Japan Group Releases Report on Killings in Philippines

To the Armed Force of Philippines(AFP) and Gen. Hermogenes Esperon

5. End targeting civilians

1) The AFP should cease any practice linking political and other civil society groups to armed insurgency groups in the course of their activities, in particular, villifying them as “ enemies of state”, involving surveillance and harassment of them and attacking them.

2) AFP should take all necessary measures to ensure that all personnel in the military and the CAFGU cease in engaging in the above-mentioned practice.

6. Cooperation to the Investigation

1) The AFP should be cooperative with any truth-seeking effort made by the judicial branch and other governmental organs regarding the disclosure of their operational documents as well as whereabouts of the people in military custody.

2) The AFP should faithfully obey and not undermine judicial orders such as writs of amparo and writs of habeas data.

7. Measures in relation to the Abductions

1) The AFP should immediately investigate all military camps and detention centers to identify civilians who are currently under military custody.

2) The AFP must disclose the whereabouts of all the persons in its custody, and cease any form of torture against such persons and either release them or prosecute them.

3) The AFP must investigate the military personnel who committed the abductions of civilians in order to achieve adequate punishment.

4) The AFP should direct all military personnel not to take custody of civilians without any judicial authorization.

To the Philippine National Police(PNP)

8. Investigation

1) The PNP, in particular the Task Force USIG should investigate extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in order to identify the criminals, especially military personnel and police officials. The PNP should resume investigation of all the cases that local human rights groups and victims’ families claim in good faith as extrajudicial killings.

2) The Task Force USIG should issue monthly reports of the status of the cases.

3) The Task Force USIG should recognize its jurisdiction over former/ incumbent high-ranking military officials and conduct thorough investigation on them as necessary.

4) The PNP should improve their investigative methods and put an end to the negligence in the investigation of the cases of extrajudicial killings. The PNP should utilize forensic science—mainly material evidence, with appropriate technical assistance from international experts.

To the Department of Justice( DOJ)

9. Prosecution

1) The DOJ should achieve a significant number of prosecutions of extrajudicial killing cases in cooperating with the PNP.

10. Protection of the victims and witnesses

1) The DOJ should clarify the names, the way he/she was arrested, the place, and the condition of the subjects’ health for all those who were arrested without judicial authority by governmental organizations, and guarantee their access to lawyers.

2) The DOJ should establish a witness protection program which is independent from the military and police in order to enable the victims to testify in safe circumstances.

To the Judiciary

11. Achieve Justice and Accountability

HRN welcomes the series of reforms instituting two new writ procedures to protect human rights and expect that the same will have a positive impact on the human rights situation in the Philippines. However, these new judicial remedies have not yet freed the great majority of the victims of enforced disappearances. At the same time, despite the fact that 99 special courts have been established on the extrajudicial killing cases, substantial numbers of convictions of the perpetrators have not yet been achieved. We expect the judiciary to play the key role in ending the impunity that perpetrators still enjoy, and recommend as follows:

1) The Supreme Court should convey another summit by August 2008 to examine the status of all cases of extrajudicial killings, to identify the reason why a significant number of convictions has not yet achieved in the case of extrajudicial killings and to propose remedies and further reforms.

2) Each court should implement the rule on the writ of amparo and writ of habeas data in good faith while strongly urging full cooperation on the part of the AFP.