MANILA, Philippines - The Washington-based nongovernment organization Freedom House expressed shock over the killings of civilians and journalists in Maguindanao last Monday, which showed a prevailing climate of impunity in the Philippines and the government’s inability to protect the freedom of expression.
Freedom House, which has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in the Philippines since 1972, strongly condemned the killings, saying it added to the worst violence in recent history where 57 people, including 13 journalists, were killed and buried in shallow graves in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao.
The victims included the wife of Vice Mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu of Buluan, Maguindanao and two of his sisters, two female lawyers and 13 journalists who covered the supposed filing of certificate of candidacy of the vice mayor, who will run for governor of Maguindanao and challenge a scion of the Ampatuan clan in the May 2010 elections.
“These killings are of the most shocking and brutal nature and must be addressed immediately and thoroughly by the government,” said Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House’s executive director.
She said the country is becoming known for a culture of impunity and the government has a responsibility to demonstrate a commitment to reversing this trend.
Freedom House noted that in the past several years, there were significant declines in freedom of expression and political rights attributed to electoral fraud, corruption, and government intimidation of the political opposition.
The organization said the government, which has close ties with the Ampatuan family, has imposed a state of emergency in two provinces and has promised to investigate the killings.
“The foundations of a strong and healthy democracy are under grave threat,” Windsor said.
Australian Ambassador Rod Smith expressed concern that the increasing lawlessness in Mindanao would slow down the Australian government’s development cooperation activities and prevent the benefits of programs from reaching the people in the Southern Philippines.
“Australia is a committed development cooperation partner of the Philippines. We are deeply concerned, however, that signs of increasing lawlessness in parts of Mindanao will inhibit our development cooperation activities and prevent the benefits of these programs reaching those who need them most,” said Smith in a statement.
Australia condemned the senseless and brutal killing of civilians and journalists in Maguindanao on Monday.
Foreign lawyers condemn Maguindanao massacre
The Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) condemned yesterday the execution of two human rights lawyers, journalists and civilians in Maguindanao, saying it has left members of the human rights community around the world in shock.
Human rights lawyers Concepcion Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo were among the 57 people killed in the massacre in Maguindanao on Monday.
The LRWC is a committee of Canadian lawyers who promote human rights and the rule of law internationally by engaging in education and research and providing support to lawyers and other human rights advocates, while the ALRC is a Hong Kong-based nongovernment organization.
They called for the creation of an international body to conduct a thorough investigation of the Maguindanao massacre.
Reporters without Borders said at least 22 journalists were killed in the attack, the largest killing of journalists in a single day.
The groups pointed that since 2001, over 800 people have been killed in the country, all of them in some way seen as opponents or critics of the government. Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur for extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, made a number of recommendations in 2007 to prevent extrajudicial killings.
Sen. Loren Legarda has called on the United Nations Office for Human Rights to step in and pressure the government to give justice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
“As a United Nations office mandated to promote and protect human rights, may I request you to take this matter up with your constituency of nations in order to put pressure and to seriously hold the government of the Republic of the Philippines accountable for immediate justice to the victims of the massacre,” Legarda said in a one-page letter sent to the UN agency. – With Christina Mendez
By Pia Lee-Brago
The Philippine Star
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