GMA rapped for failure to stop lawyers’, judges’ murders

The Arroyo government has failed to address the issue of the killings of lawyers and judges, the Hague-based Lawyers for Lawyers said on Thursday.

In a report on the International Verification and Fact-Finding Mission on Attacks against Filipino Lawyers and Judges, the group said that while the number of killings has declined, the Arroyo government’s claims that the measures instituted to curb crimes against lawyers and judges are “unfounded.”

“…although the number of killings has declined, the measures by the Philippine government to end the impunity lack a structural character,” its report said.

The report was based on a fact-finding mission conducted by a

group of lawyers and judges from the Netherlands and Belgium on the issue of killings and harassment of lawyers and judges in the country. It was a follow-up to an earlier mission made by the same group in June 2006.

The European-based group also refuted the claim of the Arroyo government that the measures it has taken on the killings are effective.

“It also finds that the Philippine government’s claim that its measures against the killings are effective are unproven and that a widespread lack of trust in the government’s intentions is the main barrier for progress in ending the violence,” the group said.

A statement released by Adrie van de Streek, executive director of Lawyers for Lawyers and Judith Lichtenberg, head of the mission and member of the board of Lawyers for Lawyers, said that aside from the killings, the lawyers group pointed out that lawyers and judges are also being harassed with fabricated criminal charges.

“In general, there does not seem to be any sense of urgency among the Philippine authorities to see that justice is done and that the lives and independence of the lawyers and judges involved are protected,” Lichtenberg said.

It said that since President Arroyo took power in 2001, 22 lawyers and 15 judges had been killed and that only one person has been convicted for the killings.

The report has been presented to Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Romeo Arguellesin The Hague Thursday afternoon.

They are also set to meet with Philip Alston, Un Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial killings and with Mr. Leandro Despouy, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of judges and Lawyers to discuss the findings and recommendations.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) condemned in the strongest terms the listing of human rights lawyers in the Philippine military’s Order of Battle. The Order of Battle was reportedly presented through a power point prepared and released by the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Southern Mindanao.

The power point presentation entitled “3rd Quarter 2007 OB Validation Result”, was prepared under the office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the 10 Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.

Among the lawyers included in the order of battle are members of the IAPL – Philippines, namely, laywres Angela Librado-Trinidad, Carlos Zarate, Labor Arbiter Beverly Selim-Musni and Lilibeth Ladaga.

The listing in the Order of Battle is consistent with the pattern of impunity that has characterized extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in the Philippines.

Various local and international groups observed that incidents of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances were usually preceded by the vilification of the victims. This has also been confirmed by the report of UN Special Rapporteur Alston. The persons are labeled as communists thus making them targets for liquidation and abduction.

The inclusion of human rights lawyers in the order of battle is also an act of harassment against lawyers who provide legal services to victims of human rights violations.

It will do well for the Philippine government to respect international norms on the role of lawyers in society and stop this vicious and undemocratic practice and policy, said Raf Jespers, secretary general of the IAPL, in a statement released in Brussels on June 3, 2009.

“The International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) calls on other lawyers worldwide to protest this inclusion of human rights lawyers in the Philippine military’s Order of Battle. Such an order will only increase the human rights violations in the Philippines and the continuing attacks against human rights defenders. We vow to expose this in the international legal community and support moves to protect and stand in solidarity with our colleagues,” Jespers said. –Gerry Baldo, Daily Tribune