The AHRC also criticized the Department of Justice (DoJ) for acting on what it described as “defective and partial” police investigations. This, the human rights group said, often resulted in the victims’ being constrained to deny “fabricated charges” against them by the police. It cited the case of Cavite labor leader Gerardo Cristobal, who was allegedly ambushed by policemen last April and subsequently slapped with frustrated murder charges.

Likewise, the implementation of international human rights instruments to which the Philippines is a State-party is poor, the AHRC also said. “Although the government is a State-party to international human rights Covenants and Conventions, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), its actual implementation of the provisions enshrined within these instruments is derisory,” the AHRC stated.

Failure to comply with UN laws

The human rights group also noted that the Philippines has failed to implement most of the December 2003 concluding observations of the UN Human Rights Committee regarding the ICCPR. “The unabated extrajudicial killings of activists, could have been prevented if not completely stopped had the government seriously addressed (the) ‘lack of appropriate measures to investigate crimes allegedly committed by State security forces and agents,’ and had taken all necessary measures to improve the witness protection programme,” the AHRC stated.

The AHRC did not mince words in criticizing the Melo Commission, formed last August by the Arroyo administration ostensibly to look into the killings of activists and journalists, saying the body is “duplicating” the functions of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

The AHRC’s assessment of the 2006 Philippine human rights situation is part of its report on the state of human rights in 11 Asian countries for this year. In its summary of the report, the AHRC stated:

Specifically, Asia’s people feel discontent over the authoritarianism of democratically elected governments as well as military regimes. They are restlessness over restrictions on their freedom of expression, association and assembly. They are angry at the use of martial law and emergency and terrorism laws that steal their rights in the name of making them secure. They are frustrated over rampant corruption and dissatisfied over the ineffectiveness of states to stop manifold forms of discrimination that are widely experienced throughout the continent. They are distressed as extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture continue unabated, and they are disappointed over the ineffectiveness of parliaments, judiciaries, police forces and prosecution systems to address these deficiencies. Moreover, states are not dealing with this discontent in a positive manner by trying to resolve these problems. Instead, governments resort to even worse military and policing methods to deal with them. This is the grim picture of Asia as it approaches 2007.

2006 has witnessed certain notably highs and lows. Firstly, Nepal has witnessed a historic popular revolt that has effectively over-thrown the country’s King, whose regime was responsible for gross and massive violations of human rights. This has led to a political process that could well enable a lasting end to the internal conflict that has raged in the country for over a decade, if all parties abide by their commitments, although much needs to be done in order to dismantle impunity and achieve justice for the thousands of human rights victims in the country. Sri Lanka has descended into further violence, and the AHRC has branded the country the most violent place in Asia at the moment, with the State having singularly failed to take any serious steps to bring the situation under control. In Thailand, respect for human rights and the rule of law were set back many years with the return to power of the military on September 19. The Philippines has been the stage of a campaign widespread, targeted political extra-judicial killings, accompanied by the abject failure of the government to do anything to halt them or bring those accountable to justice. In other countries, such as Bangladesh, Burma, and Pakistan, endemic, gross violations continue unabated, while the international community turns a blind eye. In India, the majority of the population continue to suffer from poverty and a lack of access to rights, despite the much heralded economic boom that the country is experiencing.

In its assessment of the Philippine human rights situation for 2006, the AHRC recommended, among other things, that the government establish a truly independent body to probe extrajudicial killings – one that would not undermine the CHR’s work but instead actively engage it in the investigation process. The AHRC also recommended that full protection for victims and witnesses be ensured, that perpetrators of human rights violations be meted due punishment, and the families of victims be given full reparation. (Bulatlat.com)

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