The international community has again called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to decisively put a stop to the extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country, with the call registered recently by Japanese organizations.
BY AT BENGWAYAN
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Vol. VII, No. 45, Dec. 16-22, 2007
The international community has again called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to decisively put a stop to the extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country, with the call registered recently by Japanese organizations.
In a statement addressed to Arroyo, 12 Japanese rights organizations said that “since the Philippine government is obliged to prevent the occurrence of grave human rights violations within its jurisdiction, it is obliged to prevent occurrence of grave human rights violations such as extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances.”
The same statement was sent to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Avelino Razon, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon, and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, as well as Sulpicio Confiado, First Secretary and Consul for Political Affairs in the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.
The organizations include Amnesty International-Japan, Campaign for Future of Filipino Children, Friends of the Earth Japan, Human Rights Now, Jubilee Kansai Network, Kansai Action Center on Philippine Human Rights Issues, KAFTI, Nagoya People’s Network Against Political Killings in the Philippines, Nagoya Center for Philippine Concerns, Philippines Watch Japan, Tokyo and Yokohama People’s Network against the Political Killings in the Philippines, and WAYA WAYA.
Demands
The said groups welcomed the reports of the Melo Commission and that of United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Prof. Philip Alston regarding the spate of extra-judicial killings in the country. Alston’s report specifically earned the ire of the Philippine military’s top brass because it pointed to the involvement of the military in the killings.
Human rights organization Karapatan has reported 887 extra-judicial killings and 185 cases of enforced disappearances from 2001 to October 2007.
The Japanese NGOs demanded for “effective measures to prevent extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances”; investigation and prosecution of military and police personnel who actually participated in the human rights violations and compensation to the victims’ families.
To the Japanese government, which is one of the biggest donors of development aid to the Philippines, the groups demanded for continuing communication with the Philippine government on human rights issues to monitor the process of the restoration of human rights; investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the killings and to ensure that justice will be served. Ultimately, the groups demanded that no new yen loan should made available to the Philippines until an improved human rights situation is observed and functional accountability mechanisms are put into place.
International Human Rights Day in Japan was commemorated by a 300-strong march rally in the Japanese capital of Tokyo, followed by a vigil at the Philippine Embassy, a Japanese activist and campaigner said. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
