An Ordinary Person

National Prayer Breakfast Protest

This week I participated in a protest action at the annual National Prayer Breakfast held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. In attendance at the event, among other people, were Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and U.S. President Barack Obama. Our group was calling attention to the record of President Arroyo in addressing human rights issues in the epidemic of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations under her administration.

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What Can Be Done About Philippine Extrajudicial Killings

The Situation in the Philippines

The killings and abductions of church leaders, members of trade unions, and  other political and social activists have continued in 2007 and 2008. The Human Rights Commission in the Philippines, as well as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have continued to document violations.

These sources have concluded that the Philippine government and military are responsible for the continued murder and abduction of church leaders, trade unionists, and advocates for human rights.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Philip Alston, who conducted an investigation in 2007, noted that President Arroyo’s counter-insurgency program has led to widespread politically motivated killings, abductions and torture of church leaders, human rights defenders, trade unionists, and land reform advocates.

According to the Alston, those killed are carefully selected by the military who then “systematically hunts down”, abducts, interrogates, tortures and murders civil society leaders “following a campaign designed to instill fear into the community” often because they simply sympathize with alleged “enemies of the state.”

Superficial Efforts by the Arroyo Administration

The Philippine government has yet to demonstrate the political will to take the serious, meaningful measures needed to end the killings and disappearances and provide justice for the victims.

The President Arroyo has chosen instead to implement several bureaucratic measures, including (1) establishing and then disbanding specially-designated courts; (2) forming a human-rights office within the Armed Forces, and (3) setting up no less than five governmental investigative bodies with the same mandate.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur noted that the military was in a “state of denial” about its role in the killings. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has cited this state of denial and the “unwillingness of senior military officials” to recognize command responsibility as a “roadblock” to prosecutions.

The military has ignored calls from the Philippines Court of Appeals and the Melo Commission, appointed by President Arroyo herself, to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the killings and abductions.

Steps the US Congress Can Take

The US Congress must act to ensure that U.S. military aid to the Philippines, if any, is transparent and accountable to prevent directly or indirectly promotion of human rights abuses contributing to the current “democratic rollback” in the Philippines.

Congress must not provide military aid to the Philippines until the U.S. Departments of State and Defense can publicly certify that the Philippine government is fully implementing the recommendations of the U.N Rapporteur, strictly enforcing a policy of command responsibility by suspending investigating and prosecuting military personnel credibly alleged to be responsible for human rights violations; and ensuring that Filipinos live in a country free of fear and violence where they can freely exercise their rights.

For FY 2008, the US Congress conditioned a small part of US military aid, just $2 million out of a total of $30 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), on three conditions:

(1) the Philippine government’s successful implementation of the UN Special Rapporteur’s recommendations;

(2) the prosecution of those in the military and others responsible for the human rights violations; and

(3) the end of the vilification of legal civil society organizations by the military.

These same conditions are in the FY 2009 State Department Operations Bill reported out by the Senate Appropriations Committee [S. 3288] last July.

The Philippine government did not meet any of these conditions in 2008. However, the Department of State provided the Philippines with the full FMF allocation.

What Is Being Done by US-based Organizations and Human Rights Advocates

A letter to the US Congress is being circulated right now spearheaded by representatives of the Ecumenical Advocacy Network, a church-based network of US-based human rights advocates and organizations. They are seeking individuals in leadership positions in organizations to be co-signers of the letter. Especially crucial in this effort is the support of leaders of Filipino-American organizations.

The deadline for receiving all signatures is Thursday, February 5, 2009. For more information and to submit names of signatories contact:

philadvocacy@yahoo.com

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