HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Aussie Unions Mull
Sending Mission to Probe RP Slays
The
Trades and Labour Council (Unions WA) representing 17 unions and 20
percent of West Australia’s labour force wants to send a fact-finding
delegation to the Philippines to investigate the assassinations of over
700 civilians including party-list and community leaders, and the
abductions of at least 184 others.
BY ANIBETH DESIERTO
Contributed to Bulatlat
The Trades
and Labour Council (Unions WA) representing 17 unions and 20 percent of
West Australia’s labour force wants to send a fact-finding delegation to
the Philippines to investigate the assassinations of over 700 civilians
including party-list and community leaders, and the abductions of at least
184 others.
Unions WA
resolved on Sept. 19 to request Australia’s national union body – the
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) – to send a delegation of union
and community representatives to the Philippines to investigate these
human rights violations and abuse of workers.
Unions WA
also resolved to initiate a peaceful protest action of an overnight candle
vigil and wreath laying outside the Perth Philippine Consulate on Nov. 16
as part of an International Day of Protest against the human rights abuses
of the Arroyo government in the Philippines. The action would also be a
commemoration of the deaths of union and community leaders and organizers
allegedly killed by government soldiers.
This
development follows this week’s military abduction of three Anakpawis
(Toiling Masses) members from Malolos, Bulacan and the assassination of
another Bayan Muna (People First Party) leader from Agusan province in the
Philippines.
In addition,
11 members of Teatro Obrero, the cultural arm of the National Federation
of Sugar Workers (NFSW) were rescued by an NFSW and Karapatan (Alliance
for the Advancement of People’s Rights) delegation from military custody
after they were abducted from rehearsals on Sept. 13 and accused by the
military of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing
of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Amnesty
International’s report “Philippines: Political Killings, Human Rights and
the Peace Process” released on Aug. 15 referred to a “clear pattern” of
executions of civil libertarians, cause-oriented and progressive groups;
and documented 4,207 human rights violation cases in the Philippines since
2001 including cases of killings, enforced disappearances, illegal
arrests, indiscriminate firings and forcible evacuations.
Amnesty
International and the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) have
pointed out that most of the
perpetrators of these violations, killings and abductions were government
security forces with the tacit approval of the Arroyo government.
Arroyo and
military chiefs have continued to deny any culpability for these human
rights violations and killings amid condemnation and calls for redress for
the victims and their families by the UN Committee on Human Rights (UNHRC),
the U.S. National Guild of Lawyers, The Asian Committee on Human Rights,
the World Council of Churches, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the U.S.
State Department, the Uniting Church of
Australia, international human rights groups and other
international bodies.
Australian
Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president Sharan Burrow, in an August
meeting with Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May 1st Movement) leader
Angelina Ladera – who herself is reportedly on the hit list of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) – expressed concern over the $21-million
development assistance provided by the Australian government to the Arroyo
administration last year. She said the ACTU will examine if this money is
being used by the Arroyo government to finance its “military attacks and
human rights violations” against civilians and workers.
The
appointment by Arroyo of the much-feared Army Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan as
an anti-insurgency deputy at the National Security Council (NSC) –
announced by Presidential Chief of Staff Mike Defensor recently – has sent
shock waves through parliamentarians, human rights groups, civil
libertarians, church members, workers and local leaders. Palparan has
outstanding human rights violation cases against him during his time in
Tarlac, the Visayan islands of Leyte and Samar where he served as
commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division and earlier in
Mindoro as head of the 204th Infantry Battalion. His
appointment is on hold.
Australian
Sen. Gavin Marshall in federal parliament has said that the common factor
in these (human rights) cases is that the victims have been outspoken on
issues of poverty and justice, advocating for poor and oppressed people,
for civil liberties and human rights and some directly critical of the
government. Marshall points out that these deaths could have been
prevented through government intervention and the prime suspects are
government military intelligence units.
Marshall
emphasized the importance of a witness protection program in the
investigation of these human rights violations and the establishment of an
independent body to conduct the investigations.
Arroyo
however has rejected Amnesty International’s request to include
independent observers in the recently established Melo Commission which is
tasked to investigate the killings of political activists and media
persons. Bulatlat
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