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For Immediate Release | May 29, 2012

PH government hounded by persistent concerns on extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture at UN rights review

GENEVA-- As the Chief Justice of the Philippines was being handed down a verdict in the impeachment trial, the Philippine government was also undergoing a similar process of accountability, this time before the United Nations.

Around 69 countries quizzed the Philippine government on its human rights record, Tuesday May 29 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Philippines participated in the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council. One after the other, at least 22 countries expressed concerns on the continuing spate of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture in particular, and impunity in general, according to the Philippine UPR Watch. Several countries also called on the Philippine government to dismantle all paramilitary groups and militias.

The Australian mission urged the Philippine government to arrest fugitive Gen. Jovito Palparan, who is wanted for the abduction of two UP activists. The UK, Spain and the Holy See called on the Philippine government to “completely eradicate extrajudicial killings”.

The United States said that “impunity in human rights violations” continued. It cited institutional barriers to the attainment of justice for victims of rights abuse. Ireland called for “decisive measures” to address the problems. Germany urged the strengthening of accountability mechanisms and the conduct of impartial investigations in cases involving state forces, reminding the PH government of the recommendations of Prof. Philip Alston, former Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions. The Netherlands asked that the issue of impunity be addressed and called for the prosecution, trial and conviction of perpetrators. Denmark called for the full implementation of the anti-torture law, saying that state forces are still involved in abuses.

Spain and Canada called for the dismantling of all paramilitary groups and militias, a position that has gained support after the Maguindanao massacre in 2009, with the latter mincing no words, saying that despite training programs on human rights for security forces, human rights violations are “still serious and all too widespread.” Belgium asked the PH government on measures to record cases of EJKs and urged the Philippines to ratify the convention against enforced disappearances. Austria expressed concerns over attacks on journalists and cases of torture.

France said it was “alarmed by extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances and continuing violations against journalists and human rights defenders”. Japan echoed this, saying “extrajudicial killings continue as a significant political issue.”

The questions and comments from the foreign missions were directed to the GPH delegation headed by Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

At least six countries meanwhile asked the Philippines to act on requests of UN special rapporteurs who want to visit the Philippines to examine the rights situation in the country. To this, de Lima remarked that they are still studying the requests and said the PH government cannot act on all requests because of alleged shortage in resources.

“We view the questions and statements of continuing concern by the different foreign missions as very telling. It shows even greater interest by the international community on the human rights situation. They know that the Philippine government has not lived up to its commitment to completely eliminate extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture. The language used may have been diplomatic, but clearly the international community wants the Philippine government to do more,” said Fr. Jonash Joyohoy of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and co-head of delegation of the Philippine UPR Watch.

Present during the session were two Filipino human rights victims, Fil-Am activist and torture and disappearance survivor Melissa Roxas and Aklan municipal councilor Ernan Baldomero, son of slain councilor Fernando Baldomero, the first victim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino administration.

Leaders from Karapatan, NCCP, Tanggol Bayi, NUPL, Bayan, KAMP, MCPA-Kawagib, Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Defend Job Philippines, Migrante, Cordillera People’s Alliance, Promotion of Church People’s Response, IFI-Ramento Project for Rights Defenders, Migrante International, International Coordinating Committee on Human Rights in the Philippines (ICCHRP) and Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines-United Kingdom and CHRP-Switzerland also attended the session. Prior to the start of the session, the UPR Watch delegates flashed their I-Pads bearing calls to end extrajudicial killings and impunity in the Philippines.

“The questions raised by the foreign missions were nearly identical to the questions we have submitted to them prior to the UN session. Human rights defenders, the victims and their families have submitted reports that belie the overstated achievements of the Philippine government. We count 76 victims of extradjudicial killings since Aquino took office. While the PH government now claims a dramatic decline in the killings, - no thanks to its supposed efforts - our data shows that the PH government has not lived up to its commitment to eliminate these violations altogether,” said Karapatan chair Marie Enriquez.

Selective presentation of data

Atty. Edre Olalia, secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers and also a UPR Watch delegate commented that the Philippine report was very selective in its presentation of data. “The report tends to highlight lesser achievements by gloating over showcase steps it has belatedly done while conveniently drowning the more essential issues such as the almost nil conviction rate of perpetrators of rights abuses, the failure of the Aquino government to press charges and arrest suspects, and the continuing effects of the government’s counter-insurgency program on the people. There is basically deafening silence from the GPH on all these issues,” he said.

Even on the issue of social and economic rights, the GPH report was very selective in its presentation, says Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes, Jr. “They highlighted so-called achievements in the conditional cash transfer program while glossing over rising poverty, unemployment and hunger,” Reyes said.

“While Aquino and his allies whoop it up in their victory in the Corona impeachment, human rights victims are still fighting for the longest time for accountability from a state that continues to commit and condone abuses with shameless impunity,” Reyes added.

At the end of the review, the whole Philippine UPR Watch, who were all seated in one long row inside the session hall of the Palais des Nations and wearing different pins with various calls for justice and accountability, simultaneously gave a thumbs-down sign of the Philippine report. ###


References:
Marie Hilao Enriquez
Fr. Jonash Joyohoy
Co-Heads, Philippine UPR Watch
0041767924973

 

At the entrance: UPR delegates, Human RIghts violations victims and support groups queue early in the morning to attend the Philippines' Universal Periodic Review. From Left: Jacquiline Ruiz (Children's Rehabilitation Center), Melissa Roxas (torture survivor), Bai Ali Indayla ((KAWAGIB and Moro-Christian Peoples' Alliance), Ric Gacayan, Jr. (Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines- United Kingdom), Jamima Fagta (CHRP-UK), Atty. Edre Olalia (National Union of Peoples' Lawyers) and Garry Martinez (Migrante International)
 

Delegates: Inside the session hall, delegates listen intently to the report and interactive dialogues between the Philippine mission and other state representatives
 

I-pad protest: End Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines!, End Impunity!, Free all Political Prisoners! - the Filipino people speak out.

Filipino activists hold picket at UN over rights abuses
Hullabaloo about Chief Justice Conviction Diverts Attention from Outstanding Rights Impunity

GENEVA - Filipino activists, Geneva-based migrants, and representatives from international NGOs conducted a picket-protest in front of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland to express their criticism of the Philippine government report immediately after the Universal Periodic Review on the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council last Tuesday, tagging the report as ‘selective,’ with the PH government drowning their dismal compliance to international human rights instruments with their so-called achievements.”

The Philippine UPR Watch delegation in Geneva said “the GPH report failed to mention that state authorities have yet to arrest several notorious human rights violators such as Maj. General Jovito Palparan, while there is much gloating on the enactment of few local legislation and ratifications of some international instruments.”

“Palparan’s continued evasion of arrest and mockery of justice exemplifies the prevalent climate of impunity. This is probably the reason why the GPH failed to mention this important fact -- to gloss over the non-existence of justice for victims of human rights violations in the country and the continuing spate of rights abuses,” stated Cristina Palabay, spokesperson of Karapatan and member of the Philippine UPR watch delegation in Geneva.


Present during the picket were Fiipino-American activist and torture and disappearance survivor Melissa Roxas and Aklan municipal councilor Ernan Baldomero, son of slain councilor Fernando Baldomero, the first victim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino administration.

 

Leaders from Karapatan, NCCP, Tanggol Bayi, NUPL, Bayan, KAMP, MCPA-Kawagib, Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Defend Job Philippines, Cordillera People’s Alliance, Promotion of Church People’s Response, IFI-Ramento Project for Rights Defenders, Migrante International, Peace for Life, International Coordinating Committee on Human Rights in the Philippines (ICCHRP) and Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines-United Kingdom and CHRP-Switzerland also attended the picket in full view of diplomats, pedestrians and tourists.

In a post-UPR forum at the World Council of Churches today, Atty. Edre Olalia, Secretary General of the National Union of People’s Lawyers and member of the Philippine UPR watch delegation, said that “it is totally unacceptable that with all the powers, resources and machinery of the government, Gen. Palparan, remains out there. If President Aquino has thrown all his weight, power and supposed popularity to make dead sure that Chief Justice Corona is convicted at all costs, why can’t he do the same thing to bring behind bars the poster boy of the most horrendous kinds of human rights violations?”

Olalia pointed out that “more than the rightful conviction of the Chief Justice for valid charges, the immediate arrest, speedy prosecution and certain punishment of remorseless and incorrigible human rights violators would inspire greater interest and create lasting impact to the international community more than the hullabaloo and inordinate fixation on the impeachment trial.”
The Philippine UPR Watch delegation noted that the “breaking-news” glowing announcement by the Philippine government that the Chief Justice was convicted ostensibly for corruption was met with muted disinterest and lethargic reaction at the UN Human Rights Council floor. ###


Reference:
Marie Hilao-Enriquez
Fr. Jonash Joyohoy

Co-Heads, Philippine UPR Watch
Contact Number: +41 76 792 4973
Email: peoples.upr@gmail.com

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Press Statement
May 29, 2012

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Spokesperson, 0917-5003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580

ZERO JUSTICE, OPLAN BAYANIHAN ENGENDERS IMPUNITY AND RIGHTS ABUSES – KARAPATAN

“For one, impunity exists under the Noynoy Aquino administration because big-time human rights violators such as Maj. General Jovito Palparan are not being held accountable for their crimes. And two, because Aquino promotes the same brand of counter-insurgency policy that engenders extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, forcible displacement and other forms of rights abuses,” said Cristina Palabay, spokesperson of Karapatan and End Impunity Alliance. Palabay is part of the delegation of the Philippine UPR Watch, a network of rights activists who are in Geneva in time for the Philippine government’s Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council.

Palabay stated this in the light of the release of the US State Department report on human rights in the Philippines and the upcoming review of compliance to rights treaty obligations of the GPH on May 29, 2012.

Under the Arroyo administration, Karapatan has documented 1,206 victims of extrajudicial killings and 206 victims of enforced disappearances, while there were 2,059 victims of illegal arrests and 1,099 victims of torture.

“There is zero justice for the victims and their families. It is important to point out that the efforts to make the perpetrators accountable have been largely due to efforts of the victims and their kin’s persistence. Only one perpetrator among these cases of EJKs has been convicted, while Palparan, the most notorious among them, continues to mock and evade justice. While Aquino has gone after Chief Justice Corona for corrupt practices, he has left GMA untouched for human rights abuses. Military generals and police officials who committed torture and other grave violations even got promoted,” she commented.

Karapatan has documented 76 victims of extrajudicial killings, 9 victims of enforced disappearances, 62 cases of torture, 3 rape victims, and 417 victims of illegal arrests under Aquino’s watch (as of March 2012).

Palabay added that “killings, enforced disappearance, arrests and torture, forced evacuation, bombings of communities and indiscriminate firing by the military are committed against the people in the course of the implementation of Oplan Bayanihan.” Oplan Bayanihan, according to Karapatan is Aquino’s version of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s bloody Oplan Bantay Laya, which left hundreds of people killed. Oplan Bayanihan is closely patterned after the US’s counter-insurgency guide, added Karapatan.

Earlier, the US government announced that it will increase its military aid to the Philippine government by three-fold, from last year’s $11.9 million to $30 million this year. The US and Philippine governments, in a “two plus two” meeting early May discussed how both countries can strengthen their common defense programs.

“With its political influence and military aid to GPH and the direction of its counter-insurgency policy, the United States government is in fact a party to the continuing human rights abuses under this government,” Palabay said.

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KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
26 Matulungin St. Central Dist., Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1100
Tel./Fax; +63 (2) 924-8756; E-mail: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Website: www.kalikasan.net
Press Release
May 29 2012

‘Bloody May’ for ecologists: killings, harassments and acquittal of violators under Aquino

As the United Nations Human Rights Council is currently reviewing government and independent reports in the Philippines’ universal periodic review, green groups expressed alarm today over what they described as “Bloody May,” as documented extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations (HRVs) towards ecological defenders this May are historically the most to occur in just a month.

“Like a grim reminder to the continuing universal periodic review of the Philippines’ state of human rights, four ecologists have been killed in the month of May alone. Community leaders like farmer Francisco Canayong and advocates like journalist Nestor Libaton are the latest reported among a total of 16 killed under the persisting impunity of the Aquino administration,” said Leon Dulce, convenor of Task Force-Justice for Environmental Defenders (TF-JED).

Canayong, a farmer leader from Salcedo, Eastern Samar, was repeatedly stabbed to death on May 1 by unidentified assailants who are suspected to be motivated by his staunch opposition to illegal Chinese mining companies in their lands. Libaton, an environmental broadcaster, was shot on May 8 by gunmen in motorcycles while he was attending a fiesta celebration in Tarragona, Davao Oriental.

Earlier reported cases were the killing of biodiversity conservationist Frederick Trangia last May 6 in Compostela Valley, and anti-dam activist Margarito Cabal the following day in Bukidnon.

“While environmental advocates are meeting their untimely deaths at the forefront of environmental struggles, President Aquino has neither done definitive actions to quell impunity towards ecologists and other mass activists, nor fast-tracked outstanding cases filed against perpetrators of killings. The search for the Reyes brothers, suspected masterminds in the killing of Palawan environmentalist Gerry Ortega, until now has produced no results. Mario Kingo, the suspect in the killing of Romblon anti-mining activist Arman Marin, has recently been acquitted from murder charges,” said Dulce.

Harassment and vilification of ecologists, especially anti-mining activists, also persist under the Aquino administration. The latest case involved Sr. Stella Matutina, a Benedictine nun and secretary-general of Mindanao-wide environmental alliance Panalipdan Mindanao, who is being tagged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a member or supporter of the New People’s Army.

Matutina has subsequently filed a complaint in the Commission on Human Rights against the AFP’s 28th and 67th Infantry Battalion.

TF-JED, alongside with other green groups and in cooperation with the German human rights group Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (GfbV International) have submitted a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council detailing the human rights situation of environmental activists in recent years.

“We want to demonstrate to the international community the persisting impunity in the Philippines, and the incompetence and culpability of the Aquino government along with mining and other corporate interests in protecting environmentally-destructive investments that catalyze these HRVs,” said Dulce.

In the statement, TF-JED, the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment and GfbV International called on the UNHRC to urge the Aquino administration to address human rights violations in the country, stop the vilification of activists, recognize and uphold indigenous people’s rights and withdraw the counter insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan.###

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Karapatan submits complaints on forced evacuation and continued EJK to UNHRC

Created 05/19/2012 - 12:00

A few days before the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH) undergoes the 2nd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Karapatan said that it will bring to the attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council the recent cases of forced evacuation and the continuing cases of extrajudicial killings (EJK) in the Philippines, under the Noynoy Aquino government.

The complaints will be submitted through the respective Special Rapporteurs on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.

According to Cristina Palabay, Karapatan spokesperson, “we would specifically bring up the recent cases of forcible evacuation, indiscriminate firing, threats and intimidation and other rights violations that happened in the course of intense military operations in Bukidnon province, CARAGA region, and other provinces in the Philippines. The military operations are believed to be the government’s practices of clearing up the areas for, and silencing the people’s opposition against, large-scale corporate mining operations and the construction of a mega-dam project for the consumption of foreign owned corporations.”

Karapatan documented some almost 4,000 individuals who left their homes from August 2010 to October 2011 due to coercion and harassment of security forces. During the first quarter of 2012, some 6,500 individuals forcibly evacuated from their communities and sought temporary shelter elsewhere due to bombings and indiscriminate firing by soldiers who likewise occupied their villages and camped in village halls, day care and health centers and schools.

The continuing extrajudicial killing will also be brought out as a major concern in the complaint. Among the cases that will be highlighted is the killing of indigenous chieftain, Jimmy Liguyon, who was killed on March 5. In its individual report submitted for the Universal Periodic Review of the GPH, the group stated that there are 60 victims of EJKs (from July 2010 to October 2011) while military operations in the rural areas have resulted to “the torture, illegal arrests and detention, harassment and intimidation, closing down of NGO-supported schools and literacy programs, indiscriminate firing resulting to injury and death and forced evacuation of individuals.” (For the full text of Karapatan’s Individual Submission for the UPR, please refer to this link: http://karapatan.org/Karapatan+Submission+UPR)

Palabay said that “the AFP has zero credibility especially in terms of human rights protection and realization. Its claim that its units have not been involved in any case of human rights violations is sheer lie that stems from Noynoy Aquino’s attempt to deodorize the brutality of its counterinsurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan and disassociate this from the bloody Oplan Bantay Laya of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The increasing number of cases and victims of rights violations committed with impunity are proofs that contradict the government’s claim.”

Palabay and Karapatan chairperson Marie Hilao Enriquez are members of the Philippine UPR watch delegation, who are slated to monitor and conduct activities in time for the UPR of the Philippines on May 29 at the UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland. ###