Tag Archives: impunity

[Statement] AFAD Statement on International Human Rights Day

Posted on by dars0357

10 December 2011

 

Impunity for Enforced Disappearance Must End NOW!

Today, as the world commemorates the 63rd International Human Rights Day, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances or (AFAD) calls on all governments particularly those in the Asian region to stop enforced disappearance and to end impunity.

Enforced disappearance is considered one of the cruelest human rights transgression. It is a multiple and continuous violation of the basic human rights not only of the direct victims but also of their families and the greater society. It inflicts untold sufferings to the victims who are forcibly taken by agents of the States and denied access to legal safeguards by removing them from the protection of the law. It causes ill-effects to the victims’ families, not knowing the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. Mothers, wives, and daughters are usually left without any means to tend their families. In South Asian context, wives of the disappeared are called “half-widows’ who are stripped of legal status to obtain pensions and other means of support.  Children of the disappeared equally suffer. They are deprived of a normal family and a good future. No doubt, enforced disappearance sows fear and terror in society.

Many governments employ this atrocious practice as a tool of state repression and political witch-hunt. It is a major human rights concern of more than 80 countries based on the 2010 report of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, a thematic UN body created in 1980 to monitor the incidences of enforced disappearances worldwide. Many cases occur in Asian countries, the continent that submitted the highest number of cases.

The Asian region lacks a strong mechanism for redress.  There are no available domestic laws penalizing disappearance as a separate and autonomous criminal offense. Not only are cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances difficult to investigate and prosecute. They recur with each passing day in many Asian countries. Perpetrators can easily walk away from criminal accountability.

Efforts by several governments along with families of the disappeared and international human rights organizations have made possible the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly and its consequent entry into force on 23 December 2010. To date, this international human rights instrument has 90 signatories and 30 States Parties.

It is but imperative for all states to accede to the international treaty against enforced disappearances without reservation and immediately adopt effective national laws to abolish this horrendous practice.

While these legal measures and mechanisms may not bring back the disappeared, they can certainly help in finding truth and justice and in preventing cases from happening again. It only takes one small step to have a leap of change.

Ending impunity should both be a demand and a call for unity and action.

For the disappeared and their families, the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will have deeper meaning through governments’ accession to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the enactment of laws criminalizing disappearances and their full implementation.

 

Signed by:

MUGIYANTO
Chairperson
MARY AILEEN DIEZ- BACALSO
Secretary-General
Related articles

[In the Web] Filipino pilgrims commemorate Italian missionary’s death, demand justice

Posted on by dars0357

A supporter of murdered Italian missionary Fausto Tentorio becomes emotional as he lights a candle as other activists hold a banner demanding justice for the priest at the start of a nine-day candlelight protest in front of the Davao City Hall. (photo by Romy Elusfa, InterAksyon.com)

 

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 27, 2011) – The Justice for Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio Movement led a solidarity mission to mark the 40 days after the killing of the Italian missionary in the town of Arakan in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines.

Religious and peace groups, including advocates from Davao City joined the pilgrimage to Arakan. Local and international religious communities also participated and expressed support to the pilgrimage participated by some 800 people mostly from North Cotabato.

The Ateneo de Davao Community spearheaded a memorial mass and was followed by an ecumenical program as opening ceremony to this mission dubbed as “Pilgrimage to Arakan: A journey for Peace and Justice.”

The mission also visited Kabalantian village in Arakan to find out the situation of the people there, mostly lumad tribesmen, who were tagged as communist rebels and driven away by the military. The lumads were the beneficiaries of the priest’s various humanitarian programs.

Sister Juleta Encarnacion, of the Missionaries of the Assumption and co-convener of the Justice for Fr. Fausto ‘Pops’ Tentorio Movement, said: “We want a transparent, independent, high profile investigation that will summon the military, the local government and demand accountability to the brutal murder.”

“While it is miserable that after 40 days of Fr. Pops’ death justice remains elusive, we are glad that behind this cause, not only for Fr. Pops, but for the people of Arakan as well, there is an ever growing broad support for this movement,” she said.

Sister Encarnacion was referring to the many signatories from local and international communities supporting the call to End Impunity in Arakan as well as in other parts of the Philippines, and the many individuals and organizations sending letters to the Philippine government demanding swift justice for the slain missionary.

Read more at http://mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20111127044024

Related articles

[In the Web] Senate declares November 23 as National Day to End Impunity

Posted on by dars0357

November 23 is a day of action on the unsolved murders of journalists, and to raise awareness to end impunity. Photo from http://www.i-m-s.dk/

Written by Cocoy*

The Philippine Senate passed resolution 642 declaring every 23rd of November as a National Day to End Impunity.

November 23 is the anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre that saw 58 people being killed. The resolution recognizes that two years since the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre where 58 lives, including that of 32 media workers, were lost in what was the worst single instance of electoral violence in the country’s recent history and the deadliest single attack on the press ever and the worst manifestation of the plague of extrajudicial killings, has claimed the lives of hundreds of people – media workers, judges, lawyers, religious activists – whose only involvement was to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to free expression.

The resolution also recognizes the failure to solve all but a pitiful handful of these murder cases and to enforce existing laws intended to protect and promote human rights has bred a culture of impunity that has emboldened those who would curtail free expression and tehrefore the government should vow to bring justice and ensure good governance by taking measures to facilitate the expeditious disposal of unsolved cases of extrajudicial killings;

Acccording to Senator Kiko Pangilinan who issued a statement upon filing of the resolution, “It’s been two years since the gruesome event and still our countrymen cry out for justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre. It was the worst single instance of electoral violence in our country’s history and the deadliest affront against freedom of the press. It gave us international notoriety as one of the most dangerous places for journalists. We must never forget that day when the culture of impunity showed us its worst manifestation.“

 

Read full article at http://propinoy.net/2011/11/23/senate-declares-november-23-as-national-day-to-end-impunity/

 

*Cocoy is an Internet entrepreneur, technologyenthusiast, political junkie and social observer who enjoys a good cup of coffee, comic books, and tweets as @cocoy on twitter. He publishesThe Multiverse, a weblog that covers pop culture, as well as Lab Rats that talks about Apple, Social Media and Technology. Cocoy is also theManaging Director and Editor-in-Chief of the ProPinoy Project. He regularly contributes political commentary at BlogWatch.ph, and writes about the technology sector for the Philippine Online Chronicles.

Related articles

[Video] INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY – youtube

Posted on by dars0357

The International Day to End Impunity is a call to action to demand justice for those who have been killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression and shed light on the issue of impunity.

http://www.facebook.com/International.Day.to.End.Impunity
http://www.daytoendimpunity.org

Related articles

[Book] From Marcos to Another Aquino: Impunity, Accountability and Transitional Justice in the Philippines

Posted on by dars0357

 

[Reflection] Pnoy’s first year not a straight path for people’s rights and welfare

Posted on by dars0357

Pnoy delivers speech during his first year celebration at Ultra. Photo from talakayanatkalusugan.com

The first year of President Aquino in office for many is quite a disappointment as it falls short of the expectation to improve people’s welfare and the human rights situation in the country. The people’s welfare and human rights are obviously not part of the new government’s top priorities in the past 12 months.

How P Noy fared during his first year mirrors that of the real state of the nation. While I recognize that the new administration has just inherited from its predecessor the heavy burden of a huge budget deficit, but after a year in office, change appears far from reality.

As the economy is slowly declining, joblessness remains high, and poverty continues to deepen, President Aquino seems to avoid facing the critical issue of land reform and agricultural modernization. These are fundamental reforms which the basic sector, the small farmers in particular, have been demanding from every sitting president. Instead, he is prioritizing mining — just like his predecessor did – which is not only said to be destructive to the environment but also infringes the basic human rights of the indigenous communities inhabiting the areas near the mining sites.

While the Filipino people’s living condition did not only change, those who are asserting their rights are also continuously being violated. Anti- mining groups claimed that anyone who opposes mining companies is quite likely to end up missing or dead. It is seen as a pattern that whenever there is mining operation, there would be extensive military deployment and escalation of human rights violations in the mining affected areas. It is like silencing a dog by poking it with sharp end of the stick.

Human rights violations continue to happen with impunity under the Pnoy administration. While efforts to improve and professionalize the investigation and prosecutorial system are said to be underway, police investigations remain fraught with delays and impediments. Until now, no single perpetrator is yet to be held accountable for human rights violations, and the government has done little to discipline the erring members of its security forces.

The Oplan Bayanihan which adopted a paradigm shift by the military from the combat-focused approach it used in the past to a human security or “people-centered” approach aims at least in paper to give greater attention to the needs of the citizens and the effects of military operations in the communities instead of pursuing armed rebels. But the continuing military presence and abuses on the ground in many provinces make it quite difficult to ascertain when Oplan Bantay Laya ends and Oplan Bayanihan begins. One can only think that this new security plan is no different from the other, except perhaps for a different name.

I believe that the promised change of daang matuwid (straight path) of the Aquino administration can’t be achieved without the guarantee of respect to human rights and dignity and ending impunity.

It is about time for President Aquino to walk the talk.

The straight path where he envisions of leading the nation should be a road that guarantees human rights for all.

But if it is a path where there are people who are only extra-legally killed or forcibly disappeared, subjugated by repressive laws, mired by poverty and ignorance, it will surely lead the nation to nowhere but doom.

Related articles