Arroyo hit for rights abuses as she outlines achievements

As President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo talked about her achievements in promoting human rights, hundreds of activists during the celebration of International Human Rights Day marched in Manila to defy the Arroyo administration’s alleged human rights abuses. The Associated Press on Monday reported that protesters, including women wearing black mourning veils over their faces, marched in Manila to demand a halt to extra-judicial killings and abductions in the country. The 2,000 protesters carried posters depicting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as a vampire, while some were chained to other activists dressed as Uncle Sam, Arroyo, and security officials. At least 100 riot police, backed by two fire trucks, stopped the marchers several blocks away from the presidential palace. The protesters later dispersed peacefully. ''Stop state terrorism, stop political killings,'' said one of the marchers' streamers. A row of placards, meanwhile, spelled ''JUSTICE'' using small plastic skull mask Committed Meanwhile, President Arroyo, in a message for the Human Rights Day, said the Philippine government was very much committed to upholding human rights just as it was 59 years ago when it was the first to sign the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1984. “This year's theme, Karapatang Pantao: Ating Pananagutan Tungo sa Katarungan at Kapayapaan (Human Rights: Our Responsibility Toward Justice and Peace) very aptly echoes these priorities. For my government, justice encompasses legal justice, bringing perpetrators to justice and finding restitution for the victims, and also social justice, fighting for equality and a better way of life for all Filipinos of all walks of life," she said. Mrs Arroyo said one proof of her administration’s commitment in upholding human rights was her successful appeal for the commutation of the death sentence of Marilou Ranario, a Filipino overseas worker in Kuwait. She said another proof was her prioritization of a resolution on media and activist killings that resulted in the prosecution of cases at the Department of Justice, and the continued efforts of Task Force Usig to investigate and solve the killings. President Arroyo said there had been a decrease in such killings this year. She said least 45 criminal cases on the said killings had already been filed in court. Mrs Arroyo said this only showed that “the criminal justice system is working on these very important cases". “However, with due respect to the independence of the judiciary, I enjoin all judges before whose courts these cases are being heard, to follow the administrative order of the Chief Justice for 60-day continuous trial to be adopted. We are all waiting for court decisions as these are concrete proof of our seriousness to address these killings with due process of law," she added. Rampant Human rights activists and the President's critics, however, belied Arroyo’s accomplishment. Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, said she joined the march in Manila not only for her missing son, Jonas Joseph, but to highlight what she said were continuing and rampant human rights violations in the country, including extra-judicial killings and abductions. ''We have to remind the world that the killings are continuing in the Philippines, the disappearances are continuing,'' said Rep. Teodoro Casino of the left-wing political party Bayan Muna. ''Unless we end this repressive regime ... we will never get justice.'' Renato Reyes, spokesman of the left-wing coalition Bayan, said Arroyo's government ''has implemented a policy of repression that targets legal activists'' and has not made the military accountable for crimes against legal dissenters. The Philippine human rights group Karapatan says more than 800 people have been killed and nearly 200 others have disappeared over the past six years under Arroyo. Philip Alston, a UN expert in extra-judicial killings and political disappearances, issued a preliminary report in February accusing the Philippine military of systematically hunting left-wing activists as part of a four-decade-old conflict with communist rebels. The final report was published recently and retained Alston's initial findings. The Philippine military and police force say Karapatan's numbers are exaggerated and have denied involvement in the killings and disappearances. AP, GMANews.TV