Amnesty Int'l tells RP: Shame on you

Slays traced to state of emergency, war vs Reds

By Norman Bordadora

Published on Page A1 of the August 16, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE UNABATED killing of leftist activists constitutes a pattern of political executions that should be a source of "deep embarrassment" to the Philippine government, according to Amnesty International (AI).

In a 51-page report released yesterday, the London-based human rights group said the threat of more such murders had intensified this year along with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's declaration of a state of emergency in February, the arrest and threatened arrest of militant party-list lawmakers, and the administration's all-out war against communist insurgents.

The group raised concerns about "credible reports" that security forces were involved in the killings, or at least tolerated or had knowledge of them.

AI documented a steep increase in the incidence of extrajudicial killings this year, recording 51 cases in the first semester. It pointed out there were 66 such killings in the entire 2005.

"No one deserves to die for their political affiliation. It should be a deep embarrassment to the government that people in the Philippines cannot freely exercise their rights of political expression and association," said AI's Southeast Asia researcher Tim Parritt.

In its report that included case studies of the killings and of warrantless arrests, AI listed these key recommendations: Reassertion of respect for human rights; guarantee of the administration of justice; compliance with the human rights agreement in the peace process, and action by other human rights institutions.

UN mechanisms

AI called on the Philippine government to seek the expertise of the United Nations' "relevant special mechanisms" by inviting the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, the Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders and representatives of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to visit the Philippines.

It also called for an independent oversight body that would ensure that all investigations of political killings -- including those by the Philippine National Police's Task Force Usig -- were backed by effective coordination between the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice and Department of National Defense.

Asked yesterday to comment, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said: "Let us be very clear: These killings are appalling and the President condemns them in the strongest possible terms. She has taken a number of actions. She has offered rewards, brought in the police and directed the [DoJ] to stop at nothing in bringing the perpetrators to justice. She is determined to bring these breaches under control and to mete out the harshest punishments to the offenders."

Culture of impunity

In her State of the Nation Address last month, the President said she was condemning the political killings. But she also heaped lavish praise on Major General Jovito Palparan, who has been tagged the "butcher" of leftist activists for the cases of extrajudicial killings and rights abuses in areas where he has been posted.

"The common features in the methodology of the attacks, the leftist profile of the victims and an apparent culture of impunity shielding the perpetrators has led AI to believe that the killings are not an unconnected series of criminal murders, armed robberies or other unlawful killings," the group said.

"Rather, they constitute a pattern of politically targeted extrajudicial executions taking place within the broader context of a continuing counterinsurgency campaign," it said.

It cited motorcycle-riding death squads preying on leftist activists as well as cases of militant politicians and activists being labeled as communist cadres.

AI called for a renewed commitment from both the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines to respect human rights, noting that the New People's Army, the armed wing of the CPP, had announced the formation of "retaliatory hit squads" against government forces.

"With the political will necessary to revive peace negotiations currently appearing absent, [AI] believes it essential that all sides urgently reassert respect for human rights in order to prevent the serious threat of a renewed spiral of human rights abuses," the group said.

'Official acquiescence'

AI said there was "an increased risk that those responsible for the killings would believe that they had received a signal of official acquiescence for these abuses."

It cited "repeated credible reports that members of the security forces have been directly involved in the attacks, or else have tolerated, acquiesced to, or been complicit in them."

It said that as early as 2003, the UN Human Rights Committee called for government action on "the lack of appropriate measures to investigate crimes allegedly committed by state security forces and agents and to prosecute and punish these perpetrators."

AI called on the Deputy Ombudsman for the military and other law enforcement offices to conduct "prompt, thorough, impartial and effective" inquiries into all complaints of political killings purportedly involving military, police or other security personnel.

It said these inquiries should, as appropriate, lead promptly to recommendations to the DoJ to file criminal charges against those found responsible.

"Stemming this tide of killings requires genuine political will to ensure prosecution in all cases -- not only the 10 cases in 10 weeks recently called for by President Arroyo," Parritt said.

'Primary target' of gov't

AI said that in February, Ms Arroyo declared a state of emergency on the basis of a purported plot to overthrow her administration by members of the mainstream opposition in "tactical alliance" with rightists, communist rebels, progressive leftist groups and current and former military personnel.

"However, the primary target of government action appeared to be the CPP-NPA and the progressive leftist parties, which were now explicitly accused by senior government officials of being front organizations for illegal communist armed groups," AI said.

It said that on Feb. 26, police lodged a "rebellion" complaint with government prosecutors against some 50 prominent figures from across the spectrum of the Left, including communist leaders in exile and leaders of militant party-list groups.

"In a serious blow to prospects for reviving confidence in the peace process, the list of those accused of rebellion was substantially composed of persons previously listed in the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees, and the addresses of most of the suspects was cited as the Secretariat of the Joint Monitoring Committee of the [Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law]," AI said.

The group said that over the subsequent months it appeared "increasingly clear" that the government had decided to abandon its peace talks with the National Democratic Front, the CPP's political wing. With a report from Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.