On March 14 the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. At the hearing, Bishop E. Pascua, Secretary General of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) testified that 16 members of the UCCP leadership had been extrajudicially killed since 2001, and Maria Hilao-Enriquez, Secretary General of the Philippine human rights organization KARAPATAN, reported that 32 KARAPATAN staff members had also been killed extrajudicially since 2001. (See: http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/hearings/2007/hrg070314p.html for statements from the expert witnesses.)
Bishop Pascua and Ms. Hilao-Enriquez were members of an ecumenical delegation of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines who traveled to Washington D.C. as part of an international appeal to stop the extrajudicial killings to government and intergovernmental bodies last March 2007.
Both the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and Amnesty International have issued reports detailing the extrajudicial killings and abductions and presenting evidence showing the involvement of the AFP and PNP in the killings.
Signatories to the House members’ letter to Arroyo included Representatives:
Brian Baird (D, WA), Tammy Baldwin (D, WI), Howard Berman (D, CA), Dan
Burton (R, IN), Julia Carson (D, IN), Rosa DeLauro (D, CT), Keith Ellison
(D, MN), Phil English (R, PA), Sam Farr (D, CA), Chaka Fattah (D, PA), Trent
Franks (D, MA), Raul Grijalva (D, AZ), Luis Gutierrez (D, IL), Maurice
Hinchey (D, NY), Mike Honda (D, CA), Jesse Jackson (D, IL), Carolyn Cheeks
Kilpatrick (D, MI), Mark-Steven Kirk (R, IL), Dennis Kucinich (D, OH), Tom
Lantos (D, CA), Rick Larsen (D, WA), Barbara Lee (D, CA), John Lewis (D,GA)
David Loebsack (D,IA) , Zoe Lofgren (D,CA), Doris Matsui (D,CA), Betty
McCollum (D,MN), Jim McDermott (D,WA), James McGovern (D,MA), Jerry McNerney (D,CA), Mike McNulty (D,NY), Jerry Moran (R-KA ), James Oberstar (D,MN), David Obey (D, WI), Donald Payne (D,NJ), Collin Peterson (D,MN), Joe Pitts
(R,PA), David Price (D,NC), Jim Ramstad (R,MN), Steven Rothman (D,NJ), Bobby
Rush (D,IL) , Jan Schakowsky (D,IL), Adam Smith (D,WA), Fortney Stark
(D,CA), Ellen Tauscher (D,CA), Lee Terry (R,NE), John Tierney (D,MA), Tim
Walz (D,MN), Frank Wolf (R,VA).
