New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines » Uncategorized

KARAPATAN to PNoy: “Stop the killings Now! Scrap the OBL and don’t embark on another counter-insurgency program”

NY CHRP — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:15:05 +0000

07/15/2010 – 12:00

“It is still the same military in denial mode speaking on the current spate of extrajudicial killings going on in the country,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of the human rights group Karapatan, said, of AFP spokesman Brigadier General Jose Mabanta’s blanket denial of the AFP’s involvement in the said cases.

Karapatan has put the blame of these killings squarely on P-Noy’s hands, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, especially in the light of the President’s NON-issuance of a categorical statement to the AFP to putting a stop to the extrajudicial killings, which the group says, is a license to the AFP to commit more of the same.

“We reiterate that it is not enough to be talking of human rights in the pursuit of counter-insurgency programs; it is our bitter experience that once counter-insurgency programs are implemented, violations of human rights are resultant features in the execution of such programs. Even as supposed ‘development programs’ or ‘civil-military operations or CMO’ are supposedly incorporated in such programs such as what the government did in Oplan Makabayan of the Estrada administration, the results are the same: civilians are the ones who bear the brunt of human rights violations. Oplan Bantay Laya is the worst and most brutal of these campaigns as it specifically targets legal organizations and personages resulting to a staggering body count and brazen impunity in nine years of the Arroyo regime and it is still in place,” explained an exasperated Enriquez.

Counter-insurgency (COIN) is a program directly imposed by the American Government since its aggression in the country in the early 1900’s. All COIN programs of all administrations are thus recycled COIN programs meant to silence the people’s resistance to break free from poverty resulting from government policies that benefit not the Filipino people but those of foreign, especially American, interests. OBL, the latest COIN, is anchored on the ‘war on terror’ by the US Bush government and highly supported by GMA that benefited only the Bush regime and GMA herself. Thus, the victims of OBL are now labeled as “terrorists or communist-terrorists” or supposed supporters of such. It leaves thousands of killed, tortured, illegally arrested and hundreds of thousands displaced Filipino victims in its wake and brazen impunity among its perpetrators who remain unpunished up to this day.

“Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is correct. There is no doubt that the AFP is still behind the series of political killings, and that the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL) is the operational plan behind it,” the Karapatan chairperson said. “The military has the motive and the resources to implement the attacks against progressive and unarmed individuals, which they have done so in the past nine years under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.”

Since the implementation of the OBL, activists and civil libertarians are targeted by the military intelligence units for target research, which involves casing or surveillance, and “neutralization” or “liquidation”. Leaders and members of people’s organizations have been vilified and accused as communists or communist fronts by the military to lay the ground for liquidation and to justify the killings.

“As long as Oplan Bantay Laya is a state security policy, political killings remain a state policy. If indeed President Noynoy Aquino says that extrajudicial killing is not a policy of his administration, then he must scrap the OBL and desist from embarking on a counter-insurgency program to supposedly defeat the insurgency, as what his predecessors did, only to end up fueling more fire into the problem they vowed to end. I hope he learns his lessons well and heed our calls for him to disallow the penchant for embarking on counter-insurgency programs that only victimize the poorest sections of the Filipino people who need most the government’s protection and nurturing.

Enriquez reminded President Aquino of the findings of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston on extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, which concluded that it is the military’s counter-insurgency operations that resulted to the killings of leftist activists. “We challenge the government to show its sincerity in ending the killings, impunity and the military’s atrocities, and to implement Alston’s recommendations,” Enriquez added.

Karapatan noted that the president has yet to categorically issue an order to scrap the U.S.-inspired counter-insurgency program, OBL. “Unless P-Noy announces the scrapping of the OBL and desist from implementing similar military campaigns, the killings and impunity will continue,” concluded Enriquez.

Karapatan believes that the insurgency can only be ended by meaningfully and substantively addressing the root causes of poverty and rebellion; NOT resorting to military solution! ###

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH TOLD AQUINO TO STOP THE KILLINGS!

NY CHRP — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:31:07 +0000

Philippines: Ending Killings Should Top Aquino’s Agenda

Reforms Needed to Promote Accountability and Disband Militias and ‘Death Squads’

July 12, 2010

Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III

(New York) – The Philippines’ new president, Benigno Aquino, should urgently adopt measures to end killings by government security forces and militias, Human Rights Watch said in a letter delivered to Malacañang Palace today.

Human Rights Watch urged Aquino to move swiftly with clear and effective policies to carry out his campaign commitments to promote justice, end extrajudicial killings, and abolish so-called private armies.

“President Aquino takes office at a time when the Philippines faces daunting human rights challenges,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Now he needs to turn his promises into action by taking immediate steps to end the widespread killings and hold the killers and those who deploy them accountable.”

In his inauguration speech on June 30, 2010, Aquino said: “There can be no reconciliation without justice. When we allow crimes to go unpunished, we give consent to their occurring over and over again.” He ordered the newly appointed justice secretary, Leila de Lima, to “begin the process of providing true and complete justice for all.”

In the letter, Human Rights Watch makes specific recommendations to end impunity for killings and other human rights abuses by the security forces, by “death squads” that target suspected petty criminals and other marginalized Filipinos, and by state-backed militias controlled by local politicians.

Since June 9, when Congress proclaimed Aquino the next president, three journalists and a key witness to the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre have been killed. Since Aquino’s inauguration on June 30, another journalist and two leftist activists have been killed, while the former lawyer of a massacre witness and a journalist survived separate murder attempts.

Out of hundreds of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances since 2001, there have been only six successfully prosecuted cases, resulting in the conviction of 11 defendants. None of those convicted has been of an active member of the military, despite considerable evidence of military involvement in such crimes.

Human Rights Watch called on Aquino to take six specific steps to combat extrajudicial killings:

Investigate police and military personnel implicated in killings and emphasize that law enforcement officers who fail to investigate such killings vigorously will themselves face investigation on criminal or disciplinary charges.
Take immediate steps to protect the witnesses to human rights abuses and their families.
Pass a law to criminalize and prevent enforced disappearances.
Abolish militia forces.
Institute tougher controls on local government procurement of weapons.
Dismantle “death squads” and investigate government involvement.

“In numerous provinces, ruling families use militia forces and local police as their private armies,” Pearson said. “As one who has personally suffered as a result of a government-instigated killing, Aquino more than most would recognize that ending such killings would be an important and lasting legacy of his administration.”

Karapatan condemns first political killing under P-Noy

NY CHRP — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:20:11 +0000

The human rights alliance Karapatan strongly condemns the killing of Bayan Muna-Aklan provincial chairperson Fernando Baldomero who was shot this morning while on his way to bring his child to school.

Baldomero, who is also a municipal councilor of Lezo, Aklan and at the same time provincial coordinator of the Makabayan Coalition, is the first victim of extrajudicial killing since President Noynoy Aquino was sworn into office. An attempt was made on Baldomero’s life early this year when his house in Bgy. Sta. Cruz Bigaa, Lezo, Aklan was lobbed with a grenade by two men riding in a motorcycle.

According to initial reports, Baldomero was in front of his house, while trying to start his motorcycle to bring his child to school he was shot by two unidentified men. The attackers were armed with a 9mm pistol and long fire-arms.

Karapatan chairperson Marie Hilao-Enriquez said that the incident follows the announcement of the new three-year counter-insurgency plan by the newly installed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo David. “Neither Gen. David nor President Noynoy have called to stop the killings and to end the culture of impunity that still prevails,” Enriquez said.

“The lack of declaration from President Noynoy to stop the killings and impunity, coupled by Gen. David’s pronouncement of another deadline to end insurgency, and this new wave of political killings, signals that former president Gloria Arroyo’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya, is still enforced under Mr. Aquino’s term and has not let up on targeting progressive individuals”, Enriquez said. She also noted that in June, seven individuals were killed, including an Ampatuan massacre witness, and last week, a former lawyer of the Mangudadatus was ambushed.

“We are concerned that the calls for justice and the ending of impunity will only fall on deaf ears,” expressed Enriquez. “More than the ban on ‘wang-wang, President Aquino must also issue a categorical order to stop the culture of impunity and put to end the atrocities of Oplan Bantay Laya implemented by the AFP.”

Karapatan calls on the present administration to immediately conduct an investigation, and to arrest and punish the perpetrators of the Baldomero killing. “The total and complete justice announcement of Aquino is nothing if the polical killing and impunity is still prevalent and continuing”, Enriquez concluded.##

NOW THAT ARROYO HAS LOST IMMUNITY, LET THE HUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA BEGIN– NYCHRP

NY CHRP — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:41:12 +0000

News Statement
June 30, 2010

Now that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has officially lost immunity of suit after the official inauguration of new Philippine president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the hopes and dreams of the families of the victims of Arroyo’s 9-year bloody counter-insurgency campaign, Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), for “true and complete justice” should not be dragged on any further. The Aquino electoral promise of justice and prosecution of human rights abusers that inspired Filipinos to vote for Noynoy should be fulfilled swiftly starting with the prosecution of Arroyo and her regime’s high officials that were largely responsible for the over scores of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions, torture cases, summary executions of civilians and other gross human rights violations that took place from 2001-2010.

This is the chance of a lifetime for Noynoy, who should never forget that he is the son of one of the country’s highest profile victims of human rights violations– illegal detention and extrajudicial killing at the hands of the Marcos dictatorship.

In righting the wrongs of the Arroyo government by dismantling the culture of impunity for known human rights abusers, Noynoy takes concrete steps– rather than just paying lipservice– towards restoring the international community’s confidence in the Philippine government’s respect and recognition for human rights.

Noynoy should also not forget that one of the benchmarks of his late mother’s legacy as Philippine president was the freeing of Marcos’ political prisoners almost immediately upon the advent of her term. This act shed a much-welcomed light after over a decade of darkness under Marcos’ draconian martial law marked by assassinations, abductions, illegal detentions, and torture of the civilian opposition to the dictatorship. Noynoy should follow in his mother’s footsteps and free the over 344 civilians wrongfully imprisoned by the Arroyo government. Noynoy follows an even darker period under Arroyo that in many ways surpasses the audacity of the Marcos dictatorship in terms of the frequency of human rights violations against civilians.

Furthermore, Arroyo’s OBL has blatantly ignored the fact that the Philippine government is signatory to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL), which outline the international rules of engagement in warfare. The cases of nine year-old Grecil Buya and school teacher Rebelyn Pitao illustrate how the Philippine military’s counter-insurgency operations in the countryside gruesomely target and dispose of non-combatants as well. Noynoy should also ensure that the Philippine government’s ratification of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) is honored.

History has shown that the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, World Council of Churches, International Labor Organization, and other international human rights authorities have all cast their judgment down on Arroyo and OBL with scathing reports condemning gross systemic human rights violations in the country. In order to elevate the Philippines from this deep rut of shame dug by Arroyo, Noynoy must scrap US-funded OBL all together and get started on a real concrete human rights agenda. Just as the people remained vigilant against election fraud last May, the people must remain vigilant that Noynoy treads not the path of the Obama administration of high hopes yet broken electoral promises. ###

Kin Loses Trust in Courts As SC Directs CHR to Probe Burgos Abduction Further

NY CHRP — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:40:09 +0000

Published on June 23, 2010

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

After almost two years, the Supreme Court finally issued a resolution on the petition for certiorari filed by Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas. The petition seeks the intervention of the High Court to reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals absolving Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other military and police officials in the abduction of Jonas.

Jonas, son of press freedom icon Jose “Joe” Burgos Jr., was abducted on April 28, 2007 at Ever Gotesco mall in Commonwealth, Quezon City by suspected elements of the Philippine Army.

In a 16-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion, the Supreme Court directed the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the disappearance of Jonas after noting significant lapses in the police investigation.

The Court en banc said lapses in the investigation conducted by the Philippine National Police-Criminal investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) prevents the court from ruling on a petition seeking the reversal of the Court of Appeals’ decision absolving police and military officials implicated in the Burgos case.

The Court said the PNP-CIDG failed to identify sketches of two of the four alleged abductors of Burgos. The police also failed to verify information provided by State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco that four members of the Armed Forces Military Intelligence Group 15 — T/Sgt. Jason Roxas (Philippine Army), Cpl. Maria Joana Francisco (Philippine Air Force), M/Sgt. Aron Arroyo ( Philippine Air Force), and an alias T.L. — were involved in the abduction.

“Did it have to take so long for the Supreme Court to find out that the investigators made serious lapses? We were required by the Court of Appeals to submit our response in five days after it penned its resolution which we did but the Supreme Court took five weeks short of 2 years simply to say that it cannot rule on the case because there were lapses in the investigation?” Mrs. Burgos said in a letter to the justices dated June 23, a copy of which was sent to Bulatlat.

“Considering the findings of the CA and our review of the records of the present case, we conclude that the PNP and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) have so far failed to conduct an exhaustive and meaningful investigation into the disappearance of Jonas Burgos; and to exercise the extra ordinary diligence (in the performance of their duties) that the Rule on the Writ Amparo requires,” the SC said.

For Mrs. Burgos, however, the lapses were efforts to cover up the identity of the perpetrators.

“Instead of rejoicing that the high court has finally acted on our case, I can only express my disappointment. It is very sad, indeed. Instead of ruling on our petition, the Supreme Court just passed on the burden to another institution . . . prolonging our agony, diminishing our chances of finding Jonas, and to make matters worse, putting the blame on us. Why is this so your honors?” asked Mrs. Burgos.

Mrs. Burgos said they sought the help of the CHR but the investigation was closed when she was “unjustly accused of being uncooperative.” They then sought the help of the Philippine National Police and then the Armed Forces of the Philippines but were just given a run around. They then brought the case to the Department of Justice.

“And now you are asking us to go back to the CHR. Will this be a new start of going around in circles again? If the serious lapses were committed by the police, why are they not punished instead of passing on the burden to us, the victims, and to the CHR whose mandate to investigate is limited?” Mrs. Burgos said.

On July 16, 2007, Supreme Court granted the petition for habeas corpus. In December 2007, the Court of Appeals granted the writ of amparo to the Burgos family.

“This is blatantly a whitewash disguised as judicial hogwash. The writ of amparo, much-trumpeted by the Supreme Court, has become merely a tool of the courts to further obfuscate and muddle the issue,” the Free Jonas Burgos Movement said in a statement.

Loss of Trust

“We have been hoping that cases concerning petitions for the Writ of Amparo would be dealt with expeditiously by the courts considering the urgency of the matter. But today I can say with certainty that this is not so. It is a useless exercise. Do we really have to add another 90 days for a case that you have been handling for almost two years? How can the eroded trust be restored? The better question is why should I even attempt to have this trust restored?” Mrs. Burgos said further.

Named respondents to the petition are President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon; former army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino; Maj. Gen. Juanito Gomez, commander of the army’s 7th Infantry Division that has jurisdiction over the 56th IB; Lt. Cols. Noel Clement and Melquiades Feliciano, former 56th IB commanders; and then Police Dir. Gen. Oscar Calderon as the respondents.

“The smallest ray of hope to find my son Jonas, pinned on the highest court of the land, but it has just been shattered,” Mrs. Burgos added.

Mrs. Burgos said the Supreme Court is ‘obviously washing its hands over the alleged cover up of the investigation,” noting that the court did not even give a hint on whether or not the military officers and personnel tagged in the case are guilty or not.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. But the Supreme Court seems not to be on the side of truth and justice but wallows in indecision and official deniability,” the Free Jonas Burgos Movement said in a statement. “This is an atrocity against our family and against our people’s right to seek swift justice.”

“After making the Burgos family wait for more than a year for the Supreme Court ruling on the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos, the decision is still found wanting,” Lorena Santos, deputy secretary general of Desaparecidos, said.

Commander in chief

The Supreme Court also agreed with the Court of Appeal’s decision in dropping President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as respondent in the case. Majority of the justices were appointed by Arroyo.

“Under the principle of command responsibility, she is responsible for the actuations of her subordinates,” Mrs. Burgos told Bulatlat in a phone interview.

Mrs. Burgos said the Supreme Court failed to see the trend in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses. “There is cover up to the highest level, to the presidency,” Mrs. Burgos added.

After the abduction, Mrs. Burgos said she wrote Arroyo a letter asking for help. “She said would try to help and told me to talk to her chief of staff, who was always unavailable. If indeed she wanted to help, she could surface Jonas,” Mrs. Burgos told Bulatlat.

Desaparecidos also believes that Arroyo must be held accountable. “She is the commander-in-chief of the AFP and her Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch) gives power to the military to abduct and disappear people like Jonas,” Santos said.

The Search Continues

Mrs. Burgos said they will continue to search for Jonas. “I believe that he is still alive, and his military captors must surface him. If he is dead, they must show me his body, and justice must prevail,” she said.

Mrs. Burgos said they will consider filing a formal complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Council. “We have nowhere else to go,” Mrs. Burgos said.

Mrs. Burgos said she is hoping that incoming President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino would be a different kind of president. She said she would ask Aquino to look into the justice system. “I hope that this is not an omen of things to come for all other cases of human rights violations,” Mrs. Burgos said, noting how a high-profile case like Jonas would turn out this way. (Bulatlat.com)

Mrs. Edith Burgos: What can the Presidentiables do for Jonas Burgos and the human rights situation in the Philippines?

NY CHRP — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:10:35 +0000

statement for Jonas B

Edith Burgos speaking in New York, 2008 (Jonas Burgos' photo on the wall)

Press Release: April 27, 2010

Reference: Edita Burgos (09177476131)

Lorena Santos (09294414270)

On the 3^rd year commemoration of Jonas’ abduction and disappearance

Mrs. Edith Burgos: What can the Presidentiables do for Jonas Burgos and the human rights situation in the Philippines?

“Today, April 28, 2010, I dare all presidential candidates to make a stand on enforced disappearances, torture, extra judicial killings and other violations of human rights. I challenge all of them to bare their human rights agenda instead of wasting their time mud-slinging. I ask all those seeking the highest post in the land what they can do for Jonas and the human rights situation in the country because this present government of Mrs. Gloria Arroyo has done nothing to find my son and give justice to what happened,” said Mrs. Edita Burgos in commemoration of the 3^rd year of the abduction and disappearance of Jonas Burgos, activist, agriculturist and son of media icon Joe Burgos.

Three years ago today, Jonas was forcibly taken by armed men, believed to be members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, from a mall in Quezon City while eating inside a fast food restaurant. Since then, the Burgos family and friends have searched for him, yet he remains missing.

“We have brought his case to the Court of Appeals, the Commission on Human Rights and even the United Nations.” says Mrs. Edith Burgos, “ Unfortunately, the CA refused to grant me the Writ of habeas corpus and the writ of amparo, the Supreme Court has remained silent on my appeal for the reversal of the CA’s decision, This petition was filed in August 1, 2008, more than 1 year and 8 months ago, meanwhile the officers whom we have charged in court have been promoted. So now we ask – where is justice?”

Like other families who have lost their loved ones through enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations, Mrs. Burgos has not stopped and will not stop searching for her son, Jonas. She will continue to seek for justice for him and for the thousands of victims of human rights violations under the present government.

According to the human rights group Desaparecidos, the human rights situation in the Philippines within this decade and under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been at its worst since the time of the Marcos dictatorship. A total of 1,118 victims of extrajudicial killings and 204 victims of enforced disappearance has been documented by the human rights group Karapatan. The figures are only for the period of 2001 – 2009, add other cases that have been documented from January to April of this year, have yet to be added.

Aside from the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings, other human rights violations continue to be committed by the Arroyo administration. “If this is the case, then we cannot hope for any justice from the current government.” Mrs. Burgos stated, adding that with just 12 days to go, they have not heard any Presidential candidate offer their human rights agenda to the Filipino people. “What can Noynoy Aquino, Manny Villar, Erap Estrada, Gibo Teodoro, Dick Gordon, Eddie Villanueva, Nick Perlas, Jamby Madrigal and Jaycee delos Reyes do to improve the human rights situation in the country?” Mrs. Burgos asked.

Desaparecidos Deputy Secretary General Lorena “Aya” Santos could only agree. “In case these Presidential bets have forgotten, may we remind them that human rights issues – economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights – are the issues we as a nation must confront. Thus, we challenge those running for positions in government to present their human rights agenda to the nation and show us how they will protect the rights of the Filipino people. ###

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2009 REPORT ON THE PHILIPPINES

NY CHRP — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:19:17 +0000

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2009 REPORT ON THE PHILIPPINES click here to read the report

NY CHRP — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:37:32 +0000

February 10, 2010

Arrest of 43 Another Case of Torture as a State Policy– NYCHRP

NEW YORK– A local human rights advocacy organization denounced the arrest and ongoing maltreatment of the detained 43 health workers in a Philippine military camp as another example of the Philippine military’s routine use of torture in its counter-insurgency campaign known as Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL). It called for the immediate and unconditional release of the health workers affiliated with the Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) and Council for Health and Development (CHD) who are currently still in detention in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

“The Arroyo government acts as if it is above International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law,” states Gary Labao of the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP). “Since OBL’s first launch in 2002 and re-launch in 2007, one of its distinctive features is the targeting of unarmed civilians critical of government policies in the name of annihilating armed insurgency in the countryside. The arrest of the 43 health workers, who were conducting a medical training seminar to service of the poor, shows how the Philippine military employs arbitrary arrests, denies legal counsel, and inflicts torture upon civilians, forcing them into ‘admit’ they are armed rebels. This so-called ‘evidence’ gathered by Philippine security forces should not be deemed admissible in any court of law.”

The rights group also recalled the case of Melissa Roxas, a US citizen and community health worker from Los Angeles, whose testimony to the Philippine Supreme Court last year stated that she was abducted, blindfolded, and tortured for six days by captors who were forcing her to admit she was a member of the New Peoples Army (NPA). Though the Philippine Supreme Court denied a petition filed by Roxas to conduct a investigation of Fort Magsaysay, headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine military and the location where Roxas believes she was detained, it ruled to grant Roxas a writ of amparo (protection) that validated the claim of abduction and torture based on supporting testimony from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and reports from medical examiners.

“What the Arroyo government repeatedly ignores is the mandate of the various covenants on human rights it has ratified which unconditionally entitles armed groups such as the NPA protection from any form of torture or degrading treatment,” Labao added.

In its concluding observations of the Philippine delegation’s presentation during its 42nd session in Geneva last April, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UN CAT) expressed concern over the “routine and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment of suspects in police custody.” The Philippines ratified the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment of Punishment in 1986, the same year that marked the fall of the Marcos dictatorship.

Two international non-governmental organizations (NGO’s)— the International Federation of Actions by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT) and Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) submitted an alternative report on the Philippines to the UN CAT that same year.

“Torture and ill-treatments are often committed [by the Philippine military] in order to extract confessions…and obtain forced testimonies,” the 2009 FIACAT-ACAT report on the Philippines states.

The same report also outlines the practice of “arrests with excessive violence” and “the use of fabricated charges” as a “method to keep targeted persons in unjustifiable detention.”

NYCHRP also warned that the upcoming May 2010 elections are another indication of escalating violence in the country, as demonstrated by the clash of governing warlords competing for a gubernatorial seat in Maguindanao that resulted in the gruesome Ampatuan Massacre last November 23rd.

“OBL and the case of the Morong 43 validates of the UN CAT’s published observations on the Philippines,” Labao added. “But as long as a culture of impunity persists in the Philippines, allowing the perpetrators of arbitrary arrests and torture to roam unaccounted, the international community plays a role in supporting the people’s movement in the Philippines for the advancement and protection of basic human rights and dignity.” ###

UPDATE ON 43 HEALTH WORKERS: Army Forced to Present the 43 Illegally Arrested Health Workers in Court

NY CHRP — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:10:30 +0000

ACTION ALERT! CONDEMN THE ILLEGAL ARREST AND TORTURE OF 43 FILIPINO HEALTH WORKERS!

NY CHRP — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:59:36 +0000

ACTION ALERT! ACTION ALERT! ACTION ALERT!

Join the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and other concerned Filipino-Americans in condemning the illegal arrest, illegal detention and inhuman acts of tortures AND DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE of 43 Filipino health workers (please read the details below).

February 10th, 2010 Wednesday 4:30 pm in front of the Philippine Consulate 556 Fifth Avenue (between E. 45th and E. 46th Sts. B, D, F & V trains to 47th St/Rockefeller station).

e-mail nychrp @ gmail.com or call 718-213-3257 for more information