Philippines urged to stop killings, other rights abuses
“They [the international community] know that the Philippine
government has not lived up to its commitment to completely eliminate
extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture.” – Fr.
Jonash Joyohoy of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines
(NCCP) and co-head of delegation of the Philippine UPR Watch
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Several countries expressed alarm, during the Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippines in Geneva, Switzerland May 29,
over the unabated extrajudicial killings and other human rights
violations in the Philippines
The UPR is a mechanism
of the United Nations Human Rights Council to review compliance of all
192 UN member states to international human rights agreements. The first
UPR in the Philippines was in 2008.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, head of the 29-member Philippine delegation, presented the country’s national report
stating the Philippine government’s efforts in addressing concerns on
human rights such as the creation of a task force to address
extrajudicial killings, enactment and amendment of several laws, human
rights education among state security forces, among others.
Sixty-seven countries participated in the discussion on the
Philippines. While some countries noted some positive achievements by
the Philippine government, many raised the issue of continuing human
rights violations under the Aquino administration.
The representative of France said it is “alarmed by extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances and continuing violations against
journalists and human rights defenders.”
The delegate of Japan said “extrajudicial killings continue as a significant political issue.”
The delegates of the United Kingdom, Spain and the Holy See called on
the Philippine government to “completely eradicate extrajudicial
killings.”
Citing the report of Task Force Usig from 2008 to 2011, the
Philippine government claims that there were only 27 activists and media
practitioners killed during the period. The Task Force Usig of the
Philippine National Police (PNP) was created during the Arroyo
administration purportedly to investigate cases of extrajudicial
killings of activists and journalists. Recently, Col. Domingo Tutaan,
head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Human Rights Office
said they recorded zero human rights violations during the first quarter
of the year.
Reports from independent human rights group Karapatan, however, show
that there have been 76 victims of extrajudicial killings and nine
victims of enforced disappearances since Aquino took office. Karapatan,
and other Church and people’s organizations filed separate submissions
to the Council..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/06/01/philippines-urged-to-stop-killings-other-rights-abuses/
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