Calls to end extra-judicial executions in Philippines

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo finds herself up against a rare political adversary–multinational corporations that have added their voices to the growing chorus of calls to end a spate of extra-judicial killings. A statement this week by major international business groups, normally not known to express public concern about human rights violations, reflects the deepening crisis in the Southeast Asian archipelago, where local rights groups estimate that 766 people have been killed since January 2001, when Arroyo began her presidency. The victims included trade unionists, labor rights activists, farmers rights advocates, Catholic priests, lawyers, journalists and human rights campaigners. "Perhaps now, the government will take notice and recognize what an international scandal human rights abuses in our country has become," wrote the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a commentary on Nov. 15 in response to the plea by the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce (JFC) and the Philippines Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters. The companies that have expressed concern are formidable and not easy for Manila to ignore, particularly as it tries to attract foreign investment to boost the country's economy. They include well-known international brand names in the clothing trade like Gap, Polo, Ralph Lauren and Liz Clairborne from countries like Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, South Korea and the United States. "Such violence has no place in a modern democratic state," the JFC statement declared, according to the Inquirer. "For the sake of justice and to deter continued killings, these murders should be investigated thoroughly and those found responsible punished under the law." In fact, the alarm bells from the foreign private sector are the second unprecedented development in recent weeks arising from the political murders. Early November saw the first successful bid by local human rights groups to get the Permanent Peoples Tribunal in The Hague to try Arroyo for the murders. The Filipinos behind this move are hoping that the proceedings of the tribunal–which will begin examining the Arroyo case in March 2007–will trigger concern among the international community, including the United Nations. "These killings are happening under almost identical circumstances. The victims have been shot at close range by perpetrators riding motorcycles," Harry Roque, professor of international and constitutional law at the University of Philippines, said from Manila. "Human rights groups have identified paramilitary and military groups behind these killings." Others who have studied the abuses, such as Michael Anthony of the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), say that the violence is being directed at individuals sympathetic to leftist causes. "This is the military prosecuting a war against leftist groups and sympathizers of the left," he said. "These members of the legitimate left in the Philippines are unarmed civilians." On Nov. 14, the AHRC released a report following a fact-finding mission to the Philippines, where it states that the Central Luzon region, north of Manila, "has been the source of one of the largest number of reports of extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses. "Among the victims were 21 church workers, including nine pastors and a priest," adds the report, which was edited by Anthony. "The persons killed are mainly from groups that are working with the poor and marginalized and have reportedly been targeted because they saw the problem in their country and sought change." Of the murdered was one man who had, like many others, received death threats for his human rights advocacy work. Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, or the Philippines Independent Church, "was killed by unidentified men at his convent in Tarlac City on Oct. 3, 2006," the report reveals. "[The] 69-year-old Bishop Ramento was found dead in his room on the second floor of the parish. He had been stabbed seven times." Global rights watchdog Amnesty International hilighted similar politically-motivated killings in the Philippines in a study released in August. "The killings mostly carried out by unidentified men often wearing face masks have rarely led to the arrest, prosecution and punishment of those responsible," Amnesty revealed. "The organization remains gravely concerned that members of the security forces may have been directly involved in the killings, or else have tolerated, acquiesced to, or been complicit in them." Manila has been locked in a decades long tussle with the New People's Army (NPA), the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Under Arroyo, the military has gained more leverage to go after the armed leftists–partially in exchange for the support it has given to prop up her embattled presidency. Such a relationship has empowered the army to request more money from the government to wipe out the NPA by 2010. What troubles human rights groups and legal experts is the government's lack of urgency to go after the perpetrators, with critics pointing to the two commissions of inquiry set up by Manila this year as being weak and having little power. "These are toothless commissions. They have no power to prosecute and have no subpoena power," says Roque, the law professor. "The president is out of sync with reality." Human rights groups are also not willing to accept the frequent explanation offered by the government in response to the murders–that they are not part of a national conspiracy but the work of random and, at times, "rogue" elements. "The state may not be overtly conducting the campaign but it is certainly failing to protect people and investigate in any credible way the killings," adds Anthony. And while it struggles to deal with its critics, now including the much needed multinational companies, the Arroyo administration could expect little help from sections of the military and police under fire for the murders. This week, a group of retired and serving military officers lashed out at Amnesty International, calling for it to be banned from the country. A senior police officer accused Karapatan, a local human rights group, of "consistent lies" and "distortion of objective facts" like "Hitler's propagandist, Goebbels."