The recently concluded visit of Mr. Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution to the Philippines, which inquired into the phenomenon of extrajudicial executions “gathered a huge amount of data…much more than has been made available to any one of the major national inquiries.” FORUM-ASIA and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) commend the courage of the victims, their families and witnesses who broke through an atmosphere of fear to testify to the truthfulness of unabated, systematic extrajudicial killings.
The recently concluded visit of Mr. Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution to the Philippines, which inquired into the phenomenon of extrajudicial executions “gathered a huge amount of data…much more than has been made available to any one of the major national inquiries.” The more significant sources of these data came from more than a hundred cases nation-wide where the victims and their families as well as witnesses themselves personally presented their testimonies to Mr. Alston and his team. National human rights groups and civil society organizations have also presented in boxes and folders several hundred legal documentation of cases of human rights violations related to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.
The personal testimonies, given at great risk, challenge the oft-repeated complaint of government’s special investigative bodies that victims are uncooperative and not serious in resolving the extrajudicial killings. Detailed and well-supported testimonies also belie both the government and the military’s statements that the reported cases were “propaganda” at best and “fabricated or at least trumped up, to look more serious than they are” at worse.
FORUM-ASIA and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) commend the courage of the victims, their families and witnesses who broke through an atmosphere of fear to testify to the truthfulness of unabated, systematic extrajudicial killings. The places of interviews were solely secured by human rights and civil society organizations, while the U.N. Country Team had assured that the Philippine National Police (PNP) was limited to perimeter security. Nonetheless, FORUM-ASIA and PAHRA notes with alarm, intimidation and harassment perpetrated by government and military agents right in some of the places designated for Mr. Alston’s interviews. That such harassment and intimidation could be done even in the presence of a U.N. official betray the level of confidence of the military agents with regard the absence of any monitoring body which would exact accountability, especially in the rural areas.
FORUM-ASIA and PAHRA regret that the meaningful dialogue between the victims groups and Mr. Alston was interpreted by Department of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez as a ‘brainwashing’ session. This dismissiveness and berating of the Special Rapporteur by one of the country’s top officials upon whom the burden of accountability falls for such serious crimes, explains why atrocities continued with impunity to this day.
Mr. Alston noted a “state of almost total denial” by the military, of the need to respond effectively despite being at the center of allegations. This is most unfortunate for a country which consistently proclaim full adherence to international human rights. There can be no progress on this crisis without open and honest acknowledgement of the military’s role in the serious human rights breach. If the government wants to resolve the impunity attributed to the military and other state agents in the cases officially presented to the international body, it should order the military back into their barracks.
FORUM-ASIA and PAHRA urge the Philippine government to seriously address the report of the Special Rapporteur especially in the context of its counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism operations. Escalating extrajudicial executions are mostly blamed on government forces conducting these operations. Military personnel in areas of incidents must be held individually accountable for these crimes. Witnesses to these atrocities must be given full protection and safety. If government must have the people’s support for its campaign it should cease presenting it as a means of terrorizing people. And because there is no fundamental respect for human rights and civil liberties in the framework and operational principles of these counter-insurgency programs, these must be completely abandoned.
FORUM-ASIA and PAHRA consider the new Anti-terrorism law, otherwise known as the “Human Security Act of 2007” as a measure which will exacerbate the already deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines due to, among other provisions, the vagueness of definition as to who is a “terrorist” and a powerful Anti-Terrorism Council. It is a most dangerous piece of legislation against human rights since Martial Law, as it does nothing to allay fears of government legitimizing ongoing gross human rights violations, and hence must be repealed immediately.
Lastly, PAHRA and FORUM-ASIA urge the Philippine government to enforce the recommendations by Philip Alston in good faith as a member of the Human Rights Council and implement the pledges it has made last year particularly with regard to its pledge to "continue…to encourage civil society and other relevant parties to actively utilize the various UN human rights complaint mechanisms, the Philippines shall endeavor to submit timely replies to communications filed under these mechanisms”.
