SEJEP
Campaign
to: Stop
Extra-Judicial Executions
in
the Philippines
Philippine
Study Group of Minnesota
11/2006
Introduction
Since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took office 5
years ago, there have been over 750 murders of community leaders, union
workers, non-government workers, political leaders, clergy, lawyers, judges
and journalists. Approximately
90% of these killings are attributed to members of Philippine security forces,
government armed paramilitary groups like the Civilian Armed Forces
Geographical Units (CAFGU), or government tolerated vigilante groups.
Extrajudicial Executions (EJE)
is a term used for murders and assassinations that are done with planning by a
government, or the government has knowledge and resources to prevent.
If the Government of the Philippines would like the killings to stop it
would vigorously investigate these murders, and have a record of prosecutions
and punishment upon conviction. However,
there have been fewer than 25 instances where charges have been brought, and
at most two prosecutions.
The Philippine military and police have
stated recently that communist elements have been causing most of the murders,
a sort of internal feud. However,
persons killed have usually been threatened only by the military and police
prior to the killings, and it does not make much sense that communists would
be killing those who are politically aligned with most of their positions.
In 2006, there have been four long and
thorough reports on this situation, done by the US State Department, a group
of Belgian and Dutch lawyers and judges, Amnesty International, and the Asian
Human Rights Committee of Hong Kong. In
addition recently Philippine groups and international fact-finding missions
have published numerous reports. All
there reports agree there are patterns to the killings that can only point to
the government of the Philippines as having the motives and means to do the
killings. The reports point to a “culture of impunity”, where military and
police units have been observed sitting idle during attacks, or have even
participated openly in some cases; always without fear that there would be
investigations or prosecutions. .
The government of the Philippines has sought
to bring the long fight against the communist-led New Peoples Army (NPA) under
the umbrella of the US “war on terror”.
Colin Powell visited the Philippines for 24 hours in 2002, and at the
end gave President Arroyo $30,000,000 extra dollars to fight terrorism, and
had her agree to his statement that all communists in the Philippines were
“international terrorists”. This
term does not describe the published policy of the NPA, and the communist
party is officially still legal in the country.
Motives beyond the desire for more US aid are unclear.
For a while, the US Travel Advisory website made strong statements
about dangers to tourists from communists (the NPA does not target tourists),
but this has been toned down almost completely because of the impact on
tourism. In 2006 the US military
and anti-terrorism aid is more that $35 million.
Recent actions by President Arroyo suggest
that she does not regard the extrajudicial killings as a bad thing. Just as she was leaving for state visits in Europe last
summer, the Palace released a statement, praising the recently retired General
Jovito Palparan, for doing such a fine job of handling terrorists, that he
would be appointed to head nation-wide the efforts against the NPA.
General Palparan was cited in numerous instances by three of the human
rights reports as leading the way, both verbally and by command, for
extrajudicial executions, kidnappings and disappearances in Mindoro, and then
Samar, and then in Central Luzon. The President then vowed that the threat of
the NPA would be eliminated in two years, and not ten years, as earlier
promised. It appears that her
plan will tolerate murders of any person who challenges the blatant disrespect
for life and liberty that the Philippine military and police now express to
anyone who challenges her politically.
What can we in the US do to stop the
killings? A national effort
is needed by government leaders, nongovernmental organizations and individuals
in to pressure the Philippine government to stop extrajudicial executions.
The right to life is nonderogatory,
meaning it cannot be suspended even in times of war.
All human rights afforded to citizens stem from the right to life.
The Philippines is close ally and in the past has responded to pressure
from the US.
The Philippines must be pressured to uphold
the human rights standards espoused in its laws and covenants.
The Philippines is a signer of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, and its constitution has safeguards for the lives and freedoms of
law-abiding citizens.
In the Philippines, as in most countries,
the judiciary branch of the government should oversee the conduct of
government officers, and ultimately, handle cases of unlawful activity and
human rights violations. The very
term EJE implies that the abuses are not being handled properly by the
judicial authorities. The
Philippines has an under funded judiciary, its quality is suspect, and it has
a poor record of being able to stand up to political and police and armed
forces leaders who are breaking laws. The
Philippine Congress needs to discuss this, and provide laws and funding that
can help the judiciary function effectively in the area of EJE’s.
GOALS of
the SEJEP Campaign
1.
Changes are needed in the Philippines.
There
must be:
a.
A clear, unambiguous statement by President Arroyo that human rights
violations, especially EJE’s, must not be done by officers of the military,
police or members of government sanctioned CAFGU and other vigilante groups.
b.
Training must be done for members of the armed forces, police, and
nongovernmental groups sanctioned by the government about rights of citizens,
due process and rules of engagement. Use
of unmarked (i.e., untraceable) vehicles and operations by masked and
unidentifiable government persons must cease.
c.
Clear establishment of the chain of command is mandatory.
d.
Investigations of EJEs and prosecution of suspects must be done.
e.
Charges and arrests of suspects must be done.
f.
Protection of witnesses must be afforded.
g.
The judiciary needs to exert oversight and provide guidance and help so
that security forces are not perpetrators.
Its independence needs to be established, and it must become a part of
the effort to enforce the laws.
h.
The Philippine government agents must work in good faith with the UN
and other agencies concerned with human rights.
i.
Compensation of victims and families of those killed or made to
disappear must be made when there is proof of government agent participation
or toleration of crimes. (Remember
that the Marcos family owes $2 billion to 6,000 families of human rights
violations that happened during martial law).
j.
The use of the military and police of “orders of battle”, which may
list individuals or organizations as supporting terrorism or unlawful
activities, must change. There
must be a chance for persons and organizations to challenge their occlusion on
the list in the courts.
k.
There must be investigation of the career of General Jovito Palparan
and his commands, and analysis to see if EJE’s have been directly due to his
influence.
l.
The entire Philippine Congress should review and clarify whether
“communists” are “international terrorists”, and how to decide which
lawful groups and political organizations and political activities are to be
tolerated, and which ones should be proscribed. There needs to be an open decision process, probably overseen
by the courts, and not just decisions by local military leaders.
m.
If the Abu Sayaf or Jermia Islamia groups are still functioning,
clarification of their size, location, and intentions must be done, so that
innocent persons and groups not aligned with them will not be targeted.
2.
Questioning & Clarification
of U. S. Aid
As an adjunct to
the congressional initiatives, there should be an effort to clarify how much
US economic and military aid goes toward counterterrorism.
a.
Some aid is related to the Visiting Forces Agreement. The amounts of this should be clarified.
b.
Military aid not related to counter-terrorism and its uses should be
clarified.
c.
Extra aid specifically to be used for counter-terrorism shall be
clarified and documented -- How
it is used, and whether it contributes to EJE’s shall be clarified.
Two examples are direct gifts given by Secretaries of State Colin
Powell and Condoleezza Rice, but there may be other gifts, and these might or
might not be public.
d.
The numbers of US troops, whether for training or for
counter-insurgency, and their mission should be clarified.
STRATEGIES of the SEJEP Campaign
1.
Political Pressure from the US.
a.
US Congressional
Initiatives.
i.
The four human rights reports mentioned above should be entered into
the Congressional Record, and also other fact-finding reports from
nongovernmental groups.
ii.
A Sense of Congress letter
should be drafted and made public, signed by ten or more members of Congress,
and sent to the President of the Philippines.
iii.
Congressional hearings should occur to investigate EJE’s, kidnappings
and disappearances, and the role of US aid in funding the units involved.
b.
Newspaper articles should be written to expose the EJE’s.
c.
A campaign of petitions
should occur in the US and worldwide. Copies
of signed petitions should be sent not only to the Philippine leaders, but
also to US Senators and Representatives.
d.
Visits to US Congresspersons and key US and Philippine government
leaders should be done, to emphasize that the killings and disappearances are
well known and will not be tolerated.
2.
Economic Pressure & Sanctions from the US & Worldwide.
a.
Tourism. Since community leaders, clergy, lawyers, journalists, and
political leaders are being harassed, attacked, murdered, or made to disappear
in dozens of locations, it would seem that lawlessness prevails.
Tourists should be warned of the dangers to Philippine citizens, and
that they too might have problems and have little recourse if they are
endangered or harmed.
b.
Trade.
Companies doing trade with Philippine businesses should be aware of
facts of this extreme form of lawlessness.
They should be apprised of risks to their personnel and profits.
Union leaders are occasionally the victims, and this can lead to worse
labor relations and instability.
c.
Foreign-owned businesses.
Investments in infrastructure and business ventures in the Philippines
are probably not a lot safer than community leaders.
Democracy is in severe difficulty, and citizens do not appear to be
able to use “democratic space” to improve their lives and communities.
Other countries can offer greater stability for investments.
d.
Overseas Workers.
They are currently sending many billion of dollars home each year, and
this source of capital is critically important to keep the peso afloat.
They should be given human rights reports, and consider if their wealth
might be better spent in safer locations.
Also, if they visit home, are they safe?
e.
Religious groups.
Most Philippine religious groups have affiliates abroad.
They are deeply concerned about the EJE’s, and how they impact
religious expression and efforts, especially to listen to and help the poor
and oppressed. The
government of the Philippines also is blurring its own efforts to fight Abu
Sayaf, nominally affiliated with Al Qaeda, with the lives of the many Muslims
who are not involved in terrorism, or who might instead be interested in
political rights and autonomy.
Appendices
Appendix A.
First Pages of the US State Department 2005 Report.
Appendix B.
Lawyers for Lawyers Report Summary
Appendix C.
Amnesty International Report Summary
Appendix D. Letter
to Congresspersons
Appendix E.
Amnesty International Petition to Top Leaders
Appendix F.
Other Resources:
www.twincitiesamnesty.org For all of these reports on Philippines, petitions, Amnesty International views, and current news
www.fofp.org Friends of the Filipino People website
www.bulatlat.com Alternate news
http://philippines.usembassy.gov Email site for US Embassy
www.amnesty.org Amnesty International Website
Subscribe to Asian Human Rights Commission: ahrchk@ahrchk.net
Search at Google.com for “Philippine Human Rights” and select that you get updates regularly (about one per day – the latest news)
