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.” ###

Amnesty letter to Phil pres candidates

PHILIPPINES: CANDIDATES NEED TO DIVULGE THEIR POSITIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT

AI Index: ASA 35/001/2010

9 January 2010

The worst pre-election violence in Philippine history – the Maguindanao massacre – has focused global attention on the human rights situation in the country. Now more than ever, candidates in the 10 May presidential elections need to clarify how they will address key human rights issues facing the country.

Today as the presidential campaign period officially begins, Amnesty International calls on all of the presidential candidates to make clear, public commitments on the actions they will take in the first 100 days of office to address serious human rights violations. In a public letter to the candidates, Amnesty International called on them to affirm their commitment to:

1) Revoke Executive Order 546, and ensure full accountability over all state-sponsored militias and paramilitary groups.

Despite the mass killing of 63 civilians on 23 November in Maguindanao, members of state-armed local groups and private armies are still free to operate in other parts of the country The Philippine government’s continued failure to establish accountability for members of these armed groups undermines the rule of law and denies human rights protection for civilians.

Within 100 days, the new Philippine president should revoke Executive Order 546, which allows for militia and paramilitary groups to provide active support in counterinsurgency operations. In practice, these groups have been ill-trained, unaccountable, poorly integrated into the military chain of command, and responsible for serious human rights violations. In some provinces, Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs) effectively function as private armies for local politicians, heightening the risk of pre-election violence.

2) Establish a presidential commission aimed at preventing and prosecuting enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.

In the last decade, at least 200 Filipinos have been subjected to enforced disappearance, and as many as 1,100 have been executed in political killings. The incoming president needs to establish an impartial and independent commission to review these cases, with the aim of enabling timely and effective investigations and, where warranted, prosecutions.

The new president should initiate legislation that specifically criminalizes enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions. He or she should sign the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

3) Order the administration to fully implement the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the displaced.

Despite the ceasefire in Mindanao, more than 125,000 people remain displaced by the 2008 armed conflict alone. To address this grave humanitarian situation, the incoming president should publicly instruct the administration to ensure that policies comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

Under the Guiding Principles, the government must ensure that the displaced are provided with adequate food, water, shelter, and clothing, as well as essential healthcare and sanitation. It must also guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access to areas under its control. In addition, the government must implement a sustainable plan of action so that the displaced can return to their villages, safely and voluntarily.

As commander-in-chief, the new president will be directly responsible for ensuring that the armed forces comply with international humanitarian law. As a core principle, this law explicitly prohibits direct or indiscriminate attacks against civilians, and this includes displaced persons and all other non-combatants.

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 7^th 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.” ###

Still photos of the protest by Jonna Baldres (NAFCON) click here

NYCHRP demands the release of 43 Filipino healthworkers. Photo by Jonna Baldres (NAFCON)

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

New York—NAFCON-US, an alliance of Filipino American organizations based in 23 cities, condemns the Philippine police and military’s illegal raid and abduction of 42 health workers and doctors who were conducting health skills training in Morong, Rizal, Philippines on Saturday, February 6. The health workers and doctors administer health services to poor communities, and were participating in a First Responders Training, sponsored by the Community Medicine Foundation, Inc. (COMMED) and Council for Health and Development (CHD). Their personal belongings, as well the training materials used, were all confiscated by the military.

The human rights alliance KARAPATAN reports approximately 300 soldiers and police of the Southern Luzon Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Rizal Philippine National Police (PNP) forcibly entered the farmhouse of Dr. Melecia Velmonte at 6:15 AM. At gunpoint, the military forced the caretaker to open the gates. Inside, the soldiers fanned out to different directions. They also kicked the main door to get into the building.

When Dr. Velmonte and her son, Bob demanded for a search warrant, they were merely brushed aside by the military. All medical practitioners and health workers, were ordered to line up at the garage, frisked, and handcuffed. The victims were also questioned and photographed by the military, while another took a video recording of the interrogation. The male victims were then blindfolded with old shirts brought in by the soldiers and secured with packaging tape.

When the participants were already handcuffed, it was only then that Police Superintendent Marion P. Balonglong showed Bob a search warrant for a certain Mario Condes of Bgy. Maybangcal, Morong, Rizal, charged with illegal possession of firearms. The search warrant dated February 5, 2010 and issued by Judge Cesar A. Mangrobang of Branch 22 of the Imus, Cavite Regional Trial Court, did not indicate the exact address of the Velmonte compound. Bob asserted that the warrant did not specify their address, and that Mario Condes, who is subject of the warrant, is not even the owner of the house, but he was ignored by the authorities.

The health workers were forced into the military trucks and were brought to Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, headquarters of the 202nd Infantry Brigade of Philippine Army. The health workers have been held incommunicado since then, and have been denied their right to legal counsel. A team from the Commission on Human Rights was also blocked from seeing the detainees.

“The PNP and AFP’s illegal abduction and detention of health professionals is reprehensible and again highlights the Arroyo regime’s disregard for human rights,” states Father Benjamin Alforque, NAFCON-US President. “We condemn the government for arresting these health care providers while they were undergoing ‘First Response Training,’ to serve the poor who are in most need of critical healthcare.”

“If the Philippine government was truly concerned with the welfare of the Filipino people, especially in light of the recent devastation caused by natural disasters such as Ondoy and Pepeng, it would be supporting, not arresting, health professionals who are trained in emergency response and who seek to serve communities,” adds Julia Camagong, NAFCON Vice President of Programs.

Karapatan Recommended action endorsed by NAFCON-US:
Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

1. The immediate release of the health workers who are illegally arrested and illegally detained at Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal.

2. The government to ensure the safety of the victims and that they are not harmed; their belongings be returned immediately to them.

3. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into raid and illegal arrest of the health workers conducting health skills training in Morong, Rizal.

4. The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights defenders as “members of front organizations of the communists” and “enemies of the state.”

5. The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.

You may send your communications to:
H.E.Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
Cell#: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839 8462
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph

Gen. Avelino Razon, Ret. PNP
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
osec@opapp.gov.ph

Norberto Gonzales
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488
Fax:+63(2) 911 6213
Email: osnd@philonline.com

Atty. Agnes Devanadera
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email: soj@doj.gov.ph

Atty. Leila De Lima
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chr.delima@yahoo.com

GMA STOP THE ILLEGAL ABDUCTION AND DETENTION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS!

NO TO US MILITARY AID THAT SUPPORTS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS

Poster designed by Yoko Liriano

Pagpupugay 2 poster designed by Yoko Liriano

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