The Trades and Labour Council (Unions WA) representing 17 unions and 20 percent of West Australia’s labour force wants to send a fact-finding delegation to the Philippines to investigate the assassinations of over 700 civilians including party-list and community leaders, and the abductions of at least 184 others. BY ANIBETH DESIERTO Bulatlat.com The Trades and…
Category: Human Rights
Political Killings in RP Draw Int’l Condemnation
From Europe to the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo received relentless criticisms for the unabated extrajudicial killings under her regime. BY EMILY VITAL Bulatlat.com From Europe to the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo received relentless criticisms for the unabated extrajudicial killings under her regime. Disgraced During her recent trip to Europe, leaders of various countries expressed concern over the…
UN Rights Body Hears Raps vs Arroyo Government
The complaints could go all the way to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and thereafter for appropriate action. As an organ of the UN General Assembly, the 47-member UNHRC may vote to suspend the membership of the Philippines in the council for gross and systematic violations of human rights. By BULATLAT The United Nations…
Nicole’s Grit, Key to Her Search for Justice
As the trial of the Subic Rape Case approaches judgment, the complainant’s private prosecutor Evalyn Ursua hopes for a conviction for the four U.S. Marines sued for allegedly raping Nicole in November last year. On her client’s 23rd birthday celebration, the lawyer says that the case’s greatest strength is Nicole’s grit and determination to pursue…
Ang Subic Rape Case: Tungo sa Paghusga sa Visiting Forces Agreement
Mula 1947 hanggang 1991, sa higit tatlong libong naiulat na krimeng nagawa ng mga hukbong Kano dito sa bansa, wala ni isang kaso ang umabot sa hukuman at nalitis at nakapaghatol laban sa mga nagkasalang sundalo ng Estados Unidos, kabilang na ang mga krimeng karumaldumal. Ni Roland G. Simbulan* Propesor sa Development Studies at Public…
31 Years Later: Still Waiting, Still Fighting
The walk to the Rizal Park before dusk in 1975 proved to be not just a stroll for 46-year old Amparo Diaz, an organizer of the urban poor in Tondo, Manila. She found herself picked up by armed men and herded into a jeep. BY DABET CASTANEDA Bulatlat.com The walk to the Rizal Park before…
Leyte ‘Mass Grave’ was a Military ‘No-man’s Land’ – Karapatan
A local human rights group cast doubts on what the military claims to be a mass grave of the communist movement’s purge victims. They said the site was actually a “no-man’s land”, where the village population evacuated to escape military operations. BY JOHANN HEIN B. ARPON Bulatlat.com Tacloban City – A local human rights group…
Workers’ Rights Trampled Upon by GMA’s Total War
The Arroyo regime’s “total war” is not only victimizing progressive party lists, lawyers, church workers, teachers, students, and peasants. It is also victimizing workers who are peacefully exercising their union rights as the experience of the Samahan ng mga Manggagawa sa Console Farms (SAMACOFA or the Union of Workers at Console Farms) in Central Luzon…
Melo Probe Body a Waste of Money, CHR Exec Says
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Karapatan, an alliance of human rights organizations, and groups of human rights lawyers agree that the Melo Commission merely duplicates the functions of the CHR. They also believe that the Melo commission’s probe will amount to nothing as it lacks prosecutory powers. Proof of this is that eight more…
IBP-NL Condemns Killing of Apayao Comelec Head
The local and regional chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) condemned the ambush that killed a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official in Apayao on Thursday, Sept. 7, even as the Comelec regional director moved to coordinate with the police to immediately solve the case. Lawyer Julius Angadol, 35, Comelec provincial supervisor in…
Palparan’s Path: Trail of Blood, Child Victims
When he exits the military service this Sept. 11, Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, Jr. leaves behind a long list of victims of human rights violations in the areas where he was assigned. Based on his declarations in various media interviews, he will perhaps even give a hearty laugh should his record be described as a…