The Philippines
Extrajudicial Killings reveal a Civil Society under Assault
In the past five years, over 750 political and community activists in the Philippines have been murdered in apparent collusion with police and military officials. The rate of killings has reached the point where it is comparable to the years of Marcos' rule — formerly recognized as one of the worst times for human rights in Philippine history.
Nearly daily now, we are learning from activists in the Philippines of new murders, surveillance, and death threats. Several fact-finding missions by international organizations have corroborated the reports and raised concerns about the worsening situation. An August 2006 Amnesty International report details 51 killings of political and community activists in the first half of 2006, double the rate it found in all of 2005. In its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2005, the US Department of State included unprecedented criticism of the human rights situation in the Philippines.
In April 2007, the European Parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling for an end to the politically motivated killings in the Philippines.
Taken together, these diverse reports show a common pattern to the killings:
- Surveillance and threats to the victims a priori by officers;
- Finding their names on an "Order of Battle" by military commanders;
- Victim has an affiliation with lawful activist or leftist movements and political parties (including labor, journalism, women, peasants, environmental and other sectors);
- Assassination (often in front of families and friends) by hooded persons often driving motorbikes or unlicensed vehicles;
- Scant investigation;
- Witness intimidation and sometimes witness murder;
- It appears about 90% of these killings are attributed to security forces or sanctioned vigilante groups, which often are allowed to carry weapons and receive very little oversight.
Official Response begins to take Shape
In February 2007, an independent government-appointed commission presented its initial report on the pattern of killings. Created in August 2006 and chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, the commission was charged with investigating media and activist killings and making recommendations for government action and policy, "including appropriate prosecution and legislative proposals, if any, aimed at eradicating the root causes of extrajudicial killings and breaking such cycle of violence once and for all."
The Melo Commission’s report added to the weight of evidence of military involvement in the killings. The report recommended that military commanders, including controversial retired Army general Jovito Palparan, be held responsible for the extrajudicial killings that happened in areas under their command.
President Arroyo restated her commitment to seeking accountability for the killings and ordered broader investigations to supplement the Melo Commission’s work.
Elsewhere, however, official response was not so encouraging: Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon, chief of the armed forces in the country, recently admitted that soldiers were behind the summary executions, but added that military courts could not prosecute retired officers who could be implicated for command responsibility.
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Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council Visits
Professor Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human
Rights Council, spent ten days in February 2007 in the Philippines investigating the extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions in the country by holding meetings with government agencies, the civil society groups and families of victims and survivors of killings from different parts of the country. He stated in his initial findings that: "The AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] remains in a state of almost total denial of its need to respond effectively and authentically to the significant number of killings which have been convincingly attributed to them."
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Investigations indicate the need to pursue justice
Responding to recent developments, Amnesty International noted: "The release of the Melo Commission report, together with the initial findings of the UN expert on extrajudicial executions, should give the impetus to the government and all political parties and groups to act decisively to end the political killings in the run up to legislative and local elections in May."
AI’s press release on both the Melo Commission and the UN Special Rapporteur’s visit.
Senator Boxer hosts Senate hearings
On March 14, 2007, Senator Boxer and the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asian & Pacific Affairs held hearings on the situation in the Philippines. The PDF files immediately below were submitted with testimony at the hearings.
Real Audio video of the complete hearings at the Senate Foreign Relations web site. (Requires RealPlayer)
 enriquez_testimony-2007-03-14.pdf - Statement of Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Secretary-General, KARAPATAN - Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights in the Philippines.
farrar_testimony-2007-03-14.pdf - Testimony by Jonathan Farrar, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Democracy, Human Rights And Labor Bureau, Department of State.
john_testimony-2007-03-14.pdf - Statement of Eric G. John, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
kumar_testimony-2007-03-14.pdf - Testimony by T. Kumar, Advocacy Director for Asia & the Pacific, Amnesty International USA.
martin_testimony-2007-03-14.pdf - Statement by G. Eugene Martin, Executive Director, Philippine Facilitation Project, United States Institute of Peace.
pascua_testimony-2007-03-14.pdf - Written testimony submitted by Bishop Elizer M. Pascua, General Secretary, United Church of Christ in the Philippines.
Take Action!
Below are some files for you to use to take action on this case. The PDF files are formatted for easy printing, but can’t be altered. PDF files can be viewed with Adobe Reader. Most computers have Adobe Reader already installed, and Macintosh OS X systems can view PDF files automatically. If you do need Adobe Reader, you can download it for free at Adobe’s Adobe Reader Download Page.
Circulate this Petition addressed to Leaders in the Philippines
 petition-philippines.txt - This file contains sample petition language in plain text addressed to Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Human Rights Commission Chair Purificacion Valera Quisumbing. Copy the text from your browser window or save it on your computer for later use as a starting point to format your own petition.
petition-philippines.pdf - This petition addressed to Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Human Rights Commission Chair Purificacion Valera Quisumbing is formatted for easy printing. Take copies to work or school, or anywhere you can collect signatures.
Ask your Congressional Representative to sign a Sense of Congress Letter
sample_letter-philippines.txt - This file contains sample letter language in plain text asking Congressional Representatives to sign a Sense of Congress letter to address the situation in the Philippines. Copy the text from your browser window or save it on your computer for later use as a starting point to create your own personalized letter.
Get More Involved!
If you are interested in learning more about this case or joining our sub-group devoted to the issue, please call 763-571-7696 or contact us. (You can add a note about your interest in this case specifically in the contact form’s Interests and Concerns area.) We will contact you with details about how you can get more involved.
We also discuss this case regularly at our monthly meetings. Feel free to attend to learn more!
Amnesty Reports (external links)
Philippines: Political Killings, Human Rights and the Peace Process - Amnesty International's August 2006 report on the worsening situation in the Philippines.
Philippines - Amnesty International’s page summarizing human rights concerns in the Philippines.
Additional Information
Please note: The information below contains material gathered and created by agencies and organizations outside of Amnesty International. It is provided for informational purposes and as a guide for independent research and action. In using or acting upon material included in these resources, please do not attribute the information or calls to action to Amnesty International.
Links
Scared Silent: Impunity for Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines - A report by Human Rights Watch, published in July, 2007.
Lives Destroyed: Attacks on Civilians in the Philippines - Another report from Human Rights Watch, this one focusing on attacks perpetrated by radical armed Islamist groups. Published in July, 2007.
Philippines page of Human Rights Watch's 2007 World Report.
Philippines page at the Asian Human Rights Commission - Includes action alerts on breaking cases.
A Philippine Shame - Article from the Asian edition of Time magazine surveying the dire human rights situation in the Philippines.
PDF Files
iffm_report.pdf - The Dutch lawyers' International Fact Finding Mission report on the Philippines from July 2006.
karapatan_report_2007.pdf - 2007 human rights report, Dangerous Regime, Defiant People, by Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights).
karapatan_mid-year_report_2007.pdf - 2007 mid-year human rights report, Undeclared Martial Rule Continues, by Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights).
karapatan_report_2006.pdf - 2006 human rights report, State Terror and Martial Rule, by Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights).
hkmhrpp_report_2006.pdf - Mission Report on the extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses in the Philippines by the Hong Kong Mission for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines - July 23-38, 2006. [Mac users: Please note that in my experience, encoding errors made portions of this report unreadable when viewed with Preview. The full report was readable when using Adobe Reader. - Your Humble Editor]
whrd_report_2006.pdf - Seeking Answers: Probing Political Persecution, Repression & Human Rights Violations in the Philippines, a report by the Women's Human Rights Delegation of the Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild & the International Association of Democratic Lawyers - May 25-June 2, 2006.
alrc_article_2-v06n01.pdf - The Criminal Justice System of the Philippines is Rotten (Article 2 magazine, February 2007). From the Asian Legal Resource Centre, a Hong Kong-based group that seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at local and national levels throughout Asia.
piom_findings_and_recommendations.pdf - The People's International Observers' Mission, representing 12 countries, was dispatched from May 14th to 16th, 2007 to observe, document and report on the mid-term national elections from the ground in seven key voting regions throughout the Philippines. Their Collation of Findings and Initial Recommendations discusses the context of rampant killings and harassment in which the elections were conducted.
piom_press_statement.pdf - This press statement by the People's International Observers' Mission accompanied the release of the People's International Observers' Mission report (immediately above).
iysm_statement.pdf - The International Youth Solidarity Mission (IYSM), representing 15 Asia-Pacific countries, held a human rights workshop and subsequently conducted fact-finding missions in the regions of Central Luzon and Bicol from 23-26 June 2007. Their aim was to express solidarity and support for the victims and their families, as well as to conduct actual investigation, documentation and reportage of human rights violations in the Philippines to the international community, especially in the case of youth and student victims.
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