PESANTE NEWS

MArch 16, 2009

AMNESTY, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT :‘Probe and end political killings’

Envoy condemns Pitao, Billanes murders

MANILA, Philippines -- Lawmakers of the European Union (EU) and the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) have again urged the government to put an end to political killings.

At the same time, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald of the European Commission condemned on Monday the abduction and murder early this month of Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao.

The European Parliament passed a resolution on March 12 calling on the Philippine government to end the abductions and murders of activists, trade unionists, journalists, and religious leaders, MacDonald said at the launching of the website of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) National Human Rights Institutions.

MacDonald said the resolution indicates the great interest in how the Philippines addresses these cases.

AI, on the other hand, issued a statement, also dated March 12, urging the government to “take immediate steps to end politically motivated killings in the Philippines,” citing the murders, over just three weeks, of broadcaster Ernesto Ernesto Rollin in Oroquieta City on February 23; Pitao, whose body was found March 5, a day after she was abducted in Davao City; and anti-mining Eliezer Billanes, who was gunned down in Koronadal City March 9.

All the killings happened in Mindanao.

AI also noted the attack on another journalist, Cagayan de Oro’s Nilo Labares, who was shot and wounded during the same period.

In the resolution, the European lawmakers noted how "hundreds" have been killed and abducted since 2001, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took power, as well as the "ample evidence" that police and military forces have been involved.

Aside from calling for a stop in the "systematic intimidation and harassment of political and human rights activists, members of civil society, journalists and witness in criminal prosecutions," the European Parliament also called "for a through investigation into the high number of executions and forces disappearances, and for an independent monitoring mechanism to be established."

They expressed concern at the judiciary's lack of independence.

Noting that, because lawyers and judges are also targets of harassment and murder, this "makes it impossible to effectively investigate criminal offenses and prosecute those who are responsible for them."

The European lawmakers also called for an end to the insurgencies of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines through peace negotiations.

"I think the entire country has been shocked by the barbaric killing of Rebelyn Pitao - a 20-year-old school teacher, tortured, raped, and murdered. I feel very sad, not only for this young woman whose life was so brutally ended, not only for her family, but also for the Philippines," MacDonald said.

"I feel very sad therefore that the reputation of the Philippines should again be tarnished by such a brutal and inhuman murder as the killing of Rebelyn Pitao -- and that this should have been followed just a few days later by the killing of Eleazar Billanes in Koronadal," he said.

"The regional and international reputation of the Philippines as a voice supporting human rights in ASEAN as a voice supporting human rights in ASEAN can only be put at risk by cases such as the Pitao and Billanes killings," he said.

He also noted the still unsolved cases of activist Jonas Burgos, the son of press freedom icon Jose Burgos Jr., who remains missing after he was abducted in April 2007; and of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, students from the University of the Philippines who were seized in June 2006.

AI, in its statement, welcomed the “public commitment of the National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to investigate the murder” of Pitao, which her family and activist groups blame on the military.

The organization said it would “monitor the progress of this and other investigations, which must be prompt, effective, independent, and impartial. It is only through such investigation that impunity for political killings will end.”

It also urged the government to “institute safeguards to protect human rights defenders and journalists, who are conducting legitimate activities” and renewed calls for “authorities to take further steps to improve investigations and prosecutions of political killings,” including “the use of independent forensic expertise and the creation of an independent body to monitor investigations to ensure impartiality.”

AI also noted that witnesses in cases of extrajudicial killings under investigation “are particularly vulnerable to intimidation and reprisals, and sometimes even death.”

“Many have complained repeatedly about the failure of the police to provide protection for them and their families, and said they have lost confidence in the ability of the Department of Justice to provide protection,” it said.

It also said that, since Task Force Usig, the special police unit created in 2006 to investigate extrajudicial killings following international pressure on the government, has had “limited success in ensuring justice for survivors and families of victims.”

The victims’ families, it said, “often cite flaws in the justice process, such as delayed investigations, inadequate crime scene analysis leading to a lack of forensic evidence, and unwillingness to interview suspected military and police personnel.”

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