Days before President Benigno Aquino III delivers his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), the European Union’s representative to the country called on the Philippine government to convict perpetrators of extrajudicial killings (EJK).
EU Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux said the Aquino administration should strive for speedy convictions of people behind cases of EJKs and forced disappearances, as the President vowed to do during his SONA last year.
“I think convictions should be made to convince the public the government is genuinely committed in ending this culture of impunity," Ledoux said at a press briefing on Thursday at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Quezon City.
But he expressed confidence the administration can solve the killings because the “foundations" have already been laid down during the President’s first year in office.
“I think the first year of the Aquino administration has been a period of cleaning up and laying the foundation for improved performance in the area human rights protection and promotion," he said.
Ledoux and nine other European foreign dignitaries visited the PNP Crime Laboratory and the School for Investigation and Detective Development to conclude the EU-Philippines Justice Support Program (EPJUST).
Under the EPJUST, the EU donated P234 million in November 2009 to the Philippine government to fund equipment for the collection of evidence and to coordinate interagency efforts to solve crimes in the country.
De Lima: EJK cases under trial
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, meanwhile, gave European diplomats the assurance that EJK cases in the past year will be resolved during Aquino’s term.
She said that during Aquino’s first year as president, five of the around 10 EJK cases are already undergoing trial, and that suspects of three of the five remaining cases have been identified.
“The handling of cases has been much speedier now than before," she said in the same press conference.
She also disputed a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released earlier in the week that the Aquino administration has done nothing to solve EJK cases under its watch.
“I m disputing that report in so far as it says that no one has been arrested and no one has been prosecuted. We’re waiting for conviction because precisely, these are still under trial.
Resolution of similar cases usually takes one to two years, she added.
The HRW report said none of the 10 cases of EJKs and enforced disappearances under the Aquino administration has been resolved since Aquino took office in July last year.
PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo, for his part, said the country’s police force is undergoing a “transformation" program to make cops more aware of human rights.
“We have made a lot of positive strides toward this problem. We are more aware of the procedures and other police protocols. We have also conducted a lot of dialogue with the community," he said.
Human rights not gov't priority
At a conference in Quezon City on Thursday, human rights groups and peoples’ organizations led by the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) on Thursday stressed that the climate of impunity in previous administration still continues in Aquino's watch.
Max de Mesa of PAHRA also said that after one year in office, “PNoy failed to make human rights a priority on its agenda and governance."
Cases of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance and extra-legal killings as well as forced evictions have begun to pile up, he added.
PAHRA urged Aquino end the culture of impunity.
For its part, the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) accused Aquino of being a "heartless" president.
“The death of Mariano Umbrero, 63, cancer-stricken political prisoner who had been detained and died inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) hospital, shows the incapacity and failure of the Aquino administration to do a compassionate and humanitarian act."
The TFDP and other human rights groups had appealed for clemency for the dying Umbrero.
The Medical Action Group, meanwhile, said "the continuing culture of impunity unmasks the 'matuwid na daan' (straight path) slogan of the Aquino administration – an impressive piece of paper but poor in terms of respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights."
PAHRA also pointed out that paramilitary groups, including Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs), still roam with total impunity.
"These armed groups are rampant in Central Luzon as systematic and continuing incidences of human rights violations," PAHRA said.
PAHRA, TFDP, MAG and other human rights groups and peoples organizations call for:Immediate issuance of an executive order that would start of the process of making a National Human Rights Agenda;
Release immediately all political prisoners; and
Reform the prison and correction system specifically the Rules on Parole and Guidelines for Recommending Executive Clemency of the Board of Pardons and Parole.— with a report by Jerbert Briola/LBG,
