MANILA, Philippines -- Left-wing protesters, including women wearing black mourning veils over their faces, marched in Manila Monday to demand a halt to extra-judicial killings and abductions in the country.
The 2,000 protesters, marking International Human Rights Day, 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 masks.
Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, said she joined the march not only for her son, 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 Representative Teodoro Casiño 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.
