Group Launches Blog to Document Philippine Killings

(Hong Kong, May 26, 2008) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
has launched today a campaign blog which documents cases involving
various forms of arbitrary deprivation of life in the Philippines.

The blog entitled ‘Slaughter of Innocents’ chronicles how
a class of people have been systematically murdered on an almost daily
basis. The blog may be accessed at:
http://noprotection.blog.humanrights.asia

Moon Jeong Ho, AHRC urgent appeals programme coordinator, said that
apart from extrajudicial killing of social activists, there have been
a pattern of various forms of deprivation of life that has been
continuously taking place, targeting dozens of victims, but which
remains largely unnoticed.

This includes, amongst others, the unabated murders on the pretext of
“vigilante killings” in the cities of General Santos City, Davao and
nearby cities; deaths due to “legitimate encounter” that is commonly
used by soldiers to justify their killing of civilians; and deaths
due to “Gang War” which targets mostly teenagers.

Moon argued that in all these cases, the police had been unable to
ensure protection, effectively investigate and identify perpetrators
and to effectively prosecute each case to ensure a conviction in
court.

Failure to address the issue by preventing this murders and hold
perpetrators to account, contradicts the Philippine National Police’
(PNP) power and functions clearly stipulated under the Department of
Interior and local Government Act, Republic Act 6975. Yet they have
not been held to account for their failure on this.

Section 24 of the said Act requires the PNP to enforce laws regarding
protection of lives and properties; ensures public safety; and to
prevent and investigate crime by holding those responsible to
account.

The United Nation’s Committee on the International Covenant on Civil
and Political (ICCPR) Right had also come up with a General Comment
No. 6 1982, par. 3, which also stipulates State obligations: “the
protection against arbitrary deprivation of life which is explicitly
required by the third sentence of article 6 (1) is of paramount
importance”.

Moon said that to ensure protection of any person and to prevent
anyone from being arbitrarily deprived of their life is not only the
core duty of the police; it is also an utmost responsibility of the
State. He said adequate measures, for instance effective police
investigations, protection of witnesses and others, are actions they
should have been doing routinely.

He added that for the police and concerned authorities to
systematically fail in doing so, as it has been happening there,
already constitutes a violation of the fundamental right to life
because the State, who is supposed to ensure protection, has already
proved itself unwilling or incapable of dispensing their duties.

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights
issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.