Human Rights

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GENEVA—There were high hopes when the Philippines rejoined the 47-member Human Rights Council in June that President Aquino would make human rights a centerpiece of his foreign policy. But so far, the Philippines has fallen well short of expectations.

AS we all prepare to celebrate this year’s international human-rights day, this is an occasion to take stock of what we have achieved so far and what still remains to be done. It is also a day for reflection on where the challenges lie, and as we witness the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration…

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MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Education has called on schools nationwide to integrate human rights lessons in classes and other school activities as the country marks National Human Rights Consciousness Week.

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union, Nov. 23 (PIA) — Some 79 Human rights desk officers (HRDO) from the Police Regional Office 1 (PRO1) headquarters and the four police provincial offices underwent a 2-day seminar-workshop on human rights focusing on the practice of rights-based policing spearheaded by the Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO) under Police Supt.…

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday blamed the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for 31 cases extra-judicial killings out of the total 32 recorded in Bicol region since January this year.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Torture and forced disappearances involving soldiers and policemen continue to be recorded in many areas in Mindanao under the Aquino administration, and Western Mindanao, where the government’s anti-terror campaign is centered, accounts for the most cases.

The Aquino government must show stronger action in providing justice to human rights victims and addressing impunity by state security forces for it to receive the pending American military assistance withheld by Washington in 2009 due to the Philippines’ failure to account for the spate of extra-judicial killings.

The Philippines affirmed before the United Nations its commitment to reduce armed violence and enable development during a recent review conference in Geneva, Switzerland from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.

MANILA — The Philippines must do more to stop human rights abuses especially extra-judicial killings if it wants to receive more US aid, the US ambassador to the country said on Friday.

THE ARMED Forces of the Philippines has released guidelines to ensure the observance of human rights in intelligence operations.

Manila, Philippines – Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) activists have submitted to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland two scathing reports on the violations of the human rights of their community in the Philippines.

The still sorry state of human rights protection in the country may prove to be a major roadblock to obtaining cheap funds for the government as the European Union (EU) stated it will re-prioritize its aid to deve-loping countries, including the Philippines, putting more emphasis on democracy and human rights and that the assistance may…

The Philippine government should rescind its plan of deploying civilian militias to augment security at private mining operations, Amnesty International said.

MANILA, Philippines — Extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances are still going on in different parts of the country, according to a human rights report released Thursday.

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QUEZON CITY, September 2 (PIA) — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is in active coordination with the Human Rights Affairs Officers (HRAOs) of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in its directive to reject violence, particularly hazing.

WIKILEAKS TARGETS CEBU CITY Cebu City’s “vigilante killings” of suspected hoodlums didn’t escape the notice of United States officials. A US Embassy cable recently released by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks showed that in 2005, the US Ambassador to the Philippines reported that Cebu government officials and the public were perceived to be supporting the killings…

The trust fund containing P10 billion set aside to compensate alleged human rights victims during the 20-year regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos remains intact and has grown to P11.5 billion but its release remains uncertain since the bill which provides for its allocation was not included by President Aquino among his administration’s priority measures.

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MANILA, Philippines—To help fight extra-judicial killings, torture and other forms of human rights abuses, the British government is providing P4 million in funding so that medical professionals could better document abuses and provide testimony in court.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—A government-sponsored protest rally against summary killings here on Wednesday was not just for show, the head of the regional office of the Commission on Human Rights in Southern Mindanao, said.

MANILA, Philippines – The European Union is extending the grant of its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to 2013 with special focus on countries in need.

The Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to define and penalize the crime of enforced or involuntary disappearances. With 15 affirmative votes, the Senate approved Senate Bill 2817 (Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2011) authored by Senators Francis Escudero, Manny Villar, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Francis Pangilinan, and Ramon Bong…

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MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang deplored yesterday as baseless the report of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) that the Aquino administration has done nothing to solve extrajudicial killings. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that the government had solved four of the five cases that occurred under President Aquino’s term.

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The Philippines should produce more convictions of those responsible for extra-judicial killings of militants and members of left-wing groups to show the Aquino adminis-tration’s commitment in resolving the scourge, the European Union’s top diplomat to Manila yesterday said.