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A
fact-finding mission commissioned by an international
group to investigate alleged human-rights violations in
the country has accused military personnel in the
abductions of activists accused of being members or
sympathizers of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Worse,
the fact-finding team lamented that even with witnesses
who identify the perpetrators of the kidnappings, most
of the cases remain unsolved and no charges have been
filed.
Human
Rights Now (HRN), a Tokyo-based nongovernment
organization which commissioned the fact-finding mission
said that in eight out of 15 cases of extrajudicial
killings, witnesses have identified the perpetrators as
members of the Armed Forces or militia groups.
The
group, led by lawyer Kazuko Ito, was in the country from
April 14 to 21, 2007 to investigate the human-rights
situation in the Philippines, following reports of the
rampant extrajudicial killings and abductions involving
activists since President Arroyo came into power in
2001.
The
fact-finding mission conducted interviews concerning 15
cases of extrajudicial killings that involved 33 victims
and three cases of forced disappearances that involved
nine victims.
“In most
of the cases investigated, the HRN fact-finding team
found that the killings, disappearances and tortures
could be attributed to or could most likely be
attributed to the military or police forces of the
Philippines,” the report said.
In two
of the three forced disappearance cases, witnesses and
released victims clearly testified about the military’s
involvement.
The
fact-finding team found out that all extrajudicial cases
have several patterns in common with other cases, such
as: (a) the victims are limited to certain groups; (b)
victims were condemned by the government or the military
as “enemy of state” or NPA front; (c) victims were
publicly exposing the human-rights violations allegedly
committed by military personnel, and (d) victims were
harassed, threatened with death, encouraged by the
military to stop their leftist activity or were under
persistent surveillance.
While
the fact-finding team recognized the fact that more
evaluation and clarification is necessary to determine
the exact number of human-rights violation victims, it
underscored the fact that a number of extrajudicial
killings were indeed committed by state agencies.
HRN
expressed grave concerns about the characteristics of
the targeted victims in these killings. In the cases
that were investigated, the victims include highly
respected lawyers, activists, union leaders, a bishop
and a city councilor.
“Such
killings perpetuate fear among the people and have a
chilling effect on the society as a whole. It undermines
freedom of expression and, ultimately, democracy in
society,” the report said.
HRN also
expressed concern that despite these, perpetrators
within the government have not been brought to justice
and human-rights violators are enjoying impunity. The
fact-finding team found that it is extremely uncommon
for the perpetrators of extrajudicial killing and
abduction to be arrested or face trail.
“In the
15 extrajudicial-killing cases we have investigated,
only one case has been prosecuted, no case gained
conviction, and the alleged perpetrators are still in
active duty in the military. HRN found systematic
failure of investigations of the extrajudicial killings
cases by the police, and National Police Task Force
continuously disregards the accounts of victims’
families. Although the Judiciary established new
procedure to address the enforced disappearances, such
as writ of amparo and writ of habeas data, many victims
of disappearances are still missing,” the report said. |
