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Monday, March 26, 2007
Foreign group accuses US, RP governments of abetting killings of activists (6:20 p.m.)
MANILA -- An international human rights group has accused the Philippine government and its US ally of adopting counterinsurgency policies that set off a wave of extrajudicial killings, making them liable for "crimes against humanity."
Permanent People's Tribunal, an Italian-based non-government group that looked into the killings of left-wing activists, met in The Hague last week to examine complaints of several Philippine left-wing and human rights groups.
They have alleged hundreds of activists have been killed, abducted and tortured by government troops under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The group said Sunday the Arroyo government committed human rights violations "with the support and full awareness of the government of George Walker Bush."
The acts "qualify (as) the same violations as crimes against humanity," it said.
The Philippine government, however, dismissed the forum as an "international kangaroo court" and reiterated Monday its pledge never to condone human rights violations.
The Philippines, backed by US military assistance and training, has adopted a counterinsurgency plan called "Operation Bantay Laya," or "Operation Freedom Watch," which targeted not only communist guerrillas but civilian groups perceived by the military to be part of the rebel network, the group said.
"The victims are often poor peasants campaigning for some more loans, clergymen who have criticized the government for its alleged inhuman politics, human rights workers and others peacefully struggling for better conditions," the group said, basing its findings on statistics and testimony of left-wing activists. (AP) |
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