Friday, August 29, 2008
Amnesty: Political killings in RP continue (4:10 p.m.)
MANILA -- Political killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines have not ceased despite government efforts to address the violence, Amnesty International said Friday.
The human rights group said it has recorded at least 200 political killings and more than 200 forced disappearances in the country since 2001. The victims typically have included members of left-wing groups, human rights organizations and trade unions, as well as journalists and church and indigenous leaders, it said.
Amnesty said the attacks were "not an unconnected series of criminal murders but are part of a politically motivated pattern of killings."
Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, in charge of a task force created to solve extrajudicial killings and disappearances, said the government was addressing the problem but criticized the media for exaggerating the reports.
In an open letter, Amnesty officials urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "to ensure that all extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances are investigated promptly, impartially and effectively and that perpetrators are prosecuted in proceedings which meet international standards of fairness."
Leila de Lima, the head of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, acknowledged the killings and disappearances were linked to the government's military campaign to end a nearly 40-year-old
communist insurgency. Military officials have often accused left-wing activists of supporting the rebels. (AP)
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