08385
May 16, 2008

Religious groups back human rights in Philippines

Torture, killings haven’t slowed since 2006 GA resolution

by Catherine Gordon
Presbyterian Washington Office

WASHINGTON — The 217th General Assembly (2006) passed a resolution lifting up the current human rights violations in the Philippines and expressing its deep concern for the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and the men and women who have been murdered by forces opposed to the protection of human rights.

The Assembly further called upon the Philippine government to “bring to justice the killers of the pastors, other church workers, and other Filipinos similarly executed and/or tortured by paramilitary forces.” The Assembly called for a full inquiry into these matters by the Philippine government.

Unfortunately, in the following two years little has been done to investigate the killing of members of the church and civil society in the Philippines working for human rights. In fact, the count of those murdered and disappeared has increased and the human rights situation has steadily deteriorated.

According to a report by Karapatan, a Philippine human rights organization, there have been 886 extrajudicial killings and 179 disappearances since 2001. The disappearances and murders are largely attributed to security forces and elements of the Philippine military.

According to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, Philippine non-governmental organizations and churches report that, as part of their counter-insurgency program, the armed forces of the Philippines continue to conduct operations that vilify members of civil society organizations and accuse them of being “front groups” for a communist insurgency.

This creates a climate of fear and impunity that is leading to the extrajudicial execution or disappearance of members of civil society organizations, including many Filipino church leaders working for human rights whose murders and disappearance have not been investigated or solved.

Many, including the Philippine Supreme Court and Amnesty International, are concerned that Philippine President Arroyo is trying to bypass the legal system in its counter-insurgency program.

After a visit to the country in 2007, the U.N. Special Rapporteur characterized the Philippine Armed Forces as being in a state of almost total denial on the need to resolve the significant numbers of killings that have been attributed to them. The Philippine government’s own investigation by an independent commission has called for the government to take firmer action to resolve the killings.

The situation in the Philippines should be of particular concern for Christians here in the United States as the U.S. State Department will spend more than $149 million on military aid and equipment to the Philippines this year alone.

Because the Philippines is seen by the administration as the second front in the war on terror, military aid has steadily increased since 2001 and the Philippines is one of the largest recipients of U.S. aid in Asia.

The increase in the number of extrajudicial killings of members of the civil society of the Philippines has directly mirrored the increase in military funding for the Philippines, which was more than $406 million between 2001 and 2006. This year, the U.S. government will fund the counter-insurgency programs of the Philippine armed forces with $30 million in Foreign Military Financing.

What is particularly troubling is that as early as 2005 the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, stated that U.S. government oversight of our military aid and training for the Philippines was weak and ineffective.

Churches and faith-based organizations in the U.S. are working together, calling for Congress to ensure that U.S. military aid to the Philippines, if any, is transparent and accountable, to prevent directly or indirectly promoting the abuse of human rights.

To express concern for the church in the Philippines, they are asking that concerned people of faith tell their members of Congress not to provide military aid to the Philippines until the U.S. State and Defense departments publicly certify that the Philippine government “is strictly enforcing a policy of command and responsibility by suspending, investigating and prosecuting military personnel credibly alleged to be responsible for human rights violations” and “is ensuring that Filipinos live in a country free of fear and violence where they can freely exercise their rights.”

The religious groups are also calling for sustained prayer for the people of the Philippines, particularly the 18 persons, aged 13 to 71, who were lifted up in the 2006 General Assembly resolution: Rey Corpin, Isaias Manolo Jr., Joe Baclao, Juancho Sanchez, vincente Olea, Abe Sungit, Fr. William Todena, Alfredo Davis, the Rev. Edison Lapuz, the Rev. Raul Domingo, Jose Managdeg, Junico Halem, Mateo Morales, Nestor Arinque, the Rev. Jemias Tinambacan, Jose Doton, Andy Pawikan, Noel Capulong.