Japan Group Releases Report on Killings in Philippines

To the Commission on Human Rights( CHR)

12. Strengthen the Mechanism

The capabilities and powers of the Commission on Human Rights should be increased as appropriate to make it more effective. In order to achieve the below, the budget of the CHR should be at least doubled.

1) The CHR should hire more experts and allocate more resources to investigate the cases of extrajudicial killings.

2) The CHR should establish its own witness protection program to secure witnesses’ safety.

3) The CHR should be empowered to conduct ad hoc visits to any military camp to release the victims of abductions.

13. Thorough Investigation

The CHR should conduct thorough investigation tracing responsibility through the AFP’s chain of command.

To the New People’s Army( NPA)

14. Refrain from Attack Civilian

The NPA should refrain from attacks and abuse of unarmed civilians.

15. Peace Negotiation

The NPA should promote peace negotiations with the government and adhere to CARHRIHL.

To the Japanese Government

International society should not be indifferent to the gross violations of human rights allegedly taking place in the Philippines. The Philippines is the largest benefactor of Japanese Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to date.

In the existing principles of Japan’s ODA Charter, it is stated that “full attention should be paid to efforts for promoting democratization…and the situation regarding the protection of basic human rights and freedoms in the recipient country.” In this regard, the Japanese government has a moral obligation to promote the protection of basic human rights in the recipient country. We call upon the Japanese government as follows.

16 . Dialogue on Human Rights Situation

The Japanese government should have dialogues with the government of the Philippines as well as civil society organizations in the Philippines on the situation of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances and closely monitor the situation.

The Japanese government should monitor the progress of the following:

1) Change of Philippine government’s policy on counter-insurgency operations against civil society groups

2) Activities of the Committee on Human Rights

3) Activities of the Task Force USIG

4) Status of prosecution and conviction

17. ODA and assistance Policy

1) The Japanese government should halt new offerings of yen loans until it recognizes a significant improvement of the human rights situation and the mechanisms of accountability in the Philippines. Otherwise, it will send a wrong message that the Japanese government is indifferent to the killings.

2) The Japanese government must refrain from any yen loan when the aid would accelerate confrontation between government and civil society, and may cause human rights violations. The government should rather focus on the assistance to strengthen the rule of law and respect for human rights. Favorable assistances includes: supporting the establishment of independent witness protection programs and helping improve the functioning of the Commission on Human Rights.

3) With the technical assistance to the PNP, the Japanese government should require an affirmation by the government of the Philippines to conform to international human rights standards. In particular, the Japanese government should take a firm stance, stating that the extrajudicial killings and the enforced disappearances are not allowed. The Japanese government should monitor international human rights standards and utilize these to improve technical assistance.

18. Bring the Issue within in International Community

The Japanese government should publicly express concerns about extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the Philippines within the international community including at the Universal Periodic Review and other sessions of the UN Human Rights Council.

Human Rights Now Tokyo Office
3F Marukou Building, 1-20-6 Higashi Ueno, Taito-ku,
Tokyo 110-0015 JAPAN
Phone: +81-3-3835-2110 Fax: +81-3-3834-2406
info@ngo-hrn.org