Slow justice for victims of extrajudicial killings

THE wheels of justice are grinding excruciatingly slow for victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, according to the Hong Kong Mission for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines.

One of the initial findings of the mission’s second probe is that while the frequency of extrajudicial killings has gone down, there have been no convictions in cases of political killings. “There is very little development in the investigation of these cases,” disclosed the mission of its findings.

In cases of enforced disappearances, it said that the justice system in the country relied heavily on witnesses’ testimonies, but did not provide the “necessary protection mechanisms that should make the system work.”

Read the mission’s initial findings.

The report comes ahead of the expected submission by United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston of his report on the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights within the week. In his visit to the country in February this year, Alston scored the military for remaining in “a state of almost total denial” on the issue of extrajudicial killings.

The Hong Kong mission conducted a follow-up fact finding probe from October 16-22. It met with families of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, government agencies including the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Supreme Court (SC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and both components of the joint secretariat of the Joint Monitoring Committee in peace initiatives.

Government authorities told the mission that the refusal of witnesses and their families to cooperate hindered the investigation, while families of victims said that they did not trust the police and other authorities to resolve cases.

Mission member and Asian Human Rights Commission programme coordinator Michael Anthony said there had been no real positive change in the systems of the delivery of justice since he visited the Philippines with the first Hong Kong fact-finding mission in July 2006. (Read the mission’s first report.)

“(T)here’s still no effective investigation, a lack of transparency and failing mechanisms, and there’s been no change to the witness protection system,” Anthony said.

This was echoed by the CHR, which told the mission that there was a breakdown in the justice system, adding that witness protection mechanisms were not functioning.

According to an interim report by Alston, “The properties of the criminal justice system have also been distorted and it has increasingly focused on prosecuting civil society leaders rather than their killers.”

This, along with the government’s counter-insurgency strategy, are key to explaining hundreds of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. Alston, the UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, added that the government’s counter-insurgency operations resulted in the extrajudicial execution of leftist activists.

The mission also cited concerns about the lack of forensic evidence used in Task Force Usig investigations. Anthony added that the DND lacked clear accountability structures, investigative mechanisms, and cooperation mechanisms with the police. For example, it could not determine whether or not any cases of serious human rights violations had been handed over to its provost-marshal and internal investigation systems. It also neither confirmed nor denied Alston’s findings that the military was responsible for a large number of the killings.

Much of the meetings with the DND and DOJ, was spent discussing what Anthony calls the “numbers game,” where the talk centered on how many killings there were instead of what was being done to investigate the killings.

Of all the government agencies that the mission met with, only the SC was commended for taking concrete action. Anthony is hopeful that the writs of amparo and habeas data are “strengthening (for) the authorities to provide data where human rights cases are being investigated…these really could provide credible ways in which these cases can be dealt (with).”

The mission, however, also said that it was disappointed to hear that the government may be taking measures to protect the military and police from these writs. This includes Administrative Order 197, which directs the DND and AFP to draft a bill that “safeguards against disclosure of military secrets and undue interference in military operations inimical to national security.”

“If the authorities are not to blame for the killings, as they keep telling us, why would they wish to protect themselves in this way, it doesn’t stand to reason,” says Anthony.

The mission plans to consolidate its findings into a written report. It has sent a list of initial recommendations to the President, AFP, PNP, and DOJ in the form of an open letter. This includes the following:

• Ensure that all extra-judicial executions and forced disappearances are immediately ended

• Immediately release all people being arbitrarily detained, and improve prison conditions in all of the country’s detention facilities

• Ensure the creation of a well-resourced, credible, independent and effective system of witness protection

• Immediately and effectively investigate all allegations of human rights violations, making use of physical and forensic evidence as well as testimony from witnesses

• Without delay, bring all perpetrators to justice through fair and transparent trials before civilian courts and ensure that adequate reparation is provided to the victims and their families, in line with international standards

• Halt the use of blacklists, such as the so-called “Order of Battle” that brand individuals as being “Enemies of the State”

• Ensure that individuals and organizations are able to carry out their work in favor of human rights without risks, threats, reprisals or impediments

• Improve the transparency and accountability of all State institutions

• Resume peace negotiations and at all times respect international humanitarian law and human rights laws and standards

Read the open letter.