Both the United Nations (UN) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) point to the government’s counterinsurgency campaign as the cause of the extrajudicial killings of activists as well as the impunity that also resulted in the killings of journalists.
BY EMILY VITAL
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 43, December 2-8, 2007
Both the United Nations (UN) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) point to the government’s counterinsurgency campaign as the cause of the extrajudicial killings of activists as well as the impunity that also resulted in the killings of journalists.
In his final report, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston criticized the Arroyo government’s counterinsurgency strategy, “which increasingly focuses on dismantling civil society organizations that are purported to be ‘fronts’ of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).” The CPP is waging a civil war against the government for more than three decades now.
Alston said, “…the leaders of leftist organizations are systematically hunted down by interrogating and torturing those who may know their whereabouts, and they are often killed following a campaign of individual vilification designed to instill fear into the community.”
Alston visited the Philippines from February 12 to 21 and traveled to Manila, Baguio and Davao. He met with key government officials including the President and groups from across the political spectrum.
A week earlier, WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia said in a press conference in Quezon City, “Our call is not to use the militarist approach in solving the problems…”
It was in September 2006 when the WCC first condemned the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines and expressed grave concerns regarding the increasing militarization.
In his recent visit to the Philippines, Kobia reiterated the group’s call, “…we …appeal to the government of the Philippines … that an independent inquiry commission to be set up to investigate the extrajudicial killings rather than one made up of government appointees.”
Kobia was referring to the Philippine National Police’s Task Force Usig and the Melo Commission. The Melo Commission came up with its own report holding Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. liable under the principle of command responsibility. However, not one perpetrator has been prosecuted yet.
The WCC has a consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and in that capacity, attends, monitors and participates in discussions and debates of U.N. bodies. The WCC is also authorized to accredit representatives from its own constituencies to the UN Human Rights Council.
Kobia vowed to continue to call for the intervention of the Human Rights Council to look into the escalating human rights violations in the Philippines. The WCC, he said, will facilitate the presentation of cases of the human rights abuses in the country when the Philippines will be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council in early 2008 through the new mechanism of the UNHRC – the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. The Philippines is a member of the said council.
Strikingly unconvincing
Alston described the military’s “purge theory” as strikingly unconvincing. The “purge theory” alleges that many or all of the extrajudicial killings have actually been committed by communist insurgents as part of an internal purge.
Alston said, “The military is in a state of denial concerning the extrajudicial executions in which its soldiers are implicated. The military’s insistence that the purge theory is correct can only be viewed as a cynical attempt to displace responsibility.”
Order of battle
Alston said he received a leaked copy of the “order of battle” co-signed by senior military and police officials. Alston revealed that the document, some 110 pages in length, lists hundreds of prominent civil society groups and individuals who have been classified as members of organizations which the military deems “illegitimate.”
Alston said the document, which he got hold of, calls on all members of the intelligence community in the regions to adopt and be guided by this update (on the order of battle) to enhance a more comprehensive and concerted effort against the CPP, New People’s Army and National Democratic Front.
In 2005, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) released a powerpoint presentation titled “Knowing the Enemy” which also lists alleged CPP fronts.
Impunity
Alston noted that there is impunity in the commission of extrajudicial executions as no one has been convicted in cases involving murders of leftist activists. He said, “The criminal justice system’s failure to obtain convictions and deter future killings should be understood in the light of the system’s overall structure.”
Alston said that the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG) distorts the criminal justice system’s priorities because it focuses on the prosecution of civil society leaders rather than their killers.
Alston explained, “The reason why this ad hoc mechanism [IALAG] was established was to bring charges against members of civil society organizations and party list groups who have seldom committed any obvious criminal offence.” He said that the Congress has never reversed its decision to legalize membership in the CPP. “But the executive branch, through the IALAG, has worked resolutely to circumvent the spirit of these legislative decisions and use prosecutions to impede the work of these groups and put in question their right to operate freely.”
Representatives of party list groups Bayan Muna, Gabriela and Anakpawis, along with leaders of people’s organizations, were charged with rebellion in 2006. The Supreme Court later junked the cases against them.
Alston said that while he received no evidence that the IALAG was designed or generally functions to plan extrajudicial executions, he deemed that the most “deleterious” role played by IALAG may be to encourage prosecutors to act as team players with the military and police in the counterinsurgency program and to de-prioritize cases involving the deaths of leftists activists.
Alston cited other factors, including the police’s reluctance to investigate the military, the inadequacy of the PNP’s witness protection program and the poor cooperation between the police and prosecutors that impede the effective gathering of evidence.
Terror law
On the other hand, the WCC expressed a critical view on the Human Security Act. Kobia said that the law “could have a negative impact in Philippines society as many of its provisions are not in accordance with international human rights standards.”
He said, “As the Human Security Act defined terrorism broadly, it gives justification to put forth legal procedures and punishments for people branded as ‘enemies of the state.’ We condemn the ongoing practice of the Philippine government and the military of labeling and persecuting churches, pastors and church workers who work for justice, peace and protection of human rights as subversives or communists.”
Recommendations
Alston said that the President, as commander in chief of the armed forces, must take concrete steps to put an end to those “aspects of counterinsurgency operations which have led to the targeting and execution of many individuals working with civil society organizations.” He said that extrajudicial executions must be eliminated from counterinsurgency operations.
Alston said, “The necessary measures should be taken to ensure that the principle of command responsibility, as it is understood in international law, serves as basis for criminal liability within the domestic legal order.”
The government, Alston also said, “should immediately direct all military officers to cease making public statements linking political or other civil society groups to those engaged in armed insurgencies.”
Peace talks
For the WCC, Kobia said that the government must not only revise the military strategy for resolving the insurgency, but to ensure the resumption of the stalled peace talks between the government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
Rev. Kobia also said, “In order to solve the insurgency, the government should address the root causes of the problem in the country, especially the long awaited land reform and poverty alleviation which will lift up the conditions of millions of Filipino masses who are struggling in their day to day life for freedom from hunger and poverty.” Bulatlat
