MANILA, Philippines -- Japanese human rights activists on Friday called on their government to suspend Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to the Philippines because of the extrajudicial killings that continue to plague the country.

Human Rights Now (HRN) zeroed in on the Yen Loan Agreement between Japan and the Philippines, which it said should be suspended until the Arroyo administration ?recognizes the human rights situation and [the] accountability mechanism has clearly improved.?

A fact-finding mission from the HRN, presenting its findings at a press conference in Quezon City, blamed most of the extrajudicial killings on the military and police.

Aside from suspending the Yen Loan Agreement, the HRN also asked the Japanese government to closely monitor the human rights situation in the Philippines and to raise the matter before the United Human Rights Council.

?Upon completion of the investigation, the fact-finding team of HRN found that in most cases it has investigated, the military or police agency of this country? are the ones to whom the killings, disappearances and cases of torture could be ?attributed,? HRN secretary general Atsushi Suzuki.

?In certain cases we have investigated, we are convinced that the military is involved in the killings,? Suzuki added.

The fact-finding team said they investigated 15 extrajudicial killings, three forced disappearances and interviewed five torture victims from April 14 to 21.

?We have to say that the government of the Philippines does not fulfill its obligation to prevent the recurrence of extrajudicial killing and forced disappearance so far,? Suzuki said.

?Each killing is not [an] isolated incident but [part of a] systematic pattern of human rights violation[s],? she added.

The group also met with officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Commission on Human Rights, Integrated Bar of the Philippines and several human rights groups, including Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People?s Rights).

However, Suzuki, claiming lack of time, admitted they were unable to meet with military officials, including retired major general Jovito Palparan, who militant groups accuse of scores of extrajudicial killings and have tagged the ?butcher.?

?I had no chance to get in touch with general Palparan, but we tried to be objective,? Suzuki said.

Nevertheless, she said it was the responsibility of the military to protect the human rights of every Filipino and it was ?unfair? of the government to allow the killings and other rights violations to continue.

Suzuki quoted Interior undersecretary Melchor Rosales as saying there are no extrajudicial killings in the country, ?only unexplained killings.?

But she said their investigation pointed to military responsibility in several cases, including the deaths of several protesting workers and farmers at Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac in 2004 and for the abduction of two female students of the University of the Philippines.

The HRN mission urged the Philippine government to end the killings, conduct a thorough investigation of human rights violations and adhere to international human rights and humanitarian laws.

Suzuki noted that the killings have continued even after the visit of UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston, who also concluded that most of the killings could be attributed to state security forces.

HRN will be meeting with Alston in Tokyo on May 8 to discuss the continued killings. It will also send a copy of its report to the Japanese government.