MANILA, Philippines—A human rights watchdog on Tuesday urged US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to press President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to prosecute soldiers allegedly responsible for political killings.
Clinton's two-day visit to Manila this week will primarily focus on solidarity with Filipinos after massive floods and landslides killed more than 900 people last month, said American Ambassador Kristie Kenney.
She gave no indication that human rights would be on the agenda.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Clinton should not waste the opportunity to raise concerns over hundreds of people allegedly killed by state forces since Arroyo came to power in 2001.
"Clinton should stress to Arroyo that the US is gravely concerned about the inadequate efforts to investigate and prosecute military personnel responsible for extrajudicial killings," said Elaine Pearson, the group's deputy Asia director.
She also urged Arroyo to sign into law an anti-torture bill passed by the Philippine Congress last month.
Arroyo's government, which has been fighting communist and Muslim insurgencies, said the unresolved killings of mostly left-wing activists were not sanctioned by the state. The government and human rights groups differ on how many people have died, with some estimates as high as 1,000.
The left-wing alliance Bayan vowed to mobilize protesters in front of the US Embassy on Thursday, saying Clinton was visiting to deepen US security ties with its former colony regardless of human rights violations.
The Philippine Senate recently passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the government to renegotiate a US-Philippine military pact that allows about 600 US troops to train and advise Filipino soldiers battling al-Qaida-linked militants in the country's south.
Kenney said Clinton did not plan to discuss any specific bilateral agreements but will be open to hearing opinions on the military pact.
Arroyo has a close relationship with the Clintons, being a classmate of former president Bill Clinton at Georgetown University, according to Arroyo's spokesman, Cerge Remonde.
