US Government Must Stop Aiding Human Rights Violators — Bayan

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today said that the call made by US ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney to punish human rights violators was “hollow and hypocritical.” The group instead demanded an end to US aid for human rights violators in the Philippines.

“I call on all of us to work on … what is some of the most difficult challenges we face and that is working to help strengthen the judicial institutions so that those who are found guilty of human rights violations, of not upholding human dignity, are prosecuted fairly, honestly, transparently and rapidly, the cases are brought to a conclusion and those found responsible indeed pay the price,” Kenney said.

Bayan on the other hand believes that US aid is partly responsible for the perpetuation of human rights abuses in the Philippines.

“The US government has supported the fascist Arroyo regime, even during the time when extrajudicial killings and disappearances at their peak. Under George Bush, the US government provided an annual $30 million in military aid for the Arroyo regime. The US also provided training for the AFP, which is being accused of involvement in the abuses. The US track record of supporting fascists and dictators diminishes the calls made by Kenney,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

“While the US ambassador feigns concern for human rights, the US government has supported the number one human rights violator in the Philippines. The US government under the Obama administration must cease providing military aid to the Arroyo regime, especially in the light of still unresolved extrajudicial killings. That is one concrete step that can be done to deny the human rights violators the means to continue their reign of terror,” Reyes said.

Bayan said that military aid to the Philippines doubled under the Bush regime and during the “war on terror”. Reports from the Library of US Congress-Federal Research Division on the Philippines dated March 2006 showed that the total U.S. military assistance to the Philippines rose from US$38 million in 2001 to US$114 million in 2003 and a projected US$164 million in 2005.

“The world is also waiting if the US government will punish the human rights violators in its own backyard. Will George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their kind be punished for human rights abuses and war crimes? Will the creators of Guantanamo prison be punished too? Will the instigators of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars be prosecuted as well?” Reyes asked.

“The US has not exactly been a model of accountability for erring public officials,” he added.

Bayan said that US support remains one of the pillars of the rotting Arroyo regime, with Arroyo taking its cue from the Bush regime. “It is no wonder that under the Arroyo regime, human rights violators are rewarded with government positions. None have been prosecuted. Impunity remains,” Reyes said.

“We agree though with the assertion that the Arroyo regime must indeed punish human rights violators. It should start with the likes of Jovito Palparan who was implicated by the Melo Commission and the Court of Appeals. The butcher must be prosecuted, not appointed to any government post,” Reyes said.

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