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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2007
AL-009-2007
A Statement by the Asian Legal Resource Centre
PHILIPPINES: Human Rights Council Elections: Philippines' record must preclude the country from the Council
The Philippines has presented its candidacy for re-election to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC). The General Assembly (GA) meets on May 17, 2007, to elect 14 of the Council's 47 seats, four of which are from the Asian region. Bahrain, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines are coming to the end of their one-year terms on the Council. India, Indonesia and the Philippines are vying for re-election, while the Asian group is also proposing Qatar to replace Bahrain.
The ALRC is gravely concerned by the fact that the Asian group, amongst others, is presenting a clean slate of candidates, meaning that it is proposing the same number of candidates as there are seats available. The ALRC has released a statement, which can be found here http://www.alrc.net/doc/mainfile.php/alrc_statements/414/, which describes in detail the reasons for which the use of clean slates is a serious threat to the credibility and functioning of the Council. The HRC was created to replace the discredited Commission on Human Rights in part because the Commission's membership included States that were on the body in order to shield themselves from criticism concerning the gross human rights violations that they were perpetrating. The HRC's systems, notably the election process, have been designed in order to ensure that this problem would be minimised, as the evaluation of candidates' rights records would have an impact on whether they were successful in the elections. The use of clean slates attempts to negate these safeguards and opens the door to gross violators becoming members of the HRC.
According to GA resolution 60/251 establishing the HRC, members are expected to uphold "the highest standards in the protection and promotion of human rights and fully cooperate with the Council." The ongoing politically motivated extra-judicial killings in the Philippines are a clear indicator of the level of promotion and protection of rights in the country. The ALRC and its sister-organisation, the Asian Human Rights Commission, have documented 49 such killings since the Philippines were elected to the HRC on May 9, 2006, and do not claim that this is an exhaustive list.
Local NGOs report that the number of killings since 2001 may today be as high as 858. 198 forced disappearances have also been reported during the same period. The HRC's Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, Philip Alston, has stated that the military are responsible for the majority of the killings. Numerous States have voiced concerns regarding these killings and disappearances. Many of the targets of these targeted killings are human rights defenders. During the 4th session of the HRC in March this year, the crisis in the Philippines attracted the attention of the Council, which must now show that it can be responsive in such situations. The ALRC doubts that the country's record can under any circumstances be considered as attaining "the highest standards of protection and promotion of human rights."
The killings do not occur in a vacuum and are not the country's sole problem, but are in fact a very visible and extreme symptom of a much deeper breakdown of governance, justice and human rights in the country. Many of those being killed are political activists, human rights defenders, priests, journalists or lawyers, who are working in favour of the poor and disenfranchised. Underlying social and economic discrimination and injustices on a large scale are giving rise to movements and actions by individuals, that are in turn then being suppressed and killed. Despite claims by representatives of the Philippines to the HRC - and in the latest voluntary pledge made as part of the country's election bid - that the government is making great efforts to address these killings, in reality there are practically no credible investigations, prosecutions or witness protection, which results in near-guaranteed impunity for perpetrators of even the gravest abuses. The range of bodies that have been created, allegedly to address this situation have thus far proven to be smoke screens rather being than of any actual consequence for the victims or their families.
Mid-term elections have just been concluded in the Philippines, in which the police have stated that as many as 114 persons have died, including 59 candidates, and some 132 persons have been wounded. Deputy Director of Police, General Avelino Razon Jr., has claimed that the elections were "generally peaceful" and hopes "this continues until the canvassing. General Razon was until recently the head of Task Force Usig, the special unit set up within the police to investigate the extra-judicial killings, and which has proven to be highly ineffective. Given this, his lack of sensitivity concerning these deaths is highly revealing. Even though the number of deaths is lower in these elections than had been the case in the Presidential elections in 2004, these comments show the extent to which the lives of Filipinos are valued by the police and authorities in the Philippines. They stand in stark contrast with the claims made in point 4 of the country's voluntary election pledge (which can be found here: http://www.un.org/ga/61/elect/hrc/) in which the authorities claim to exhibit a "firm commitment to the value and sanctity of human life."
The fact that the country is even vying for re-election is in itself an attack on the integrity of the HRC. Given that Asia is proposing a clean slate for these elections, it must be feared that the Philippines will be re-elected. In its pledge, the country claims that it "condemns extrajudicial killings in the strongest terms and, in cooperation with the international and national human rights community, shall continue to strongly address the issue." Any failure to live up to this pledge should be considered as a serious failure. The ALRC recalls that, according to GA resolution 60/251, the General Assembly, "by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, may suspend the rights of membership in the Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights."
The members of the General Assembly are strongly urged to circumvent the clean slate tactic and, based on the existing irrefutable evidence of grave rights abuses, cast blank ballots when asked to vote concerning the Philippines' candidacy. States are also urged to make use of the option to cast write-in votes for other members of the General Assembly from the Asian region that are evaluated as having records that better match the sought standards for members of the HRC.
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About ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at local and national levels throughout Asia.
Posted on 2007-05-16
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