International Groups Hit Political
Repression in Philippines
The growing political repression in the
Philippines
is reflective of the international human rights situation. Various
international groups last week joined the ranks of local progressive
organizations in denouncing increased incidences of human rights
violations.
By BULATLAT
|
The international
community is increasingly concerned over political repression in the
Philippines. Increased human rights violations, after all, is an issue all
peoples in the world can relate to, judging by the extent of repression
that happens in different parts of the world.
The Netherlands-based
International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) last week stressed
that “the Philippines has become a dangerous place for lawyers, judges and
members of the legal profession.” On the other hand, the New York-based
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described the country as the most
murderous place in the world to practice journalism.
|
Women hold vigil May 20
in six U.S. cities to condemn U.S. intervention in RP and
President Macapagal-Arroyo's complicity |
Recently, the
International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) has promised to
address the issue of escalating attacks against Filipino lawyers at the 15th
Congress of IADL in Paris, France
from June 7 to 11, 2005. IADL
President Jitendra Sharma said, “(W)e should be able to arouse
international opinion of this issue.”
Women’s protests
In the United States,
the GABRIELA Network (GABNet) held a nationwide vigil last May 20 as a
“solemn reminder of the ongoing US intervention in the Philippines and its
destructive nature for the Philippine nation and its people.” This was the
first nationally coordinated mass action in the US to protest the
“escalating political killings in the Philippines since (US President)
George W. Bush…declared the country as the second front in the global `war
on terror.’”
The mass action was
held simultaneously in Chicago, Los
Angeles, New York,
Portland,
San Francisco and Seattle. More than 200 participants denounced the more
than 300 political killings and abductions from 2001 to the present. They
stressed that in the first quarter of 2005 alone, there were 100 cases of
human rights violations affecting 23,252 victims in 91 communities.
Among their ranks,
the protesters said that 11 women belonging to GABRIELA and the Gabriela
Women’s Party (GWP) were murdered.
Church concerns
Even the
international mission agency of The United Methodist Church was alarmed by
the violence in the Philippines that is “claiming the lives of Christian
pastors and laity who side with the poor in demanding justice and economic
opportunity.
The Rev. R. Randy
Day, chief executive of the General Board of Global Ministries, joined
local church leaders in calling for a full and fair investigation of the
May 12 murder of the Rev. Edison Lapuz who was shot while he slept. Day
said that the situation in the Philippines is “deeply disturbing to the
Christian conscience.”
Reflective of global human rights situation
The growing political
repression in the Philippines
is reflective of the overall global situation. In a statement, Amnesty
International (AI) stressed that using the war on terror as an excuse,
“governments are eroding human rights principles, standards and values.
The international community appears unable or willing to halt this trend.”
The AI explained that
international human rights and humanitarian law is being “directly
challenged as ineffective in responding to the security issues of the
present and future.”
Since 9/11, the
international human rights group said, “(G)overnments around the world
have been openly pursuing repressive agendas. Many play on people’s fears
and sometimes prejudices.”
In its 2005 report,
AI expressed concern over increasing reports of military and police
brutality against both communist and crime suspects. Bulatlat
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