UN Side Event for the Philippines
14th UN Human Rights Council Session, Geneva, Switzerland
On 2 June 2010, a side event was organized by the Ecumenical Voice For Peace And Human Rights In The Philippines, on "the political killings and other human rights violations in the Philippines: Impunity and accountability at a crossroads between two administrations".
The side-event was co-sponsored by the Commission of Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (WCC CCIA), the United Methodist Church - General Board on Church and Society (UMC-GBCS), the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) and endorsed by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL).
Among the guest speakers were Prof. Philip Alston, United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, Fr Rex Reyes, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and president of the Christian Conference of Asia and Marie Hilao Enriquez, chairperson of Karapatan, a Philippines NGO.
Alston, reacting to the call made by the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines for the prosecution of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the extrajudicial killings that claimed the lives of 1,191 victims and all other violations of human rights during her nine years watch, highlighted the need for strategic thinking and vision on how to move forward. He referred to the importance of prosecution, as impunity is the most serious issue that characterized the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the Philippines.
Alston visited the Philippines in 2007 and the following year he submitted his formal report to the UN Human Rights Council. The Alston Report is a detailed narrative on the extrajudicial killings that peaked in 2005-2006 in the country. The Alston report cited the counter-insurgency program of the government and the failure to prosecute perpetrators as the main reasons behind the killings. The report also proposed some recommendations for the government to undertake. The government, however, maligned Professor Alston and ignored the report.
Alston also warned that the newly elected president is most likely to be advised by some other state actors to go slow on his campaign promise to prosecute the perpetrators of these killings and other human rights violations in the Philippines. "The president-elect will likely be reminded that he is heavily dependent on the Armed Forces of the Philippines, not to cause problems and that any prosecution will alienate the military," Alston said.
Turning to human rights defenders in the Philippines, Alston suggested that focus be given on the role of the judiciary and the human rights commission. He lauded the strong leadership of NGOs saying that among the countries he visited, the civil society in the Philippines was by far the most active in terms of providing him the data he needed.
Alston, whose term as special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions ends in July 2010, presented his final report to the UN Human Rights Council. In his remarks at the side event, he said he had "always retained great interest in the Philippines and will continue to be interested".
Fr Rex Reyes, Jr, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and president of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) thanked Prof. Alston for the report which is constantly referred to in putting the government to task for its continuing violations of human rights. He also thanked the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation and the churches in North America for accompanying the Philippines in "bringing before the international community the brazen assault on human dignity in the Philippines". Reyes reported that in view of the brazenness and impunity, some churches are seriously considering a class suit against the President when she steps down from office on June 30, 2010.
Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of Karapatan, said that the Oplan Bantay Laya counter-insurgency programme being implemented by the Arroyo administration is the most vicious and brutal programme unleashed by any Philippine president against the Filipino people as this is targeting civilians and civil society organization leaders and members rather than the armed rebels.
CHR commissioner Cecilia "Coco" Quisumbing, who also attended the side event, bewailed the military's and police's non-cooperation with the Commission during hearings or inquiries called by the latter. She also shared with the audience the promises that the presumptive president Noynoy Aquino declared when the Commission interviewed him on his plans as incoming president.
