Rights watchdogs led by Karapatan are set to file complaints and reports with the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva next month. The complaints over the spate of political killings will ask Macapagal-Arroyo to account for the killings which have to date claimed the lives of 729 persons.

By Bulatlat
Bulatlat.com

Just as the Macapagal-Arroyo government is hounded by international protests over the spate of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines, victims’ relatives and rights groups are set to file complaints against the Macapagal-Arroyo government with the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) and other world bodies.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general of human rights alliance Karapatan, said in a statement Aug. 19 that rights watchdogs and relatives of victims of political murders have vowed to make embattled President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable for the killings.

She made the statement on the heels of the junking by the House committee on justice of the second impeachment complaint which is based partly on alleged human rights violations. Karapatan, along with the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP), Desaparecidos and relatives of victims of extra-judicial killings and disappearances are set to file complaints and reports with the UNHRC when it convenes in Geneva in September.

The UNHRC conference will allow representatives of victims’ relatives and rights groups a fair hearing, Hilao-Enriquez said.

Two weeks ago, the UNHCR also warned the Philippine government of its failure to comply with UN laws requiring the submission of human rights reports since 1992.

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