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NY-CHRP Human Rights News

RP Human Rights News (3)


1. Philippines: Justice Absent in Killings and ‘Disappearances’

2. RP human rights measures 'window-dressing'--HRW

3. Human Rights Watch: Take RP to task over killings

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[News compiled by the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP). NYCHRP recently facilitated a meeting between Philippine Human Rights advocate Edita Burgos and Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch.]

RP human rights measures 'window-dressing'--HRW
MANILA -- Measures introduced by the Philippine government to curb human rights abuses are mere "window-dressing," an official from Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
"The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seem little more than window-dressing," said Elaine Pearson, Asia deputy director for the New York-based rights group.
Although the government has said extra-judicial killings fell sharply last year, Pearson said a "pause in political killings will mean little in the long run unless those responsible are prosecuted."
She told reporters in Manila that the government's failure to convict military men for human rights abuses will be brought up during a review of the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on April 11.
Pearson said Human Rights Watch (HRW) research showed that since 2001, there had been hundreds of cases of suspected insurgents, leftists, reporters, government critics and activists who had been murdered or had vanished, but no military man had been convicted of these crimes.
Although the government had set up a task force to investigate these incidents and had put in place measures to protect witnesses in these cases, these actions had "in fact accomplished little, and seem designed to merely deflect domestic and international criticism," Pearson added.
"Human Rights Council members should be asking the government why it hasn't taken strong action against abusive military personnel that would finally put a stop to these killings," said Pearson.
She noted that UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, following a visit to the Philippines in February 2007, said the military was in denial about the killings.
She said HRW had already submitted its findings to the council in Geneva and they would be taken up at the review session next month.
"The Philippines is among the first countries up for the universal periodic review, and as such it will be a test for the Human Rights Council," said Pearson.
She said the United Nations would not seek sanctions against any of the countries concerned but said the session "would help focus attention on the serious concern on the human rights problem in the Philippines."
"We hope to apply peer pressure on the Philippines," she said.##
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Philippines: Justice Absent in Killings and ‘Disappearances’
Government Under Review at UN Human Rights Council
(Manila, March 27, 2008) – The United Nations should carefully review the Philippine government’s failure to hold accountable those responsible for killings and “disappearances,” Human Rights Watch said today. The first-ever Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council takes place in Geneva on April 11, 2008.

Killings and enforced disappearances
Since 2001, hundreds of members of left-wing political parties, activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed or “disappeared.” The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, Philippine human rights groups, and Human Rights Watch all found strong evidence of military involvement in many of these cases.

In its submission to the UN Human Rights Council, the Philippine government claims that it places a priority on “addressing this most urgent concern [extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances], by bringing perpetrators to justice and preventing such killings in the future. The government reported that the number of killings had dropped significantly in 2007.

“A pause in political killings will mean little in the long run unless those responsible are prosecuted,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Of the hundreds of political killings since 2001, not a single military official has been convicted.”

Human Rights Watch said that while any reduction in human rights violations is to be welcomed, the government has yet to adopt institutional changes that would address the long-term problem of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country. The government has failed to successfully prosecute members of the security forces for serious abuses. Since 2001, only two cases of killings of activists resulted in convictions of four defendants, none of whom were military personnel. And because enforced disappearances are a continuing offense, the government remains responsible for those “disappeared” until their fate or whereabouts becomes known.

A new UN mechanism
Scrutiny of the Philippines is part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a new UN mechanism used in assessing the human rights record of all United Nations member states. The Philippine government and nongovernmental organizations have made written submissions to the Human Rights Council. On April 11, in Geneva, member states will examine the human rights situation in the Philippines in a three-hour open session that will also be streamed live on the web. This is the first time the Philippine government has undergone such review, which will happen every four years.

Police, prosecution, and witness protection
In its submission, the Philippine government lists a number of specific measures it has taken to address extrajudicial killings, including implementing the findings of the government Melo commission report and Task Force Usig (Task Force Prosecution), better coordination between police, prosecution and other agencies, strengthening laws on witness protection, and new human rights offices within the armed forces and the national police.

Human Rights Watch’s research found that the speedy introduction of these measures in 2007 has in fact accomplished little, and seem designed to merely deflect domestic and international criticism. Contrary to government claims of having implemented the Melo commission report’s recommendations, the government has not followed up on the report’s finding of military responsibility for killings. And, while the government claims that 80 cases have been filed with police through the Task Force Usig, many lack crucial evidence, such as the names of the accused and other basic information necessary for prosecutors. The principle of command responsibility has yet to be applied in a single case.

Witness protection and coordination between prosecutors and police remain weak. The human rights offices of the police and the army seem more engaged in advocacy against government critics and “leftist propaganda” than in supporting concrete investigations of alleged abuses.

“The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seem little more than ‘window-dressing,’” said Pearson. “Human Rights Council members should be asking the government why it hasn’t taken strong action against abusive military personnel that would finally put a stop to these killings.”

Writ of amparo
The Supreme Court’s new procedure of the writ of amparo – a habeas corpus-like procedure in which state agencies are compelled to reveal to the court the whereabouts of named persons, disclose documentary evidence or allow court-authorized searches of premises – has shown some success in “resurfacing” more than half-a-dozen people. But some 100 cases remain pending, including that of Jonas Burgos, an agricultural activist who was abducted by alleged security forces in broad daylight in an urban mall in April 2007. While an important safeguard against government abuse, the writ of amparo is no substitute for prosecuting perpetrators of arbitrary arrest and detention.

Visit by UN expert on extrajudicial killings
In its UPR submission, the government claims that “as a concrete manifestation of the Philippines’ willingness to cooperate with the international human rights system,” it invited UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston in February 2007. The government has chosen to quote only positive selections from Alston’s report, omitting, for example, his finding that the military remained in denial about the killings, and has not rejected earlier government attacks on the report, such as the high-ranking military officer who called the UN rapporteur “brainwashed.”

“It is absurd for the Philippine government to let its generals call a UN expert names and then claim his visit signifies its willingness to cooperate,” Pearson said. “Its cooperation is best measured through its willingness to adopt Alston’s recommendations.”

Continued targeting of alleged communists
The government’s UPR submission notes that the Philippines repealed the anti-subversion law and decriminalized the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Although membership in the CPP has been legal since 1992, high-ranking military and police officers have repeatedly made statements to Human Rights Watch that imply that membership is illegal and which conflate the CPP with its armed wing, the New People’s Army. Some officers have also publicly suggested that members of certain nongovernmental organizations are valid targets of attack because of their alleged association or sympathy with the CPP or the New People’s Army.

Counterterrorism law
Human Rights Watch also expressed concerns that the 2007 anti-terrorism law, the Human Security Act, contained provisions that could allow authorities to hold detainees indefinitely, and engage in spurious prosecutions. The UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism called for the law to be repealed or its implementation to be delayed.

“The Philippines is among the first countries up for the Universal Periodic Review, and as such it will be a test for the Human Rights Council,” said Pearson. “If the Philippines is the rights-respecting nation it claims to be, then why, when ample evidence implicates the military in abuses, are no members of the military being tried for these crimes?”

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Human Rights Watch: Take RP to task over killings


MANILA, Philippines - A human rights group urged the United Nations on Thursday to take the Philippines to task for failing to prosecute soldiers suspected of involvement in a string of extrajudicial killings.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said the Philippines has done little to implement recommendations made last year by Philip Alston, the UN special envoy on extrajudicial killings, as well as the government's own fact-finding commission.

Both have linked soldiers to hundreds of deaths and disappearances of mostly left-wing activists belonging to political organizations that the military brands as fronts for communist rebels.

"The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seems little more than 'window-dressing,'" said Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch's deputy director for Asia.

She told reporters that the actions seemed "designed to merely deflect ... criticism."

Philippine officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council will hold its first Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines' human rights record April 11, during which council members can question government representatives in a public session.

All governments are subjects to the review.

Pearson said the Philippines has reported to the council that the number of killings dropped significantly in 2007.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo told foreign diplomats in January that seven activists and journalists were killed last year, compared to 41 in 2006.

The left-wing human rights group Karapatan also reported considerably fewer activists were killed or abducted last year, but gave higher figures of 68 activists slain and 26 missing, down from 185 dead and 93 missing in 2006.

Karapatan head Marie Hilao Enriquez said in a December report that the drop can be attributed to pressure from the diplomatic community and human rights groups.

The report said 887 left-wing activists and their supporters have been killed and another 185 have disappeared since Arroyo took office in 2001.

The government said it has strengthened witness protection laws, but can do little to force people to testify if they fear retribution. Without witnesses, no prosecution can move forward, it said.

Pearson said the group's research found the government measures have accomplished little.

She said perpetrators must be prosecuted and institutional changes put in place.

In the killings since Arroyo came to office in 2001, "not a single military official has been convicted," Pearson said.

She also expressed concern that some ranking military and police officers have publicly suggested that members of activist organizations are valid targets because of their alleged association with communist rebels. - AP
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Worst is yet to come for the Arroyo regime

Worst is yet to come for the Arroyo regime

Press statement
13 March 2008
Reference: Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, Chairperson

Contrary to the statement of national security adviser Norberto Gonzales, the worst is yet to come for the embattled Arroyo regime. The worsening economic hardship, intensifying repression, and persistent corruption allegations will continue to feed social unrest and fan political instability.

Gonzales declared Wednesday that the “worst of the political crisis is over” and Mrs. Gloria Arroyo has survived the $329-million broadband corruption scandal.

Gonzales ignored the impact of deteriorating poverty on the hold to power of Arroyo. The latest official poverty incidence report disclosed that between 2003 and 2006, more than one million Filipinos are added every year to the number of poor or three million for three years. This further undermines the ability of Arroyo to govern as an increasing number of people feel that the government is not addressing their economic concerns. This will enhance the isolation of the Arroyo regime from the people.

Trends indicate that the worsening economic hardship will persist in the coming months. Unprecedented oil price increases, almost simultaneous hikes in the prices of basic food items and in water and power rates will continue to erode wages and income. Ordinary families could barely afford even half of the cost of living while more than 10.8 million people are either jobless or underemployed. At the global level, the looming US recession has yet to take its full impact on the local economy. But once it does, expect a serious production slowdown that could mean higher unemployment and poverty.

There are also no signs that Arroyo will depart from her current pro-market and anti-people economic policies. She could not afford, for example, to let go of the regressive value added tax (VAT). While the VAT contributes to high prices of basic goods and services, it is also the most reliable source of revenues for the bankrupt regime.

On the other hand, the repression of the Arroyo regime of legitimate protests for economic and political reforms is becoming more vicious. The brutal dispersal of protesting workers in front of the Labor department on March 6 shows the readiness of the regime to use more violence to preserve itself. But this only fuels the people’s outrage and determination to fight for justice and reforms.

Meanwhile, the public perception that corruption under the Arroyo regime is chronic remains pervasive and will continue to hound Arroyo. A Pulse Asia survey in October 2007 shows that Arroyo is perceived by most Filipinos to be the most corrupt president. This has been confirmed by a recent survey conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) that ranked the Philippines as the most corrupt country in Asia.

The combination of worsening poverty, increasing repression, and continuing efforts to cover up corruption provides the condition for the lingering unrest and more protests.

The people will not remain passive amid the current political turmoil. They will take action once they realize that their plight is being aggravated by the wrong economic policies, repression, and corruption of the Arroyo regime. This will further strengthen the growing movement calling for a change in the national leadership and for meaningful political and economic reforms.

Gonzales and the entire Arroyo clique should not take comfort in the coming long holiday break. It could be the proverbial “calm before the storm”.###

SURFACE JONAS BURGOS!

This PSA is part of the human rights campaign initiated by the Free Jonas Burgos Movement. Jonas Burgos, son of the late press freedom icon, Joe Burgos, was abducted last April 28, 2007 by armed men in broad daylight. He has been missing since. The plate number of the vehicle used in the abduction was later traced to the 56th Infantry Battalion. For more info, email freejonasburgos@yahoo.com or a_isabelle78@yahoo.com and see how you can help.


http://freejonasburgosmovement.com/

SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!

She could be your mother, sister, tita, neice, or friend.....

Mga Kababayan sa New York at New Jersey,

This week, the Kuwaiti High Court of Cassation will begin hearing oral arguments for the case of Marilou Ranario, a 33 year old Filipina domestic worker from Surigao del Sur in jail and on death row. Marilou was convicted in 2005 for the murder of her employer, a man who was viciously abusing and raping her. The victim's family have since withdrawn their lawsuits against Marilou, yet she remains on death row (please see attached fact sheet.) and languishing in jail awaiting her sentence. She is currently supporting 2 children back in the Philippines while her husband can't find stable work as a jeepney driver.

Abuse, rape, and maltreatment are common experiences for our hardworking overseas Filipino workers, who are forced to choose a life abroad in order to escape poverty and provide for their families. Marilou represents all of us; yet despite this reality, the Philippine government is doing nothing to save her from execution by hanging. As was the case of Flor Contemplacion, a Filipina domestic worker who was executed by the Singapore judicial system in 1995, it is up to the worldwide community of Filipinos and migrant workers to stand up for justice when governments fail to protect their people, and show their might on the streets. Please visit and sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com / marilou/petition.html and join us for...

SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!
COMMUNITY PRAYER VIGIL TO SAVE THE LIFE OF MARILOU RANARIO, FILIPINA DOMESTIC WORKER ON DEATH ROW IN KUWAIT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH, 7PM
MEET IN FRONT OF KRYSTAL'S
6902 ROOSEVELT AVE, CORNER 69TH

Sponsored by Kabalikat-Philippine Forum (Filipina Domestic Workers Support Network), the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) and the Save Marilou Ranario Movement (SMRM)

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SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!
NO TO ANOTHER FLOR CONTEMPLACION!
statement of concerned overseas Filipinos in New York City

We, NYC-based Filipina household workers, nannies, caregivers, along with other concerned overseas Filipinos and advocates of basic human rights, demand that our sister, Marilou Ranario, be released immediately from the Kuwaiti jail she continues to languish in since being convicted for the death of her employer in 2005.

Marilou, a 33-year old domestic worker who was viciously maltreated and abused by her employer, represents all of us overseas Filipinos who must leave our families back home in order to ensure they can eat. In order to escape poverty back in our homeland, we are left with little choice to but brave uncertain shores where we know abuse, exploitation, and maltreatment are common for Filipinos and other migrant workers. We also know a hard and lonely life overseas without the company of our families is better than a guaranteed life where our children will starve and have no opportunities. This was Marilou's story as well.

Marilou was a teacher from Surigao Del Sur that opted to leave to become a domestic worker abroad because she earned a more stable living doing so. She supported 2 small children back in the Philippines while her husband was unable to find stable work as a jeepney driver.

Back in 1995, the entire Filipino nation and overseas Filipino community struggled against the Philippine government's systemic neglect of the plight of overseas Filipino workers with the case Flor Contemplacion, a Filipino nanny who was hung after being wrongfully convicted for the death of her employer's child. As was the case with the high profile movement to set Flor free, the Philippine government made no political effort to save Flor's life. We fear the same will happen to Marilou.

Earlier this year, the mysterious and still-unresolved death of New York-based domestic worker Fely Garcia further proved the Philippine government's absence of concern and sympathy for OFW's abused and even killed.

Like Marilou, Flor and Fely, we are all victims of a Philippine government system known as the Labor Export Policy. This was originally established as a temporary measure to solve the country's crisis of joblessness and landlessness, forcing families to turn abroad for stable income, but the Philippine governments after Marcos turned it into a permanent fixture and means to keep the pathetic Philippine government afloat. Today, over 3000 Filipinos, mostly women, leave their children behind to work abroad. The total remittances that prop up the Philippine economy coming from overseas labor totals to more than $11 billion. These come from the suffering and toils of mainly Filipino women workers overseas.

The crime of the Labor Export Policy is that there is no program for protection for women like Flor and Marilou, who become victims of abuse, maltreatment, exploitation, rape, and indentured servitude. In many cases, Filipino workers are treated like animals, much less second-class citizens with no rights. Filipino women fall vulnerable to sexual abuse commonly.

But they are still Philippine citizens. Philippine embassies and consulate offices abroad are absolutely useless and fail to assert protections for our valued overseas workers, aggressively sending more workers overseas to face similar fates. The Arroyo administration has remained painfully silent while boasting of an economy sustained by migrant laborers like Marilou.

We say shame on the Philippine government for taking Marilou's remittances and doing nothing to legally protect her in a foreign land where she clearly has no rights as a human being. In this sense, the Arroyo government is no different than the foreign employers that treat Filipino workers like dogs in their host countries, and women workers as slaves.

We call on the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation, that will hear oral arguments this Tuesday, November 13th, on Marilou's case to strongly consider the united voice of Filipinos worldwide who today are taking the streets in defense of their Filipina sister, and decide not to execute her!

SAVE MARILOU RANARIO!
NO TO ANOTHER FLOR CONTEMPLACION!
JUSTICE FOR ALL OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS!
PROTECT THE RIGHTS AND DIGNITY OF OUR OFW'S!

Signed,
KABALIKAT-PHILIPPINE FORUM (DOMESTIC WORKERS SUPPORT GROUP)
NY COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR FILIPINO CONCERNS (NAFCON)

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News Release
November 13, 2007

Reference: Lorena Sanchez, Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT (Domestic Workers Support), email: pf_kabalikat@yahoo.com

NY Filipinos Come Together to Say: Save Marilou Ranario!

New York-- The Filipina domestic workers support group known as KABALIKAT, a program of the community service organization Philippine Forum, spearheaded a solemn prayer vigil on the busy intersection of Roosevelt and 69th Street in Woodside, Queens last night as part of an international day of action to save the life of 33 year old Filipina domestic worker Marilou Ranario.

The group recited one full decade of the rosary for the Ranario, convicted of murdering her employer back in 2005 and currently on death row in Kuwait, despite large noise coming above from the 7 train. Marilou was also a victim of consistent abuse, maltreatment, and forced into indentured servitude by her employer.

"She represents all of us," states KABALIKAT Co-coordinator Shirley Cayugan-O'Brien. "We believe she is the real victim, not the criminal. We are all victims of a criminally-negligent Labor Export Policy."

Cayugan-O'Brien further explained it was the lack of protection offered by the Philippine government, particularly the overseas Philippine consular officers, that continue to victimize women workers like Marilou, who many fear will suffer the same fate as Singapore-based domestic worker Flor Contemplacion who was hung for a wrongful conviction of murder back in 1995.

November 13th was called as an international day of action by Migrante International, an alliance of overseas Filipino organizations of which KABALIKAT is a member. November 13th also marks the hearing of oral arguments of Marilou's case by the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation. The employer's family have since withdrawn their previous lawsuits against Ranario, a mother of two children from Surigao Del Sur.

KABALIKAT, Migrante International and the broader Save Marilou Ranario Movement (SMRM) claims the Kuwaiti Court will take into high consideration the public aspect of Marilou's case, in which strong public outpouring of support can also make a difference.

Actions were also held in Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, and throughout the Philippines.

Philippine Forum-KABALIKAT was joined by fellow concerned Filipinos from the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and Anakbayan. ###