Asia-Pacific, Headlines, Human Rights

RIGHTS-PHILIPPINES: Praise from Bush, Criticism from U.N. Committee

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Oct 31 2003 (IPS) - The Philippines, a country aligned with U.S. President George W. Bush’s war on terrorism, is the scenario for executions of human rights defenders, journalists, native leaders and even children, according to United Nations experts.

The report on the situation in the Philippines to be issued next week by the U.N. Human Rights Committee will include a request that Manila implement laws and other measures to prevent these crimes, said a source close to the evaluations.

The human rights record of the Philippines government, which Bush praised earlier this month during a visit to the country, has come under scrutiny of the Committee during its current period of sessions, which end here Nov. 7.

Abdelfattah Amor, Human Rights Committee chairman, warned the Filipino delegation that the legislative bill on terrorism being debated by the country’s parliament is a threat to respect for human rights.

In contrast, Bush expressed gratitude in Manila for the anti-terrorism initiative of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government, as well as its support this year for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. "In the war on terror, the U.S.-Philippines military alliance is a rock of stability in the Pacific," Bush said.

The promotion and protection of human rights are a priority for the Filipino government and can only be strengthened in a climate of democracy and economic prosperity, said undersecretary of justice, Merceditas N. Gutiérrez, in her presentation to the U.N. committee of human rights experts.

A report from the Federation of American Scientists outlines the support of the Philippines for Washington’s anti-terrorism fight through the offer to use its military bases and air space, as well as beefing up legislation against terrorist activities.

The Bush government has repaid Manila with military equipment worth more than 92 million dollars, including a C-130 transport aircraft, eight UH-1H helicopters, a patrol boat, 30,000 M-16 rifles and corresponding ammunition, as well as advisers for supporting combat against insurgents in the Philippines.

The Human Rights Committee, entrusted with monitoring compliance with the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights by the 150 member states, takes into account national security demands related to efforts against terrorism, said a U.N. source speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, the 18 independent experts who make up the Committee expressed concern about the excessive scope of the anti-terrorism bill being debated by the national Congress and the potential consequences for human rights protections if it is passed, said the source.

Rights activists from the Philippines said the bill is "unconstitutional and vague".

The bill violates the right to due process and fails to tackle terrorism, says Aurora A. Parong, director of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, an organisation founded by Roman Catholic clergy.

The protests of the Filipino human rights groups are aimed at all abuses, but at the continued practice of torture in particular.

Since January 2001, when Arroyo became president, and up to June of this year, 88 cases of torture have been reported, although many more have never been made public, says Paul Harrison, of the Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).

The perpetrators of these abuses have for the most part been members of the armed forces, and the persecutions and threats have been targeted at human rights defenders and journalists, activists said during the committee sessions.

Since 1986, 43 journalists have been murdered and none of those cases has been cleared up, said Marlea Munez, activist with the Women’s Education, Development, Productivity and Research Organisation.

Women and children have also been the preferred victims of "state-sponsored violence" in the Philippines said Irish priest Shay Cullen, head of People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance (PREDA), based in the northern city of Olongapo.

Numerous street children, even eight-year-olds, have been arrested without valid charges against them and held in cells without beds or sanitary facilities, and have been subjected to torture and other abuses, said Cullen.

Of the 86 executions perpetrated by death squads in the southern city of Davao since May 2001, 16 percent were minors, ages 13 to 17, activists said in reports to the U.N. committee.

"The absence of birth certificates at the time of the indictment resulted in children being put on death row for crimes they committed. But following the introduction of evidence on their dates of birth, some of them were transferred from death row to high security prisons," said Filipino justice official Gutiérrez.

The measures taken involving street children are aimed to comply with anti-vagrancy statutes, she said. The government has expanded shelters to accommodate children apprehended in such situations, and the revised criminal code punishes security agents who abuse minors during their anti-vagrancy.

Some 25,000 to 35,000 Filipina women have been victims of human trafficking, and in many cases have been forced to move to Western countries or to other areas in Southeast Asia and to engage in prostitution, according to rights activists.

In the Philippines, women who are arrested on prostitution charges on Fridays are kept behind bars for the rest of the weekend. In that period, they are often abused and even raped in the prison cells, they said.

The world’s largest labour organisation, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), told the committee it is concerned about the exploitation of women who work in the 89 tax free zones of the Philippines.

The women workers are forced to work long overtime hours, often without being compensated for the extra time. Rules protecting maternity are frequently violated, wages are a pittance and sexual harassment is common, says the ICFTU.

A factory that produces clothing for babies, under the trademarks of Jansport, Eddie Bauer and Outdoors, sold in the United States and South Korea, distributes amphetamines to workers on the night shift in order to keep them awake, states a document that ICFTU secretary-general Guy Ryder sent to the Human Rights Committee.

The independent experts on the committee will include the activists’ concerns about human rights abuses in the report on the Philippines to be presented Nov. 7, said sources close to the discussions.

A special paragraph will reprimand the Arroyo government for sentencing people under 18 to death and will stress that there are currently seven such minors awaiting execution, they said.