UN members concerned about continued impunity in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Member-states of the United Nations (UN) have raised concern over the impunity in cases of unexplained killings in the Philippines even as they cited the country’s efforts to address incidents of human rights abuses.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Human Rights Office chief Col. Domingo Tutaan Jr. said the concerns were raised during the Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council held in Geneva recently.

“They (UN members) are concerned (about the) access to justice for the victims and the families of extrajudicial killings committed by members of security forces and they have some recommendations,” Tutaan told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

The UN members, Tutaan said, expressed alarm over the incidents of unexplained killings and enforced disappearances, including those perpetrated by security forces.

When asked if UN members still have the notion that there is impunity in the Philippines, Tutaan said: “Yes, that would be possible, but the thing is they have recognized that there are things that have been undertaken as far as this aspect is concerned.”

“We were telling the council, that august body, that we remain very transparent and forthright in accepting all these recommendations and comments that they have made,” he added.

Among the recommendations are increasing human rights trainings and funding as well as implementing measures to exercise full military control of militias.

The AFP has received at least 35 complaints of human rights abuses from January to April this year. The complaints include sexual harassment, rape and shooting of civilians.

The military, however, maintained that the complaints could not be considered “human rights violations” yet as these have yet to be proven in court.

The AFP even claimed there was no incident of human rights violation by soldiers for the first four months of the year.

“The findings of the BOI revealed that all of the referred human rights violation cases tagging military personnel were only accusations and did not produce sufficient evidence against AFP soldiers,” the military said in an earlier statement.

The Commission on Human Rights has received 84 human rights-related complaints involving soldiers from July 2010 to March 2012. Fifteen of the complaints have been dismissed while the rest are still being investigated.

Despite these concerns, the UN member-states had praised the Philippines for its efforts to address illegal killings, unexplained abductions and human rights violations, Tutaan said.