Australia urged to press Phl to act on unexplained killings

MANILA, Philippines - A human rights group urged Australia to press the Philippine government to ensure prosecution for unexplained killings and to fulfill President Aquino’s commitments to abolish private armies.

The Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard urging her government to carry out its commitments to protect and promote human rights abroad.

Writing ahead of International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth outlined specific recommendations for the Australian government in dealing with countries where Australia has strategic interests or influence – the Philippines, Burma, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka – and on its refugee policy.

Australia is one of the largest bilateral donors to the Philippines, providing aid and supporting security forces.

Roth said Australia’s defense links with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) give it significant leverage and a responsibility to push the Philippine government to address the abuses of its security forces.

“President Aquino has spoken about abolishing private armies and enhancing accountability of the security forces. However, to date little has been done to turn such statements into effective action,” Roth said.

Roth said in his letter that unexplained killings by security forces and government-backed militias are a longstanding problem in the Philippines, but it continues to this day with more than 20 killings since Aquino took office on June 30, 2010.

Out of hundreds of unexplained killings and enforced disappearances of leftist activists and politicians and journalists since 2001, Roth said there have been only six successfully prosecuted cases resulting in the conviction of 11 defendants, none of whom were active duty military personnel or senior military officers.

Roth cited southern Mindanao and other areas where ruling families use official paramilitary forces, police and soldiers as their private armies.

The November 2009 Maguindanao massacre where 57 people were slaughtered was only the worst of many abuses by private armies in the country, Roth pointed out.

Human Rights Watch also called on Australia to press the Aquino administration to investigate and prosecute members of the security forces for unexplained killings, including their leaders to be held liable under command responsibility.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also called for the enactment of “truly pro-active measures” that would ensure respect for and promotion of human rights.

“It is ironic that despite the many laws of our land and the several international declarations and agreements on human rights, violations of these rights persist in our country, and in majority of these instances, the masses – the poor, those lacking in formal education and those living in far-flung and less-developed parts of our country – are usually the victims,” he said.

Estrada said the continuing human rights violations in the country were largely attributed to the lack of operational systems and mechanisms to prevent them.

Estrada also attributed the increasing human rights violations to the lack of knowledge and information among the masses, particularly on the rights that they should assert.

“It is the duty of the government to operationalize and institutionalize all needed systems and mechanisms that would give real substance to all human rights laws and declarations,” Estrada said.

The military, for its part, has filed several human rights violation cases against the communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, accusing them of killing 77 people in the Southern Tagalog region.

Southern Luzon Command spokesman Col. Generoso Bolina said they have filed 77 cases of human rights violations against the NPA before the Regional Office of Human Rights in San Pablo City.

Bolina said the NPA was behind the killing 77 people in the region, including 49 civilians, 19 soldiers, eight militiamen and one policeman.

Bolina said the filing of the charges formed part of their celebration of human rights day.

On Friday, relatives of human rights victims, rebel returnees, government forces, religious groups and other organizations will gather for “Uplifting Human Rights beyond the Gravesite” at a suspected mass graveyard of the NPA in Barangay Bukal Sur in Candelaria Quezon. – With Christina Mendez, Michelle Zoleta