno.org/dilg-should-urge-task-force-usig-really-investigate-all-political-killings-kmu|title=DILG should urge Task Force Usig to really investigate all political killings - KMU|accessdate=2008-04-05] and, of the 58 cases where charges were brought, has secured only convictions only twice. [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/10/philip18248_txt.htm A Human Rights Watch Submission to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the Universal Periodic Review of the Republic of the Philippines] "Human Rights Watch" 2003] [http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/sanjuan180906.html E. San Juan, Jr., "Class Struggle and Socialist Revolution in the Philippines: Understanding the Crisis of U.S. Hegemony, Arroyo State Terrorism, and Neoliberal Globalization" ] ]Amnesty International states that the more than 860 confirmed murders are clearly political in nature because of "the methodology of the attacks, including prior death threats and patterns of surveillance by persons reportedly linked to the security forces, the leftist profile of the victims and climate of impunity which, in practice, shields the perpetrators from prosecution." The AI report continues: quote |the arrest and threatened arrest of leftist Congress Representatives and others on charges of rebellion, and intensifying counter-insurgency operations in the context of a declaration by officials in June of 'all-out-war' against the
New People's Army . . . [and] the parallel public labeling by officials of a broad range of legal leftist groups as communist 'front organizations'...has created an environment in which there is heightened concern that further political killings of civilians are likely to take place.|Amnesty International| [http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa350062006 Philippines: Political Killings, Human Rights and the Peace ...] , Amnesty International]Human Rights Watch, in a 2008 report, reported
Human Rights Watch writes that the murders and kidnappings are rarely investigated by the police or other government agencies; they often go unreported because of fears of reprisal against the victims or their families. The Philippine National Police blame investigative failures on this reluctance, but as Human Rights Watch writes: quote | [W] itnesses are indeed reluctant to cooperate with police investigations, because of fear that they would be targeted by doing so. An extremely weak witness protection program exacerbates this problem.... [P] olice are often unwilling to vigorously investigate cases implicating members of the AFP. Families of some victims told Human Rights Watch that when they reported relevant cases to the police, police often demanded that the families themselves produce evidence and witnesses. Even when police filed cases with a court, they often identified the perpetrators either as long-wanted members of the NPA or simply as “John Doe.” Some families told Human Rights Watch that police gave up investigating after only a few days.|Human Rights Watch|
quote |Most of those killed or "disappeared" were peasant or worker activists belonging to progressive groups such as
Bayan Muna ,Anakpawis ,GABRIELA , Anakbayan,Karapatan , KMU, and others (Petras and Abaya 2006). They were protesting Arroyo's repressive taxation, collusion with foreign capital tied to oil and mining companies that destroy people's livelihood and environment, fraudulent use of public funds, and other anti-people measures. Such groups and individuals have been tagged as "communist fronts" by Arroyo's National Security Advisers, the military, and police; the latter agencies have been implicated in perpetrating or tolerating those ruthless atrocities.|Dr.E. San Juan, Jr. |Citation
url=http://www.ahrchk.net/ahrc-in-news/mainfile.php/2006ahrcinnews/865/
title=PHILIPPINES: Class Struggle and Socialist Revolution in the Philippines: Understanding the Crisis of U.S. Hegemony, Arroyo State Terrorism, and Neoliberal Globalization [Monthly Review]
publisher=Asian Human Rights Commission
author=E. San Juan, Jr.
date=September 18 ,2006
accessdate=2008-05-09]According to commentators
James Petras and Robin Eastman-Abaya, "Human rights groups provide evidence that death squads operate under the protective umbrella of regional military commands, especially the U.S.-trained Special Forces. [http://www.counterpunch.org/petras03172006.html CounterPunch: "America's Best Political Newsletter" ] ]2006 is also the year President Arroyo issued Presidential Proclamation 1017. According to Cher S Jimenez writing in
Asia Times Online , this proclamation "grants exceptional unchecked powers to the executive branch", placing the country in a state of emergency and permitting the police and security forces to "conduct warrantless arrests against enemies of the state, including...members of the political opposition and journalists from critical media outlets." With 185 dead, 2006 is so far (2007) the highest annual mark for extra-judicial government murders. Of the 2006 killings, the dead were "mostly left-leaning activists, murdered without trial or punishment for the perpetrators." The issuance of the proclamation conspicuously coincided with a dramatic increase in political violence and extra-judicial killings.cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IB13Ae02.html|title=Deadly dirty work in the Philippines (page 2)|publisher=Asia Times|date=2007-02-13]E. San Juan, Jr. alleges that the Arroyo government initially made no response to the dramatic increase in violence and killings. He writes, "Arroyo has been tellingly silent over the killing and abduction of countless members of opposition parties and popular organizations." An independent commission was assembled in August 2006 to investigate the killings. Headed by former Supreme Court JusticeJose Melo , the group known as theMelo Commission concluded that most of the killings were instigated by theArmed Forces of the Philippines , but found no proof linking the murder of activists to a "national policy" as claimed by the left-wing groups. On the other hand the report "linked state security forces to the murder of militants and recommended that military officials, notably retired major general Jovito Palparan, be held liable under the principle of command responsibility for killings in their areas of assignment."cite web |title=Melo: Commission report 'complete' |last=Alberto |first=Thea |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=2007-02-15 |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=49657 |accessdate=2007-06-04] E. San Juan, Jr. writes that later, in February 2007, UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston implicated the Philippine police and military as responsible for the crimes. Alston charged in his report that Arroyo’s propaganda and counter-insurgency strategy “encourage or facilitate the extra-judicial killings of activists and other enemies” of the state.cite web|url=http://www.ahrchk.net/ahrc-in-news/mainfile.php/2007ahrcinnews/1130/|title=Philippines: Filpina Militants Indict Bush-Arroyo For Crimes Against Humanity|publisher=Bay Area Indymedia|date=2007-04-28 Article written byE. San Juan, Jr. for Bay Area Indymedia. Republished by "Asian Human Rights Commission in News".] and that "the AFP remains in a state of almost total denial… of its need to respond effectively and authentically to the significant number of killings which have been convincingly attributed to them".
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