Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights
Statement

Condemn state terrorism and uphold the Filipino people’s human rights!

November 30, 2006

The Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights marks this 58th International Human Rights Day with growing dismay, alarm and outrage at the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in the Philippines.  According to KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights), 2006 was the worst year for human rights in the Philippines since the toppling of the Marcos fascist dictatorship in 1986.  The group recorded 185 extrajudicial killings and 93 abductions and enforced disappearances in 2006.  This brought the total number of extrajudicial killings under the regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to a staggering 797, while the total number of abductions and enforced disappearances reached 206 (with 40% of those cases occurring in 2006).

As a cross-Canada network of Canadian and Filipino-Canadian individuals and organizations, we are outraged that an average of three extra-judicial killings are occurring every week in the country, despite resounding calls from people in the Philippines and around the world for the Arroyo regime to put an immediate end to the political killings and violations of the people’s human rights.  We strongly condemn the Arroyo regime for its lack of sincerity to resolve this human rights crisis and warn against an increase in state-perpetrated human rights violations.

From November 15 to 22, 2006, the PCTFHR sent a fact-finding mission of nine Canadians from four cities to witness first-hand the impact of the political killings, abductions, enforced disappearances and harassment on grassroots communities in the Philippines.  The mission is composed of lawyers, journalists, health professionals, and trade union and community activists and is an independent, community-based body that responded to the call of Philippine-based human rights organizations for international solidarity and support in the wake of these heinous political killings, abductions and enforced disappearances.

Despite the attempts of the Philippine military and police to harass, intimidate and frustrate the objectives of the mission, we spoke with ordinary Filipinos, mostly peasants and workers, who are the victims of state-perpetrated human rights violations in three areas of the Philippines.  After our mission, we concluded that:

1.    There is a clear pattern of state-perpetrated politically-motivated extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, assassination attempts and other forms of harassment in the Philippines.

2.    There is increasing militarization and breakdown of civilian authority in the country in the context of the Arroyo regime’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch) with the following consequences:

-    Military, police and government counter-insurgency programs make no clear distinction between armed combatants and unarmed civilians.  This violates international human rights and humanitarian law standards and gives the regime licence to commit grave human rights violations.
-    The military, police, paramilitary and other state agents do not respect or follow any clear and effective due legal process for charging or sentencing civilians for alleged crimes.  Instead, they are carrying out extra-judicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, illegal abductions and enforced disappearances with impunity.
-    The military, police, paramilitary and other state agents engage in a pattern of harassment and intimidation directed at local and international human rights defenders.
 
3.    There is a lack of effective legal remedies for victims and their families to seek justice and redress for these human rights violations, as a climate of fear and impunity continues to dominate in the country.  This calls into question the effectiveness, sincerity and competence of the government-appointed Melo Commission and Task Force Usig to bring to justice the perpetrators of these human rights violations.

4.    There is clear suffering at humanitarian levels of those individuals, families and communities hit by the politically-motivated extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, assassination attempts and other forms of harassment and hit by the increasing militarization and breakdown of civilian authority.  This is creating internal displacement and other short-term and long-term economic and social problems for ordinary Filipinos.

Given this crisis situation, we vow to continue our work to raise public awareness and gather support in Canada about our findings and the culpability of the Arroyo regime for its policies of state terror, repression and martial rule, particularly in the context of the U.S.-led “war on terror” and the threat of US military intervention in the Philippines.

We call on all peace and freedom-loving peoples in Canada to join the growing cries of the international community for an end to the culture of impunity and an end to the political killings.  Despite the growing paranoia of the Arroyo regime to criticism from the international community, we declare our commitment to press the Canadian government to publicly state its opposition to the deteroriating human rights situation in the Philippines.  We also assert our democratic rights as Canadians and call on the Canadian government to redirect our taxpayer dollars in the form of the $22 million in Canadian foreign aid away from the repressive and militarist Arroyo regime and to to progressive community-based groups like Karapatan that advocate genuine development and uphold human rights and the dignity of life.  It is only in this way that we can build people-to-people solidarity in the framework of a genuine, grassroots-based and collaborative model between those organizations in the Philippines and Canada who are working with the communities most affected by the human rights crisis.

We also respect and support in the spirit of international solidarity the call of KARAPATAN, their local affiliates and other progressive organizations in the Philippines to struggle for and uphold the comprehensive human rights of the Filipino people and their legitimate right to struggle for their democracy, sovereignty and national and social liberation.  Currently, we condemn the danger to the people’s human rights posed by the Arroyo regime’s moves to amend the Philippine constitution and prolong its stay in power, despite the calls of the Filipino people for President Arroyo to resign or face impeachment or ouster by an exercise of the people’s ultimate power.

Finally, we pay special tribute to the victims and their families and the local human rights advocates of KARAPATAN and other organizations, who are living on a daily basis in the context of state terror and martial rule.  We are keenly aware of the risk that these individuals take in carrying out this critical work to demand justice for the victims and their families.  We salute their commitment, dedication and sacrifice, not only in the struggle to defend the people’s rights, but in the long-term struggle to achieve liberation for all oppressed and exploited peoples wherever they may be.

Expose and oppose state terror, repression and martial rule in the Philippines!
Stop Canadian aid to the repressive, militarist Arroyo regime!
Uphold the dignity of life and support the struggle of the Filipino people for their human rights, democracy, sovereignty and national and social liberation!
Long live international solidarity!