Tag Archives: Extrajudicial killing

[In the news] State of human rights under Aquino -www.thepoc.net

Posted on by Leave a comment

State of human rights under Aquino
by Ronalyn Olea, http://www.thepoc.net
July 28, 2012

The situation of human rights in the Philippines was the subject of the recent United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review. It called attention to the continuing extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other human rights violations and the prevailing climate of impunity in the Philippines.

The short period of the Aquino government that was reviewed drew concern from 22 countries over the continuing extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture; the prevalence of paramilitary groups and private armies; and the non-prosecution of perpetrators of rights violations.

From June 2010 to June 2012 under the Aquino administration, human rights group Karapatan documented 99 cases of extrajudicial killings and 11 cases of enforced disappearances.

In Quezon province alone, there have been more than 120 cases of human rights abuses documented since 2011.

Read full article @ www.thepoc.net

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.

[In the news] Impunity in human rights abuses persists under Aquino gov’t—US report -INQUIRER.net

Posted on by Leave a comment

Impunity in human rights abuses persists under Aquino gov’t—US report.

By Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 27, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—Impunity in the area of human rights violations persists under the Aquino administration, according to the US Department of State.

In a report posted on the website of the US Embassy in Manila, the State Department said the Aquino administration faced more than 20 cases of major human-rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, but investigated and prosecuted only a few of those cases.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her department’s human rights reports “chronicle the stories defending human rights in almost 200 countries around the world,” including the Philippines.

Read full article @ globalnation.inquirer.net

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.

[From the web] CIVICUS Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review 13th Session of the UPR Working Group

Posted on by Leave a comment

Philippines
Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review 13th Session of the UPR Working Group
Submitted 28 November 2011
Submitted by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

1. (A) Introduction

1.1 CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is an international movement with members in more than 100 countries worldwide. Established in 1993, CIVICUS nurtures the foundation, growth and protection of citizen action throughout the world, especially in areas where participatory democracy and citizen’s freedom of association are threatened.

1.2 In this document, CIVICUS outlines urgent concerns related to the environment in which civil society activists and human rights defenders operate in the Philippines. This submission highlights the major breaches of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

· Section B highlights concerns regarding assassinations and extra-judicial killings of
activists and other civilians
· Section C focuses on the disappearance, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention of
civilians
· Section D highlights attacks on freedom of expression and association of civil
society organisations
· Section E highlights the militarisation in rural and urban areas and the
displacement of civilians
· In Section F, CIVICUS makes a number of recommendations to the Philippine
Government.

Read full report @ upr philippines CIVICUS submission

[From the web] A Network, ASIAN FORENSICS FOR HUMAN RIGHTSwas formed – AllVoices

Posted on by Leave a comment

A Network, ASIAN FORENSICS FOR HUMAN RIGHTSwas formed
by ben696molino, AllVoices
Jan 29, 2012

 Yesterday, six member NGO human rights organizations of the AFAD with the support of EAAF formed the Asian Forensics for Human Rights in Bangkok. This will be composed of experts and forensically trained human rights development workers in the region.

In the two day meeting, 27-28 of January 2012, the participants presented the human rights situations in their countries and the difficulty in getting justice for the victims of human rights violations (hrvs). Their presentations include among others: the undocumented cases of hrvs in their countries counting to more than a million, especially torture, extra-judicial killing and enforced disappearance; a case of a woman raped by a group policemen in front of her husband; and a man made feetless to prevent him from traveling.

The Philippine delegates shared their experience on torture. The country ratified the Conventiona Against Torture… in 1987, but the enabling law was enacted only in 2009. The Implementing Rules and Regulations came a year after. There were at least five complaints filed in court but only two prospered. The three were dismissed for insufficient evidence although the perpetrators were identified. Of the two cases that prospered in court, only the perpetrators of one case were apprehended, the perpetrator in the other case remains at large. The military continue to deny that they have such person in their roster although this uniformed man was spotted several times by the victim himself in his detention center.

Read full article @ www.allvoices.com

[In the news] HR watchdog: Phl makes little progress against rights violations – PhilStar.com

Posted on by 2 comments

HR watchdog: Phl makes little progress against rights violations
By Pia Lee-Brago, The Philippine Star
January 03, 2012

 MANILA, Philippines – The New York-based Human Rights Watch said yesterday that the Aquino administration has made little progress in addressing impunity for serious human rights violations despite promises of reform.

Following the Philippines’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submission, the human rights watchdog pointed to impunity for unexplained killings and enforced disappearances, “private armies” and state-backed militias, violations of international humanitarian law, “death squads,” sexual and reproductive rights and migrant workers’ rights as among the country’s main concerns.

Scrutiny of the Philippines is part of the UPR, a new UN mechanism used in assessing the human rights record of all United Nations member states.

The human rights watchdog said unexplained killings of leftist activists and petty criminals continue, with the government failing to address involvement by security forces and local officials.

Human Rights Watch said the Philippines is a multiparty democracy with an elected president and legislature, a thriving civil society sector, and a vibrant media, “but several key institutions including the civilian and military justice systems remain weak, and the military and police still commit human rights violations with impunity.”

In the previous UPR in 2008, the Philippines committed to implement recommendation 6 to “completely eliminate torture and extrajudicial killings” and to “intensify its efforts to carry out investigations and prosecutions on extrajudicial killings and punish those responsible.”

Read full article @ www.philstar.com

Related articles

[From the web] Kilalanin ang mga nominado sa 2011 WikiPinoy of the Year: HRonlinePH.com – wikipilipinas.org

Posted on by Leave a comment

  Ang karapatang pantao ay pagmamay-ari ng lahat ng tao.

Iyan ang diwa ng universality of human rights. Sa panahong ito kung saan sinasabing nagtapos na ang pang-aalipin, diktadura, at pagtatangi-tangi ng lahi, tila hindi pa rin naaabot ng Pilipinas ang universality ng karapatang pantao. Unang-una, kahit nasa ilalim na ng repormistang administrasyon ni Noynoy Aquino ang Pilipinas, patuloy pa rin ang mga kaso ng extrajudicial killings, pagpatay sa mga mamamahayag, warlordism, at marahas na demolisyon sa mga maralitang komunidad. Pangalawa, ang diskriminasyon ng lahi, ideolohiya, relihiyon, at oryentasyon ng kasarian. At pangatlo at higit na nakaaapekto sa marami ay ang pagkait sa karapatan sa edukasyon, pabahay, kalusugan, at trabaho.

Isang malaking hamon tuloy para sa mga grupong nagsusulong ng karapatang pantao ang pagtataguyod nito. Kaya marahil itinayo ang HRonlinePH.com, ang kauna-unahang news aggregator hinggil sa karapatang pantao sa Pilipinas.

Pormal na inilunsad nito lamang Disyembre 1, ang HRonlinePH.com ay nagsimula noong unang mga buwang ng 2011 bilang isang blog sa WordPress kung saan nangangalap ito ng mga press release at news items mula sa iba’t ibang publikasyon at organisasyon na may kaugnayan sa karapatang pantao. Kagaya ng konsepto ng news aggregator na Philippine Online Chronicles, ipinapakita nito ang iba’t ibang pananaw hinggil sa balita dahil sa pamamaraan nito ng aggregation.

Higit sa lahat, hindi pag-aari ng iisang tao, grupo ng tao, o organisasyon ang HRonlinePH.com. Kagaya ng WikiPilipinas, collaborative o pinagtutulung-tulungan ng mga komunidad ng mga netizens ang proyektong ito. Hindi rin sakop ng copyright ang website na ito kaya’t mas madaling ikalat ang impormasyon hinggil sa karapatang pantao na nilalaman nito. Dahil dito, ang HRonlinePH.com ay nakaaambag sa bukas at malayang pagdaloy ng impormasyon sa Pilipinas na siyang nararapat upang bigyang kapangyarihan ang mamamayang Pilipino sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng napapanahon at mahahalagang impormasyon.

Kung ang karapatang pantao ay pagmamay-ari ng lahat ng tao, gayundin dapat ang impormasyon. Ito ang isinusulong ng HronlinePH.com, isang website na pag-aari ng lahat ng Pinoy

Karapat-dapat bang maigawad sa HRonlinePH.com ang 2011 WikiPinoy of the Year? Kung oo, iboto siya rito (huwag kalimutang i-add ang WikiPilipinas Org sa Facebook).

Read more @ http://fil.wikipilipinas.org

[Off the shelf] From Despair to Defiance – ctuhr.org

Posted on by Leave a comment

From Despair to Defiance
The Impact of Extra-Judicial Killings, Enforced Disappearance, and Other Human Rights Violations on Families

Synopsis

Since 2001, more than a thousand victims of extra-judicial killings (EJKs), hundreds enforced disappearances (EDs) and thousands other human rights violations have been documented in the country. The change in presidency in 2010—despite Pres. Aquino’s promise of closure—did not improve the human rights situation much less served justice to the victims of human rights violations of the Arroyo administration. But apart from the obvious violence with the loss of lives and violated rights and freedoms, the current condition of continuing violations and deeply-entrenched impunity has immediate and long-term implications for the families of victims, survivors, and their communities. From Despair to Defiance explores and exposes this face of human rights violations in the Philippines. A compilation of personal stories, psychological and societal impacts, and lessons derived from psychosocial interventions provided to the families of victims and survivors of EJKs, EDs among other human rights violations, this book narrates the brazen violence that children, families, and communities experienced, their ways of coping with the sudden loss of loved ones, and the transformation of grief to their resolve to attain justice.

From Despair to Defiance is published by the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights in partnership with the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center with support from the European Union.

Read full article @ ctuhr.org

[Press Release] P-Noy challenged to fulfill promise of closure to HR killings

Posted on by Leave a comment

The Women Workers in Struggle for Employment, Empowerment and Emancipation (Women Wise3), a campaign network of families of victims of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations, has called on the President Aquino to fulfill his promise to bring closure to human rights killings.

On October 15, the group held a jog for justice activity at the Quezon City Memorial Circle to register the continuing campaign against extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance and other human rights violations especially against workers.

Luzviminda Fortuna, spokesperson of Women Wise3 and widow of slain Nestlé union president Diosdado Fortuna said, “We are reminding President Aquino of his promise to bring closure to human rights killings. It has been more than a year since he swore in as president and yet justice remains elusive to us. Worse, extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations continued under his administration.”

There are around 44 victims of extrajudicial killings since Aquino took office in June 2010. Five of the victims are from the workers’ rank. Labor NGO, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights also recorded an increased number of economic, social, and cultural rights violations under the Aquino administration.

Fortuna also pointed out that impunity which accompanies the unabated killings and human rights violations is a serious problem which the Aquino government should also resolve aside from the corruption and electoral fraud issues of the past government.

“Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and the entire human rights agenda merits equal if not more attention from the government. Although we definitely welcome the move of the Aquino administration to prosecute the Arroyos for plundering the economy and bastardizing the electoral process, President Aquino should also make the previous regime accountable for its grave human rights record.”

“We thus challenge President Aquino to take concrete steps to immediately stop human rights violations and bring the perpetrators to justice. A straight path does not only mean a corruption-free bureaucracy and clean elections, human dignity, social justice, and human rights should be upheld to make this straight path substantial and meaningful to the people,” Fortuna added.###

Reference:

Norman Tubera, Women WISE3 coordinator, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights, womenwise.ctuhr@gmail.com, +639152381663

[In the news] PH sought EU help in addressing extrajudicial killings, Wikileaks cables show – Interaksyon.com

Posted on by Leave a comment

PH sought EU help in addressing extrajudicial killings, Wikileaks cables show – Interaksyon.com.

Abigail Kwok, InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs in 2007 sought the help of European Union member-states in solving the cases of extrajudicial killings in the country, a leaked cable released by whistleblower website Wikileaks showed.

The cable, made public Sunday and classified as For Official Use Only, confirmed the position taken by the Philippines after the international community, particularly the EU, expressed concern for the growing cases of such killings of activists, farmers, workers, union organizers, judges, and even journalists.

Read full article @ Interaksiyon (Link above)

Related Articles