Philippine Delegation to Present Human Rights Report to Congress, U.S. Churches |
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By: Philippine Working Group Posted: 2007-03-10 05:29:37 |
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Ten Filipino human rights advocates will be in Washington March 9 - 14 to present a new report on the unabated and unpunished series of politically motivated murders in the Philippines and to urge Congress and U.S. church leaders to exert pressure on the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to put an end to the killings.
The delegation will release their report on human rights in the Philippines on March 14 to the Senate Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs, chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and to members of the House Committee on Foreign Relations, chaired by Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA). Prior to the congressional meetings, the Filipino delegation will also present their findings at two conferences in Washington this week and next -- one of which, the International Ecumenical Conference on Human Rights in the Philippines, March 12-14 -- has been called by U.S. church leaders specifically to address the human rights situation in the Philippines. Since January 2001, the number of persons killed in political assassinations has reached 833, according to Philippine human rights group Karapatan (literally, "right" or Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights). In 2006 alone, there were 207 extra-judicial killings in the Philippines, which translates to an average of four persons killed per week. WHAT: International Ecumenical Conference on Human Rights in the Philippines Sponsored by the Philippine Working Group, under the auspices of international humanitarian agency Church World Service's Asia-Pacific Forum and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) WHEN, WHERE: Monday March 12 - Wednesday March 14 National City Christian Church 5 Thomas Circle, N.W. Washington, D.C. ***PRESS BRIEFING: *** Sunday March 11, 9:45 - 11:15 AM Van Buren Room, Main Lobby Level Doubletree Crystal City Hotel 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, Virginia Members of the delegation will be present Prior to the Philippines human rights conference, the delegation will present to more than 1,000 international faith-based and civil society leaders and activists concerned with U.S. foreign and domestic policies, at the fifth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days Conference, March 9 - 12, in Washington. BACKGROUND: The Philippines report, "'Let the Stones Cry Out': An Ecumenical Report on Human Rights in the Philippines and a Call to Action" was researched and prepared by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP). The 86-page report details cases of political killings and studies the chilling pattern and alarming proportions with which these assaults on life were perpetrated. The report links the unbridled political killings to the Arroyo government's counter-insurgency program. "The manner with which the victims were executed or abducted was done professionally and systematically, establishing a connection between the national security strategy and the incidents of violations," the NCCP says in the report. The document likewise mentions the poor record of the Philippine government in complying not only with the procedures required of a member of the United Nations but also of its failure to adhere to its declared commitments to the UN Human Rights Council. The report, to be released by the NCCP, is the latest one to pin the responsibility for the killings to Philippine military and security forces. On February 21, Prof. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, asked the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to "acknowledge" its involvement in the extra-judicial killings and conduct a "genuine" investigation. The UN Special Rapporteur spent ten days in the Philippines to investigate the extra-judicial killings and related human rights violations and met with President Arroyo and other government officials, human rights groups and victims' families On Tuesday (March 6) the U.S. State Department, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006, said that during the year, a number of unexplained killings in the Philippines were committed "apparently by elements of the security forces." The human rights situation in the Philippines has gone so bad that even the commission formed by President Arroyo herself to investigate the political killings came out with a report naming a retired Philippine Army general Jovito Palparan along with other generals as the "prime suspect behind the extra-judicial killings" in the country. The commission, headed by a former Supreme Court justice, called on President Arroyo to punish those who were responsible for the killings. Victims were killed for their political beliefs, for exercising their freedom of expression and for opting to live by their Christian mission of serving their fellow brethren. Among those killed were lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists, church leaders, local officials, community leaders and organizers, students, peasants, indigenous leaders, workers, professionals, women and children. Twenty-five church people were among those who were killed. For more information on the conference and the crisis in the Philippines, go to http://www.philippinesadvocacy.org. |
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