Rights, civil society groups urge US to maintain restrictions on military aid to PH over abuses

From InterAksyon (Jul 2): Rights, civil society groups urge US to maintain restrictions on military aid to PH over abuses

Human rights and civil society organizations have written a senior US senator urging that restrictions on military funding to the Philippines be maintained over concerns of continuing abuses committed by state security forces, particularly the military.

The July 1 joint letter from 18 groups to Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, said lifting restrictions imposed since 2008 “would be sending the wrong message to the Philippine government: that the US is unconcerned by serious continuing rights abuses by the Philippine Army and that the Army should no longer be treated as the abusive force that it continues to be.”

The restrictions, which are included in every appropriations bill passed by the US Senate, were first imposed over military involvement in extrajudicial killings and can be lifted if the Secretary of State certifies sufficient progress by the Philippine government in addressing rights abuses.

Currently, limits remain on assistance to the Army but not the Navy.

In arguing for the retention of restrictions, the groups said that, while the limits on military aid have “been at least a partially effective incentive” to push the Philippines to address human rights violations, the government’s response “has so far been insufficient,” citing the State Department’s most recent Human Rights Country Report on the Philippines, which noted that “most significant human rights problems continued to be extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances undertaken by security forces and suspected vigilante groups.”

While the groups acknowledged the prosecution of “a small number of suspected perpetrators” by the Aquino administration, notably retired Army general Jovito Palparan, who is being tried for the abduction and disappearance of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.

But, on the whole, they stressed, extrajudicial killings “and other violent abuses implicating members of the security forces remain a serious problem,” citing “numerous unlawful attacks on activists, human rights defenders, priests and other church workers, and labor organizers” by regular and militia forces in the course of the counterinsurgency campaign against the New People’s Army who, they acknowledged, are also “responsible for serious abuses.”

Aside from these, the groups said, “security force personnel have also been responsible for killings of politicians and political workers involved in local disputes and journalists reporting on corruption and other criminality.”

The Philippines remains the third most dangerous country for journalists next to Syria and Iraq, according to international media watchdogs.

The groups also noted that, while the Department of Justice “has taken action in some cases, the government’s overall record in investigating and prosecuting serious human rights violations by the security forces has been extremely disappointing,” citing police records showing only two convictions for extrajudicial killings since 2001, none of them senior officials, with the “vast majority” of cases “either uninvestigated or … supposedly still under investigation.”

“Simply put, the Philippine government needs to do a lot more to satisfy the existing legislation’s requirements,” they said.

“We urge you to leave the conditions in place in the appropriations bill to serve as a continuing incentive for the Aquino administration to address this serious human rights issue,” they added.
The signatories to the letter are:

1. Scott Wright, Director, Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, Missionary Society of St. Columban (Catholic Church) 
2. Terrence Valen, President, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns 
3. John Sifton, Advocacy Director for Asia, Human Rights Watch 
4. Rev. Fr. Primitivo C. Raimondo, St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church, Chicago, IL 
5. Richard and Eunice Poethig, Fraternal Workers, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Presbyterian Church USA, Chicago, IL 
6. Bishop Eliezer M. Pascua, Philippine American Ecumenical Church, UCC Chicago, IL 
7. Yves Nibungco, National Chairperson, Anakbayan USA: Filipino Youth & Students for National Democracy in the Philippines 
8. Jackelyn Mariano, New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, New York, NY 
9. Helene Lustan, Philippine U.S. Solidarity Organization, Seattle, WA 
10. Milegua F. Layese, Coordinator, Philippine Study Group of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 
11. Mark W. Harrison, Director, Peace with Justice Program, United Methodist General Board of Church and Society 
12. Judy Gearhart, Executive Director, International Labor Rights Forum 
13. Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast, National Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns, Benicia, CA 
14. Haniel R. Garibay, National Association of Filipino-American United Methodists, Washington, DC 
15. Bernadette Ellorin, Bayan USA, New York, NY 
16. Paul R. Bloom, PhD, Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines, St. Paul, MN 
17. Nerissa N. Allegretti, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns - Midwest, Chicago, Il 
18. Katrina Abarcar Katarungan, Center for Peace, Justice and Human Rights in the Philippines, Washington, DC

 http://www.interaksyon.com/article/113453/rights-civil-society-groups-urge-us-to-maintain-restrictions-on-military-aid-to-ph-over-abuses